Truth and Authenticity – A Dialogue

And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:32)

The truth is cruel, but it can be loved, and it makes free those who have loved it….. Truth is a jewel which should not be painted over; but it may be set to advantage and shown in a good light. (Naturalist philosopher George Santayana)

And Pilate said to Jesus, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.” Pilate said to him “What, then, is truth?” – (to which question no answer was recorded.) (John 18:37)

The tao that can be told
is not the eternal Tao
Those who know the Tao don't talk.
Those who talk about the Tao don't know. (Lao Tzu “Tao Te Ching”)

Don’t seek the truth; just cease to cherish opinions. (Zen teaching)

THE DIALOGUE:

Marnie: When one studies some of the material on Our World and Times” e.g. under the headings ‘Beware the Mind Fields’, or ‘The Bush League’, one is confronted time after time by the effects of mind control and propaganda techniques – aimed at influencing people’s reality and controlling their minds. One wonders sometimes if there is any real truth anywhere, or is everything built upon lies. I wonder if there isn’t a deep connection with one’s relationship to “truth”, and to the integrity of one’s personal uniqueness, or authenticity. And concerning the first text above, I wonder if the innate drive for truth is not connected with freedom from what is referred to in the Eastern systems as the principle of societal ‘justice’ called ‘Karma’. That we live our Karma in the sense that we relive our past, driving ourselves to obsess for the ‘truth’, and until we find it we go on recycling and reliving unresolved issues within our minds.

Keith: Yes, I indeed think that there are such linkages. Inner, psychological Karma is a reality – we wear ourselves down more in worrying about past issues than during the transactions themselves. And as to the ‘truth-authenticity’ linkage – the Law of Balance implies that the intentional falsehoods and damage that one projects into others’ lives will have a corresponding negative effect on one’s own sense of integrity – that one will became diminished in spiritual force or less authentic in his own eyes. I used to think that the truth was pretty clear-cut – not easy to find, mind you – but a reality, and that behind all the smoke and mirrors of human involvements there would be but one truth. And then as I walked in the forest one day some 12 years ago – recycling and reliving unresolved issues, as you say, I was astounded to see that – depending upon individuals’ life experiences and maturity, they could well have very differing perspectives – or ‘truths’ – concerning the very same issue. Hence so many differences of opinion, and such a multitude of political, religious and philosophical positions, I suppose.

M: So maybe that was what the Dalai Lama meant concerning ‘contingent truths’ in the following quote from a conversation with Robert Thurman:

“The Buddha spoke about reality. Reality may be one, in its deepest essence, but the Buddha also stated that all propositions about reality are only contingent. Reality is devoid of any intrinsic identity that can be captured by any one single proposition -- that is what Buddha meant by "voidness." Therefore, Buddhism strongly discourages blind faith and fanaticism.

Of course, there are different truths on different levels. Things are true relative to other things; "long" and "short" relate to each other, "high" and "low," and so on. But is there any absolute truth??? Something self-sufficient, independently true in itself?? I don't think so.

In Buddhism we have the concept of "interpretable truths," teachings that are reasonable and logical for certain people in certain situations. Buddha himself taught different teachings to different people under different circumstances. For some people, there are beliefs based on a Creator. For others, no Creator. The only "definitive truth" for Buddhism is the absolute negation of any one truth as the Definitive Truth”

K: Yet it is almost as though we humans, the so-called social species, are hardwired from birth to be programmed, to be ‘believers’. Our own parents imprinted us with their ‘truths’ as they themselves were earlier imprinted by their parents. And then the priests and teachers take over our conditioning or ‘education’ process, until by the time we become adults, we are ready to be programmed by the Lords of the Workplace, by the marketers, by the politicians and by the hate/war-mongers. All of whom have their vested interest in their ‘truth’ being believed.

M: Then what chance does an individual ever have of being able to see beyond the inductions and of thereby being ‘free’? Humans seem so vulnerable to having to buy into the agendas of greed, of nationalistic jingoism, competition and hate-mongering. Look at how easily the people of the most powerful country on the planet were persuaded to attack and occupy one of the most defenseless countries. And the techniques used on the American people to get them on board were the usual, time-honoured ones: fear, greed and the lust for domination over others! So many people so willing to abdicate their own critical reasoning processes, to be led astray on the mere word of a leader – no proofs provided nor asked for. I wonder if there isn’t some connection between the religious dogmas forced upon people – whereby they are made to ‘believe’ the most incredible things – and people’s later proclivity to believe any agenda, as long as its coming from an ‘authority’. Personally, when it comes to the dictates of authorities, I always try to remember the Buddha’s last teaching to his key disciples from his deathbed:

“I have shown you the way to liberation – now you must take it for yourself.

