Life has ups and down, and we often don't see the down we can be engaged in. Wrongdoings can be harder to see, and doing better harder to do, when we're defending our perceived status of being good. When we’re living in falser ways, we don’t want to hear the truth of our errors or wrongs.
When we have a desire to live and walk in the "way" and "path" of truth, right, morality, love,, "spirituality", etc., that shows that we care for truth. And that is to care for what's right. When we love truth, we want to know the truth of our errors, mistakes, wrongs, evils and darkness, to correct them, to stop them, to heal, purify, sublimate, transmute, change, evolve, better, improve, etc. This is how we can become better, and not let our defense of already being good keep us stuck.
Years ago in my research to understand things like this, I cam across a page titled "What it Really Means to be True to Someone You Love". Here are some poignant sections to elucidate some of what I'm talking about. It talks about an "ego-based rule" for living compared to a "spiritual" one that is synonymous with morality, truth, etc.
An ego-based rule DO NOT mention matters that are avoided and denied. DO NOT bring consciousness to your mate's delusions. DO NOT bring consciousness to the state of the marriage. DO NOT call attention to the folly of trying to make an unloving, unconstructive marriage "work."...
A spirit-based ruleSeek to know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
...
Why, in ego-speak, true means UNtrueTo be true to someone, as ego understands it, and as convention requires it, is the opposite of being true to someone, as spirit understands it. Heaven is fine with truth. Spirit loves truth. But conventional society, ruled by ego as it is, is not fine with truth.
...
To be UNtrue. To be dishonest.That's right. In ego-speak, to be "true" to your mate or friend is to be true to his or her ego, and untrue to his or her soul -- because everyone knows that the soul of any person is hurt by avoidance, denial, and collusion.
...
Whereas...To be spiritually true to them is to be the opposite: to be honest with the person about things that matter, even if they resist being honest about those things; to bring up things they need to hear, even if they don't want to hear them; to be conscious around a person who very much wants unconscious companionship.
Non-examined people focus on themselves and what they want, wish or desire at the expense of others. Looking at the bigger picture and living from foundational principles based in moral truth is not comprehended deeply enough, or at all. Many people don't consider truth important, but many do while they instead focus on making friends, being likable, getting people to like them, and don’t seek to remove the untruth, the wrongs, that are existing in the world and in themselves. (see the link above to understand that more).
I seek to become consciously aware of the wrong in myself. When I encounter wrong in the world around me, I point it out, because I care for truth more than I care if people like me or not.
Bringing to light errors, wrongs, etc. is not comfortable. It is controversial. It usually evokes conflict due to those receiving the message being too attached to false conceptions of what is happening. The world has many dark aspects to it. If we don't shine a light onto the darkness, the darkness will remain. We need to shine lights onto our own darkness as well if we hope to have less darkness in our own lives. Examining the world and ourselves will lead to betterment of the world and ourselves.
It is harder to behave like good people when we are too busy defending our status as good people.
Thank you for your time and attention. Peace.
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I think that the the great dilemma of societies, both modern and ancient, differentiate between appearance and essence, between those who say only what people want to hear and those who do what must be done regardless of whether they are reproached.
It's always easier to pretend, to pretend to be honest, to pretend to be fair, to pretend to be good, to pretend, pretend, preten...
But appearances only serve to deceive other people, they don't change the facts, don't change the truth.
Yes, substance vs. appearance is something that fails to be recognized at deeper levels in our society and civilization.
Truth! Love this and my favorite part is your last words about shedding light even on self. Magnificent post, I truly loved reading this this morning. Thank you
Thank you! I'm glad you value it :) You're welcome :)
Yes very much so!
Upvoted and Resteemed Thank you very much for this writing and sharing this
You're welcome. Glad you appreciate it :) Thanks for the support :)
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I strongly agree with these words:
Great, everyone should heheh ;)
Interesting perspective. I don't see how one can know the extent of one's wrong or right doings. I also do not believe in "loving truth." That is what Huxley would call idolatry, and I agree. It's an extension of the ego. Truth constitutes points of reference.
It is useful as a tool but is not inherently good. Truth is amoral. Combined with charity, it's a powerful form of good.
Love of truth is care for truth, as in caring what is true from false, right from wrong. Do you not care what is true from false, or right from wrong? Moral truth matters in life, greatly. Moral truth is not amoral.
Love and care are not the same thing. Similar in some regards, but not interchangeable. Both of these words are awfully vague too, which I think is why we fundamentally disagree. We are using different definitions.
If you care to understand my point, here's my view on the "love of truth."
I do not "care for truth" I "care for the acknowledgement and proper respect for truth." Loving truth, to me, would be loving an inanimate object as one would love a person. We cannot change truth. It simply is.
A "moral truth" is a truth that has to do with morality. Not a truth that behaves morally. In that sense it is amoral.
My point was to be careful how we deal with truth. In the world today, we see so much fake news, misinformation, and people believing in false idols(politicians) that make them vulnerable to being manipulated. Greater respect for truth would help to combat many of these issues. In this way, I agree that truth is important.
However, respect and love are not the same. You must respect the notion that the stove top is hot when the coils turn orange. If you do not, you will suffer consequences. You don't have to love the stove top, though. You simply have to acknowledge a truth about the relationship between bright orange electric coils and your hand.
Truth is indifferent to you, the love of it is illogical. We need to be good but we also need to be smart.
Example: A new report comes out that proves a widely used pharmaceutical drug has terrible long term effects. The evidence consists of many scientific papers and is conclusive. I, having read these papers, and being a warrior for truth, have done the due research, even met with some of the scientists that conducted these experiments, and now I'm on the warpath to tell everyone. That may seem like good intention. I am trying to help.
But I must be careful not to lose sight of my goal. The good intention is to help. Not spread truth for the sake of spreading truth.
If I lose sight of my goal and I find a crowd of people. I spout the new studies like a preacher, with authority. The crowd finds my delivery cold and arrogant. They respectfully disagree because it goes against everything they have heard on the matter. If I stomp my feet, show no respect for their feelings, and insult their intelligence, I am not convincing. I failed to convince them(and attached negative feelings to beneficial medical information) not because I so eagerly want to help them and they wouldn't listen. But because I have lost sight of my goal. My tone communicated that I do not care about them. I only cared about being right.
Let's not forget, truth is power. It's often like a tool. It should be used for the good of people. To worship the tool in itself is idolatry. To "love truth" is dangerous.
Well thought out. Years ago when I finally got online (aol 7), I found a world of debate unlike any I had encountered. Ideas and philosophies everywhere. Many would sulk and get made, call names etc letting their egos rule their "facts"
I took the opportunity to research ideas if I saw I was wrong so I would have truth. I became an expert on many ideas, able to articulate in many cases others religions and such better than they could as they operated from feelings and not truth. I prefer to be correct than worshiped. Sadly, far to many allow their ego to demand their worship. The fearful tyrant that steals ones power.
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