What is Truth?

Can we ever know The Truth, about ourselves, others or God?  Or is the truth relative to our situation, culture, ego, our particular choice of religion or our relationship with God?  Much of what we see as truth is based on our adopted ‘belief system’ as influenced by any of the factors mentioned above.      

I invite visitors to read the following article by Dr. Susan Gregg, with her kind permission, about this daunting question.   

There is No "The Truth"

I spent years studying countless philosophies, religions, and metaphysical doctrines looking for the truth. I finally realized they were all belief systems developed by someone else. All of them were merely someone else's filter system. At first I found my discovery upsetting, but eventually I realized how freeing it really was. There is no such thing as the truth. I don't have to defend my beliefs, because they aren't necessarily the truth.

Everyone has his or her own truth, and the truth is relative. There is no one truth. Truth is part of our per­spective. Another word for the truth is belief. Once we realize there is no "the truth" we realize how words such as right and wrong are relative. Once we let go of our need to find "the truth," we are free to let go of many other limitations. We can stop searching for some ultimate yardstick against which to measure life and ourselves. We can begin to release our iron grip on our need to judge everything and everyone. We judge things so we can feel safe, so we can feel like we are on the right side. If there is no "the truth," we don't need to choose sides anymore, either.

Giving up your quest for the truth will set you free. It will also allow you to see what your truth is for today and release your attachment to it. You won't need to defend yourself and your truth, which prevented you from changing. Since there is no "the truth," you can't he wrong. It becomes easier to accept the fact that you're perfect just the way you are.  – Dr. Susan Gregg, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Spiritual Healing (2000).

Most Christians after reading this will hastily interrupt and demand an answer  to their question: “what about Jesus when he says “I am the way and the truth and the life”?   At the same time I can hear more fervent voices argue, yea, see your completely wrong Trebert, Jesus clearly stated (John 14:6) that he is the Truth, so don’t tell us there is no such thing as “the truth”!  And here I will readily admit that that is exactly what Jesus said, as well as on many other occasions.  But here’s the difference.  Living Christ’s word enables one to know the truth and so be free (John 8:32).  Christian freedom is not due to possession of correct knowledge (God, after all is beyond all human understanding) but rather comes from relationship to that which is truly real, namely, God.

Still sure you or your religious institution can contain truth?  One of the most disturbing or challenging passages quoted by Jesus can be found in Luke 14:26 as follows:   If anyone come to me and does not hate his own his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sister, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple”.  If ever there was an example where we might find Truth then here it is as based on the words of Fr. Anthony de Mello, from his book ‘The Way To Love’. 

“If people want happiness so badly, why don't they attempt to understand their false be­liefs? First, because it never occurs to them to see them as false or even as beliefs. They see them as facts and reality, so deeply have they been programmed. Second, because they are scared to lose the only world they know: the world of desires, attachments, fears, social pres­sures, tensions, ambitions, worries, guilt, with flashes of the pleasure and relief and excitement which these things bring. Think of someone who is afraid to let go of a nightmare because, after all, that is the only world he knows. There you have a picture of yourself and of other people.

If you wish to attain to lasting happiness you must be ready to hate father, mother, even your own life and to take leave of all your posses­sions. How? Not by renouncing them or giving them up because what you give up violently you are forever bound to. But rather by seeing them for the nightmare they are; and then, whether you keep them or not, they will have lost their grip over you, their power to hurt you, and you will be out of your dream at last, out of your darkness, your fear, your unhappiness.

So spend some time seeing each of the things.”

Long before his election, Benedict said that relativism—the idea that one man's truth is as good as another's—was the central crisis of modern culture. And as pope he aims to halt that trend by reinvigorating the traditional faith and reconstituting the very idea of holding a firm belief in a divine, unchanging, and uncompromising truth. But that starting point is also where Benedict's agenda ends, and it is a powerful indication that the great era of Catholic social activism may be drawing to a close.

Award winning British author David Gibson in his book 'The Rule of Benedict' (2006) has this to say about Benedicts use of the term Relativism "Absolutizing what is not absolute but relative is called totalitarianism.  It does not liberate man, but takes away his dignity and enslaves him. It is not ideologies that save the world, but only a return to the living God, our Creator, the guarantor of our freedom, the guarantor of what is really good and true. True revolution consists in simply turning to God who is the measure of what is right and who at the same time is everlasting love".

God’s gift of freedom comes with heavy price – our ego’s. Religious extremism, in all its ugly and deadly forms, is born out ofbelieve that we, not God, possesses the ultimate truth.

“Reprove yourself if ever the devil, or your own short-sightedness, should do you the disservice of making you want to force all my servants to walk by the same path as you yourself follow, for this would be contrary to the teachings given you by my Truth”. – God speaking to Catherine of Sienna  

Addendum: 26/06/13

 

 

What is Truth?
Monday August 26, 2013

Karen Berg

 

Truth is a very interesting concept. What is truth? My truth and your truth are not necessarily the same. Each one of us sees what our own senses allow us to see, and this can create sometimes minor, sometimes major differences in what we each consider to be the truth.

