This meme is a powerful reminder to me about one of the primary beliefs I hold. 

​Truth is an exacting master.  It stands alone and cannot be changed.  However, when we are not equal to the totality of it, we only see bits and pieces.  The mind attempts to interpret what is seen from what we know and almost always gets it wrong. 

A graphic example of this is our knowledge of the truth of fire.  If we are only equal to its truth of burning, then we will indeed be burned when in contact with fire.  However, if we are equal to fire itself, then it cannot burn us (think Daniel in the fiery furnace) for we become one with it. 

In another example occurs when we see a flash or get a symbol intuitively, we have to wait for the truth to reveal itself.  We almost never do have the patience for it to be made known to us. Instead we jump on Google to find out what someone else has to say about it, which is seldom if ever the truth of its meaning for us. 

Only in the silence of our minds can we hear truth’s voice. 

How do we know when we have perceived a truth?  Most people get a physical feeling.  I have heard it called getting goosebumps, a washing, a flow, prana, Kundalini energy,, and "me tingles" (the last from a British, Spiritualist friend of mine).  That is when we know what we have either heard, said or thought is a truth. 

Yet there are different truths.  We each have what we perceive as the truth for us, and that perception creates our world. 

Yet there is also the truth of each entity.  This is what we teach in class here at the center… to know each entity as it exists before words, before someone has laid a meaning on it that may or may not be a truth. 

Returning to the meme, we can only see in others whatever truths we know.  If we grew up in a family of liars, it is very difficult for us to believe someone is telling the truth because we are unfamiliar with it.   If we grow up in a family that is exceedingly honest, it is very difficult to detect a lie for we do not see that as a possibility. 

Most of the time, whatever we say about others is simply a reflection of what we know about ourselves.  We cannot see what we do not know. 

The closer we align ourselves with the truths that come from the place before words, the more harmonious our lives are.  

I woke up one morning sort of in a funk.  Eh...maybe not a funk...that might be too strong of a phrase.  I wasn't sad, tired, or upset...but I was something and that something was enough for me to take notice and acknowledge it.  

Whatever it was, I didn't like it.  I didn't want that to be how my day started. Now from here I didn't necessarily consciously do something specific.  If anything I guess I just kind of mentally made a resolve and released it out into the universe...that whatever this feeling was, it was not welcome.   

As the morning progressed I seemed to be running into delays.  Nothing major; I just ended up leaving my place later then I wanted to, having the gas gauge remind me I had to get gas, etc.  Because of all of these things, I consciously thought, "Ok, I'm gonna relax and slow down. It's not like I'm really late for anything."  

While I'm pumping gas, I looked up at one lone tree across the street.  Its leaves were in the process of changing color.  What really struck me though was as to how...dull the tree looked. It wasn't this full, bright, vibrant autumn yellow, but rather a pale-yellow, faded-green, orange-ish collage.  I thought to myself how pretty it was even though in a more traditional sense it may not be the most picture worthy scene.  

As I'm driving on the highway, I couldn't help but notice the glory that is Autumn in New England. The trees were all sorts of beautiful shades of Fall. 

​Thinking about it now, that whole scene could be viewed as a macrocosm of the tree I saw earlier...but that would lead to a whole different discussion

Anyways, from that point on, the rest of my day was great.  That moment of simply witnessing my surroundings and perhaps experiencing something larger then myself really seemed to take away whatever that feeling I had from the morning.   

IT IS NOT ALWAYS WISE TO LISTEN TO ONE'S THOUGHTS

This story is a favorite of mine; I have forgotten from where I heard it.

The rain was coming down furiously and the man received a flood alert on his phone.  Calmly he went about his business, thinking "God will save me."  

The rains continued and the river at the foot of his property, approaching the second floor of his house.  As the man looked out his second story window, he saw some people in a rowboat calling urgently, "get in, we don't have much time."  The man shook his head and repeated, "God will save me."

Now, having climbed up to the roof, a helicopter above him dangled down a ladder, but still the man shook his head and thought, "God will save me."  

The man drowned.  

When he met God, he asked God, "why didn't you save me?"  

God responded, "what do you mean?   I sent you a flood alert, a rowboat, and a helicopter!!  What are you doing here?"

Now, what happened to the man was that he was paying total attention to the world his thoughts were presenting and not to what was actually happening around him.   

I have another real life story about this.  I was recently rear ended and when the other driver explained himself, he said, "I did not think you were going to come to a complete stop."  

He believed his thought created reality rather than what was actually happening in front of him.  
The Buddhists say that this is the source of all suffering, and I am inclined to agree.  We develop expectations and perceptions of certain people or events and pay attention to that rather than to the actual person or event.  Thus racism, sexism, phobias and all other misunderstandings arise, making us feel angry, fearful, and other sorts of unhelpful emotions.

What is more helpful is to take a real look at exactly what is happening, exactly who this person is and respond in a helpful manner to that.  If the situation is awful, then we focus on a solution rather than how awful it is.  None of us would want a first responder who is weeping, wailing and/or panicking over the circumstances we lie there broken and bleeding!  

So let's see ourselves as a first responder to all our present moments.  We calmly assess what is happening, who this person is in his/her heart, and respond from a place of love and compassion.  Our lives would be much simpler.