Is the truth always needed? Do people need the Truth? When you study philosophy, you change your consciousness
Why do we strive for truth and its search? What is the root cause, source and driving force of this desire?
To understand this issue, we first turn to authoritative sources. Buddhism is based on the teachings of Gautama Buddha about the “Four Noble Truths,” in which he explained the causes of human suffering and the ways to get rid of them. Briefly, these four provisions can be formulated as follows:
1. There is suffering.
2. There is a cause for suffering.
3. There is a possibility of liberation from suffering.
4. There is a path leading to liberation from suffering.
I will not consider these provisions in detail here; you can read about them on the Internet and in books. In a nutshell: the cause of life's suffering and dissatisfaction, the Buddha calls selfish human desires, which lead to increased attachment to one's self, which, in turn, gives rise to even more insatiable desires, leading to greater dissatisfaction and suffering. The cycle closes and repeats itself each time on a larger scale, which leads to the growth of karma. The Buddha explains the reason for desires precisely by attachment (that is, identification), and the reason for attachment itself is delusion, the lack of true vision and understanding of one’s essence. As a path to liberation from suffering, the Buddha proposes the so-called middle or Eightfold Path and explains in detail all the stages of this path.
If you carefully analyze the described mechanism of the emergence and growth of suffering and dissatisfaction, it will become clear that it is somewhat simplified and idealized. After all, people, even if they are not adherents of Buddhism or any other religion or teaching, in the majority one way or another adhere to a certain middle path, striving for moderation in their desires, because they feel and understand, at least for reasons of common sense, that desires, give them will, will easily destroy their owner. For this reason, this mechanism rarely works in its pure form: almost always there are some restraining factors that protect people from thoughtless indulgence of their desires and prevent the manifestation of the cause-and-effect relationships described by the Buddha in extreme forms.
However, there is another source of dissatisfaction and suffering that the Buddha did not include in the above-mentioned diagram. There is no doubt that the Buddha, as an enlightened one, knew this source better than anyone else. But, apparently, he did not talk about it for the same reason that he simplified the above-mentioned diagram: he did not want to confuse and confuse the minds of most people with discussions about categories that they cannot know and therefore do not understand. Moreover, even if the root cause of dissatisfaction of a certain type is that source unknown to people, the mechanism of the occurrence of suffering described in the “Four Noble Truths”, one way or another, will still manifest its effect - at least until a person remains a person.
What type of dissatisfaction and what source am I talking about? As you may have guessed, this is dissatisfaction that pushes a person to a spiritual search, to a search for truth. After all, pay attention: despite the fact that not so many people are engaged in practices clearly focused on achieving enlightenment, there are a lot of people engaged in spiritual search in general - perhaps the overwhelming majority. Religion, philosophy, esotericism or simply thinking about the meaning of life - all these are types of spiritual search, and at one age or another and with one or another seriousness or involvement, almost all people are engaged in or interested in it.
What is the reason for a person’s desire for spiritual quest? Religious tradition? Interest? Fashion? The desire to stand out, to be different from everyone else? All of these factors may have a greater or lesser impact on people belonging to certain human communities or groups. But there is one more reason that affects all people without exception - be it stronger or weaker - but for everyone.
This is awareness.
Awareness is present in all people - and indeed in all living beings: without awareness they simply could not live and act. The vast majority of people do not know what awareness is: because of their identification with the mind, for them the concepts of “consciousness” and “mind” are one and the same. However, this state of affairs does not in the least interfere with their very awareness, the manifestation of global Consciousness in them. Be that as it may, it is the global Consciousness that controls everything that happens in the manifested world, and the connection of a human being identified with the mind with the global Consciousness manifests itself precisely through awareness - it does not matter whether the person himself knows it, whether he “sees” it or not .
And it is awareness that is the motivating factor that forces a person to engage in a spiritual search, gives birth to and supports in him the desire to know his essence. It is awareness that causes the emergence of a certain type of life dissatisfaction, which encourages us to look for its causes and ultimately leads to spiritual quests.