How do we know the actual truth? Look around the world. There are so many religions, so many types of faith. Some of them even assert themselves to be the truth faith.

The word “spiritual” means “involved with the spirit,” and that spirit has no name. It is not a Christian spirit, nor Jewish, nor Buddhist, nor any other limiting description; it is only Spirit. When a soul leaves the body, that soul is connected to — and returns to — Spirit. The soul goes to its source of Light, which I do believe is beyond what we consider the limitations of a particular faith. Being one of the “faithful” is simpler than being spiritual because you can become a follower of what you are told without thinking about what it means. Sometimes the faithful follower has little connection with spirituality.

The reason that many people in the world follow something — be it a religion, a way of life such as vegetarianism, an individual, or any other structured way of living — is because on a personal level, we as humans naturally resist taking responsibility for our own spiritual growth and change.

But love, joy, and tenderness are not necessarily involved when one is a follower. Many followers are merely content in their belief that the rules that they live by will guide them and that they are doing the proper things in life; they require and ask for nothing more.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that religion (or specific eating habits and lifestyles, for that matter) are not spiritual: Anything that gives rise to a purification of any kind, whether of the body or the mind, leads one to a closer awareness of the Spirit. What I am saying, however, is that true growth requires that we constantly check ourselves as to whether we are accepting responsibility for our own thoughts and actions

 

 

Global Peace - religions and beliefs

Global peace today is threatened by many opposing world views frequently based on differing religious belief systems.  In reality this is a contradiction in terms since our common Creator certainly does not have any need to be defended.  God’s honour is not at stake.  The vastness of God cannot be contained in any one religion, dogma or doctrine  nor does God favour one religion over another.  God, who loves unconditionally, cannot withdraw his presence from those who oppose him or even deny him.    This same Creator cannot be offended by blasphemous words or images, nor does he call upon anyone to form armies to march on his behalf.  God does not call upon anyone to become his martyr or offer sacrifices in his name.  God just is . . . . .  as we are simply called to be.     

The following was written to a friend more than 10 years ago in response to his struggle with beliefs arising from other religions.

If we as Christians are genuinely interested in resolving our differences with other religions we need only do one simple thing. In fact it is so simple it will completely astound you. You will not have to introduce any new regulations or rules, you will not have to pay more taxes (in fact it will cost a great deal less), and you will not even have to join a new religion. You will not even have to move or say goodbye to the world and live on a remote mountain top. You need not wonder if I’m suggesting some kind of make belief world only inhabited by Pollyanna’s or do-gooders. Nor am I asking anyone to enter into some sort of dream or drug induced world where reality never takes place. Lastly it will not demand that anyone become holier than they all ready are. No saints need to apply! All it will take, are you ready for this, is for people to change their belief about religion and God!

All the world religions (including us Catholics) simply need to change our belief about our need to defend God! It is as simple as that – no more. You see dear friend, it is only our perception of the need to defend our faith that keeps us at odds with one another and subsequently causes so much pain and suffering here on earth. Every time we profess that we think we know God better than the next person, we cause the other person much sadness and pain. That pain if it is let to fester will eventually translate into fear and ultimately hatred. Do any of us, Muslim, Christian, Hindu or Jew, really believe God is asking of us to defend him from one another? If God is truly allowed to be the all powerful all loving God we would know that: Love does not need to be defended, because Love does not know attack!

The minute we think that our religion is the only one – we are in trouble. The minute we talk in terms of ‘we’ the good guys and ‘they’ the bad guys, we are in trouble. The minute we draw lines and separate ourselves from our neighbours because ‘we’re better’ or because we believe we ‘have the corner on the faith market’ we are in trouble. The minute we teach ‘who is going to heaven and who is going to hell’ we are in trouble. The minute we focus on the future or the past, instead of the present, we are in trouble. Mother Teresa said it best "we need to teach the Muslim to be a better Muslim, we need to teach the Jew to be a better Jew", and so on. This means we need to drop what or who we think God is for our religion and think more about what or who God is for all humankind!

So how can we begin to change our beliefs? Perhaps we should begin by accepting that God is much greater than any idea that we (past or present) might have of him. Perhaps we could begin by changing our beliefs about who God is for all humankind. Perhaps we should admit that there is not one religion that possesses all there is to know about God or the Truth. Perhaps we could begin by accepting that we need one another. Perhaps we could begin by trying to understand each other’s uniqueness rather than by any enforced (and unrealistic) similarities. Perhaps we could refuse to listen to voices which lead to greater disharmony and disunity. Perhaps we should begin by accepting that God is much greater than any idea that we (past or present) might have.

