"Sir, you often speak of truth. What is untruth?" "Untruth is an absence. It is, but it is nothing, hence it is not the opposite of truth. Truth has no opposite."
*Brian K. Wilcox. "Meetings with an Anonymous Sage."
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My cousin, Gary, who liked to tell falsehoods, shared a scary tale with me. As he and I lay beside each other on his bed that dark night, he told of a devilish creature with fingers dripping blood from past prey. This malevolent beast, Bloody Fingers, waited under beds to capture new victims.
How did Bloody Fingers do this? When someone allowed their arm to hang over the side of the bed in the darkness of night, this merciless monster would seize the arm and pull the victim under the bed to be enjoyed as a meal.
The story and how Gary told it frightened me. For many years, though I had always known it to be only a story, a pure fantasy said by someone who enjoyed fantasies, I refused to let my arm relax over the side of a bed. I would try, but that story lived in my bones and had more power than common sense. Many years later, I chose to relax my arm over the side of the bed, and, of course, there was no Bloody Fingers to pull me under.
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Much of what humans cling to as truth is no more factual than beastly Bloody Fingers under a bed. Yet, a falsehood can overpower us - like I said above ... overriding common sense. Why? Fear usually. Sometimes, maybe out of devotion to those we inherited the falsehood from. Sometimes, questioning a religious belief might feel like a betrayal of our parents, who raised us to believe a specific tenet. We may fear that questioning something about our faith path is a betrayal of God. We likely have not been told not to do so can be a betrayal.
Gary represents all those who have told us what is true ... supposedly true, that is. Hence, we are unquestionably to agree with them. Interestingly, in Buddhism, devotees are encouraged to challenge what has been taught, the same in Judaism. This questioning seems the exception in Christianity, for the most part. Yet, how can integrity exist in a religious group without the welcome to challenge even its central tenets? I sense that many question their faith, but they live in denial of their doubts, or they do not deny but remain silent, anyway. Truth-telling can only thrive in religious environments of honesty about our confusion and doubts and, yes, disbelief.
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Appealing to ancient authorities is a way many lead us to believe something must be the truth. When a pastor, persons cited the Bible, the Church Fathers, the Desert Fathers, and the so-called saints in this manner. None of these sources are infallible means of truth.
Buddha is said to have spoken, "Be a light unto yourselves." This instruction does not mean disrespect for what others say is true. We all learn from others. So, Buddha says, "Finally, you are the only one to decide what is true ... no one else can do that for you." We cannot inherit truth like great-grandma's favorite bedspread or grandpa's clock.
The Way is increasing integrity. The more intimate we are with the Light, the more the Light exposes the true and the false - this can be painful, but it is liberating, too.
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The Way harmonizes two aspects in unity within us. First, the intellectual. Second, the devotional. Buddhists speak of wedding compassion and wisdom. We remain open to learning. We do not fear questioning beliefs, regardless of how long-held. Questions are as important to us as are answers. We love truth, and the more we give ourselves to truth, the more we love. Wedded with mindful intelligence is the heartfulness of affection.
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Jesus - Gospel of John 8.32 -
You shall know the truth. And it will free you.
How do stories - ideas, thoughts, beliefs, convictions (racial, familial, political, religious, about yourself ... )- shape your life? Which ones have an irrational power over you? Which ones may not be true, you know, but you fear facing that possibility? Have you shed some belief dear to you, seeing it as untrue, though you had held it dear? What led you to do that? How did you feel afterward?
*Brian's book, An Ache for Union: Poems on Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered through major online booksellers or the publisher AuthorHouse.