It is awareness - like a thread connecting a person with the true source of his existence - that serves as a transmitting link that forces people independently, without anyone’s coercion, to seek ways to unity with the Creator, God, global Consciousness - to seek paths to their essence, their source.
Of course, the urge or desire for spiritual quest generated by mindfulness can subsequently lead to the emergence of selfish desire, which will trigger the cyclical mechanism of unwinding passionate attachment (identification), described in the Buddha’s teaching on the “Four Noble Truths.” But if a person adheres to reasonable restraint and moderation, follows the middle path, then with due diligence his spiritual quest may well be crowned with success - awareness of his essence, awareness of the truth.
Is there any point in searching for truth at all? After all, sooner or later, after five hundred or a thousand lives, the awareness of each of us will grow so much that all awareness will happen by itself and we will all end up where we should? Here the choice, strictly speaking, is yours. If you can live your life without thinking, if your awareness does not give rise to dissatisfaction or you are able to ignore it, live the way you want. But even rotating in the endless cycle of samsara, sooner or later you will still not be able to avoid the spiritual search. From one life to another, your awareness will somehow begin to grow - this is inevitable, even if you do not make any special efforts to do so. This means that a moment will come when the dissatisfaction generated by increased awareness will become so unbearable that you will consider it fortunate to strive for a spiritual search and find in it the true meaning of your life.
Don't give up on the joys of this life if you find joy in them. Without experiencing this joy, without being satiated with it, you will not be able, and you will not want to seriously engage in spiritual search. If you are drawn to both, try to combine it, but don’t force yourself, don’t force yourself to work on yourself through force. Without true aspiration, there will be no true diligence, and therefore no result. What then is the point of doing something that you don’t have a passion for?
And if your dissatisfaction makes life unbearable and gives rise to a true desire for spiritual quest, if your intentions are serious and unshakable, do not expect quick and obvious results and do not despair because of their absence. The result is your search itself - it is this that leads to a deep study of your own nature, knowledge of its mechanisms and, as a result, to an accelerated growth of awareness. And the growth of awareness, sooner or later, will certainly lead to the knowledge of the truth.
Secrets of esotericism on the site
There are people who are ardent skeptics. Or those who believe in God. There is a person who doesn’t care, he doesn’t argue, he doesn’t prove. He has no time - he works, improves himself. What is esotericism? Religion? Faith in God? In people? Into the supermind? Or maybe into yourself? Many people don’t think about such things, and when they think about it, they don’t find answers to their questions.
Esotericism is secret knowledge that is not accessible to people ignorant of magic, mysticism, and the occult. At least that's what they used to be. Knowledge and skills that not everyone could have. Only the chosen ones.
After reading various feeds on the Internet, you can only get scattered data and a weak idea of what esotericism is. Only by deciding to change yourself and your life for the better, by gathering your strength and taking a course of video seminars designed by specialists so that everything falls into place, can you achieve success.
The concept of esotericism and why you shouldn’t be afraid of it
Esotericism is a huge section of human life, helping to find oneself through knowledge of the world. Studying it is not for everyone. After all, this is not just religion or science. This is the same thread that connects all the nuances and aspects of the ordinary world and the areas of unknown magic that surrounds us.
The very first such secret society was the Pythagorean school. It was divided into ordinary and esoteric. Her secret part took a lifelong oath of non-disclosure of what members of the society were taught. And what knowledge they received there is still unknown to humanity. Now esotericism is not hidden from everyone. There is accessible information presented in video seminars or master classes. Why are people afraid or unwilling to touch the unknown and explore unexplored areas of their own lives?
Let's consider the main criteria of human reluctance:
- Many people do not want to learn a new religion. In fact, esotericism is not only religion, although it is closely related to it. It helps you discover yourself and your own hidden inner potential. Yes, there is religion here - faith in yourself and the world around you.
- Lack of belief in the ability to change your life. Thought is always material. And wishes are always fulfilled. Everything is possible - you just have to believe and go through this difficult path to knowledge.
