Reflections On Truth & Honesty

Without Truth and Honesty, it is difficult to see how society can function. We have to work to promote these two ideas today and tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. This meditation is to encourage you to work for truth in the age of Fake News. Interval Music is Winds of Love by Music of Wisdom

Transcript

Dear friends,

Today I'm going to share some thoughts with you about the importance of truth and honesty in our lives.

But to begin,

Let us come to a place of rest by closing our eyes and just letting things be.

For now,

Just leave everything else to one side.

Plans,

Worries,

All the clutter that goes around in our heads.

Let's dedicate this time to anyone who may be finding it difficult just now.

Anyone finding it going difficult,

Let's think of them.

Let's spend a few moments of stillness reminding ourselves that we are not alone.

That each and everyone here is part of a supportive community.

And it's reassuring to know that there is always someone that you can reach out to.

A listening ear.

Let's pause for 1 minute 60 seconds before we begin.

Okay.

Welcome back.

Talard de Chardin was a Jesuit Catholic priest,

A paleontologist and a geologist.

His books include The Phenomenon of Man,

The Future of Man,

The Divine Medio.

Talard saw the divine in the material.

He's the person who gave us these words.

We are not human beings having a spiritual experience.

We are spiritual beings having a human experience.

As a geologist,

Talard studied the geology of the physical world.

But almost a hundred years ago,

In 1922,

He spoke of what is called the Neu-Sphere,

That's spelled N double O,

S-P-H-E-R-E,

Which is the idea of a growing web of thought that would come to surround the planet.

And here we are,

Participants in what has come to be an amazing,

Interconnected web of thought,

A web of communication that's every bit as real and as active as the atmosphere itself.

When you get onto a Google Hangout or a Zoom call,

You see people speaking together across so many time zones.

It could be 4pm here in Dublin,

11am in New York,

8am in LA,

Whereas it would be 6pm in Israel,

And 1am tomorrow morning if you were in Melbourne.

And yet people can meet up and chat online,

Not only talk to one another,

But see each other in this ever more integrated world.

And any of us can do this,

It's not the preserve of organisations,

It's pure magic.

We get a real sense of the planet turning,

And every part in turn facing the sun,

And all of us capable of experiencing this sense of oneness.

What we have in our hands today would have seemed like science fiction even during the childhood of young people listening to this.

Let's take another 60 second pause.

Let's take another 60 second pause.

Welcome back.

This prediction of Tell Art to Shardan brings us to the subject of today's reflection,

The importance of truth and honesty in our lives.

Faced with a world wide web of instant communication,

Truth and honesty have never been more important than they are today,

And they've never been more under threat.

Each and every one of us,

At very little cost,

And with hardly any expertise,

Is capable of setting up the equivalent of a radio station or a TV station,

Putting out every and any idea that crosses our minds.

And that is the challenge that faces us,

A plethora of information coming at us from an ever increasing number of sources.

And faced with this inundation,

How can we tell what is true and what is false?

In the last few years,

We've all been introduced to the awful term fake news.

The expression fake news has been freely given out like wine at a wedding,

To the point where it's becoming more difficult to tell fact from fiction or lies from truth.

The number of false and misleading statements in circulation is growing.

Lies are spreading like a virus and they are capable of causing just as much damage to society if they are left unchecked.

Some media companies have even taken up the task of keeping a record of lies and misleading statements made by people in the public eye.

This must surely be an unprecedented state of affairs.

And it reminds us of the importance that we need to place on the idea of truth in our own individual lives.

Let's have another one minute pause for reflection.

And remembering to allow our breathing to ground us in the present moment while we take this break.

Welcome back.

We should never accept as normal the idea that people,

Especially people in authority,

Would tell lies and not be challenged by those who listen to these lies.

It should never become normal to expect people will tell lies and act dishonestly.

This has to be called out.

Life as we would all wish it to be becomes impossible in a world where lies are issued and facts are misstated as a matter of routine.

So we must make it our business to sift through the information we receive and make a judgment as to the truth of it.