Do not believe on the strength of the sages of old times; Do not believe that which you yourself imagined, thinking a god has inspired you. Believe nothing which depends only on the authority of your priests. After investigation, only believe that which you have yourselves tested in your personal experience and found reasonable”.

K: Yet it seems that one must still be engaged to some extent in the social process, otherwise there is a danger in becoming reclusively paranoid or cynical. On the other hand, we don’t all have to be mindless sheeple, either having to all be in agreement or else at each other’s throats. There has to be a Middle Way. Despite the hubris of some people who think that they are at the apex of the power pyramid and thus can force their own reality on others, still there are many who humbly sense that we are all in this together – that there is a Higher Order, a substrate from which all things arise and back into which – in time – they must return. There is a line from the Desiderata which points to this:

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly: and listen to others – even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story.

M: And so what if others don’t listen to one’s spoken ‘quiet, clear truth’. One shouldn’t be overly attached to outcomes, and fight others to try to get everyone to think alike. So long as one didn’t follow the crowd, but speaks their truth, their ‘authenticity’ will register the clearness of their own mind – and that is the extent of their responsibility. Toleration. To speak one’s truth, but to not be attached to the outcome, for to do so would surely turn issues into personal power plays. As the Roman warrior-emperor Marcus Aurelius said:

“Dream not of Utopias but be content if the least thing go forward, and count the outcome of the matter in hand as a small thing. For who can change another’s conviction? Failing a change of conviction, we merely get others pretending to be persuaded and chafing like slaves under coercion.”

And while – on the surface – it may appear that our personal truths have no effect on others, I believe that every effort helps – that somewhere in another’s inner processes our expressed truth registers and will ferment, but maybe not as quickly as we might desire. Now we can traffic in others’ quotes all day long – but where are you personally?

K: Well, I agree as to the impracticality of trying to impose my ‘truth’ over those of others – that seems a sure way to end up getting nailed. But I also see the real necessity of pointing oneself toward the truth. I internally relate to Truth as a worthy Ideal. Truth beyond self-interest. This requires fine discrimination and even (this is the bane of the religious sectarians) the application of critical JUDGMENT. Judgment of facts, of human propensities and processes. I feel that a person should use his God-given memory plus his developed analytical and judging skills, without regard for the ranting of the self-styled pious ones and their admonitions to “Judge Not”. The prattling of this Cult of Mediocrity never did sit well with me. That’s just one example of many aphorisms employed within society to ‘level’ the intellectual capacities of its members. One shouldn’t conspire with the levellers, nor try to convert them; just smile and internally say ‘Forgive them Lord – the emptiest barrels always make the most noise.’

So Truth as an Ideal can be an energizing force to quicken our faculties – an eternal and universal Ideal to which we can align our lives. And there’s no danger of arriving at the absolute truth such as we arrive at physical destinations, after which there’s nothing left to do. The very love and pursuit of Truth as an Ideal has its own intellectual rewards, and will ennoble and give meaning to our existence while also ‘dimensioning’ us within the minds of others. Thus I believe that one must love and cherish the truth as though it were a direct link with one’s own Source, which in effect it is. And I feel that one should always to be open to the truths of other humble souls, and always prepared to correct one’s own course if one hears another’s finer truth. Gandhi put this well:

“What I am concerned with is my readiness to obey the call of Truth, my God, from moment to moment, no matter how inconsistent it may appear. My commitment is to the Truth, not to consistency.”

And when it comes to Truth as Ideal, I think of the inspiring words of Ralph Waldo Emerson:

“We lie in the lap of immense intelligence, which makes us receivers of its truth and organs of its activity. When we discern justice, when we discern truth, we do nothing of ourselves, but allow a passage to its beams. If we ask whence this comes, if we seek to pry into the soul that causes, all philosophy is at fault. Its presence or its absence is all we can affirm.”

Further, I would emphasize that relating to Truth as an Ideal or guiding principle is not like searching for a material object or thing, and is therefore not knowable through our five physical senses. An Ideal is ‘in the world, yet not of it’; it is essentially an other-worldly energizing force. When one aligns oneself with an Ideal, one is joining in the universal challenge – that of ‘bringing Heaven to Earth’. The art of living consists of living in a less-than-ideal world without being of it, in other words living in the Now, from the timeless world of Ideals. Being imperfect mortals, we will never fully achieve the Heaven®Earth project, yet through our alignment with the Ideal of ‘truth’ we can nevertheless bring about positive changes.

[There is no danger of completing the Heaven®Earth project; there will always be ample work for others – and for succeeding generations – as each person in turn embarks on the Hero’s Journey to align with Truth.]