- Reluctance to gain new knowledge, since there is already success in your personal life. Esotericism makes it possible to gain success not only in one area of human activity. It allows you to balance all the criteria that are extremely important. Achieve what you want and your deepest secrets in every possible way.
- Fearful attitude towards the concept of magic. It is worth noting that the unknown is not only magical. It's just unfamiliar. After completing the seminar, it becomes clear that what seems incredible and impossible is often considered magical.
- Lack of free time. Naturally, it takes time and a lot of time to complete the training. But in the end, the hours spent pay off handsomely. Life balances out, everything falls into place and everything happens in its own moment.
An already established branch, science, like psychology, has long taken into account esoteric opinion. He resorts to her methods. Favors the practice of secret knowledge.
What does esoteric knowledge give?
Why is it believed that esoteric knowledge is not given to everyone? Only a select few? Because not everyone is ready to say goodbye to the old world, three-dimensional space, or the feeling of the precarious stability of their life. Each person is the architect of his own happiness. Those who understand this strive for the best.
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To transform yourself. From the inside. Starting with thoughts. And thoughts are what happens to us. Esoteric practices give people not only knowledge. They help you feel the surrounding space. Start thinking differently than before. Wake up one day and realize what is happening. What you need to do to succeed in your desired industries. Understand that the world is not three-dimensional. It is completely limitless. Consciousness is omnipotent.
Why does a person come to esotericism?
Different roads can lead to one or another knowledge. Events, people, chance? In any case, esotericism appears in a person’s life when it is needed. The reasons may be different:
- Search for new, unprecedented sensations. When it becomes boring, the world loses its attractiveness, those around you do not bring the same joy. Esotericism will help you look at everything in a different light, see something new and believe in a miracle.
- Search for a treatment method. When traditional medicine is powerless. When the pills didn't help. And we are talking not only about habitual illnesses, but also about constant depression, about the disease of life itself, when, no matter how hard a person tries, he cannot achieve his goals. The man turns in desperation. And esotericism, magic, rituals help to heal.
Esotericism and magic are ancient sciences. This is knowledge accumulated over many years and centuries. This is great wisdom that anyone who really wants it can comprehend. And help yourself overcome difficulties. Free yourself from heaviness and become free. Achieve results and be happy.
It’s easier to say what esotericism is as follows. This is an attempt to explain the complex structure of the visible and invisible world and the processes that take place in these worlds and influence a person, his actions and even fate. Almost everyone has heard about the extraordinary experience of modified consciousness. Most modern commercial practices for achieving financial success, practices for fulfilling human desires or shaping events are built on this principle.
Esoteric practices are aimed at achieving a sustainable expansion of human consciousness, which would allow one to obtain a more perfect worldview. In a narrower, applied sense, all esoteric teachings are aimed at studying the inner world of man, his hidden capabilities and developing specific techniques for self-realization and spiritual development. There are esoteric movements in all world religions, although there are many independent esoteric systems.
There are theoretical worldview systems that consider only the spiritual development of the individual through the accumulation of special knowledge and meditative practices. There are movements aimed at achieving the final result with the help of ceremonies, rituals and other things. These include the occult, which involves the use of magic, appealing to the unrecognized powers of spirits, natural forces and inhabitants of parallel worlds. Representatives of religious systems have an interesting attitude to the question of what esotericism is. For example, there is an opinion that any esoteric practices are prohibited by Christianity, and turning to such knowledge or practices is regarded as a grave sin, for which severe punishments are provided.
But this attitude of the church does not stop those who see esotericism as a means to solve their life problems. This state of affairs, in our opinion, is also due to the fact that the official church imposes a strict ban without explaining the real possibilities of esoteric practices. At the same time, there are a huge number of specific rituals related to the so-called church magic, which are available for review and are widely used. It is useful for a modern person to know the answer to the question: “Esotericism - what is it?”, since this is an opportunity to learn more about one’s internal structure, nature and the world around us. Knowing about esoteric methods of cognition, a person will not be afraid to make mistakes, and problems will not seem to him an insurmountable obstacle to happiness.
