FOREWORD
To formulate a complete and
final definition for truth is not
possible, the reason being that the truth in itself, or in any of its
expressions,
cannot be circumscribed by the human mind. The truth is too large to be
described by any definition, however basic or comprehensive it may be.
The best
we can do, therefore, is to define our highest conceptions of truth.
And
moreover, we shall find this to be sufficient.
To define and understand our
highest conception of truth is to
know, in the present, as much of the truth as we shall find necessary
to gain
that freedom that invariably comes with the truth. And as we continue
to seek
higher and higher conceptions of truth, as we advance in life, we shall
accordingly
find that greater measure of freedom which must necessarily accompany
the more
advanced stages of human existence.
The purpose, therefore, of this
book is not to present a clear-cut
definition of truth, nor to give an answer to the question, What is
truth? that
would stand the test of all thought and experience. No, indeed, for
such a
course would defeat the aim we all have in view–the finding of more and
more
truth, and would make the search of truth far more difficult. The
reason for
this will be evident as we peruse the following pages.
Our purpose in this work is
rather to present a plan or outline by
which any individual may guide his mind in the attainment of
higher and higher
conceptions of truth in all its phases, and thereby understand the
truth for
himself at every stage of advancement which he may reach in his own
sphere of
life, thought and action. And this is the only rational course to
pursue, for
each individual must understand the truth for himself if he is to know
that
truth that brings freedom; but in order that he may understand the
truth for
himself he must seek and find the truth for himself. The only truth
that is of
any value to us is that truth that we have gained through our own
individual
efforts to actually know truth and inwardly realise the presence and
power of
truth.
This being true, all wide-awake
and progressive
minds will agree that the aim of this book, which is to present
practical and effective
methods through which anyone may find more and more truth, instead of
trying to
give a final and complete system of thought supposed to contain all the
truth,
which is impossible–all such minds will agree that this aim is the only
aim, in
this connection, that can possibly be rational in its process and
practical in
its application. And it is for such minds that this book is written. We
feel,
therefore, that every page will be fully appreciated, and that every
statement
will be thoroughly understood.
Chapter 1
THE MEANING OF TRUTH
No aim can be higher than that
of seeking truth, and no reward can
be greater than that of finding the truth. In fact, it is now
considered by
everybody that the greatest virtue of all virtues is to have an intense
and
ceaseless desire for truth. And the greatest good of all that is good
is to
realise a greater and greater measure of real truth.
The necessities of life are
many, but
there is nothing that man needs so much as more truth. To possess the
truth is
to possess everything that we can use now, and also to possess the key
to everything
that we may require for the future. The great objects of every normal
person
are invariably emancipation and attainment. To be set free from
the imperfect
and the lesser and to attain the perfect and the greater–this is what
everybody
is consciously or unconsciously working for; and truth can accomplish
this, but
truth alone. To know the truth is to secure complete emancipation; and
to know
the truth is to ascend into higher and higher attainments.
The awakened minds of every age
have realised that the knowing of
truth was the one great secret that could unravel all other secrets;
and they
have given their lives trying to reveal to mankind what truth really
might be.
Nevertheless, the race does not know, and the universal question still
continues
to be, What is truth? To answer this question, however, is not
difficult, but
it is difficult for most minds to comprehend the answer. The human mind
too
often believes its own conception of a truth to be the truth itself,
and here
is where the difficulty lies. This is the one great mistake of every
age. Truth
is one thing, but man’s conception of truth is quite another thing.
Truth is
eternal, unchangeable and complete, while man’s conception of truth is
temporal, mutable, and incomplete. To absolute truth nothing can be
added, nothing
taken away, but man’s conception of truth is frequently wrong, even
when it may
appear to be absolutely right.
The truth is infinite and
immeasurable. No one, therefore, can
know the whole truth. To claim that you have found the absolute truth,
or that
you have discovered the perfect path to absolute truth is, in
consequence, to delude
yourself. The truth is so large that no one can ever find it all. We
may devote
an eternity to the finding of more and more truth, and yet, what we
have found
is insignificant compared to the immensity of the whole truth
itself. The
truth is everywhere, therefore there is no one perfect path to the
truth.
