Daily Meditation-February 27, 2022-Truth Is You, and You Are Truth

Today’s Quotation:

If you cannot find the truth where you are, where do you expect to find it?  Truth is not faraway; it is ever present.  It is not something to be attained since not one of your steps leads away from it.

Dogen

Today’s Meditation:

I was very young when Jesus Christ Superstar came out, but even at that young age I was struck by one line in particular, sung by Pontius Pilate and directed to Jesus as he was being persecuted.  It went like this: 

“But what is truth?
Is truth unchanging law?
We both have truths
Are mine the same as yours?”

In the Bible, the line is simply “What is truth?”  I like the way that the question has been expanded, though, for it illustrates the difficulties involved in defining truth and even finding and recognizing it.  It’s also difficult to define truth because our truths change in our lives as we grow older, more mature, and (hopefully) wiser; there were many “truths” that I would have argued for vociferously fifteen years ago that now seem to me much more relative, much less important in the grand scheme of things.

I think it’s important that we keep in mind that we can’t go searching for it.  When we search, we find other people’s truths, and we only see them on their surfaces.  We can’t experience the deep convictions that lead to their definition of truths.  It’s much more important that we consider our own truths in life, our own convictions, our own integrity and beliefs.

It’s also important that we allow ourselves to let go of truths.  When I was young, I used to believe the stuff I read about life being about kicking and fighting and scratching our way to the top.  Nowadays, though, I see life as cooperation, not competition–and because I’ve allowed myself to let go of that “truth,” my life is much richer and abundant.

Truth is with you, and truth is within you. Live it, feel it, appreciate it, and let your life grow ever richer and fuller.  You’ll never need to use it as a weapon against others and their beliefs if you accept your own and love it fully.

Questions to ponder:

1. How do you define truth?

2. Are you able to see your own truths clearly?  How does it make you feel when you recognize a current, personal truth?

3. Why are we taught when we’re young that truths are absolutes?  How would our lives be if we never allowed our truths to change?

For further thought:

When you give up your own truth to win at someone else’s game, everyone loses.

Stephen C. Paul

Credit: Living Life Fully