Yoga Sagar

SR No.: 014011
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Paramhamsa Satyananda
Publisher: Bihar School of Yoga Munger
Publication Year: 1994
Total Pages: 436
Language: English
Classification: Seminar & Articles
File Size: 24 MB

Page 117

There is a saying of a philosopher, "If God had two gifts in his hands, in one hand 'truth' and in the other hand 'search for truth', I would ask for the gift of the 'search for truth' because it makes life infinitely more interesting and the finding of the realities of life more and more profound." There is no ultimate truth. If there is perfection it is only a relative term. Truth is eternal, and if anything is to be eternal it must be constantly expanding and expanding.
Although you will hear a lot about God having created the human being in his own image, the reality is that the human being has created God in his own image. God is the infinite spirit. I am only speaking of what we can understand of that infinite spirit, that which is manifest in the qualities of life, in qualities such as truth. Now let us understand what truth is.
First of all, you need truth for security. I want you to be truthful to me, I want you to be honest with me. Why? Because I want to be secure in my relationship with you. That is the first reason that truth is necessary. Truth in Latin is veritas, which means to verify, that which can be verified and that which ought to be verified. Therefore, truth is evidence, first of all. If you do not have evidence, you can only say, "I hope it is so". You cannot call it truth. Again, evidence is not the entire truth, because truth is infinite.
It is only after becoming aware of a deficiency, of a lack of knowledge, that we make the first step towards knowledge. Only if you are aware of that lack can you begin the search for knowledge. If you are smug, if you are as spaced-out as a moron, you are not necessarily peaceful, but have a sort of opacity of mind. You are not tolerant but indifferent. It is just tamas, just laziness. It does not mean that you are experiencing great meditation, because meditation is a purifying process, a peace-endowing process and an enlightening process. Therefore, if such evidence is not there, then meditation is just a spaced-out state of mind, a blank state of mind, an uncreative state of mind, a totally useless state of mind. So you should remember the first basic rule: truth is evidence, truth needs to be verified and truth is fact. Then you have many subtleties about fact.
I will give you a very simple example. What is security? You want material security. You work hard to build a house. You call it your house and there is, of course, a truth in security when you can call something your own with the help of a Title
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