Mahatma Gandhi's birthday was on October 2nd. He to me was the epitome of the essence of truth.
Truth was his very breath and he refused to part from the way of Truth. His words were - speak gently if you must to speak the truth so as not to hurt the other person. He believed that truth equated harmony in thought, word and deed. And he believed that his life was his message. What doesit mean? It means that he believed in simple living, universal love, and discipline. A quote that I love is " In a gentle way you can shake the world."
The concept of living a life of truth is something that I aspire to but something very difficult to do at every step of the way. Truth is simply being able to be honest about what you perceive and feel in relation to what you are experiencing -that is my definition. So your truth may be different than my truth - but it is still truth in our definition. Simply stating the truth is about living, speaking and feeling the same thing - not having a conflict between thought, word and deed. So for example if you see something that occured and you do know it is wrong and you are asked to describe it - you will describe it the way you saw it but without conflict. The conflict stems from feeling like you are betraying what you think the truth to be. The conflict comes when you begin to analyze, dissect and begin to question as to how the other person is going to respond to your truth. The conflict comes up when you feel that you may be hurting someone else with your word. But your words can also be done with gentleness and with a purpose - and that purpose is not to hurt the other person. If the intention is to not hurt, then our words will not hurt. Intention is key and that is how the truth prevails.
It is also important to understand that when asked to speak the truth, we must be prepared for consequences - there will be those that oppose us, there will be those that feel betrayed, there will be those that misunderstand us, there will be those that feel supported, but in the end, we must say what we have to say with love. When I think of Gandhi's life - and the numerous situations he was put in - he had opponents from all different ends. He had to stand up and say things that he knew in the process would cost him friendships, would create a rift, but he did not flinch. His belief in the Higher Power gave him the endurance to withstand it and rise above it. Can we all be like that? I don't have the answer, but I do look to him as an example especially when put in situations when we are forced to speak something that is the truth. There was a movie, a couple of years ago with the actor Jack Nicholson, in which he clearly states, "YOU CAN"T HANDLE THE TRUTH." Sometimes we can't handle the truth especially if it ends up being a reflection of ourselves and our actions. Yet, if we are a truth aspirant, we must be prepared to walk that path.
Journal Prompt: Think about a situation you have been in where you are forced to say something that will potentially hurt another person but because of your integrity, you cannot lie. Write about what you would say? Write a letter to the person. Write a letter to yourself about the situation.
Happy Journaling!
Truth was his very breath and he refused to part from the way of Truth. His words were - speak gently if you must to speak the truth so as not to hurt the other person. He believed that truth equated harmony in thought, word and deed. And he believed that his life was his message. What doesit mean? It means that he believed in simple living, universal love, and discipline. A quote that I love is " In a gentle way you can shake the world."
The concept of living a life of truth is something that I aspire to but something very difficult to do at every step of the way. Truth is simply being able to be honest about what you perceive and feel in relation to what you are experiencing -that is my definition. So your truth may be different than my truth - but it is still truth in our definition. Simply stating the truth is about living, speaking and feeling the same thing - not having a conflict between thought, word and deed. So for example if you see something that occured and you do know it is wrong and you are asked to describe it - you will describe it the way you saw it but without conflict. The conflict stems from feeling like you are betraying what you think the truth to be. The conflict comes when you begin to analyze, dissect and begin to question as to how the other person is going to respond to your truth. The conflict comes up when you feel that you may be hurting someone else with your word. But your words can also be done with gentleness and with a purpose - and that purpose is not to hurt the other person. If the intention is to not hurt, then our words will not hurt. Intention is key and that is how the truth prevails.
It is also important to understand that when asked to speak the truth, we must be prepared for consequences - there will be those that oppose us, there will be those that feel betrayed, there will be those that misunderstand us, there will be those that feel supported, but in the end, we must say what we have to say with love. When I think of Gandhi's life - and the numerous situations he was put in - he had opponents from all different ends. He had to stand up and say things that he knew in the process would cost him friendships, would create a rift, but he did not flinch. His belief in the Higher Power gave him the endurance to withstand it and rise above it. Can we all be like that? I don't have the answer, but I do look to him as an example especially when put in situations when we are forced to speak something that is the truth. There was a movie, a couple of years ago with the actor Jack Nicholson, in which he clearly states, "YOU CAN"T HANDLE THE TRUTH." Sometimes we can't handle the truth especially if it ends up being a reflection of ourselves and our actions. Yet, if we are a truth aspirant, we must be prepared to walk that path.
Journal Prompt: Think about a situation you have been in where you are forced to say something that will potentially hurt another person but because of your integrity, you cannot lie. Write about what you would say? Write a letter to the person. Write a letter to yourself about the situation.
Happy Journaling!
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