Deep Thought
The truth is out there... NOT!

By Evin Almana

We easily mistake the "facts" for the "truth". This happens because the mental body functions in a way that creates a most subtle and persistent illusion - that our opinions are the truth. (At best, they are true opinions.)

Despite their drawbacks, facts are indispensable. We need them to function in the material plane. In the following model, however, truth and facts are radically different. Truth is the life force that sustains the universe. How we relate to them affects many areas of our lives.

The Facts

When two or more people share the same opinion about data, we have a fact - at least for those sharing the opinion. (Many consider singular, subjective experiences to be facts, as well.)

All facts are opinions, but all opinions are not facts. Say, for example, you and your friend are driving through the mountains at dusk. Up ahead, you see a big man wearing a thick winter coat. As you get closer, however, you realize that it is a bear, not a man.

The most important aspect of facts, though, is that they are always relative. Here are several reasons.

• First, linear minds formulate facts. Minds use language - strings of symbols - to think. This distances facts from reality by at least one level, because symbols are pictures of reality.
  We also can mistake symbols for facts. For instance, many believe "governments" exist. They exist, however, only in our minds. What we call a government is no more than people with titles, usually working or living) in large buildings - it's only people. The same applies to all churches, institutions, agencies, bureaus, and orders.
• Second, facts are relative to temporal, spatial, species, size, distance, and dimensional considerations. Here are some examples:
  • Temporal: Today, we look at what we call a chair. We nod and mumble, "This is a chair." Last year, though, the chair was a tree. One year from now, maybe it will have transformed into ashes. (Moral: Most facts change over time.)
  • Spatial: My friend in Hollywood, Florida is looking up into the sky. From an Australian perspective, however, she's looking down into the sky. (Some facts change according to the position of the viewer.)
  • Species: To a human, mosquitoes are pests or parasites. To some birds though, they're lunch. (Many facts change according to what we are.)
  • Size: The "laws" of Newtonian physics don't apply to sub-atomic particles. (Size can determine reality parameters .)
  • Distance: The ancients believed that the stars were little pin pricks in the filament through which the light was shining. We know stars to be a zillion times bigger than ourselves, though they look small.
  • Dimension: In the third dimension, we can't travel faster than the speed of light. On the fifth dimension, we can. (Each dimension has its own reality base.)
• Third, if we are to understand the Big Picture, we need more than our six senses to gather the information; there's a universe of data out there. Our vehicles (the mental, emotional, and physical bodies) filter more information than they allow in. For instance, our eyes can only perceive visible light - a small slice of the electro-magnetic spectrum. We can only hear a limited range of sound. To help collect more data, we have built instruments that extend the reach of our senses (like radio telescopes).
  Yet, we must interpret data linearly. If we only needed to analyze data to reveal the Big Picture, then the world wouldn't be suffering so much. We live, however, in a non-linear universe that can behave linearly. Our minds can't fathom it, even if they had access to all data.
• Fourth, each of our perceptual lenses - our emotional, mental, physical, astral, and spiritual bodies - has its own biases about reality. For instance, the physical body might find a certain relationship enjoyable. The emotional body may label the same relationship uncomfortable. What's true for one lens may be false for another.
• Fifth, memory colors how we interpret data. Say, for example, your mother would slap you every time you asked for ice cream. This happened during the first twenty years of your life. As an adult, you'd find it difficult to deal objectively with that tasty treat. We can extend this concept of memory to include racial and specie memory, as well.
• Lastly, our archetypal, cultural, educational, and religious backgrounds influence how we determine fact. Examples:
  • Archetypal: The Gemini archetype uses the mental-body filter to interpret data, while the Cancerian prefers the emotional.
  • Cultural: Some cultures believe that war-like behavior is commendable, other cultures suppress it.
  • Educational: A scientist might believe that a chair is mostly space, shaped by whizzing probability waves.
  • Religious: Some religions teach that the same chair doesn't exist at all.

More Influences

Spirit shapes our view of facts, too. Using the soul as its carrier, spirit's wisdom permeates our mental, emotion, physical, and astral bodies. This shifts our opinions. What we swear to be true today, becomes false tomorrow. Believing that facts are truth sustains maya.

Whenever we speak, we create duality. Linear reality works that way. No matter what you say and no matter how true your idea is, someone can give an equally true, counter picture of reality. For example, which opinion is true: "opposites attract" or "birds of a feather flock together" (likes attract)?
Here's another example: Jesus implied that we have individual souls, while Buddha said we don't. I can accept both views. Atheists accept neither.

Opinions

An opinion is a symbolic view of reality. Some opinions cement ideas together more solidly - and, therefore, more convincingly - than others. The universe, however, allows an infinite number of opinions to co-exist simultaneously, even contradictory ones.

They lie on top of one another, like cards in a giant stack. All of us play from this universal deck.

Fritz Pearls, founder of Gestalt Therapy, said that we can divide opinions into three groups. He named them: 1. Chicken Shit (or, Small Talk - "Nice weather we're having."), 2. Bull Shit (or, Important Issues - "The merits of his proposal are valuable. The way that I see it..."), and 3. Elephant Shit (or, Cosmic Concerns - "We can express the essence of God like..."). Mr. Pearls implies that whatever we say, we're just talking.

We can conclude that whatever anyone says about anything, is only an opinion. This applies to all teachers, saviors, gods, books, guru's, channeled entities, masters, experts, guides, therapists, philosophers, and leaders of any kind. They are sharing their opinions. Christ, for instance, had an opinion about How It Is. If you're a True Believer of his opinions, then you're a Christian.

In the past, most kings, pharaohs, and prophets claimed to be God incarnate. This status gave their words the weight of truth rather than mere opinion.

The Truth

By contrast, Truth has nothing to do with facts. Truth is a living being. Cosmically, this entity is the formless Tenth Dimension. From it, the material universe springs. As points of conscious Light, we are all part of this entity. The Truth uses material bodies to explore form.

Identity

Our understanding of the truth can affect our identity. "Seekers of Truth", for instance, are trying to find themselves. This implies suffering: the Truth is a part of their wholeness, but they've forgotten this, they experience being separate.

They will look for this missing part in others, in spiritual or religious systems, or in books. The search is like trying to find yourself in a field of broken mirrors.

Conversely, some think they know the truth. (At best, they can construct arguments better than others.) Believing that we know the Truth creates suffering, because only egos believe this. When we identify with ego, we experience separation, as well.

Realizing that our ideas are opinions - and not the truth - helps balance the ego.

Conclusion

Other-dimensional energies continue to bathe the planet. This will increasingly disorient many, because linear thinking can't grasp the new reality that is forming. Out of fear or uncertainty, many will seek the Truth, hoping it will provide stability. (Bible sales are now at an all-time high.)

We must choose one of two paths to experience a more lasting stability: either become a True Believer in another's opinion, or go within, trusting our inner guidance. (This doesn't mean that we should shun the opinions of others, which can be very rewarding.) We need to understand the relative nature of fact and the nebulous quality of opinion. Attachment to facts or opinions can create friction and instability.

The truth is not out there. We have only our inner guidance on which to rely. If we are faithful to this guidance, we will be relatively stable. It's easier to be kind to ourselves and to others when we remember that our viewpoint is relative and just an opinion, like everyone else's. We are all in this together.

Life isn't a collection of facts. Being alive is a miracle, a mystery, waiting to be experienced in an infinite number of ways. And everyone has an opinion about it.

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