Truth

Are you looking for The Truth? Is that the same as Reality? And what about truth (small-t)? A guided mindful reflection.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to Your Daily Meds.

Today we are going to talk about the truth.

What is the truth?

Is it different from truth?

And are those both different from reality?

These are questions that we process every day,

Mostly subconsciously.

So let's bring that up into the full light of day.

You do that by paying attention.

And attention,

As always,

Begins with the breath.

So take a breath,

Watching closely as the air enters and leaves your body.

Allow the breath to focus your attention.

Let go of anything which is not the breath.

Any feeling,

Any sensation,

Any thought.

Just watch the breath.

And you can be sure that in this moment,

This is true.

You're breathing in and out.

The truth is simple.

It's clear.

And it's constantly changing.

Because when it's true that you're breathing in,

You're obviously not breathing out.

And when you're breathing out in truth,

You're not breathing in.

So this sort of truth is relative.

It changes.

It depends.

And then there's what's called the truth.

Are you breathing in?

Or the deeper philosophical truth,

What is the great purpose of existence?

What happens when we die?

The answers to these questions are usually called the truth,

With two capital T's.

And this sort of truth is not an experience.

It's a set of ideas.

And generally when the truth is written down in this way,

It's about the way that things should be,

The way things are supposed to be,

According to God or the universe or the thoughts of a prophet or another clever person.

And this in fact is not the truth at all.

This is a theory which claims to be the truth,

But may or may not be.

This is a matter of faith and it really is not the scope of meditation.

However,

Truth with a small t is very much so.

Because humans have a capacity for untruth,

A great ability to deny the way things are and to pretend that they're something else.

One reason you may do this is in order to preserve your belief in the truth and to make sure that your experiences fit your perception of how things should be.

And that of course is anything but the truth.

This is a fabrication.

This is up to you.

Truth refers to reality,

The way things are.

And we have a capacity to see things in a way that they are not.

We tend to see what we want to see.

And here lies the power of meditation because you meditate in order to see what's going on.

The plain,

Unvarnished truth.

And what goes on is that you find yourself breathing in and out.

You find a mass of swirling thoughts and sensations and feelings that gradually settle down as you meditate.

And you discover lies that you tell yourself,

Such as that things don't bother you when actually they do.

Or when you limit yourself and come up with a story to explain why you can't do something,

Why you're no good at something,

Why you don't deserve or aren't worthy of something.

These are all falsehoods and they obscure the truth.

Meditation is all about encountering reality.

That's why you start with the breath because it's physical,

It's tangible,

It's undeniable.

And you watch to see what the breath is doing.

Long breath,

Short breath,

Shallow or deep.

The truth that concerns you as a meditator is change.

Everything is changing.

Each breath you take is unique.

Each one is surrounded by different set of sensations and thoughts and feelings.

And each breath,

Each moment of life presents us with an opportunity to experience reality or to invent it,

To try and control the experience,

To try and make it fit the truth that we want.

For example,

The truth that we didn't make a mistake,

That we were right.

You meditate in order to see things as they actually are,

Not as they appear or as they might be imagined.

And it's not as if there's somebody out there trying to pull the wool over your eyes.

There's somebody in there trying to do that and that is you,

Or that's a part of you anyway.

A part of you wants to see things in a certain way and resists sometimes the way that things actually are,

Especially when they don't meet your hopes and expectations.

So the truth is elusive and it does require effort and that is the effort of meditation.

The whole purpose of meditation is simply to see things as they are,

Without illusions or imaginings or wishful thinking.

And that might be harder than you expect.

But if it's hard,

That only shows how deeply your habits of wishful thinking have become.

And it makes it clear beyond the slightest doubt that meditation is a valuable thing to do,

Because what could be more important than seeing things as they are?

And clearing your mind of the illusions and dreams which clutter it,

Which frustrate you,

Which cause untold pain.

Instead,

You see with the simplicity of the present moment what is going on and what is not.

And you look out especially for change and for fictions created in your own mind in order to make life seem more pleasant or more reliable or less changeable.

There are many reasons that we try to bend reality to our will,

But our tendency to do it is constant.

And it takes an effort to sit back objectively and see reality for what it is,

To know that the truth is changing constantly.

And that the only thing that is true is change.

And that the pursuit of the truth,

Two capital T's,

Only leads to more confusion and more mental clutter.

So keep your eye on the breath.

Be clear and aware of the state of your body,

Whether you are relaxed or tense,

Whether you are anxious or peaceful.

And be quietly aware of the truth,

What is right before your eyes,

Right before your senses clear to you.

That includes the thoughts which pass through your mind.

The thoughts are real.

And in that sense they are true.

But what they express may not be true.

This distinction between the truth of thoughts and the untruth which they express is crucial to the practice of meditation.

It's the key to using thoughts without getting stuck in them.

So try to see your thoughts as post-its,

Labels for what's going on.

Labels which show the connections between things.

But remember that you're the one who writes the notes.

You're the one that makes the connections.

The truth is not out there.

Keep an eye on your thoughts.

That's what meditation is for and there's a purpose to it.

Because when you no longer identify with your thoughts,

Instead when you simply use them for what they are,

Post-it notes,

Then your mind becomes sublimely clear.

And there are no longer any limits on what you're willing to examine.

You know your mind unequivocally.

Because you see clearly,

You're in touch with reality.

You know what's true.

And remember,

When you're looking for the truth,

Ask yourself which one?

And that's all for now.

I'll see you next time.

Reviews

Delightful way to start the morning

Very interesting. Definitely gave me some much needed clarity. Thank you

Liberating for me

The last line is phenomenal.

Very worth listening... Thank you!

Half meditation half contemplation. Thanks.

Very helpful! Thank you.

Wow, I really enjoyed this meditation. It will be one I will need to review

Thank you very much.

The more truths we encounter, the closer we get to Truth.

Very interesting thank you.

I enjoyed this very much. Truth really is that simple yet sometimes hard to see. Why do we have to complicate it... :) Thank you.

Loved the last question!

Incredibly helpful perspective. Really appreciated the insights he offers on the nature of the working of the mind.

Insightful for truth seekers...

Love it! Thanks.

Wow! Thank you, Stephen!

Brilliant! Want to know more of your work. Where are you located?

Wow! I enjoyed this presentation of the difference between truth, The Truth, and reality. The ideas presented affirm the value of the practice of meditation and clarify how to declutter our thoughts. Thank you!

Very illuminating, thank you! Bookmarked it...