Pontius Pilatus once asked a rhetorical question, “What is truth?”
I noticed a pattern: people who are the most skeptical about the possibility of existence of an absolute truth are those who are morally and intellectually corrupt, who have made so many compromises and wrong choices that they no longer have any soul left. When someone questions the existence of truth, it’s his own existence that is in question, because he no longer knows who or what he is.
The matter of truth, however, is a tricky one, because it is usually defined as statement of fact, and what is considered to be a fact can indeed depend on one’s point of view, or depth of knowledge. It was long considered a fact that the Sun moves around the Earth, because that’s what was perceived. Only with deeper intellectual and perceptual insight was it revealed that the movement of the Sun is an artifact of Earth’s rotation. However, the statement that the Sun moves on the sky is true, and this truth was a necessary step towards the discovery of deeper truths about orbital mechanics. If you deny that the Sun moves, you can’t measure anything properly, and without measurement the door to further discovery is closed.
I therefore define truth as a process of discovering reality. Truth is a process. This process goes from establishing and stating the basic facts, as they are perceived, and going from there into the abstract layer of interpretation, of figuring out what it means. You state the fact that the Sun and the stars move across the sky, you measure what precisely is going on, and if your measurements are accurate enough, a Newton can use them to apply calculus and create a model of the solar system. However, there will be discrepancies between the model and the reality, and those discrepancies need to be carefully measured and noted, because an Einstein can then use them to model his general relativity. So, accurate perception and clear statement of facts are the necessary prerequisites in the process of following lesser truths towards the greater ones, on the path of revelation of reality.
So, as much as truth is a process, so is lie. Lie is a process of obscuring the facts, of incorrectly reporting them and interpreting them in a way whose purpose is to hide reality and replace it with an illusion.
The absolute, final reality, the goal at the end of the path of truth, is God. To lie, is to stray from this path, and to lead others astray. To choose lies, to relativize truth, makes one an enemy of God.
You know what is tricky also? Seeing God in something well made. Not many can paint like Chagall or design a good product, or a beautiful gorgeous person, then we people lust for it. So it’s tricky about finding the truth when pieces of it are implemented in everything from Maldives, New Zealand & Plitvice lakes to beautifully designed products & humans. Maybe that’s the devils highest trickery. But reading you and figuring out the truth aspect, that information is food (that reminds me of that idiot in Yogananda’s book who tried to poison test the master and ended up burning inside, for salvation).
I was also watching a series Westworld, where robots somehow attain AI, they are so well programed but their maker questions their quality and true intelligence because of repetitive loops and actions. I wonder if we will be judged by repetitive actions in this snakepit world or by the creative potential lurking in us.
https://youtu.be/S94ETUiMZwQ
I would be more interested in seeing God than in seeing God in things, well made or otherwise.
Hopefully, I know I don’t have much credit left. But I also feel joy because that time is not far off now, it’s like we are racing to that event to see evils end and that makes me excited. I know I would be either dead or totally depressed if it wasn’t for you pointing the way.
But I see a piece of God in my loved one every day, some pure spark in the eyes. I especially notice it on a good sunny day. It talks to me “you must treasure and protect this” and I do try to do that and pray for that person. It’s like something more concrete looking at me, more awesome, like the big person behind the daily person, the real person not obstructed by the physical limits of the body. I compare it with what you said about being incarnated in a chicken. And it took me a long time to find such a good person to live with. I know that person is more sacred than I am. Maybe not more smarter/skilled but definitely more sacred and true. But that light often goes dark. Some cool and pure people are just completely in the dark with everything around them, world events, narratives that completely kill their faith, and I’m perplexed how the good are so easily fooled and manipulated, not even your or Yogananda’s book makes them remember something higher.