What is Truth?

"Truth is the beginning of every good thing, both in heaven and on earth; and he who would be blessed and happy should be from the first a partaker of truth, for then he can be trusted." -PLATO

So after much thinking and exploring of TRUTH, what IS truth? Well according to Plato, one of the greatest philosophers of all time, every good thing starts with truth. And if you think about it, if you ever start a relationship, a business deal, or a project based on lies, then a lot of negative occurrences pop up. But if you start fresh with honesty and truth telling, you can continue to build on that trust and good comradeship. And those who take part in telling the truth will be happy and can be trusted.

So here's another spin that came about on the topic of truth. I went to see The Lion King 3D with my dear friend Melinda. And at one point Simba overpowers Scar and demands he tell the TRUTH about his father, Mufassa's death. Scar replied "Oh Simba, the truth is in the eye of the beholder..." Yet another angle on truth! The truth is what is seen in the eye of the beholder. A very true concept. Because if I want to believe in something to be true, I will. But someone else may want to believe something else to be true, and in their eyes, what they see is true. Kind of like the prisoners in Plato's Allegory of the Cave, the only see the shadows and believe them to be true.

Confused yet? Well let me put it another way. I am currently reading a book entitled The Magic of Self-Image Psychology as part of my mental training. One of the first steps to creating a new self image is TRUTH and imagination. It says in this book that most people have negative self-images of themselves that they believe to be true and in order to change one's self-image, you need to create new truths. Imagine that? CREATING truth? Is this possible?

My name is Andrew Trento. That is the truth. That is undeniably my name. But if I wanted to believe my name was Enrique Lopez, then I will believe to be true and to me that IS the truth! Self-Image is the same way, what you believe to be true about yourself will be in fact true. Remember that your dominant thoughts affect your choices, actions, words, etc. So the suggestions that you condition into your mind will eventually be true. We do this through repetition, affirmations, and autosuggestion (kind of like self-hypnosis). So I guess you really CAN create your own truths.

But there is a line. When it comes to circumstances and situations, things that are done and past, there is no changing them. So the recollection of what really happened is REALITY, the TRUTH. But people can have distorted recollections of what they believe to be truth of a situation, either with or without the knowledge of it's reality. Those are the moments we must keep our minds as open as possible and hear all sides to a story and weight out the details as best as possible in hopes that truth emerge victoriously.

So what is truth? Truth is the reality of a situation or circumstance, the facts behind something of substance and importance, and it can be one's perception based on the preconceived notions and judgments weighed out about anything. Truths can be created, but with caution. Should they be created for any selfish agendas instead of a positive end result, then those are called LIES. There really is a fine line difference. The power of intentions are very important to consider. May truth and light always emerge in times of doubt and darkness.

Yours in service,
ANDREW TRENTO