Brief Readings On Truth

Your truth is great. What is truth though? This is an edited version of profound axioms, quotes, and snippets about truth conveyed on the April 8th, 2022 Insight Timer live event "Brief Readings on Truth"

Transcript

Calling us and welcome to this brief reading on truth.

And your truth is great.

What is truth though?

For 15 minutes or so,

I read profound axiom quotes and snippets about truth.

That's the little write up I have on Insight Timer Live.

So welcome everybody.

I'm gonna probably throw out a bunch of stuff here really quick,

No need to feel overwhelmed.

You can just sit back,

Take it in.

So one of the things meditation can allow us to do is be a witness for what is true.

So this is a big part of at least my meditation practice,

Just witness what's true.

Of course,

There's the branch of philosophy called epistemology that deals with the investigation of what distinguishes justified belief from opinion.

And if anybody has any other knowledge of,

I was trying to look for a more specific branch of philosophy that deals just with truth.

And of course there's this beautiful word called veracity,

Right?

Conformity with truth or fact,

Accuracy,

Devotion to the truth,

Truthfulness.

And I will spare you the reasons of my love of truth and devotion to it and just get right into it here.

There's a famous saying,

It's kind of disputed who said it,

Is a lie is halfway round the world before truth has got its boots on.

And now I'm going into the main readings here.

So the first quote here is,

"'The truth is still the truth,

Even if no one believes it.

And a lie is still a lie,

Even if everyone believes it.

'" And that I don't have a source on who said that or it was just a meme that I have on this site.

And this comes from Neil Kramer.

"'Truth is that which conforms to fact and reality.

Truth is precise accordance with what is.

Truth is the body of real things,

Actual events,

Genuine facts.

Truth is the authentic nature and condition of something.

'" As far as when people say,

Well,

What is truth?

That definition is one I really like,

Covers a lot.

And now onto some wisdom here.

This is by the great sage Nisargadatta Maharaj.

"'Truth is not a reward for good behavior,

Nor a prize for passing some test.

It cannot be brought about.

It is the primary,

The unborn,

The ancient source of all that is.

You are eligible because you are.

You need not merit truth.

It is your own.

'" So I'm not gonna go into my specific leanings of how I lean towards truth.

There's some things in here that I could pick apart,

But I'm not going to.

I just found these helpful and interesting and noteworthy.

So this comes from Ajahn Succitto.

"'People are prepared to transcend all moral boundaries to sustain their view and to fixate upon it beyond all reason,

Beyond investigation.

Investigation is considered a conspiracy.

To actually try to find truth is considered a deviant occupation.

'" And I just love this.

Some people are so,

They don't really,

This is another one I need to include here,

That a lot of people don't want to know the truth.

They just want to be reassured that what they believe is true.

Now this comes from Master Hasuan Hua.

My Chinese is less than zero here.

Comes from a Bayagiri podcast.

"'Bright,

Loud,

And mobile is the false.

Subtle and indistinct is the true.

'" Another one from Nisargadatta Maharaj.

"'How can there be the experience of truth?

It is prior to the beingness.

Knowingly,

You cannot go into that beyond time.

'" And then I asked,

Does truth have meaning?

If so,

Is that meaning inherent,

Assigned,

Both,

Otherwise?

If not,

Does truth need or benefit from meaning?

And here's a quote by Dana Faulds.

I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing her last name right,

But this is kind of a practical wisdom that involves truth.

"'There is no controlling life.

Try corralling a lightning bolt containing a tornado.

Dam a stream and it will create a new channel.

Resist and the tide will sweep you off your feet.

Allow and grace will carry you to higher ground.

The only safety lies in letting it all in,

The wild and the weak.

Fear fantasies,

Failures,

And success.

When loss rips off the doors of the heart,

Our sadness veils your vision with despair.

Practice becomes simply bearing the truth.

In the choice to let go of your known way of being,

The whole world is revealed to your new eyes.

' It's such beauty and depth,

Goes right to the bone.

" So this comes from Crow 777 Radio,

That's with two R's.

Deep investigation into things that I feel are noteworthy that people are often overlooking.

And it's just simply belief is the enemy of knowing.

I give this story,

Say you have no idea what a bicycle is,

But a friend tells you,

Okay,

There's this thing,

It's got two wheels,

It's called a bicycle.

It can be different colors.

You get on it,

You ride.

It tells you all about it,

How to do it,

And what the benefits are.

And you're thinking,

Oh yeah,

This is great.

I believe that what he's saying is true.

I believe it,

Maybe someday I'll see it.

So you eventually get to where you get a bike and then you see it,

You feel it,

You get on it,

You ride it,

And of course,

Yeah,

This is a bike what they're just talking about.

So now every time you go and see a bike,

You don't need to believe it anymore.

It's verified,

You know it in your own experience.

When you know it,

There's no need for belief anymore.

So that's kind of the context to this belief is the enemy of knowing.

And this comes from Asuta.

To speak the truth is like Amrita.

Truth cannot be surpassed.

The truth is holding fast to what is good and to what is right,

Say the righteous.

