SEEK YOUR OWN TRUTH

An offering of advice you can choose to take or not take, my only intention is to encourage the innate passion you have burning inside yourself to seek out that which resonates with you. My sentiment is actually shared by historical and modern teachers, and they express it using their own unique perspective, allowing this universal truth wide ranging appeal. Buddha teaches. "Do not accept what you hear by report, do not accept tradition, do not accept a statement because it is found in your books, nor because it is in accord with your belief, nor because it is the saying of your teacher. Be lamps unto yourselves." According to Bible’s account, Jesus said “Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”

And from our modern world the same sentiment is echoed from the following spiritual teachers. Ram Dass shares, “The spiritual journey is individual, highly personal. It can’t be organized or regulated. It isn’t true that everyone should follow one path. Listen to your own truth. Marianne Williamson encourages us to, “Only write from your own passion, your own truth. That's the only thing you really know about, and anything else leads you away from the pulse -- yours or anyone else's.” Neale Donald Walsch offers this, “There is no truth except the truth that exists within you. Everything else is what someone is telling you.” Renee Chae sums it up this way, “It is wise to ask questions. The only way for anyone to experience truth is to find it on their own through their own seeking, experience(s), and inner knowing. The depth of knowledge a person obtains through experiencing something firsthand, and by it resonating as truth within one’s heart, far exceeds a belief taught to them using mere words.”

And here is my own interpretation of this universal belief to be brave and do your own searching, “The truth you discover through your own experiences, your own mistakes, and your own revelations articulated with language that makes sense to you, is the truth that your soul desires.” We have quotes like this to reflect upon because spiritual teachers share with us what worked, or is working, for them.  Thankfully, they do share, because their experience is incredibly valuable. We can either choose to integrate their ideas with our own intuition, or not. What I love is that their stories contribute to the hope; that inner peace and healing are possible! They also get our juices flowing so we’re well lubricated and insights can more easily slip into our minds and feed our seeds.  And then, “God gives the growth.”

When you read that last line, if you cringed or felt uncomfortable at the mention of God, then by all means replace it with something that resonates true for you. Maybe Universe, Goddess, Allah, Yahweh, Divine Collective Consciousness, or if you do not believe in a higher connecting energy/force/creator/parent, then feel free to disregard the entire comment, or replace it with something that makes sense for you. That is the point of this post; to remind us to acknowledge that we are the deciders of our own truth, and a way to live that out is by respecting others' search for truth, which may or may not include divinity.

Personally, I do not believe anyone has all of the awareness to speak with absolute authority on any subject. I like to think of us all arriving here with our own lifeboat, with the freedom to chart our own course and discover our own truthful treasures. Of course, we can take a track that requires little contemplation and barely any imagination. There is smooth sailing along the mindless mainstream where all your meals are planned and you're spoon-fed what is "correct" thinking, such as what is funny, who to fear, what is cool, what is not, what is hip to care about, what to watch, what to wear, what not to wear, what to buy, while being amply supplied with versions of truth all shared as trustworthy news.  It is our choice to believe all this blindly or seek out a variety of views to consider. Many of us have decided to veer off course from the mainstream and take alternative routes through serene streams, raging rivers, and contemplative creeks. Whichever aquatic path you travel, all the waters of the world empty into a vastly deep and wide ocean. Here, all of our truths are blended into our collective truth. And here, we can choose to board the mega ship of humanity, where we honor each other’s journey, share ideas, and hold all of our values equally.

Something that works for me is child-like imagination. For instance, in my poem "Mama and Papa Love," I describe divinity using metaphors including clouds, magic bubbles, teddy bears, and rose petals. That’s my kind of thing; for others not so much. I think the Universe is a mutable, malleable place that begs for our ingenious inventiveness to appear in unlimited forms Wishing you a fulfilling and transformative journey of truth-seeking