488 The truth redux
I had much feedback on the truth; blog 482 was the longest to write, about 5 days ... probably because I stopped and thought about what I was writing more often than with any other subject I had written about previously. Does that perhaps mean the truth is one of the more important issues? Not at all ... it is the most important issue in our lives. Admittedly I became aware of this only after repeatedly coming back to the subject and eventually applying it to my own life.
The most profound definition of the truth can be found in Jiddu Krishnamurti’s work ... he talks about the Freedom from the Known in his book of that name. The Known, JK says, is all our collected knowledge; it is the content of our overloaded mind:
... our illusions & disillusions, hang-ups, past experiences (good or bad), biases, expectations, our traditions, religious doctrines & dogmas, hatreds, regrets, sorrows & guilt, prejudices & preconceptions.
The truth then is “a still mind” where we gain freedom from that content of the mind. Obviously this does not mean to disregard all our knowledge, we have much knowledge that benefits us. But it means to detach from the known that may impact us negatively … expectations, biases, hatreds, delusions, conditioning, prejudices. Once that detachment has set in, the freedom we crave follows.
(Incidentally, it also means to detach from the known that impacts us positively ... Zeno - founder of Stoic philosophy - said more than two thousand years ago: "Tranquility can best be reached through indifference to both pleasure and pain.")
There is a tough lesson to be learnt here. How ready are we to let go of our hurts and disappointments? Of delusions, conditioning and prejudices?
There is nothing more beneficial than learning that lesson.
In our own lives, on a personal level, it will bring us inner peace. On a world-wide level it also will bring peace … the end of conflict and war. Imagine people were able to detach from the delusions and prejudices that cause the hatred between religions? No more wars in the Middle East; no more shocking massacres in Africa.
Gain Freedom from the Known. Still the mind. Meditate.