Bird Droppings October 15, 2012

Can we even look for truth in an untruthful world?

 

“A king asked a sage to explain the Truth. In response the sage asked the king how he would convey the taste of a mango to someone who had never eaten anything sweet. No matter how hard the king tried, he could not adequately describe the flavor of the fruit, and, in frustration, he demanded of the sage ‘Tell me then, how would you describe it?’ The sage picked up a mango and handed it to the king saying ‘This is very sweet. Try eating it!’” Hindu Teaching Story

 

Sometimes in the simplest way we can get a point across just telling the truth. Nothing can describe more adequately than truth. I have written about truth numerous times and talked with teachers and educational experts about that same subject on countless occasions and still this is subject we seldom broach in society. It is so very hard to always be truthful in our society today with the instant broadcast of everything we do on ipads, ipods, iphones, smart phones and numerous other gadgets. Many times we can question, what truth is much as did the great philosophers of old but we still get caught up in the loudest and longest winded and often distorted message of a charismatic bozo that has a great speaking voice and wears a nice suit usually with a Rolex. As I read the Hindu parable above it hit me. Maybe truth is within the experience, being able to find it through an event or some sort of actual hands on experience sort of John Deweian.

 

“It is a pleasure to stand upon the shore, and to see ships tossed upon the sea: a pleasure to stand in the window of a castle, and to see a battle and the adventures thereof below: but no pleasure is comparable to standing upon the vantage ground of truth… and to see the errors, and wanderings, and mists, and tempests, in the vale below.” Sir Francis Bacon

 

“It is unfortunate, considering that enthusiasm moves the world, that so few enthusiasts can be trusted to speak the truth.” Arthur James Balfour

 

As I read what these great thinkers have to say about truth it is sad that they see truth as an uncommon commodity, something that is few and far between especially as we go into an election sequence. We watch news and read papers each day and choose to believe or not believe what we see. Bat boy is having plastic surgery to look normal was the title of a grocery store tabloid many months back. One of my favorites was when Bill Clinton was in office and he was having an extramarital affair with an alien. Most of us see these doctored photos and total fabrications and pass them off as such but some people take to heart and then pass on to ten more people. There are many who believe Apollo missions were total fabrication and numerous other events in history. A local science professor comments in class while teaching genetics that the Apollo mission is a hoax because the ripples in the wrinkled flag even though identical in all the thousands of photos taken are caused by a breeze blowing in the studio where the shots were taken. That has been proven numerous time to be a bogus claim we did land on the moon!

 

“Between truth and the search for it, I choose the second.” Bernard Berenson

 

“When you want to fool the world, tell the truth.” Otto Von Bismarck

 

Why is it, that truth is so elusive? I find it so hard to understand that we go at life literally intent on fabrication, deceit and deception. Bismarck’s comment though near a hundred years old is still very much true.

 

“Truth can never be told so as to be understood, and not be believed.” William Blake

 

“Truth lies within ourselves: it takes no rise from outward things, whatever you may believe. There is an inmost center in us all, where truth abides in fullness and to Know rather consists in opening out a way whence the imprisoned splendor may escape than in effecting entry for light supposed to be without.” Robert Browning

 

“A few observations and much reasoning lead to error; many observations and a little reasoning to truth.” Alexis Carrel

 

I look back and see how so many times in avoiding truth the tales grew with each moment and soon a story takes the place of a simple event and soon a novel unravels and the line between fiction and nonfiction becomes literally a canyon. I see this daily with some of my students who soon forget what is real and what is not.

 

“The pursuit of truth will set you free; even if you never catch up with it.” Clarence Darrow

 

“Time is precious, but truth is more precious than time.” Benjamin Disraeli

 

 “Only the hand that erases can write the true thing.” Meister Eckhart

 

Isn’t it sad that truth is so difficult and yet so easy, telling the truth eliminates numerous additional words and time that could be spent perhaps going in the right direction rather than pursuing issues that really may not even pertain. It is so simple and yet so elusive to so many.

 

“The greater the truth the greater the libel.” Lord Ellenborough

 

“Truth is beautiful, without doubt; but so are lies.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

There is paradox in Emerson’s words as I read again that line. Sometimes we equate truth as not colorful enough and a word here and there and a far better story evolves. We so easily get caught up in deceit because this is what we want to hear. The truth may be painful or difficult to take and so the fabrication becomes the reality and the pain is less at the time. A movie out a few years back portrays the world of a schizophrenic, “A beautiful Mind”.  Dr. John Nash is played by Russell Crowe very convincingly. Dr. Nash eventually realizes the duplicity of his reality and learns to deal with it. Many of us never accept the unreal we create each day as we fabricate and manipulate that around us and simply live life in an unreal world with shadows of reality occasionally flashing by.

We are brought up accepting untruth; we have professionals, politicians who work at telling half-truths and fabricating to do their jobs, as they run the country. Wouldn’t it be an interesting world if politicians could take a few drops of medicine or could be given sodium pentothal (truth serum) before each meeting and become truthful? Problem is we wouldn’t have a use for politicians and then anyone could run for office. Would it not be great if we could believe the president was telling the truth or the candidate running against him? As I look at this concept more deeply it is truly sad that we can even look at life in this way, knowing lies are there and yet accepting and often holding them as truthful.

 

“Respect for the truth comes close to being the basis for all morality.” Frank Herbert

 

“Peace if possible, but truth at any rate.” Martin Luther

 

“You’ll never get mixed up if you simply tell the truth. Then you don’t have to remember what you have said, and you never forget what you have said.” Sam Rayburn

 

We live in a society where morality is bantered about as a catch word. We live in a world where peace is elusive often because truth is nowhere to be found. We live in a world where politicians are counting how many times the other side has changed their minds and or rhetoric on issues. We live in a world where many are in harm’s way and many of these instances are due to untruths, which we then justify buy additional untruthful information and rationales.  Do we even remember the what and the why of anything anymore? So as I sit reading and writing this morning please keep all in harm’s way on your mind and in your hearts and please always give thanks namaste.

 

Wa de (Skee)

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