The danger is that in a world where information beyond measure is so freely available,

We'll just become passive listeners and easy believers.

Easy prey for anyone or any group that gets out there with a loud and a populist message.

We mustn't accept something as true just because we read it online or hear it on the radio or see it on the TV.

You shouldn't accept something as true just because you hear it from me or from anyone or just because you read it in a book.

We must all step back and ask,

But is this true?

The fact that it comes on a screen and most of us are addicted to our screens doesn't necessarily mean that it's true.

But we can believe it's true because it comes in in that way.

Let's take another one minute pause.

You.

Welcome back again.

Now this is a very difficult task that we have to undertake.

I don't claim that it's easy,

But it is essential.

And I wonder is there any way in which we can make the task even a little easier?

The task of sifting through what we hear to see is it the truth?

One way is to reduce the inundation.

Be selective in what we listen to.

This gives us a better chance to make a judgement about the prejudices that might be at work in the source organisation.

And be selective in who we listen to.

It's too easy to accept sources of free news.

It sounds god.

Something for nothing.

But we all know that you get absolutely nothing of value if you pay nothing for it.

Everything has a price.

Everything of value has a price.

Accurate reporting costs money.

Lots of money.

And we all need to support organisations that we believe to be involved in the painstaking task of accurate,

Truthful reporting.

If the quality and the accuracy of news was to depend solely on advertising revenue,

You can imagine how little independence of thought there would be in that organisation.

News organisations need their independence.

They need our support.

So each of us paying the subscription to reputable sources of news is a moral choice that supports truth.

Social media can be a huge source of unverified information.

In social media it's even easier for rumour to be passed on as fact.

For hatred and prejudice to be spread.

We have to treat information and propaganda from anonymous,

Unverified social media sources with particular care.

And we must ensure that we do not recirculate information that we do not know to be true.

Let's have another one minute break for reflection before we move on.

Thank you.

Welcome back.

And what about our own lives?

In our own lives we need to rededicate ourselves to truth and honesty.

Believe it or not,

Even that simple dedication can be challenging at times.

Now none of us here would set out to mug an old person,

Break into a house or steal money from a child.

But when we make a mistake,

Sometimes we wriggle and we try to avoid responsibility.

We try to cover up the error.

In a work situation,

The attitude of management can be really important when it comes to encouraging truth and honesty.

If an organisation accepts that mistakes can happen and will happen,

And that the sooner they are discovered the better,

Then people in that organisation won't be afraid to admit their mistakes and the problem can be remedied before a crisis arises.

Hiding it under the carpet will not work.

It's best to own up.

Everyone learns,

Everyone moves on.

And you know people can be very forgiving when they receive an upfront honest apology.

This happens all the time.

You hear people saying,

I didn't want,

I didn't set out wanting compensation.

All I wanted was for them to say sorry.

The 14th century Persian poet Hafez offers us this advice on the subject of truth.

He says,

The words you speak become the house you live in.

This Sufi tradition invites us to speak only after our words have passed through four gates.

At the first gate,

We ask ourselves,

Are these words true?

If they are,

We let them pass on.

If not,

They do not pass through that metaphoric gate.

So we do not say those words.

Then we come to the second gate and we ask,

Are they necessary?

Are these words necessary?

And again,

Moving on to the third gate.

Are they beneficial?

Are they helpful?

And if they reach the fourth gate,

We ask,

Are they kind?

Most important,

Are these words kind?

If the answer is no to any of these questions,

Then what we are about to speak should be left unsaid.

Keep our mouths shut,

Our pens in our pockets and our hands off the keyboards.

So to sum up,

We live in a wonderful,

Highly interconnected world.

Some of us,

I believe very few,

Would prefer to live in the past,

Where communications were more leisurely,

Even if they too could be abrasive.

But we must treat our wonderful communications possibilities with the greatest of care.

They have the power to do great good or to rouse passions that can lead all of us to a terrible place.