Some commentators have asked me why it is necessary to seek truth (fortunately, almost no one needs to explain what truth is). The desire to make one’s worldview rational grows precisely from the desire for truth, and thanks to this desire, all worldviews can be divided into “good” and “bad.”
In The Twelve Virtues of Rationality, I wrote: “The first virtue is curiosity.” Curiosity is the first reason to seek truth, and, despite the fact that this reason is not the only one, there is a special delightful purity in it. In the eyes of a person driven by curiosity, the priority of a question depends on its aesthetic value. A complex question, where the probability of failure is unusually high, is worth more effort than a simple one, where the answer is already clear - after all, learning new things is interesting.
Someone might argue: “Curiosity is an emotion, and emotions are irrational.” I call an emotion “irrational” if it is based on false beliefs or, more precisely, behavior that is incorrect in the light of known information: “An iron is brought to your face, and you believe that it is hot, but you can see that it is cold - then the Teaching condemns your fear. They bring iron to your face, and you believe that it is cold, but you can see that it is red-hot - then the Teaching condemns your calmness.” And vice versa: an emotion caused by true beliefs or rational thinking from the point of view of the desire to know the truth can be called a “rational emotion” (Therefore, it is convenient to assume that calmness is not the absolute zero of the scale, but also an emotion, no better and no worse than all others).
It seems to me that people who contrast "emotion" and "rationality" are actually talking about System 1 - the system of fast, perceptually based judgments - and System 2 - the system of slow, reasoned judgments. Reasoned judgments are not always true and intuitive judgments are not always false, so it is important not to confuse this dichotomy with the question of rationality and irrationality. Both systems can serve both truth and self-deception.
What else makes you seek the truth, besides curiosity? The desire to achieve some goal in the real world: for example, the Wright brothers want to build an airplane and for this they need to know the truth about the laws of aerodynamics. Or, more casually: I want chocolate milk, and so I wonder if I can buy it at the nearest store: then I can decide whether to go there or somewhere else. In the eyes of a pragmatist, the priority of a question is determined by the expected utility of the answer: the degree of influence on decisions, the importance of those decisions, the likelihood that the answer will shift the final decision away from the original decision.
Seeking truth for pragmatic purposes seems ignoble - isn't truth valuable in itself? - but such searches are very important because they create an external criterion for verification. A plane crashing to the ground or a lack of milk in the store means that you did something wrong. You get feedback and can understand which thinking methods work and which don't. Pure curiosity is wonderful, but once you find the answer, it disappears along with the amazing mystery, and there is nothing to force you to check the answers. Curiosity is an ancient emotion that appeared long before the ancient Greeks, guiding the ancestors of their ancestors. But legends about gods and heroes satisfy curiosity no worse than the results of scientific experiments, and for a very long time no one saw anything wrong with this. Only the observation that “some methods of thinking seek judgments, allowing you to control the world" confidently directed humanity towards the path of science.
So, there is curiosity, there is pragmatism, what else? The third reason that comes to mind for seeking truth is honor. The belief that seeking truth is noble, moral, and important. This ideal attributes intrinsic value to truth, but it is not like curiosity. The thought “I wonder what’s behind the curtain” feels different than the thought “It’s my duty to look behind the curtain.” It is easier for the paladin of truth to believe that he must look behind the curtain someone else, and it's easier to judge someone for voluntarily closing their eyes. For these reasons I call "honor" the belief that truth has practical value for society and therefore it should be sought by everyone. The Paladin of Truth's priorities regarding the blind spots of the card are determined not by usefulness or interestingness, but by importance; Moreover, in some situations the duty to seek the truth calls more strongly than in others.
