The Virtue of Truth

Dear brothers and sisters,

We have gathered again to celebrate the birthday of our most beloved Master Babuji Maharaj. The auspicious number in spirituality is 108. Usually japa is recited 108 times to gain maximum advantage. This is the 108th year of our beloved and it is time we meditate about his method and teachings. I would like to share some of my thoughts on Truth. We all know the fifth Commandment of the Master relates to this subject.

We are all convinced that the Master has arisen and is guiding us. We also called the path towards the cherished goal as Satyapad meaning that which leads us to Satpad. This leads us to think about the Satya or Truth.

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (2:30-31) states that the laws of life are five: Nonviolence, Truthfulness, Integrity, Chastity and Nonattachment. These laws are universal. Unaffected by time, place, birth, or circumstance, together they constitute the "Great Laws of Life." It is well known that for not telling the Truth, Brahma was cursed by Siva as unworthy of worship and consequently there are no temples for Brahma.

Even as Death, Truth always succeeds in the end. Denial of the truth will make any person soon discover that such a game of life meets with undesirable consequences. As a matter of fact Truth and Reality are the same in a very practical sense. In our daily parlance we in fact use these words interchangeably.

We should note that facts are facts and they are entirely different from our perceptions of the facts. Both are powerful and serve a purpose. However we should know the difference. We should know that true honesty, self-respect, trust, and character are facts built on truth or reality and not on our perceptions.

The acceptance of truth is a moral obligation, not an option. The reason is ‘lies’ destroy progress, compromise character, and ruin relationships with others and ourselves. Every decision about our life must be based on truth.

Unfortunately truth often becomes a pain for those unwilling to accept reality. We should know that truth is Reality; since many a time it is not according to our perceptions it makes us uncomfortable. When our competence is not enough to perform a task it is wisdom and truth to accept it. Denying this leads to inevitable bad consequences. That truth cannot be told many a time for reasons that are obvious and personal to us, is the main basis for our resorting to confessions. Confessions are truths revealed by us to the Divine. To make confessions first we must agree to the facts as true and then feel repentant for the same. This is the crux of effective prayer. Effective prayers are performed as we all know with much difficulty and not too often. The truth is often felt as too blunt, it is the thing that many people resist at all costs and often wait until all options are exhausted before accepting or acknowledging the truth. The problem takes many shapes in the context of prayer before going to bed. I have heard aspirants informing me that they do not know why they should pray. Some say they have done nothing wrong and there is no reason to repent. The problem is our addiction to Lies or Ego.

Some where I have read that “Everyone has the right to believe and accept what he or she wants, but truth does not discriminate. Truth is not different for different people. Not once has truth excused anyone for good intentions, ignorance, or stubbornness. Truth shows no mercy, accepts no excuses, and issues no pardons.”

We should face the truth and reality as it is, and not as we wish it to be. We have no choice but to see both within and without in the purest, most transparent way possible: otherwise we can not relate ourselves to Reality and our notions and perceptions of reality would corrupt our vision. We must embrace this profound virtue. If we hold on to our notions and perceptions of what Reality should be according to any avowed authority and do not accept the Reality that is before us as a matter of Imperience, we cannot make significant progress. We should accept the true facts of reality revealed to us as an absolute. Surely before we arrive at such a Truth our minds should have been purified and the Antahkarana is true to its nature. I do not think it is easy to follow this path unless we are aware that we are connected to the primal store through beloved Master.

It is true that Truth scratches and rubs us in the wrong way. But we have to accept it for what it is, because in the end that is all that matters. Acceptance and embracing truth is the path of reality. It is wiser to say we woo the truth. Once truth is accepted, then we must act decisively by submitting ourselves to it totally. Most mistakes that aspirants make in the path are due to their own notions and ideas of what Reality should be. These notions were arrived at by them after tedious study of subjects of philosophy and religion which they are not properly trained for to understand and appreciate.

Accepting truth sounds simple but it is not. It requires that we remove filters that screen out the things that we might not want to see, acknowledge shortcomings and accept the need for change. Also, acting with truth often means saying and doing things that are not popular, but only by coming to grips with reality will performance improve.

