What does it mean to live your truth?
On the spiritual path, it points to uncovering the most authentic you, living the most wholesome sense of self, and the unfoldment of individual consciousness.
But what is truth?
If ‘my truth’ is different to ‘your truth’, it doesn’t necessarily mean I’m right and you’re wrong. We may just as easily both be right, or both be wrong.
In the absolute sense, truth doesn’t change, only our perception of it does.
Truth is not a commodity some have and others don’t, it is what-it-IS, beyond bias and opinion.
Let’s take a look at truth from the perspective of water.
Imagine you are water, so what is the real identity of water?
I am a drop of liquid rain falling through the sky.
I reach the Earth and enter the mountain stream.
Now, no longer a droplet, I am the stream.
I continue onwards until I reach a river. I enter the river.
Now, no longer the stream, I am the river.
The river continues its onward journey, arriving at the sea. I enter the sea.
Now, I am the sea.
One morning the sea freezes.
Now I am solid ice.
As the ocean heats up and evaporates, I disappear into thin air.
Now, I am invisible formless water vapour.
The water vapour cools and condenses.
Now, I am a cloud.
Then I fall from the cloud.
Now, I am a droplet of rain falling through the sky.
And so the cycle begins again.
So what is the truth here? What is the real identity of water? Is it a liquid, solid or gas? Is it the droplet of rain, the stream, the river, the sea or a cloud?
Water is all of these. So the ‘truth’ of what water is, doesn’t come from the experience of one perspective, but through allowing all perspectives to be seen and accepted.
Just as on the spiritual path, it is the acceptance of all that you are, which allows you to discover all you may become.
We can experience life as a mind and a body.
We can experience life from the perspective of deeper awareness, or soul.
We can experience life as spirit, pure consciousness or presence.
Or, you can experience all of the above, as the free-flowing consciousness of your Whole Self.
When all preferences, opinions and positions are let go, it becomes obvious that on the spiritual path, you’ve been you all along, just in various guises, varying beliefs and opinions, wearing different ‘masks’ of identity.
Aware of, and accepting your strengths and weaknesses, your power and humility, you find that you are now your Whole Self.
You always were, you just didn’t see it.
And your Whole Self is true because it has no dependence on anything else, it just IS. It’s not a thought or a wish, a dream or desire, not designed or manipulated, not upheld by the weight of opinion or the dictates of society and social norms, not the doing to be seen, but the unity which comes from accepting and allowing all that you are; heart, mind, spirit and soul.
The inner and outer, higher and lower, physical, emotional, mental and spiritual you.
It is here, and needs no thought or effort to arise.
Not perfect, but whole. Not final, but complete.
So the spiritual journey continues to unfold, but it’s no longer the seeking of Enlightenment, Self-Realisation, or unification with the Divine.
You are your Whole Self, and that truth is also the impetus for all connection, sharing, creativity, helping others and the secret to living a fruitful, fulfilling life.
We are all looking to find the same thing. We search here and there, outwardly and inwardly, trying to find the connection that will give us the joy and freedom we intuitively know exists at our core.
My advice is – don’t look.
Don’t seek.
Just be calm, be still and remember.
What you are looking for, is what you already and always are.
Begin here. Begin with this.
Don’t get overwhelmed by a mountain of mental and emotional patterns. Don’t get lost in your head, or your heart.
Don’t try to be perfect. We are all human beings, and we each have our hurdles to overcome.
Start from your true centre, our true centre.
Begin at the heart of the matter, which is LOVE.
For love is the truth, our truth, our hope, and our potential.
When your heart opens up, you see things in a new light, you see the truth of Life.
And letting go becomes a way of being.
Whatever appears, ‘good’ or ‘bad’, face it, experience it, and let it go.
It appeared, and will also disappear.
Letting go is not just the way to deal with stress, anxiety and trauma, or to cope with serious illness, but the wholistic approach to realising a life of balance and harmony.
In the whole human experience, everything that arises is temporary, while something has been present all along.
There as a young child, as an adolescent, and now as an adult.
What you are looking for is ever-here, just like the water in the story.
What you see yourself as will shift and transform, but the truth remains.
Seek wholeheartedly, because truth is closer to home than you think.
We are it.
Article by Jonathan Harrison
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