I'm suspicious of debt as a motivation for seeking truth: not because, that the ideal is bad in itself, but because some problems can arise from such a worldview. It is all too easy to acquire fundamentally flawed methods of thinking. For example, let's look at the naive archetype of rationality - Mr. Spock from Star Trek. Spock's emotional state is always fixed at the “calm” mark, even when this is completely inadequate to the situation. He often reports horribly uncalibrated probabilities with too many significant numbers (“Captain! If you send the Enterprise into that black hole, we have only a 2.234% chance of survival!”) and yet, nine times out of ten, the Enterprise ends up with minor scratches . The estimate differs from the real value by two orders of magnitude; what kind of idiot do you have to be to name four significant figures over and over again?). But at the same time, many people, thinking about the “duty to be rational,” imagine Spock as an example - it is not surprising that they do not sincerely accept such an ideal.
If rationality is made a moral duty, then it loses all degrees of freedom and turns into a despotic primitive custom. People who receive the wrong answer indignantly claim that they acted exactly according to the rules, instead of learning from mistakes.
But still, if we want to become more rational than our hunter-gatherer ancestors, we need justified beliefs about how to think correctly. The mental programs we write are born in System 2, the system of slow, deliberate decisions, and move very slowly - if at all - into the circuits and networks of neurons that make up System 1. Therefore, if we wish to avoid Some certain types of reasoning - for example, cognitive distortions - then this desire remains within System 2 as an injunction to avoid unwanted thoughts, turning into a kind of professional duty.
Some methods of thinking help to find the truth better than others - these are methods of rationality. Some of the techniques of rationality talk about overcoming a certain class of obstacles, cognitive distortions.
Question: what is Truth?– worries people from time immemorial. Philosophers and scientists have been philosophizing on this topic for thousands of years. We will not do this; our task is to consider this issue from a practical point of view. But if we are talking about a person’s life, about how Truth influences a person’s destiny, then a deeper esoteric look at the Truth is also necessary.
Of course, you have to be a very naive person, to put it mildly, to say “I have known or understood the Truth”, but no one prevents a person from striving for this Truth with all his soul, right. Therefore, our task is to learn to understand when in our lives and in specific situations we are approaching the truth, and when we are moving further away from it.
What is Truth? Practical approach
True– this is correct knowledge about the origin, structure, purpose, laws of interaction and development of this world and all creatures.
More about the search for Truth:
Firstly, the very fact of striving for absolute Truth, for its knowledge and implementation in one’s own life and in the life of society is very important for a person. The desire for Truth makes a person Sincere. A – also gives from other people.
Secondly, Here we can draw an analogy with the understanding of physical laws. If knowledge is close to the truth, its implementation gives effective results and positive consequences. Just as understanding the laws of physics and mathematics opens up many opportunities for a person in the material sphere, so understanding the Laws of Fate and the development of the human Soul helps to reveal his potential, frees him from problems, and allows him to achieve strength and perfection.
Third, there are obvious criteria for which Knowledge can be considered close to the Truth and which not:
- Obviously, if a theory does not work in practice, then it contains errors and misconceptions. The more mistakes, the further Knowledge is from the Truth.
- If Knowledge works, but the consequences are negative, then something is wrong, it is definitely not the Truth. Negative consequences in human life - illness, injury, failure, destruction of fate, etc. Negative consequences in the life of society - warriors, conflicts, epidemics, moral and physical decay, degradation, etc.
- If the basic laws of logic are violated: consistency, consistency, validity (evidence), expediency (meaning important for the whole and the particular).
- Feeling pure in the heart is a subjective criterion, but it works for millions of people, so it cannot be ignored. Millions of people feel truth or falsity with their hearts and souls.
True knowledge are fully accessible only to the one who is their source, who conceived, created, develops this world and rules it. This is the Creator.
Esoteric approach to understanding the Truth
Abstracts from the book “The Laws of the Creator”:
- The Creator's Plans () – creation of a system of universes according to the Laws of Truth.
- True- a complex of all ideas and laws embedded in the creation of the system of the universe of our Cosmos.
- Idea and laws of Truth – are created by the Creator to implement the Will of God.
One thing can be said for sure - without knowledge and work on oneself, without combining theory and practice, one cannot get closer to the Truth. And the best role for this is the role of a Spiritual Disciple.