So Amrita,

I don't know if I'm pronouncing it right,

A-M-R-I-T-A,

It's like this elixir of immortality.

Kind of a legend in our current times here.

Another one comes from John Suchito,

And this comes from the well-being as a shape of the heart retreat.

Truth is always good news,

Even if it is the truth about something unpleasant,

Because then you can actually master it.

Oscar Wilde says,

Man is least himself when he talks in his own person.

Give him a mask and he will tell you the truth.

From Matt Kahn,

You are here to cultivate great compassion for all the circumstances everyone has faced and are likely to encounter,

Simply as a means of inspiring highest truths into being.

So some really brief ones here.

Truth defends itself.

Truth destroys the world you used to live in.

Truth can never be destroyed.

You can't change the truth,

And the truth is all there is.

There are higher truths as well as lower truths,

Wherein each lower truth acts as a step on a staircase,

Helping you ascend into higher altitudes of perspective.

So in Buddhism,

There's the two truths teaching.

There's conventional or provisional truth,

Samvriti,

I'm pronouncing that right,

I don't know if that's the Pali or Sanskrit,

And then the ultimate are paramartha,

Paramartha,

Truth.

Thomas Sowell,

This quote comes from him,

When you want to help people,

You tell them the truth.

When you want to help yourself,

You tell them what they wanna hear.

There are truths that are four ways,

And this is broken down in the sutta.

One,

We have truths that are pleasant and profitable.

Two,

Truths that are unpleasant and profitable.

Three,

Truths that are pleasant and unprofitable.

And four,

Unpleasant and unprofitable.

From the alavaka sutta,

If I'm pronouncing that right,

Conviction is a person's highest wealth.

Truth is the highest of tastes.

Living with discernment,

One's life is called best.

And of course,

The gift of truth excels all other gifts.

I'll leave with this selection from the kanki sutta,

C-A-N-K-I sutta,

And this is really profound,

I feel.

There are five things that can turn out in two ways in the here and now.

Which five?

Conviction,

Liking,

Unbroken tradition,

Reasoning by analogy and an agreement through pondering views.

These are the five things that can turn out in two ways in the here and now.

Now,

Some things are firmly held in conviction and yet vain,

Empty and false.

Some things are not firmly held in conviction and yet they are genuine,

Factual and unmistakant.

Some things are well liked and vain,

Empty and false.

Some things are not well liked and yet they are genuine,

Factual and unmistakant.

Some things are unbroken condition yet vain,

Empty and false.

Some things are not an unbroken tradition and yet are genuine,

Factual and unmistakant.

Some things are well-reasoned and yet vain,

Empty,

And false.

Some things are not well-reasoned,

And yet they are genuine,

Factual,

And unmistaken.

Some things are well-pondered and yet vain,

Empty,

And false.

Some things are not well-pondered,

And yet they are genuine,

Factual,

And unmistaken.

In these cases,

It isn't proper for a knowledgeable person who safeguards the truth to come to a definitive conclusion only this is true.

Anything else is worthless.

When,

On observing that the monk is purified with regards to qualities based on delusion,

He places conviction in them.

When they're rising of conviction,

He visits him and grows close to him.

Growing close to him,

He lends ear.

Lending ear,

He hears the Dhamma.

Hearing the Dhamma,

He remembers it.

Remembering it,

He penetrates the meaning of those dhammas.

Penetrating the meaning,

He comes to an agreement through pondering those dhammas.

There being an agreement through pondering those dhammas,

Desire arises.

With the arising of desire,

He becomes willing.

Willing,

He contemplates,

Literally ways or compares.

Contemplating,

He makes an exertion,

Exerting himself.

He both realizes the ultimate meaning of the truth with his body and sees by penetrating it with discernment.

To this extent,

Baharaj Vada,

Who he was talking to,

There is an awakening to the truth.

To this extent,

One awakens to the truth.

I describe this as an awakening to the truth,

But is not yet the final attainment of the truth.

Yes,

Master Gautama,

To this extent there is the awakening of the truth.

To this extent,

One awakens to the truth.

We regard this as an awakening to the truth.

But to what extent is there the final attainment to the truth?

To what extent does one finally attain the truth?

We asked Master Gautama about the final attainment of the truth.

And the response is,

The cultivation,

Development,

And pursuit of those very same qualities,

To this extent,

Maharaja Vada,

There is the final attainment of the truth.

To this extent,

One finally attains the truth.

I describe this as the final attainment of the truth.

Probably didn't say the guy's name right,

The fellow's name right,

But the beginning of that,

It goes through a chain,

Kind of a different progression of awakening to the truth.

And then,

To the final attainment of that truth,

Is the cultivation,

Development,

And pursuit of those same very qualities.

So may you all find and have and know and be blessed with ultimate truth eventually,

Right,

As well as the standard optimal and ideal consciousness and energy to realize truth and your pursuit of truth.

And thank you for being a truth seeker.

And of course,

Anything that was not helpful here,

Can set aside and take that which is helpful.

Reviews

Very interesting. I want to write down each quote. So many good ones. Thank you.