TRUTH AND LOVE
Geshe Gedun Tharchin
Human beings may differ as they certainly do in size, colors and quality, in material possessions, talents and dispositions, yet the soul that is hidden beneath earthly crust is one and the same for all men and women. It is like a large tree having countless branches and leaves through all of which throbbed the same life. Although, therefore, the universe is full of endless variety, there is, nevertheless, an all-embracing fundamental unity underlying the outward diversity. Since both the human and non-human beings have a common descent, I believe is it good to realize brotherhood or identity not merely with the beings called humans, but with all life. All life is essentially one no being can be exploited by man for his own purpose.
We all believe in Truth and that which really exists is the one, spiritual, primordial source of the same universe. It is not a unity that destroys the diversity, but a unity that pervades diversity. It is the changeless substratum of all changes. Such all pervasive reality in which everything living, mysterious power behind the manifoldness and mutations in the universe, which power to be the ground of all existing things.
There is a law that abides and governs everything in the universe. The particular law govern different spheres of the universe are the different ways of working of this One Law. This law is Truth or God itself. God’s law and God are not different things and the formless God assumes form for His devotee. Man tries to comprehend God who transcends speech and reason by giving Him names and forms. There are as many names of God as there are people who speak about God. ‘If it is possible for the human tongue to give the fullest description of God, I have come to the conclusion that for myself, God is Truth.’ Gandhi says. He identified Reality with God and God with truth. Truth is the choicest name for God for him.
There is a higher level of knowledge where knowing is becoming and of existence and truth are identical. Truth coincides with reality and refers to the first principle of being in all things. Nothing is or exists in reality except Truth. That is why truth is perhaps the most important name of God for Gandhi. Truth is the Subject and never an object, something oppose to and different from the knower. Hence Truth is to be realized rather than to be known. In its deepest sense Truth is a state of being.
The absolute Truth needs no proof. It transcends time and history It is beyond perception and description. Just as the sun shines by it’s own light, the Absolute Truth shines with its own light and is its own proof. It supposed by all the relatives, temporal and perceptible truths. It is only in the light of the ultimate Truth that the lesser truths can be understood.
Word God was understood differently by people with different backgrounds and that numerous crimes were committed in the name of God. Therefore, known as unbelievers and atheists are convinced that the traditional idea of God was subject to very serious doubt. But even those who denied the existence of God did not deny the necessity and power of truth. To respect such fact we can say ‘Truth is God, which embraces all, including the atheists, who were seekers and followers of truth, no matter, in what form they perceived it.
Absolute Truth is beyond speech and reason. Purity of heart is essential for the perception of Truth. A humble man who is ‘humbler than the dust’ alone can see the Truth. Therefore purity of life is essential for the intuition of Truth. Clarity of insight is based on purity of heart. Ethics and metaphysics are intimately related. They imply each other and support each other. Life and thought form an integrated whole. This is the core of philosophy of life and one has to demonstrate it through one’s own life.
Truth and Love are inseparable and presuppose each other. Love is the expression of Truth in the world of phenomena. The absolute Truth which is the sum total of all relative Truths is the Ultimate Reality. It is one and is beyond ordinary human understanding. Yet it is not totally unknowable. It reveals itself in nature and man as the law of love. Thus the law of love is the mundane expression of the Supreme Law, Truth. Love that embraces all creation is the earthly expression of the Ultimate Truth, ‘The unity of all life’. To love is to live the truth. Therefore, Love has a metaphysical status equal to that of truth.
In brief the ultimate ontological Reality. Truth is the God, reveals itself in the phenomenal world as the Law of Love, Peace, which becomes the law of philosophy of life. Peace can be lived only by the brave and the fearless. Within man Truth reveals itself as the ‘inner voice’, which is to be the light to his feet and guide to his life. The voice of conscience is infallible only when it is the outcome of a pure and disciplined life. Thus, metaphysical truth cannot be isolated from moral truth. Only an honest seeker with a pure heart can have the vision of Truth. For him or her Truth is God. Truth is Love and Conscience. Truth is ethics and morality; Truth is fearlessness. Truth is the source of Light and Life. Truth is God, Allah, Iswara and Buddha etc. I believe that a pure Buddhist can be at the same time a pure Christian, a pure Muslim, a pure Hinduist etc.
Rome: 27th. May 2005
23 October 2012, 21:41
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Dear Gedunla,
This is beautiful. Your explanation is so simple and easy to understand exactly as my Grandfather used to explain things to us. Thank you for sharing this with me. Best wishes and May your message be heard by many.
This is beautiful. Your explanation is so simple and easy to understand exactly as my Grandfather used to explain things to us. Thank you for sharing this with me. Best wishes and May your message be heard by many.
Ela Gandhi
Gandhi Development Trust
P.O. Box 477 Hyper-by-the-sea,
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tel 031 2012067
0827816843
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