Truth
I wish to meditate upon truth. There is perhaps no single topic of greater significance for human beings to consider.
Human beings are born and live in the truth and yet many cannot see this----as such it is a mystery for philosophers to contemplate: why is truth both present and yet hidden to man (woman)? I do not wish to engage in this subtle inquiry in this present essay. I have many other essays addressing this very theme. For example in the blog entitled: "entelechaia": http://entelechaia.blogspot.com/2014/12/essay-from-summer-14.html
Today, I wish to reflect on the truth that is immediate and accessible to all---even now, in this present moment truth is "one step away"---to be honest not even a step---take one deep breath, release it and acknowledge this truth that surrounds us everywhere, on all sides, all the time as though it were the element we dwell in. Like the flying fish who leaps beyond the surface of the sea into the air realizes then and there for the very first time that all of her life she has lived in water. The self-evidency of the water did not appear until the first leap beyond the water. The first step is to let things be what they are for the path of doubtful debating leads nowhere---doubting is the active resistance against the power of truth here and now.
You may ask: with all of this truth surrounding me, why is the world full of lies? A formidable question! And one that is potentially irresolvable----having entered into the fray of this inquiry, one might never depart. And yet, truth is self-evident and immediately grasped here and now. The skeptic
succeeds in ushering in doubt by turning away from the immediately given self-evidence of truth. Such a thing happens with the use of words---since truth is not a linguistic artifact or a theory. The "suchness" (essential being) of things is not altered by naming them, and no amount of naming can make a thing come to pass in truth.
Is truth on the side of the subject? The object? Or somewhere in between? Or perhaps there is yet another option. Truth, like salvation, is for human beings---not for God, or nature, not even for the angels. Man alone, searches for truth and needs truth.
If my reader is a veteran skeptic, ready to draw arms at the mention of the mere word 'truth', allow me to say that as a teacher I am ready to show you how to learn to know the truth that surrounds you, step by step. However, one must begin in earnest with the self-evidency of one's own perception, here and now. I call this "assuming one's own standpoint". This is analogous to the flying fish acknowledging its watery domain as its birthright as it breaks free albeit briefly from the clutch of the surf.
To be honest, the analogy of the flying fish is not entirely univocal point for point. The human being cannot exit the fact of truth and true-being no matter how hard he or she may try! For example, dreaming itself may be the gateway that leads beyond truth, hence upon waking one realizes that whereas I was dreaming and caught up in illusion and untruth, now that I have awaken I see the truth directly before me. Another attempt may be found in telling lies. One may deceive concerning the truth. However, strictly speaking, this is not effective. If I am standing before an oak tree, and I declare: "this is not a tree, " I lie. This lying word in no way changes the truth of the oak tree. The more I look at it---man may run from truth but cannot hide! Not even dreaming and lies can keep the human being outside of the truth.
Let us return to the skeptic: provided that you can assume your own standpoint, that is acknowledge that you are awake and are able to honestly name the oak tree that is directly in your eyesight, I can teach you the truth. Beginning with the self-evidency of one's own perception, the path that opens to truth is as follows: Beginning with one's own starting point you proceed to ask: How must the universe be in order that this immediately self-evident starting point is indeed true? The quest must begin in earnest. Honesty is the first virtue that is required---honesty, then a sense of wonder---how, indeed, is any of this appearing to me now? For the self-evidency of my being here and now is irrefutable. It is this truth that we begin with that leads us toward the consideration of how "the universe must be" in order that this immediate fact can be. The skeptical path is futile as is clearly seen---if I accept the immediate evidence of my standpoint but then imagine that the universe itself does not cohere with this truth then I am proposing an impossibility---namely that the one and only truth in the universe is my own standpoint.
In order for their to be one standpoint in truth it follows that the entire universe must be true or at the very least must allow enough truth for this immediate experience to stand before me as it most evidently does here and now. Our question then becomes: how is it that there is truth in the universe?
This becomes the correct method of inquiry, not only in philosophy, but in all endeavors. An allied question is this how can I sustain the truth since it is so self-evidently present to me here and now? As a preliminary I answer that there is truth in the universe because the universe itself is aimed at truth and I can sustain the truth by staying present to the evidence that arises before me here and now.
