ABOUT TRUTH
In John 18:38, Pontius Pilate was recorded as having asked the question “What is Truth”, which was left unanswered. In a commentary on Holy Scriptures, Pilate was said “to have no use for truth”. His query was interpreted as an expression of derision and of cynicism. Perhaps, Pilate was really interested to know the answer, but the pressure of politics – he had to render a decision within a short time – precluded his pursuing the question. On the other hand, he may have really been mocking his prisoner. His experiences as a roman soldier and procurator of a rebellious province of the far flung Roman Empire must have exposed him to deceit and made him severely skeptical about men’s motives. During his reign as governor, he must have encountered many claims of truths. And if we empathize with him at that particular moment in history, we cannot help accept the truth in the charges of treason against the Empire brought against his prisoner. Never mind the aspect of blasphemy which was the impelling cause for the Jewish religious hierarchy to turn the prisoner to him for the death penalty he alone can impose.
Surely, I will not claim I can answer Pilate’s question. I know there are a number of philosophers who struggled with the issue in order to present convincing proofs of Truth. That should give us an idea that discussing the subject could entangle us with definitions, and definitions of definitions. There is even talk of an Absolute Truth.
I sometimes think that honesty is an indication of truth. But oftentimes I balk at the idea and think that honesty is only an aspect of truth. We always say that honesty is the faithful accounting of an event or action. Or an admission of fact. Truth may be more than that. A man may tell a story that has no corresponding account of a real event and yet has managed to unfold truth through the parable. There are many such stories that portray and illuminate truth in dramatic form, rendering it easy for a primitive mind to grasp and understand it.
Conversely, a man can weave a very detailed embellishment of an actual event, and not be presenting the truth. I know of a truly “creative” person who, in order to escape punishment or cover up for some of his friends, can whip up fantastic lies to describe an incident or action. It does not seem to matter if the account is about something that does not merit attention or punitive action. He has become habituated to telling lies, and I think he had come to believe them himself. (Or could it be that he finds his life so boring he had to enliven it with fantasies? That will then constitute his truth.)
We live in an era when lies predominate. And to convince humanity of the veracity of claims, reams of justifications are woven to support and have them accepted. I shall not claim I have lived a totally truthful life. But I realized that truth is easier to live with – even if it means pain – than a lie. There are no such things as half-lies; they are still untruths. Bending the truth is not presenting the truth either, but engaging in deception. Eventually Time and fading memory will demolish the elaborate structure you have woven to hide and cover up the event or action.
There is an interesting yoga aphorism by Patanjali. Sutra 36 of Book Two, says: “when he [the yogi] is perfected in truth, all acts and their fruits depend on him.” One commentary expounds the aphorism on truth, saying that “an ordinary man is said to be truthful when his words corresponds to the facts of which he speaks. But when a man becomes perfected in truthfulness, he gains control, so to speak, of the truth. He no longer has to ‘obey’ facts; facts obey him. He cannot think or even dream a lie; everything he says becomes true. If he blesses someone, that person is blessed – no matter whether the blessing is deserved or not.”
The other related aphorism of Patanjali is about covetousness. Sutra 37 states “Where cessation from theft is perfected, all treasures present themselves to him who possesses it.” A commentary by Charles Johnson says that “he who in every least thing is wholly honest with the spirit of Life, finds Life supporting him in all things, and gains admittance to the treasure house of Life, the spiritual universe.”
I can only surmise that many things go wrong in my country and people because our leaders – in spite of their veneers of religiosity -- are neither spiritual nor “perfected” in Truth.
Surely, I will not claim I can answer Pilate’s question. I know there are a number of philosophers who struggled with the issue in order to present convincing proofs of Truth. That should give us an idea that discussing the subject could entangle us with definitions, and definitions of definitions. There is even talk of an Absolute Truth.
I sometimes think that honesty is an indication of truth. But oftentimes I balk at the idea and think that honesty is only an aspect of truth. We always say that honesty is the faithful accounting of an event or action. Or an admission of fact. Truth may be more than that. A man may tell a story that has no corresponding account of a real event and yet has managed to unfold truth through the parable. There are many such stories that portray and illuminate truth in dramatic form, rendering it easy for a primitive mind to grasp and understand it.
Conversely, a man can weave a very detailed embellishment of an actual event, and not be presenting the truth. I know of a truly “creative” person who, in order to escape punishment or cover up for some of his friends, can whip up fantastic lies to describe an incident or action. It does not seem to matter if the account is about something that does not merit attention or punitive action. He has become habituated to telling lies, and I think he had come to believe them himself. (Or could it be that he finds his life so boring he had to enliven it with fantasies? That will then constitute his truth.)
We live in an era when lies predominate. And to convince humanity of the veracity of claims, reams of justifications are woven to support and have them accepted. I shall not claim I have lived a totally truthful life. But I realized that truth is easier to live with – even if it means pain – than a lie. There are no such things as half-lies; they are still untruths. Bending the truth is not presenting the truth either, but engaging in deception. Eventually Time and fading memory will demolish the elaborate structure you have woven to hide and cover up the event or action.
There is an interesting yoga aphorism by Patanjali. Sutra 36 of Book Two, says: “when he [the yogi] is perfected in truth, all acts and their fruits depend on him.” One commentary expounds the aphorism on truth, saying that “an ordinary man is said to be truthful when his words corresponds to the facts of which he speaks. But when a man becomes perfected in truthfulness, he gains control, so to speak, of the truth. He no longer has to ‘obey’ facts; facts obey him. He cannot think or even dream a lie; everything he says becomes true. If he blesses someone, that person is blessed – no matter whether the blessing is deserved or not.”
The other related aphorism of Patanjali is about covetousness. Sutra 37 states “Where cessation from theft is perfected, all treasures present themselves to him who possesses it.” A commentary by Charles Johnson says that “he who in every least thing is wholly honest with the spirit of Life, finds Life supporting him in all things, and gains admittance to the treasure house of Life, the spiritual universe.”
I can only surmise that many things go wrong in my country and people because our leaders – in spite of their veneers of religiosity -- are neither spiritual nor “perfected” in Truth.
posted by myvja at
10:15 PM
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