M: If we’re not to be ‘attached to outcomes’, since such attachment would only lead to personal frustration and suffering, then I can see why we really can’t get fazed in numbers games. For instance, when outnumbered by consensual group-think. Realistically, 1x0=0, and 14x0 is still zero, from the point of human growth and enjoyment. A number of people can become antagonistic toward one’s truth, yet it all may stem from the character of just one person. Over time and through the assiduous, unrelenting efforts of the one, the numbers mount. We know of situations wherein members of a family were painted as “different”, then ostracized and shut out of family celebrations – in time being turned into pariahs. Such situations just require a bit of withholding here, some meanness and calumny there, mixed with careful dashes of back-biting on occasion – and eventually the whole family can be turned against its own interests. Destruction is easier than construction. Just enough bits of calculated malice spread amongst gullible enablers/ supporters long enough, and one person’s skilful malice can contaminate many, many lives. It seems so unfair.

K: You jest, my Dear. What’s ‘unfair’? We both know that life – especially in its human form – isn’t fair. It’s just what it is. ‘Fairness’ is a social concept, a manufactured meme projected by those who have something to sell. And the family scene – as I implied before our marriage almost 47 years ago – is a field for blood sport. And the generations play for keeps. If there’s any ‘unfairness’, it’s in what people do to themselves when they have so little integrity – authenticity – that through their own hubris they have short-changed themselves.

Now as we’re learned, all things come as mixed blessings. There is no ‘good’ in life but that it has its shadow side. All of us, sometimes, buffer ourselves from truths ‘until later’, knowing full well that the truth of an issue may trigger confusion and suffering within us that we are not yet ready to assimilate. For instance, the implacable meanness of estranged family members might depress their parents if they were to naively believe that the truth alone would resolve the problem. Realistically, the parents should know that it would take well-intentioned efforts from all quarters, not just from themselves. Insight alone doesn’t automatically result in the resolution of dysfunctional dynamics. Yet the parents’ suffering from accepting the truth themselves is light compared to their continually dashed hopes following recurrent but futile efforts to reconcile. When one sees the ironic aspects of such human dramas, one can only smile, eh?

Before leaving this subject of getting through to others, there is an admitted problem in transmitting a realized, experiential truth through to someone who strongly desires reported reality to be otherwise than what it really is. Such a challenge arises when setting the record straight to an immature person – say a teenager who is very dependent upon – and invested in – her comfortable micro world-view. In some cases, the supposed gift of one’s feather of truth can be seen by the recipient as a frightful, bludgeoning 2x4. Yet there are certain inescapable realities – people actually do shameful things to ‘win’ over others to their agendas, and one can’t forever buy peace at any price, nor be a hypocrite and dress up an ugly issue just to protect the young from reality. The young don’t have much experience in the ways of the world and human nature, and sometimes if their belief systems are shaken, they can become frightened. With time, they’ll learn, as we all do, that there is a connection between Truth and justice, albeit compassionate appreciation for others’ circumstances has to be added to the recipe.

Aldous Huxley alluded to this aspect so eloquently:

Taking my mind at its best, truth and justice would be the idols I should follow; and they would be idols for they would not supply ALL the food that the mind wants, and while worshiping them, reverence and humility and tenderness might very well be forgotten.

M: OK on that. Now, let’s get back to the “truth as Ideal” - - I have some thoughts on techniques to assist in cutting through others’ inductions, so as to get closer to the elusive ‘truth that sets one free’.

K: Go for it.

M: Well, firstly I feel that to maintain equanimity it’s helpful if one has a healthy sense of psychological balance concerning the ups and downs of life. Good times – as well as bad times – have to be taken in stride, as was taught long ago by Sufi masters in such stories as “This, Too, Will Pass” in Remedy’s Allegories. Also, to access insight, it seems that one’s so-called normal every day state of consciousness has to be disengaged. After all, that ‘normal’ state was the one wherein the social dynamics occurred which disturbed us and made us anxious in the first place. So, after paddling in those murky ‘normal’ waters long enough to get the lay of the terrain and still being lost, one has to then be able to access another mode. In my Therapeutic Touch training, I was taught how to ‘centre’ myself, which means to stop my ‘thinking’ and go deeply within my energy field to my Still Spot, and from there to feel – and affect – another’s energy state.

Another technique is to focus on the breathing; by doing that one can often detach from negative inter-personal dramas. Also, I have found that our daily T’ai Chi practice takes me away from mental anxieties, and gives my mind a rest while I focus on the body movements. Similarly, I also discovered that restful benefit through hatha yoga. It seems that the common thread in all of these techniques is that of drawing awareness away from the normal mind- tracks, thereby giving the overall system a break. As a result, the background concern is often resolved from within, as the ‘truth’ of the disturbing energy dynamic is observed. I consider such intuitive insights as being gifts from the Void, or Still Point within. I feel that this is also the place of resolution and healing that one can access in deep sleep – the place within us where the intractable knots of our yesterdays are released so that we can better engage the new day.

