Pathway To God

PART II : MORAL SADHANA

Chapter-4: Truth

(1) What Is Truth?
What is Truth ? Adifficult question, but I have solved it for myself, by saying that it is what the Voice within tells you. How then, you ask, different people think of different and contrary truths?
It is because we have at the present moment everybody claiming the right of conscience without going through any discipline whatsoever, there is so much untruth being delivered in a bewildered world. All that I can, in true humility, present to you is that Truth is not to be found by anybody, who has not got an abundant sense of humility. If you would swim on the bosom of the ocean of Truth, you must reduce yourself to a zero.
Truth is within ourselves. There is an inmost centre in us all, where Truth abides in fullness. Every wrong-doer knows within himself that he is doing wrong, for untruth cannot be mistaken for Truth. . . . Truth and Righteousness must for ever remain the Law in God's world.
The Law of Truth is merely understood to mean that we must speak the Truth. But we understand the word in a much wider sense. There should be Truth in thought, Truth in speech, and Truth in action.
(2) Truth Is the Source of Character
Character is based on virtuous action, and virtuous action is grounded on Truth. Truth, then, is the source and foundation of all things that are good and great. Hence fearless and unflinching pursuit of the ideal of Truth and Righteousness is the key of true health as of all else.
(3) How to Realize It?
But how is one to realize Truth, which may be likened to the Philosopher's Stone or the Cow of Plenty? By single-minded devotion (Abhyasa) and indifference to every other interest (Vairagya).
Silence is a great help to a seeker after Truth like myself. In the attitude of silence, the soul finds the path in clearer light and what is elusive and deceptive, resolves itself into crystal clearness. Our life is long arduous quest after Truth, and the Soul requires inward restfulness to attain its full height.
Experience has taught me that silence is a part of the spiritual discipline of a votary of Truth. Proneness to exaggerate, to suppress or to modify Truth, wittingly or unwittingly, is a natural weakness of man, and silence is necessary in order to surmount it. A man of few words will rarely be thoughtless in his speech. He will measure every word.
(4) Need of Fearless Vigilance
There is so much superstition and hypocrisy around, that one is afraid even to do the right thing. But if one gives way to fear, even Truth will have to be suppressed. The golden rule is to act fearlessly upon what one believes to be right. . . . The danger is that when we are surrounded by falsehood on all sides, we might be caught in it and begin to deceive ourselves. We should be careful not to make a mistake, out of our laziness and ignorance. Constant vigilance under all circumstances is essential.
(5) Its Supreme Value
How beautiful it would be if all of us young and old, men and women, devoted ourselves wholly to Truth in all that we might do, in our waking hours, whether working, eating, drinking or playing, till pure dreamless sleep claimed us for her own. God as Truth has been for me a treasure beyond price. May He be so to everyone of us!
Therefore, the pursuit of Truth is true Bhakti. It is the path that leads to God. There is no place in it for cowardice, no place for defeat. It is the talisman by which death itself becomes the portal to Life Eternal.