The truth will set you free. I love this. It’s simple. It’s true. And it’s open to so much interpretation. Just what is the truth? Is it my truth? Is it someone else’s truth? Is what is true for me the same as what is true for you? Is there only one truth, the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God?! How, exactly, will the truth set me free? Will the truth deliver me from encumbrances, delusions and falsehoods of my own making? How do I know what the truth is? Will I recognize it when I see it? Just how brave must I be to recognize the truth and to express it?
I interpret this expression as an invitation to live in your own truth, to live as your true self or to live your true story. Is this an easy task? Hardly. Living in truth requires knowing the truth of who you are. Knowing the truth often involves a painstaking, multi-layered process of self-discovery. Even when we know the truth of who we are, it is often easier and more convenient to keep the truth at arm’s length, Living, walking and talking in truth takes effort. Sidestepping the truth is the lazy man’s way out, even if it means remaining in bondage.
Knowing and embracing the truth of who you are is akin to the Buddhist practice of accepting that all life is suffering. Once you accept that all life is suffering - once you know and embrace the truth of who you are - you are free to live your life fully. You are free from suffering and free from the illusion of duality (up/down, good/bad, black/white). Once freed, you have no choice but to go with the flow and your life unfolds exactly the way it is meant to.
Certainly, knowing and embracing the truth of who you are, like grasping the concept that all life is suffering, requires openness, patience, commitment and even a sense of humor. Compassion and gratitude compliment and expand these essential qualities. I can grasp this concept as well as know and embrace my truth for brief, shining moments. The trick is to keep these moments fresh in my mind when a situation or circumstance gets the best of me and I am once again caught up in the illusion and impeded from going with the flow.
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