And you??

K: I know that you’ve also benefited from the HeartMath Institute training and its computer-aided biofeedback training exercises geared to anxiety reduction. My own initiation into insight techniques dates back to our first extended trip to the Association For Research and Enlightenment (A.R.E.) in Virginia Beach 10 years ago. One of the valued items that I came across there related to Vipassana Meditation. How by focusing on the flow of breath, one could become so quiet and still that one could untie the knot of ego and emotions bundled along with one’s memories. And by being able to set aside one’s self-justifications and emotions of hurt, anger and revenge, one could see all the components of the memory transaction itself very clearly – how and why certain painful incidents had occurred.

Later in Mexico we met up with a British Columbia couple who had regularly practiced Vipassana Insight meditation for years, and they confirmed our own findings, that when one ‘shines the light’ on issues in this manner, it is laid to rest. Later, other Buddhist teachings helped my understanding, and then my appreciation of the autobiographical commentary of the late therapist R.D. Laing concerning his discovery and later intentional, conscious use of reverie. This is something that almost everyone does without thinking every day, but when done intentionally the calming, healing benefits are magnified. Reverie is simply goal-less day-dreaming. And then later I came to understand the technique of focused stillness. Stillness gradually becomes part of one’s daily mind-set and can be wilfully engaged at any time, say when walking in the woods or when just sitting on the porch, observing life and its processes. A developmental thread from Vipassana ® to reverie ® to stillness. Almost all of these techniques involve bringing oneself out of the mind, into the body – out of memories of the past or concerns as to the future, and into the Now of bodily Presence. And there – within – is where one finds and strengthens one’s sense of integrity, one’s authenticity. And no one else can do it for us.

M: I confess to being inspired by the insight as to the bundling of one’s commitment to ‘truth’ with one’s own ‘authenticity’. Being interested in the genesis of things, I am intrigued that this dialogue was kindled as a result of the influence of the work of the Japanese-American philosopher Yasuhiko Genku Kimura who founded The Twilight Club - we recently used the following quote from one of his essays in an update of the Remedy Journal:

Authenticity is fundamental, more fundamental than spiritual enlightenment. Without authenticity, no genuine spiritual enlightenment is possible. Authenticity is the state of being committed to truth. ...Truth is simple, utterly so.... And no matter how simply a truth is stated, only those who have walked the path of understanding and evolution on their own can know and understand it authentically. The path of truth is the path least traveled ... Authenticity is the clarity of being, in which there is no self-deceit.

Why is authenticity so fundamental, and why is it more important than even spiritual enlightenment? Well - you see, our mind is extremely clever, and it has a tremendous capacity for delusion and self-deception. Authenticity is a counteraction for that self-deceit and tendency to delude oneself. I often quote P.D. Ouspensky's simple statement that the most difficult thing in life is to know what one knows and to know what one doesn't know and to know the difference between the two. It requires a kind of honesty and authenticity to be aware of this difference and to really examine one's body of knowledge. What is it that one really knows and that one doesn't know? This is the kind of discipline that one needs to exert in one's own life. It is essential for taking advantage of the spiritual experience that one has. Otherwise, it can turn into another form of self-delusion utilized by the ego. So a person needs to have humility and authenticity with regard to the truth of the experience that they do have. And this authenticity leads one to higher and higher levels or into a more whole knowledge and understanding of the truth that is revealed to one.
When one is true to oneself, when one is authentic, one becomes true to the evolutionary thrust for self-optimization that exists within oneself and within the universe. And that evolutionary thrust is a continuous unfolding process.

Initially posted 02-11-06

Updated and recast 29-09-12

Acknowledgement:

Our children – source of past fond memories and current inspiration: And Our Children’s Children:

Everett Lloyd Elliott (b.1960); and his wife Karen – m. 1984 Bradley Clement Elliott (b.1964); and his wife Katariina – m. 1991 Keith Ronald Elliott (b. Jan 1966 - died Mar 1966) Robert Dwight Elliott (b.1969); and his wife Kim – m. 2000 Melissa Dawn Elliott (b.1971); and her husband Jeff Whitaker – m. 2002

Meghan Elliott (b.1987); Lauren Elliott (b.1991) Ryan Elliott (b.1994); Kirsten Elliott (b.1997) - - - - - - Olivia Elliott (b.2002); Gavin Elliott (b.2004) Sawyer Whitaker (b.2003); Jackson Whitaker (b.2005)

Keith and Marnie Elliott’s “REMEDY” Site

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