Every mind is in the truth, literally filled and surrounded by the
truth, but
no mind can contain the whole truth. It is possible to discern truth
and know
truth, but it is not possible to actually comprehend the truth. It is
possible
to understand the mental conception of truth, but it is not
possible to
understand truth itself.
The truth may be defined as an
eternal state of perfect being;
therefore, to know truth is to know that real being is perfect, and
also that
the perfect state of real being is eternal. To obtain a larger and a
larger
mental conception of eternal perfection of real being, or fundamental
reality, is
to grow in the truth. To grow in the truth is to find more truth, and
to pass
into the larger, the better, and the superior.
To accept a mental conception
of truth as the truth itself is to
bring all growth to a standstill, but this is what mankind in general
has been
doing and is doing. And because of this the majority remain in mental
darkness,
bondage and inferiority. An age that worships some one mind’s
conception of
truth invariably becomes materialistic, no matter how lofty that mind
was that
originally formed the conception of truth that is worshipped. A
materialistic
mind is a mind that lives in the effects of previous efforts and that
does nothing
to rise above such conditions as heredity has handed down.
Growth, however, comes from the
breaking of bounds, from the leaving
of the lesser and perpetually pressing on toward the greater. The
materialistic
mind is like the stagnant pool; it is inactive or practically dead, no
matter
how active or beautiful its surroundings may be. At the present
time we find
materialistic minds everywhere surrounded by the highest culture and
the most
beautiful in art, and on account of those surroundings we fail to
discern the
uselessness, and in many instances the detriment, of the materialism
thus
hidden from view. We may believe the stagnant pool to be a pond of
living
water, because it is found in a garden of roses. In like manner we may
believe
that minds found in the midst of art, learning and culture must surely
be
living, growing, aspiring minds; but when we draw very near in either
case we
are disillusioned. In this age the most detrimental form of materialism
is
practically hidden within circles of enchanting music, fascinating
rituals,
elegant rhetoric and royal garments. Accordingly, materialism itself is
not
discerned by the many, and they follow blindly, continuing in sickness,
sin,
and death.
Truth alone can give
emancipation, but we cannot find the truth so
long as we humbly worship what some one has said about the truth. In
this age
many efforts have been made to formulate the truth in some definite
system, but
how can we place that something into system that is infinitely larger
than all
systems? To follow a system of thought is to worship some mind’s
conception of
truth and to ignore the real truth itself. A system,
however, may
be employed if it is employed solely as the means to higher
conceptions, but as
soon as we look upon a system as authority, our eyes will not be able
to see
the truth anymore.
Systems of thought, as well as
systems of action, are necessary as
a means to higher ends, but the higher ends will not be reached unless
we constantly
look through the system and keep the eye single upon the infinite,
unchangeable
and immeasurable truth. When using systems in this manner, however, we
must remember
that it is not possible to know absolutely any part of the truth upon
which our
mental eye may be directed. It is not possible, even for a mind that is
ever becoming
larger and larger, to comprehend the limitless at any time. All that we
can do
now is to form the largest and highest conception of truth that our
present
mental capacity can permit, and then proceed to enlarge that conception
perpetually.
True wisdom comes through
mental ascension into the unbounded
truth, and not through a studied belief of what we now accept as the
truth.
That knowledge that has power is gained through the constant
enlargement of
mentality; that is, through the expansion of consciousness as the mind
grows in
the truth, and not from the accumulation of relative facts.
Emancipation comes
through ascension, and in no other way; that is, the ascension of the
mind into
a larger, a higher and a finer understanding of the truth. The mind
that is
perpetually passing into the greater is constantly being emancipated
from the
lesser. And the mind that is for ever growing better is daily being set
free
from the ills of error and imperfection.
In this connection it is
important to
realise that the only cause of bondage, is found in a settled or
inactive
condition of mind. There are many minds that think they have
secured
freedom through the acceptance of a certain system of thought, but the
freedom
they have received did not come from the system of thought itself.
Freedom
never comes from the acceptance of systems, but from the mind’s
ascension into
the new and the larger. If a certain system leads you away from the
imperfection
of your present life you will be emancipated from that imperfection,
but if you
give the system the credit, you will worship the system. You will dwell
in the
mental conceptions upon which that system is based and your mind will
not move
any further toward the realisation of larger truth.