Lastly, if you want peace and harmony you have to want to work for it. It does not simply drop out of heaven. If you want to Love you have and draw on its Source – there we will find an unlimited supply of answers for all of the world’s problems.

Today many people from various nationalitiess work and share their gifts together in a multicultural village or society. This remarkable mix automatically introduces a variety of ancient religious beliefs and customs. Institutional religions now have face the problem of sharing their particular beliefs without prejudice or intolerance with people of different faiths. Unfortunately true ecumenism has not kept pace with the rapid growing mix of religions. Witness the confusion in many parts of our world. The need to redefine and learn how God relates to all humans inclusively rather than exclusively is no longer an option.

UPDATE: A related story about world peace appeared in The National Catholic Reporter, dated Jan. 10th, outlining Pope Benedicts fears concerning the rising anti-Christian tide in various parts of the world.

Conflicting Theologies

The National Post one of Canada’s national newspapers carries a daily online column devoted to religious news - with a definite traditional Roman Catholic bias. The Holy Post Blog invites readers to share their beliefs and faith experiences. While some entries provide spiritual inspiration the majority merely provide space to spout blasphemous rhetoric at those who do not agree with a particular point of view. As a relative new participant I quickly found that many of the articles and responses were driven by conflicting theological points of view. This in itself is not necessarily bad if we are prepared to learn from them. However, it raised an important question for me. Is it necessary to subscribe to a belief system in order to discover and experience God within? (Readers please don't send me your answers I'm not yet finished with my questions).

As a catechist, in a local parish for more than twenty years, my primary duty was to instruct and introduce interested enquirers into the Roman Catholic faith. Following the direction of Vatican II and beginning in early eighties the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults or RCIA was established. Prior to this time 'Instruction' came under the exclusive domain of the Roman Catholic clergy, usually on a one-on-one basis. But these were exciting new times, not only for most members of the Catholic Church but also for those seeking a greater understanding of the Creator. It was during those promising years I too took part in those RCIA sessions and became a full-fledged member of the Catholic Church. Never in my wildest imagination had I ever thought of sharing my search for God as a catechist with so many eager enquirers. It was precisely during one of these sessions, dealing with a difficult theological question, that a moment of pure inspiration arrived. Without going into unnecessary detail about the question I will share what we all learned that night.

Our faith journeys will never be similar. While we can learn a lot from those who have gone before us our journey will nevertheless remain unique. Thus our EXPERIENCE of God will also be unique. As long as we trust God to guide us we really need not fear the obstacles we will inevitably encounter along the way. Soon we will learn that obstacles are heavenly mentors sent to help us overcome the trials and tribulations we all come to face. Thus, it is only in retrospect that we finally begin to understand the true meaning of salvation. Perhaps the only place where we will run into unresolved conflict is when we insist that EXPERIENCE must somehow conform to prescribed belief systems.

We often hold onto our conflicts because our adopted belief system has become a matter of comfort. History has taught us that holding on to such conflicting beliefs is the chief cause of much unhappiness, pain and suffering. Instead, be kind to yourself. These belief systems are part of your particular culture, and were primarily formed through your parents, friends, teachers, media, etc. Don't blame others for your misfortunes. They too were taught in-turn by their parents, friends, etc. Can you now understand why Jesus spoke about this in these rather disturbing terms " If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple"? (Luke 14:26) Anthony de Mello, J.S. (1931-1987) reflects on this passage as follows: If you wish to attain to lasting happiness you must be ready to hate father, mother, even your own life and to take leave of all your possessions. How? Not by renouncing them or giving those up because what you give up violently you are forever bound to. But rather by seeing them for the nightmare they are; and then, whether you keep them or not, they will have lost their grip over you, their power to hurt you, and you will be out of your dream at last, out of your darkness, your fear, your unhappiness.

As a responsible adult we must make decisions by letting go of many of our false beliefs and learn to listen to our heart. The heart is the place where God resides. God lives in every human being. Learning to trust in God in this way can take a lifetime – although as children we often understood this naturally. As we grew a little older however, doubt began to creep in, negative influences increased and we somehow lost our direct connection with the Creator. The role of institutional religion is to reconnect us with our heart – not our head the place of our ego.

It should come to no surprise to anyone that many conflicts or wars continue to erupt because we listened to our ego instead of our heart. Religious institutions are no exception and historically they were often behind the cause. While we may be prepared to accept that the major religions share the same God we still differ on many theological issues – most tragically between the conflicting Christian faiths. Why do we immediately exclude others who do not share our belief systems? Did Jesus dismiss the Roman soldier when he asked him to heal his master, because he did not share the Jewish faith? Did Jesus ignore the Samaritan woman at the well because she was of a tribe that did not share the same Jewish faith? Did Jesus insist that the soldier and woman first accept a rigorous set of prescribed Jewish laws (all 613 of them) before he would entertain their hopes and questions? If God accepts us where we are, why do we insist that all others must also blindly follow our rigid belief system to be members of a religious institution? As Christians don't we share a living Christ who teaches us a way to live not by exclusion by rather by unconditional inclusion? I am still learning that other faiths have much to offer and can help us better understand our common Creator. Perhaps if we had paid more attention to our EXPERIENCES of God, rather than our conflicting beliefs or theologies, we might have discovered that God never banished us from the Garden of Eden to begin with.

