What is Truth?

Discussions related to philosophy and/or religion always interests me, partially because I have an opinion on just about anything and everything. So, this blog post is particularly interesting as it asks the question, "what is truth?" It's not referring to secular truth, or reality as in the words of agent Mulder, "The Truth is Out There," but rather, a truth of consciousness or life.

Truth is fundamental, as realizing the truth leads to a greater understanding of everything in life, such as vanity, pride, faith, honor. When someone asks, "what is love?" the typical response is usually, "love is that 'special' feeling that you have for someone'... but I reply with, "love is faith and honor." This answer is murky because while you have a pretty common understanding of "faith" through a worldly view of religion, what exactly is the meaning of "honor" ? By knowing and understanding the truth, the meaning of "honor" becomes self-evident, and a whole new world suddenly opens before you which reveals the Christian saying, "God is love." At face value, this is nothing but a fortune-cookie statement that most Christian dogmatist say (just as they would say, "Jesus loves you"-- but I reply, "except for those people who goes to hell"), but by understanding the truth, you can see this statement with a new, unfathomable depth, and then you'll realize just how deep the "rabbit hole" really goes.

The realization of truth is characterized by a freedom from inner hypocrisy-- by this I don't just mean the type of superficial hypocrisy where you say one thing but do something opposite (this just makes you a slumdog liar), but a hypocrisy of character where your actions defy or contradict your inner beliefs. For example, have you seen a vegetarian who vehemently refuse to consume any sort of meat for reasons of animal cruelty and driven by a self-righteous motto of "we're evolved human beings, there's no reason to be such a brute", but has no problems wearing leather shoes, eating an egg, or buying a car with leather interior? You kind of get the picture. As another example, I've conversed with Jews who believe in polygamy simply because it exists in the Bible, and therefore his conclusion was that God permits it. I said,"you can't have more than one wife, because when you lust for one, you will commit adultery to the other."-- this contradiction was largely ignored, and he continued to believe in a dogmatic way.

So what is Truth exactly? If you go to other websites, you will get nothing but synonyms (sincerity, enlightenment, blah), or different theories from people who tried to figure it out but never really connected all the dots. I'll tell you exactly what it is: Truth is an inner consciousness. This kind of spark in consciousness is the type that allows one to wake up one day and suddenly ask, "who exactly am I?" or "why am I here?" --- by this I don't mean the type of philosophical inquiries that sometimes pop into your mind when you're bored to tears (what is my soul partner doing right now? gee), but the type of inquiries that will keep you up at night and sweating in a panic. Some people are incapable and will never have this truth, and they will live all their lives in an utterly banal, superficial existence--- like the Stacie Orrico song goes, "is there more to life than just another temporary high?" For these people, the answer is a resounding NO.