Saturday, July 28, 2007

apprehending truth

If you have two identical twins who wake up at dawn at the same time, and they both look at the sky, would their experiences be the same? One twin may see the receding darkness, and the other may see the emerging daylight. But all the same, they wake up to the same reality, but they see it starkly differently.

Can you imagine if these twins would fight to the death because they cannot agree on what they see and experience that one fateful dawn?

The problem with apprehending truth is that we always perceive it based on our individual prisms, and the moment we do this, truth is colored black or white depending on the person. Truth then becomes a relative term. What is true to me may not be true for you. The moral relativism is the consequence of this perspective. Every action then can be justified; every wrong tolerable. After all, the final arbiter is the self.



But we know that what we perceive is limited by our senses, and by our capacity to perceive and understand. Besides, ones life history more often than not builds a framework upon which we view things. A person who has been unloved in his childhood would view true act of compassion as a bait, a trap towards violence which he ought to avoid like a scourge. That is why, instead of opening up to a loving relation, he distances away, and coil in his shell.



We thus perceive truth based on our experiences and our capacity of understanding or the lack of it. This way, we never arrive at the truth. Come to think of it? How many lives have been lost due to a misunderstanding because people perceive "truths" differently? Conversely, how many lives could have been saved, if they realized, that like the twins, they only see a version of one true, real world?



The information superhighway has bombarded us with an avalanche of information, which may be true, half-truths, sheer propaganda, or outright lies. This information cannot be filtered by our limited senses and understanding. It must be exposed to the shining light of universal truths which should be the prism upon which we evaluate the information we receive.



The quest for truth goes beyond perception and the limitations of experiences. Universal, transcendent truths are arrived at at the deepest levels of reflection; it's almost intuitive. It is said that man's divine character lies deep within, that draws out in the moment of reflection when he can understand and apprehend truths which are immutable and universal. It is said that there are mammals, marine or terrestrial, that are intelligent. But take comfort that it is only humans who can apprehend these universal truths.



Take the common example of what love is. We all experience what love is, whatever that word conjures. But our own experience of love is calibrated based on what we have understood as the universal concept of true love. You can announce to the world that you love somebody, but your actions may pale in comparison with what we universally understand as love. True love is the total giving of oneself for the beloved, and the joy and excitement that goes with the giving. God gave Christ to us. Mother Theresa offered her life to the sick and dying. In the act of giving, they find happiness and fulfillment. True love is happy in the act of sacrifice for the beloved.



Have you ever wondered why killing is universally condemned? An illiterate cannot cry wolf if he is convicted for murder if he argues that he has not read the penal laws. The moral truths about preserving life are there in the tribunal of our conscience, truths that we reflect about and understand.



Truths are the standards upon which we calibrate human experiences. Without these standards, the shrinking global village may implode with moral decay. In this time of age of moral and cultural relativism, there is a need to re-examine and reflect on these immutable and universal truths upon which we gauge human actions.

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