TRUTH

Written by

 Brij Sachdeva

Fact and Truth

Suppose, for some emergency requirement, you have decided to sell all the gold you own. Now, with a packet full of gold in hand, you are about to leave your house and a person familiar to you happens to meet you. He asks casually, "What is it that you are carrying in this packet?"

Now, you know that this person is not trustworthy. You cannot annoy him by saying- “who are you to ask me what I am carrying”- because it may worsen the situation even more. You are afraid, he may be a thief. Then what would you do? Would you tell him that you are carrying gold, so that he may get a chance to steal your gold. So you tell him that you are carrying your shoes for repair. Now the fact is that the packet contains gold. This is a Fact.

But, what has been told by you, to that person- that the packet contains shoes - is a ‘Truth’. This is a Truth because this is your Dharma. This is a Truth because this is what you should do. This is a Truth because of the simple reason that “it works”. This is a Truth because you are on the path of truth. Sometimes you have to lie to follow the path of Truth. This is the difference between Fact and Truth.

Now consider the same fact in a different context or situation. Suppose, in the above situation, on the way, some thief snatches your packet of gold and runs away. Now while filing an FIR at the police station, if you tell the police that the packet contained shoes, you may be ruined. In this situation, telling the fact, as it is, is your Truth. It is your Dharma. The fact will remain the same in every situation, time and place, but the Truth will keep changing.

Truth is a flux

Truth even in its slightest, minimalistic, fragmentary manifestation is very hard indeed to observe.  Truth is a flux. It is changing every moment. It manifests itself one way in a situation, place or time and just another way in another situation, place or time. Following Truth does not mean that you should not lie. It simply means that you have to find your Truth and then follow it.

Discover your Truth

The secret of a successful life is in finding your Truth. You have to find your life situation by yourself. A guru or a saint can guide you on how to be spiritually rich so that you can handle your life situations effectively. A guru can explain his own experience and ultimately leave it up to you to figure out what is right and what is wrong for you. There is no such thing as what is right and what is wrong, as such. Buddha and Osho both have said, “ Truth is that which works”. Your success is enough proof that your endeavour was a truth unto itself. So you have to discover your Truth or Dharma on your own accord, moment to moment.

CONCLUSION

After evaluating your life situation by learning from the past, and considering all the possible future implications with full involvement, awareness and confidence, if you do something consciously, knowing firmly why you are doing what you do, is bound to be right.