In this very place millions
have brought their lives to a standstill;
they having accepted various new systems as the whole truth discovered
at last,
and they have settled down in that belief. When they first accepted the
new
system of thought their minds naturally gained a higher place, and they
were
set free to that extent; but when they began to worship the system as
the great
emancipator it ceased to be a means to higher things, and became a
prison which
they dared not leave lest they fall back into their former condition. A
new
system of thought if worshipped as the truth will prevent you from
ascending
further into truth, and will, therefore, in due course of time make
your mind
just as materialistic and as limited as it was in the past.
The fact that you have health,
peace and contentment does not
prove that you have found absolute freedom, or that you have realised
absolute
truth. There are thousands who have health, peace and freedom who do
not follow
any system of thought at all, and who do not claim to have found a
single
absolute fact. For here we should remember that whenever we accept a
new system of thought our minds are changed in a measure, and a change
of mind
always tends to eliminate adverse conditions of the system, both
physical and
mental.
Our great purpose, however, is
not simply to realise peace, health
and attainment, but also to develop our own individuality. And if we
continue
our individual development, health, peace and attainment, and all other
blessings will follow. This being true, we must not permit anything
that will
in any way hinder our fullest individual expression. But the fact is
that there
is nothing that hinders individual expression and the development
of individuality
more than the acceptance of a fixed system of thought as the
absolute truth
itself. No matter how well it may be with you in your present
condition,
physically, mentally or financially, if your belief makes you dependent
upon
any person, institution or outside authority, your individuality
is being kept
down. And instead of moving forward, as you may think, you are actually
on the
path to retrogression.
The experience of all ages
proves this fact, and what has crippled
individuality, or caused man to deteriorate in the past, can do so
again. It is
the evidence of history that every fixed system of thought has made
mental and
spiritual dwarfs of its most faithful followers. We all understand the
reason
why. No individual mind can know the truth through the understanding of
some
other mind; therefore each mind must not only be permitted, but
encouraged, to
develop its own individual capacity for knowing the truth, and nothing
must stand
in the way of the perpetual ascension of the soul into new conceptions
of truth
every day.
The understanding of truth is
promoted through individual research
in all domains of life, and in the use of all the systems of thought
available
as means to an end in the furthering of all research. It is therefore
evident
that individuality or the power of each mind to stand upon its own feet
is indispensable
in the search of truth. Fixed lines of action may be necessary in the
systematic search for truth, but these lines should not be limited in
number,
nor confined to certain spheres of action.
Thousands of minds, otherwise
intelligent, keep themselves in
mental darkness because they refuse to seek truth outside of the usual
lines. They
forget that the lines now looked upon as usual and regular were once
upon a
time very unusual, and even considered dangerous. The fact is, however,
that
any line of research will lead to truth, and nothing is dangerous that
will
bring us more truth. We may therefore lay aside all fears, open wide
all doors
to all realms, and place our minds absolutely out in the open.
In the search of truth it is of
the highest importance to be able
to discriminate between truth itself and our mere mental conception of
truth,
and also between those conceptions that are true and those that are
not. When
you are dealing with a mental conception you are dealing with something
that
your mind contains, but when you are dealing with truth itself you are
dealing
with something that contains your mind. A mental conception of
truth is
limited–it is something that mind can measure, but the truth itself is
not limited,
and therefore cannot be measured. False conceptions of truth,
however, will
not form themselves in your mind when you view the truth as infinite,
and when
the mind invariably ascends or tries to rise higher in the scale of
understanding while attempting to realise more truth; in brief, a
conception of
truth is true as far as it goes if the mind expanded while that
conception was formed.
This is a simple rule and will be found to contain the greatest secret
of all
in the realisation of more and more truth.
