[Jeff05]

Filtering the Truth from the Lies

"To truly find God, truth needs to be found independently from the opinions of others. The truth has to be found in our hearts." - A.H.Almaas

On this journey of life it is very hard to distinguish what is truth and what is a lie. There are so many conflicting beliefs, thoughts and philosophy out there and they all cannot be right. The problem is that most of the people that have those thoughts and beliefs were brought up that way or told about it and they just accepted it as truth with no questions asked. So how do you hear something or read something and know that it is truth? How can you know what is a lie and what is the truth? Well the answer is actually very easy but it is something that only you can answer yourself.

The first thing that you have to do to understand truth is to remove the fog that is around your head that inhibits you from seeing clearly. There is a false sense of what reality really is and until it slips out from underneath the feet of those trapped in it, they will never realize it. That false reality is there because it is filtered through something called the fog. Inside of the fog lies our ego, beliefs, views, traditions, values, religion and our self righteousness. It surrounds our entire head and reality is viewed through the fog and scrambled around until it reaches our brain and by the time that it gets there it is completely distorted from the truth.

In order to remove the fog we have to ask ourselves why we believe certain things. Why do we think the sky is blue or the sun rises in the east and sets in the west? How do we know that the ocean exists or that water is not poisonous These are questions that we can ask ourselves and the answers we find justify our beliefs. But what happens when we start asking ourselves the questions that we don't want to, like if God exists or why do we believe in this religion or that religion. Will the answers you find justify your beliefs?

As a person that was raised and believed so strongly in the Christian religion I know first hand what it is like to be a victim of the fog. If you would have told me 5 years ago that I would not believe in that religion I would have laughed and thought that you were crazy. I never even thought about questioning it and I knew with all my heart that it was the truth. If I started to have any doubt or conflicting questions that ran through my head I would quickly stop them and ask Jesus to forgive me for even having that thought. It was the only truth I had known, and to me at that time, it was the only truth that existed. Once I worked up enough courage to ask myself if this was really the truth, I began to remove that fog that had blinded me and inhibited me from excelling and growing as an individual.

Now I know that this can be hard for many people because of fear. Fear is the destruction of all man and religion creates a lot of fear. A lot of religions will tell you about severe consequences you will face if you don't believe in it or follow it. They say you will suffer everlasting burning torturing hell. So why would you even dare to question it and take a chance to go to hell forever? Well if what you believe in is the whole truth and nothing but the truth then there should be no problem questioning it. All your questions and answers will point that it is the right way, the truth, and the light without a shadow of doubt. But until you question it and search from within what truth is, you will never know.

Once you remove the fog and realize that you might not have the truth you can start to search for it. Start studying every religion, thought and belief and figure out why other people think that it's the truth but don't accept any of it. Don't accept or believe anything that you hear but don't ignore it either. Every word you read that comes from my thoughts onto this computer I do not want you to believe it or just accept it as truth. That would make me no better than a religious person telling you that my religion is the right one. I want you to question every single thing you see, hear and think about and search from within yourself what truth is and not allow anyone or any book decide it for you.

"Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it." -Buddha

This can be one of the hardest things that you have ever done in your life. (I know it was for me) Accepting the fact that everything you have ever known and everything you believe in might be a lie. It will completely transform your reality and you will look at the world in an entirely new perspective. So don't accept anything you know or anything you hear as truth and start questioning everything. Truth can only be found in our hearts and nowhere else. Once we allow another person or book to tell us what truth is without questioning it and searching within ourselves, we give up our free will as individuals and we are no longer free thinkers but programmed robots.

[clocks90]

i enjoy this, alot :)
i've gone over this thaught before aswel,
thank you
:)

[Molock]

Nice post. If only more people would practice freethinking.

It's also worth mentioning that it's better to have no answer than any answer. Just because there is a question that you cannot answer doesn't mean that you should fill that gap with anything you come across. Sometimes you just need to suspend judgment. Sometimes that judgment will remain suspended for the entirety of your life.

[EmotionallyTonedGeometry]

Great post.

I've been thinking a lot about memetics lately and I think we need to be more aware of the shape and nature of the ideas we believe. If someone tells you there are consequences for not -believing- something and that you should do everything in your power to share that idea with others, they are most assuredly trying to sell you something. If what you are being sold has no empirical verification and has a similar self-propagating nature, you should be all the more suspicious.

The problem then comes from what it is exactly we are trying to learn about being human. I think it is self-evident that we cannot generate a sufficient image or replication of our own lived experience. So what can it possibly mean "to be?" I think this is something that can only be experienced in the complete absence of such mediating theories. Whatever this experience is, it is being actively repressed by our insistence that everything (including the fundamental experience of being) must be objectively communicated.