Actionable Truth No. 1
August 4th, 2013
So, I don’t think I can sum up my philosophy in just a few paragraphs. No quick soundbite answers here. But we can start with something. There’s a definite lack of this in many people. Once they have “figured themselves out” and said “this is who I am”, regardless whether or not they are correct in that assertion, but the very assertion in itself, that “belief”, is quite sufficient to their interactions, their potential character and greatness, by short cutting. Deciding by virtue of some few historical facts, they limit themselves. It hinders further learning. It results in a boring, flat life, where the participant becomes mere observer to the happenings about, a rendering that makes them the equivalent of, in the role-playing world, a “non-player character”.
One must be the hero of one’s own life, or you are hardly living one.
(To clarify the previous point: there is much, much virtue in “living for others”, of course, and in the practice of “playing”. Mind not the perceived paradox.)
How can this be done?
One must “let the world affect/effect one”. By the world, I mean especially that which exists independent of human guidance. Humans are a great part of this world, and those occasions where they are most free are the purest. The artifices of man are independent creations that should be judged upon the merit of truth found outside of humanity’s guidance. When trapped within only the world of men, we are often bereft of actual truth (as incomprehensible as it may be) and relegated to interpretations only, often containing only a small hint of truth, if any. It is then our charge to find where that truth lies and bare our souls to its message. You may not like what you hear, most likely, in fact. But when you are certain of it lacking human guidance, you can be certain of truth.
Ultimately, these are the lessons that life can teach us, without fail and with complete certainty. Accept these truths into your heart and you will grow into a stronger being. No longer mere observer, but true practitioner. Allow it to affect you, and whereby, it shall effect you.
The question of where human guidance comes into play is “the rub” of this topic. This is a most difficult proposition, and it has been the subject of much thought on my part. By “human guidance”, we can say a number of things very explicitly, as those things, believe it or not, guided by humans: the lessons you learn in school, the time partitioned for different lessons, the job you perform at work, the time required at work, where you work, where the school is located, where any structure is placed. There is not necessarily any “truth” in these things. There is “fact”, by way of their existence, but they were nonetheless arranged by human hands, and come with a near guarantee of fault, unless that school was built by an absolutely brilliant architect, or your time scheduled by a genius psychologist who could actually know what is best for you. (though it that area of expertise, genius is rare.)
So, we have much of our world preordained by the constructions of traditional action, and quite fallible individuals, for that matter. Not to lay fault, as most do their best, but it is not easy to know truth, and harder still when so many charlatans offer simple answers.
Before we get to what truth really is, we’ll rule out two things. Truth is neither a single idea, nor any particular theory.
Truth is a string of connections. Truth is the linkage between dimensions. Truth is found in nature, of course, but it sounds as English to a dog. Truth is in the cosmos. Truth is within and between us and all animals and all forms of life. It is in our interactions and the way we treat each other. Truth is our ballet. Truth is found in our trust. Truth is innocence, enthusiasm, precociousness, curiosity; truth is a newborn child. Truth is in the synchronicity of chaotic events, tailored to every consciousness. Truth is not bullheaded meditation, but in the presence of genius. Truth is denotation. Truth is naivete. “Truth is beauty, beauty truth.” Truth is death, but not taxes. Truth is the inexplicable. Truth is a beautiful voice. Truth is the desert, the forests, the mountains, the wind and rain, the sun and moon and stars, and more the ballet, and more our place, and more where we and things meet, and more where it strikes us, and more when striking leads on, and more where strike leads to strike leads to strike, and on in perpetuity.