Bernard Haisch in his recent book 'The Purpose-Guided Universe' observes "By simple logic, a lot of religious beliefs and dogmas must be wrong because they flatly contradict each other." Haisch goes on to quote Eckhart Tolle who writes in his 'A New Earth':

And so religions, to a large extent, became divisive rather than unifying forces. Instead of bringing about an ending of violence and hatred through a realization of the fundamental oneness of all life, they brought more violence and hatred, more division between people as well as between different religions and even within the same religion. They became ideologies, belief systems people could identify with and so use them to enhance their false sense of self. Through them they could make themselves "right" and others "wrong" and thus define their identity through their enemies, the "others," the "nonbelievers" or "wrong believers" who not infrequently saw themselves justified in killing.”

On Fundamentalism

"We must move from a belief-based religion to a practice-based religion, or little will change. We will merely continue to argue about what we are supposed to believe and who the unbelievers are." - Richar Rohr, The Naked Now

The words ‘religious fundamentalist’ bring to my mind such people as zealots, fanatics, cultists, militant believers,Traditionalists, Jesus freaks, TV evangelists, Bible thumpers, Holy Rollers and more recently apologists. All of these groups seem bent on protecting the purity of their particular faith or belief system – in extreme!. By clinging tenaciously to their religion, avoiding moderation and change, they want to introduce us to their limited religious views. In their world there is no room for middle ground, ecumenism and even in some instances, ‘compassion’. Their faith is understood through sharply defined doctrines and literal interpretations of Holy Scripture. Any deviations from the scripted word immediately becomes ‘suspect’ and may cause questioners to be branded as heretics or infidels. For these fundamentalist groups the religious world can only exist within narrow and confined boundaries. Practise of this immature religion usually consists of a ridged adherence to ritual and other public expressions of their faith. 'Group think' and religious membership is made the prerequisite, and uniformity at the expense of diversity is accepted as the norm. This will only produce a world where religious differences are finally resolved through much conflict, pain and suffering! Coupled with indifference, does this attitude not cause some people to reject religion altogether and (re)turn to the worship of many false gods or atheism?

But does this insanity not shout ‘stop’? Is it not time to admit that not one of us, Rabbi, Pope, or Mullah included, truly possesses a complete understanding of whom our unfathomable and unknowable God is? Noted theologian, author and Catholic priest, Hans Kung, has stated “there cannot be peace in the world until there is peace among the world’s religions”. "Have we yet to understand what it means to become as ONE, as it was/is accepted in the ancient mystical tradition of the world’s three major religions? Why do we think that our religion should be the only one? How did we become so ridged? Why are we so reluctant to move beyond our established faith tradition? Why are we so afraid of change? Who, and what are we not trusting in?

Can we perhaps begin by accepting that Holy Scripture at one time existed only as oral tradition? Stories that were shared around a fire, intended to highlight the origins of life the cosmos and our role in it. Just because they were oral does not mean that they were not inspired or conveyed a sacred message. It seems however that the Bible as a written word, in the hands of some fundamentalist, has largely become a legal document. A document to be used to spread condemnation instead of inspiration. The ancient Jewish leaders, while contemplating the conversion of oral tradition to writing, warned precisely against this. At the same time the accumulation of various commentaries on scripture has more often than not, lead to even greater divisions among the world’s religions. The world’s major religions all agree that there can only be one God but then why are there are so many different understandings of whom he/she/it is for all of us? And why are we so reluctant to share that same Deity? Has religion become too institutional? Why are most religions insistent on a common creed or belief system?

It is only through experience and constant awareness that we begin to understand and love – not through a belief system. It is only through experience and awareness that we begin to recognize the God that rests quietly within our hearts- not a belief system. It is only through life’s experiences and awareness that we begin to trust in the God that protects and comforts us – not a belief system. It is only through experience and awareness that we gain insight into our true purpose – not a belief system. It is only through experience and awareness of God that we can love him, our neighbour and ourselves. It is only through our unique experiences and awareness that we can begin to realize that we are not separate from one another or from God but that we are truly all ONE! I think it would be far more usefull, when speaking of God, that we begin our statement with "my experience of God is . . . ." rather than " I believe that . . "

We are unique individuals with unique experiences all seeking a common goal – to love and be loved unconditionally.