The Quest for Truth:

    Truth is an illusive thing.  Anyone who seriously seeks to find it will soon learn this.  That first line of words in this paragraph is a Statement.  That is all it is really, just a statement.  I might believe that it is a fact, that I consider it to be True, but it is unproveable.  That statement is simply an expression of my own personal idea.  What I should say is that, from my own personal experiences, I have come to believe the Truth is an illusive thing to find.  It is very easy to say something like that though.  It is also very easy for many to probably agree and thus confirm it even more as a Fact, even though it is not.

    Webster's Dictionary defines Truth as: 1. the true or actual state of a matter.  2. conformity with fact or reality.  3. a verified or indisputable fact, proposition, etc.  4. the state or character of being true.

    By the same source, the definition of True is:  1. conforming to reality or fact.  2. real; genuine.  3. loyal; faithful.  4. conforming to a standard, pattern, etc.  5. legitimate or rightful.  6. accurately shaped, fitted, etc.

    So we should take a look at some of these other keywords used to define truth and what is true.  All numbered definitions of words in this work are from Random House Webster's Dictionary, third edition.

    Actual is: 1. existing in fact or reality.  2. existing at the present time.  Fact is defined as: 1. reality; actuality.  2. something known to exist or to have happened.  3. something known to be true.  4. something said to be true.  Reality is: 1. the state or quality of being real.  2. a real thing or fact.  3. real things, facts, or events as a whole.  Already there is a circle emerging where one is defined by the others.  None of these definitions so far tell us anything about any real truth.

    So then Genuine is:  1. possessing the claimed character, quality, or origin; real.  2. free from pretense, affectation, or hypocrisy.  Loyal is:  1. faithful to one's allegiance.  2. faithful to one's obligations.  3. characterized by faithfulness.  Faithful is said to mean: 1. steady in allegiance or affection; loyal.  2. reliable or believable.  3. true to fact, a standard, or an original.  4. thorough in the performance of duty.  Standard is:  1. something accepted as a basis of comparison.  2. a rule used as a basis for judgement.

    Still none of these things really say what truth is, just give us more descriptions of what qualities it should possess.  We could go on and on chasing definitions of new key words and sorting out those applicable, and probably find that it has more to do with thought than anything real.  My own definitions would say that it is all Relative, and then I am probably quoting Albert Einstein.  What may be the truth to me may not be the truth to anyone else.  I can say that it is sunny and warm outside even for the Month of March.  Is this true?  Certainly it is right now, but not for everyone.  Everyone I might go out into the street and talk to might confirm the truth of that statement,  yet a mile away it might be cloudy and raining.  And by the time I have finished writing this paragraph, that statement I made may no longer be true.  That storm a mile away right now might be upon me then.

    And this relativity must be considered when seeking the truth. (another statement though - is this one any more or less true than the last?)  One could go insane contemplating it.  But this is the type of truth that I feel like stating to be fact, real, genuine, and actual.  It cannot be written!!!  The real, actual, factual, and genuine truth is beyond definition.  With this point, I will attempt to put forth the ONLY TRUTH that I can really accept to be TRUE.  And it is only out of the limitations and needs of human comprehension and expression that I can even settle on this.

    I:  Everything is subject to CHANGE.  II:  The only thing in reality or imagination that is NOT subject to change is this FACT that all things are subject to change.


    Even this is a contradiction in and of itself, for part I is in direct conflict with part II.  But though this so-called truth may be just another contradiction, it seems to be believable to me.  This two-part statement embodies the truth of everything else.  There may be many sides to any one truth, but at the very least there are always two of these sides.  This statement reconciles that balance.

    Strangers who are not familiar with this quest may not ever understand.  Some people have set limits as to what they can or will ever be able to know - I think.  There seem to be built in default mechanisms within the human mind that shut things off when it gets too chaotic.  If it starts to make your head spin, shut it off!  Get away!  Go think of something else!  Never mind that you just accessed something very important!  -And you had the capacity to do so just by being the mortal being that we all are.  Run far away!  Do not go in there!  Do not try and understand.  It is a trick of the Devil to confuse you if you are a Christian.  It is a trick of GOD if you are a Pagan.  Stay with what is safe and known.  Do not venture forth with the capacity that is there inside you as a human being. This idea is a blending of ALL.

    To any human being, Individuality may be all we have.  But just look at that word!  Individual.  Indivisible.  Un-dividable.  Un-duality.   Made of two!  All of us are!  Left and right.  Conscious and Subconscious.  Active and Passive.  Masculine and Feminine.  No total macho man or Venus-domina woman can ever get over this fact!!!  We are ALL made of BOTH.  Can anyone be totally Mental without ever thinking of the Body?   Can anyone be total Animal without ever thinking of Mind at all?

    This whole quest seems one to Understand this 2 as 1  and 1 as 2 thing we have been thrown into.  It may manifest itself first as something else - some other struggle, some other quest to be resolved, but this is what I feel it will always end up as.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Copyright 2000 by J.S.Graham