Truth, honesty and knowledge of the self
Jeroen
Luminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlands Veteran
It seems to me that all search for truth can’t get away from the subjectivity of it, the fact that your own viewpoint defines the results and extents of the search. This leads you to explore yourself, to deconditioning and self-observation. In many ways earnestness, a commitment to honesty inside and outside yourself, is an ally in this search, an accelerant of the process in which you let go of many things.
It really is a process where the question “who am I?” forces you to confront all the untruths. It leads to many questions about yourself, and a long process of letting go of things. But as Ramana Maharshi said, “the question ‘who am I’ is not meant to get an answer, it is meant to dissolve the questioner”, and eventually the questions stop coming.
Eventually this exploration of the self leads you to a set of core issues. For me these were, how I related to honour, keeping my word, honesty; and later to love, my mother and my birth. Beyond that even to my earlier sense of being.
Comments
If it were only that simple .... :-)
Yeah it is not so easy, is it, @IdleChater … It takes time and insight, and not everyone walks the same path, so even a description of it sometimes misses the mark. But perhaps these things inspire some people.
Or not ;-)
Easy for you to mock the efforts of others. I don’t see you making any efforts of your own devising.
Some of the things about honesty, perception and understanding are not so much about letting go. You don’t always have to let go of things that are untrue, you just have to see them as untrue, it is a shift in the way you see things.
For example, I now read far less fiction and watch far less television, I just lost interest with the realisation that these things are manufactured, they are other peoples thoughts and dreams, not real. I still remember some fiction fondly, but it seems much less important now.
Being grateful for one’s blessings seem somehow more important.