The Truth is that the entire humanity is a great fraternity meant to glorify God/Master. There are relationships in our existence. We have relationships like that of parents, children, spouses, friends and we have relationship with tradition and Nature. We live in unreal relationships with and bemoan when that relationship is threatened. To treat all existence as a trust with us is the most balanced approach and that is the only approach that takes us near the Reality.

We have also to be true to the God, True to the Master, True to our Goal, True to our Path. There cannot be different goals for us to strive for, there cannot be more than one person to whom we are oriented as Guru, there cannot be allegiance to more than one path and there cannot be an idea of having more than one God. Truthfulness in following these practices is of paramount importance if we are to realise the true nature of Reality.

In order to train ourselves in the spiritual field it is necessary that proper and correct information is collected before making any assessment. It in this regard we have been asking the aspirants and trainers to gather the data of the aspirants in the several proforma. Whether or not we like that information is relevant: the quality and integrity of the information is what counts. What we need is integrity of data and the willingness to operate with it. It is essential to understand that reality is not necessarily going to be the way we wish things to be or the way they seem to be; reality is the way things actually are.

Honest living many times reduces us to the condition of living at the lowest level in Maslow's hierarchy of needs namely survival. We have many merits and many more demerits too and there is no way by which we can escape from them. Our personality, disposition, and reputation follow us wherever we go and if we want to have any significant progress in spiritual life there is absolute need to comply with the commandment 9 which from my point of view cannot be read and implemented without the first 8 commandments.

Many of us pretend to know something about which we have the least knowledge through experience / imperience. This is nothing but the play of the Ego and we try to hide our ignorance which is felt by us as very undesirable. If this is understood we have understood the value of truth. Truth moves us toward our goals; denial of the same moves us away. Denial is self-imposed deception, convenient cover. But that is short lived for after all Truth finally triumphs. Self-delusion can grip an entire organization irrespective of its nature being spiritual, religious, business etc., and lead the people in it to ridiculous conclusions. Denying truth or reality, for any reason, leads only to stress and frustration and takes us away from our goals.

We need to know ourselves through critical analysis of our status in the context of our progress in spirituality. I always suggest aspirants to evaluate themselves against the Ten Commandments. Further it would be wiser to meet a trainer and take periodical assessment in the path of Grace. That is the way by which we will know our true nature as it exists in the present. We will then not be cheating ourselves about our progress in spiritual life. Honesty is the best policy as lies and deceptions corrupt the soul. We do not like to be lied to by others. We then feel very upset. Then, why do we so often lie to ourselves? We lie the loudest when we lie to ourselves. How many years of self-denial will it take before we accept the truth as it is! Infinity is the time limit for waiting when we do not have a guide like our Master.

Success in sadhana demands that we have an honest relationship with ourselves and with Master/God. We should learn to refuse to make excuses as they are nothing more than lame attempts to corrupt and submerge the truth; their aim is to prevent truth from exposing our pardonable and unpardonable mistakes before the Master during prayers and other submissions. Truth can be inconvenient, especially for those that deny it. We tend to reject that which is not easy to digest, and truth is always a bitter pill. For the most part, people do not want to accept the painful truths. It seems easier to them to ignore the facts even if they succeed only in delaying the inevitable. The attraction to lie which is the same as attraction to Ego needs to be cleansed out of our psyche. This is the toughest part in practicing prayer.

The aspirant who desires to achieve excellence and personal mastery must develop the habit of examining the premises and beliefs on a regular basis so that the risk of dining on delusions is avoided. When truth about our condition is harsh for us to accept as it happens often the exit ramp of denial looks appealing. I have experience of many aspirants not accepting the evaluation of their condition though I think they know that is the truth. However attractive is the exit route we should understand the need to take the high road of truth.

Denial is addictive and perhaps that is why so many try to indulge in it. Denial is a retreat from truth. The one important renunciation is the renunciation of the ever tempting falsehood of Ego. We should be willing to experience discomfort associated with the relentless pursuit of truth. Dealing with truth requires intellectual honesty, discipline, and commitment. Being Truthful always has meaningful influence in all aspects of our life. We need to aim for a lifetime tryst with Truth. Our success is dependent upon it.