So we need to slow down,

Sift what we allow in,

Never accept the normality of lies in everyday public life,

And control what we can control by putting our own words through the sieve of those four gates before letting our own thoughts out into the world.

Is it true?

Is it necessary?

Is it beneficial?

Is it kind?

Let's spend a final 60 second pause sending out kind thoughts to one another.

Thinking of one another's needs and concerns at this time.

And rededicating ourselves to work for truth and honesty.

You.

You.

Welcome back.

For our closing words today,

I have dipped into the book,

The Grasshopper Chronicles by Rick Terwilliger.

This is what Rick tells us.

Words mask action.

Words detract and hide true intentions.

Words have no real value.

Calling a fish a bird does not make it fly.

Actions and effort are the true measure.

Results are their reward.

Ignore the beautiful lyrics of the song.

Words that promise do not fill empty bowls.

Smiling face can have two meanings,

One of which is not to your benefit.

Beware the sirens song.

Do not be lulled to sleep by false words of comfort and assurance.

Keep your eyes on what arises.

Words of Rick Terwilliger.

So there you have some thoughts for reflection on the themes of truth and honesty.

Without truth and honesty,

It's difficult to see how society could function.

We have to work to promote these two ideas today,

Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.

Namaste.

.

Reviews

Tony, here is a truth. You are appreciated, you are beneficial, and kind. I found this necessary to write. Thank you! Nameste. ❤️

May we hold faith, hope and love deeply in our hearts and live in reverence to what matters most in our lives. May we all hold steadfast for truth and honesty. Your rich words of wisdom are appreciated. Namaste. 🙏🏼

Beautiful! Thank you, Namaste
🙏👼🙏👼⭐🌹💕

Well said, thanks for the challenge of speaking the truth, honestly.,

Always so thought-provoking. Thank you. Social media has provided an anonymity that some people have misused to tell un-truths. It takes courage to speak honestly and with integrity. Namaste.

Practical. Relevant. Important.

Such an appropriately timed meditation given what we are going through in the US right now. Unfortunately I feel the people listening to this are probably not the ones who need to hear this the most! But, we can only control our own actions ❤️ Thanks as always Tony. Happy Autumn 🍂 🍁

Thank you for beautifully stating the importance of truth and honesty. 🌺🌸

Such wise and timely counsel. Thank you, Tony. I see you and the light within you. Be well. 🤲🏻❤🤲🏻

Tony thanks for sharing here. I was struck when I first heard this on the beautiful concept of the four gates of Truth, Necessity, Benefit and kindness for our words. A new concept that we can all learn from it we took it as an action. Blessings to you. Namaste Siobhán 🙏

A beautiful and a meaningful reminder as the day begins - may I treat every day as though it is my first and last. Go raibh mait agut Tony.

Thank you Tony for the wise commentary on modern age honesty & filtering of information. Comes at an opportune moment as well 🙏🏽

Oh how true these words ring Tony. At 65 an 3/4 (I’ll be 66 next month) I think about how many people my age have been sort of “forced” into adopting digital media just to stay in touch with their families. It’s very foreign to many and scares them. I basically, like the frog in the pot of water, slowly grew with it since the 1990s. So it’s not foreign to me- but this fake news and the lies that spew forth, from one person in particular, now that is something I’m not used to, nor would I ever want to be.
This is a very insightful meditation and I’m so appreciative that you put it in here. Thank you Tony.
🌹🌿🙏🏼🕊🙏🏽🍂🍁🦋💞💕☘️🌻🌸✨💐

Tony, what a timely piece for us in the USA today. Amidst the election chaos, the extreme divisiveness, the corrupt media, we need to listen to your calming words. Thank you, as always.

Thank you Tony . You speak the truth.

Well spoken, timely & always good to hear your voice Tony! Thanks💛☀😷

Thank you. Timely and important. Hope you are well!!!

Wonderful as always, Tony. Wise words; perfect timing. Thank you. Namaste.

Thanks Tony. Much needed, today and everyday. 🙏🏻