I wish to meditate upon truth. There is perhaps no single topic of greater significance for human beings to consider.
Human beings are born and live in the truth and yet many cannot see this----as such it is a mystery for philosophers to contemplate: why is truth both present and yet hidden to man (woman)? I do not wish to engage in this subtle inquiry in this present essay. I have many other essays addressing this very theme. For example in the blog entitled: "entelechaia": http://entelechaia.blogspot.com/2014/12/essay-from-summer-14.html
Today, I wish to reflect on the truth that is immediate and accessible to all---even now, in this present moment truth is "one step away"---to be honest not even a step---take one deep breath, release it and acknowledge this truth that surrounds us everywhere, on all sides, all the time as though it were the element we dwell in. Like the flying fish who leaps beyond the surface of the sea into the air realizes then and there for the very first time that all of her life she has lived in water. The self-evidency of the water did not appear until the first leap beyond the water. The first step is to let things be what they are for the path of doubtful debating leads nowhere---doubting is the active resistance against the power of truth here and now.
You may ask: with all of this truth surrounding me, why is the world full of lies? A formidable question! And one that is potentially irresolvable----having entered into the fray of this inquiry, one might never depart. And yet, truth is self-evident and immediately grasped here and now. The skeptic
succeeds in ushering in doubt by turning away from the immediately given self-evidence of truth. Such a thing happens with the use of words---since truth is not a linguistic artifact or a theory. The "suchness" (essential being) of things is not altered by naming them, and no amount of naming can make a thing come to pass in truth.
Is truth on the side of the subject? The object? Or somewhere in between? Or perhaps there is yet another option. Truth, like salvation, is for human beings---not for God, or nature, not even for the angels. Man alone, searches for truth and needs truth.
If my reader is a veteran skeptic, ready to draw arms at the mention of the mere word 'truth', allow me to say that as a teacher I am ready to show you how to learn to know the truth that surrounds you, step by step. However, one must begin in earnest with the self-evidency of one's own perception, here and now. I call this "assuming one's own standpoint". This is analogous to the flying fish acknowledging its watery domain as its birthright as it breaks free albeit briefly from the clutch of the surf.
To be honest, the analogy of the flying fish is not entirely univocal point for point. The human being cannot exit the fact of truth and true-being no matter how hard he or she may try! For example, dreaming itself may be the gateway that leads beyond truth, hence upon waking one realizes that whereas I was dreaming and caught up in illusion and untruth, now that I have awaken I see the truth directly before me. Another attempt may be found in telling lies. One may deceive concerning the truth. However, strictly speaking, this is not effective. If I am standing before an oak tree, and I declare: "this is not a tree, " I lie. This lying word in no way changes the truth of the oak tree. The more I look at it---man may run from truth but cannot hide! Not even dreaming and lies can keep the human being outside of the truth.
Let us return to the skeptic: provided that you can assume your own standpoint, that is acknowledge that you are awake and are able to honestly name the oak tree that is directly in your eyesight, I can teach you the truth. Beginning with the self-evidency of one's own perception, the path that opens to truth is as follows: Beginning with one's own starting point you proceed to ask: How must the universe be in order that this immediately self-evident starting point is indeed true? The quest must begin in earnest. Honesty is the first virtue that is required---honesty, then a sense of wonder---how, indeed, is any of this appearing to me now? For the self-evidency of my being here and now is irrefutable. It is this truth that we begin with that leads us toward the consideration of how "the universe must be" in order that this immediate fact can be. The skeptical path is futile as is clearly seen---if I accept the immediate evidence of my standpoint but then imagine that the universe itself does not cohere with this truth then I am proposing an impossibility---namely that the one and only truth in the universe is my own standpoint.
In order for their to be one standpoint in truth it follows that the entire universe must be true or at the very least must allow enough truth for this immediate experience to stand before me as it most evidently does here and now. Our question then becomes: how is it that there is truth in the universe?
This becomes the correct method of inquiry, not only in philosophy, but in all endeavors. An allied question is this how can I sustain the truth since it is so self-evidently present to me here and now? As a preliminary I answer that there is truth in the universe because the universe itself is aimed at truth and I can sustain the truth by staying present to the evidence that arises before me here and now.
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