The fact is, that the aspiring
or expanding attitude of the mind
is the only attitude through which more truth can be gained, for no
mental
conception of truth is true unless it is superior to the conception
that was
formed before. And here it must be remembered that to know the
truth is to
know more truth. The very act of the mind in knowing the truth involves
the act
of knowing more truth at that particular time. Whenever the mind is
trying to
know the truth it must try to know more truth in order to know truth at
all. We
are not moving forward unless we are moving forward. For the same
reason we are
not knowing truth unless we are knowing more truth, because the truth
is
limitless, and every act of the mind that is attracted toward the
knowing of
truth must of necessity be attracted toward the knowing of all the
truth. This
means that every effort to know the truth must be a forward
movement in the
mind.
What was truth to you in the
past is not truth to you now because
that alone is truth to you now that you discern through your own
present mental
capacity, which is necessarily larger than your capacity was in the
past. What
we call truth is our present view of infinite truth, therefore if our
present
view is not superior to the past view we are still living in the past
view; and
if we are still living in the past view we are worshipping a system of
outgrown
beliefs; therefore do not see the truth at all.
The mental conceptions we form
while in a stagnant state are not
conceptions of truth; they are simply varying beliefs concerning the
size and
the structure of our prison walls; that is, the walls of the system in
which we
have encased ourselves. When you are confined in a system you are
standing
still, you see the bounds and the limitations of the system, but you do
not see
the boundlessness of the truth itself. And since we cannot form
conceptions of
truth unless we have our eyes directed upon infinite truth, the fact
that your
present conception is not superior to its predecessor proves that you
are not
viewing the truth. Accordingly, that conception cannot be true.
The truth in
variably lies in the line of an ascending scale of thought or mental
action,
while the untruth is formed when the mind is at a standstill, or is in
the line
of retrogression.
The understanding of truth is
never fixed. A fixed understanding
is no understanding, because to understand is to go deeper and deeper
into the
unfathomable states of the absolute; in brief, it involves an action of
the
mind. And any action of the mind that aims to understand must
necessarily move
toward the greater truth. We therefore see how impossible it is for any
form of
understanding to be fixed and stable. Comprehension does not comprehend
unless
it perpetually enlarges itself, because when the mind ceases to expand
it
ceases to act, and when it ceases to act no comprehension can take
place. To
comprehend is to go around, but if we are not going there
necessarily will be
no comprehension.
We therefore realise how
necessary it is that every effort to know
truth must be an effort to comprehend greater truth. The mind either
goes out
into the larger or remains at a standstill, though frequently when it
remains
at a standstill it is actually being contracted into a smaller mental
sphere.
When the mind remains at a standstill, or deteriorates, it does not act
upon
anything that is larger or superior to its past belief; and
consequently the
act of comprehension does not take place.
A mind that is belittling
itself is not on the way to the realisation
of greater wisdom. The mind can know only through the act of ascension
or
expansion; that is, the rising in the scale of thought, feeling and
consciousness.
When the mind ceases to ascend it ceases to know, because the act of
knowing is
a forward movement of those mental processes that are involved in
thinking,
reasoning and similar acts of the mind. Therefore, when the mind ceases
to ascend
it begins to dwell in mental darkness, and from mental darkness come
all the
ills of life. To find the truth and to know the truth it is necessary
to view
the truth as infinite and immeasurable, and to ascend perpetually into
a larger
and a larger consciousness of that infinite view of truth.
When you think of things as
entities, and try to know the truth concerning
them, it is always necessary to turn the attention upon the limitless
truth
that is back of appearances. We cannot gain the truth about anything
unless the
mind expands into the consciousness of the all that is contained
in
everything. And we cannot ascend in this way unless we direct our
research into
the vast realms that are beyond all appearances. There will always be a
beyond,
but the beyond of today should be the tangible and demonstrated
realities of
the days succeeding. What is hidden today should be proven fact
tomorrow. This
is possible when we search for the truth, not in the world of
appearances, but
in the wider realms just beyond present appearances.
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But our object in
seeking the truth is not
simply to possess the truth–it is also to find greater means for
growth,
progress and ascension. Emancipation and attainment are the two
great aims in
real life, and both are the results of knowing the truth. To know the
truth is
to ascend perpetually into the infinite domains of truth, thus leaving
behind
the lesser and for ever entering into the greater. In this way we pass
out of
and rise above everything that has served its purpose and enter
constantly into
the marvels and splendours still in store
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