Truth = What Is

Whatever is occurring in physical manifestation at any moment is “What is”. The way that we perceive and interpret what is occurring is what creates our personal story. Our personal and unique spin is formulated from our conditioning. Our conditioning comes from our life experiences and the way our parents, teachers, and other authorities reacted to, responded to or taught us about those life experiences. Their stories came from their influences and experiences and so on…Many other factors may also contribute to the creation of our conditioning but the important point to realize is that we see through the filter of this conditioning and add our unique combination of interpretations to everything that happens in our lives. No matter how popular or accepted our point of view may be, it is important for us to realize that it is still only our spin. To quote Shakespeare, “There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.”

We live in an illusion. We live in a story we tell ourselves and we believe it with all our hearts. We hate in the name of our stories. We kill to uphold or preserve our stories. Our stories can cause sickness and depression. We can be plagued by the fear of losing anything to which we are attached. Whichever way we “see or spin” what is, whether we designate it good or bad, we are being manipulated and driven by our fears of losing or not getting, our “cravings and aversions’, as the Buddha said. This is what creates our suffering. It also gives us meaning, but we become slaves to this meaning. The degree to which we are attached to our stories is the extent to which we are not free. Dropping our stories can seem impossible or frightening. Who would I be without my story? What would happen to me if I had no story? Most of us will endure the pain to avoid these questions.

One way to begin to see through these filters of conditioning is to put our beliefs through an inquiry. Asking ourselves if we can honestly and completely know that what we think is really true? A powerful inquiry as Byron Katie teaches it in four questions, goes like this: #1: Is it true? #2: Can I absolutely know that it is true? #3: How do I react when I think that thought? #4: Who would I be without the thought? Eckhart Tolle says these questions of Byron Katie’s… “acts like a razor sharp sword that cuts through that illusion and enables you to know for yourself the timeless essence of your being. Joy, peace and love emanate from it as your natural state.” Imagine being free from the illusion and being in a state of joy, peace and love. As Byron Katie says, the only beliefs which we need to inquire about are the one’s that cause us suffering, separation and disharmony. After doing her work for over eight years, I can attest to the fact that there IS something much greater than our stories and our beliefs. Our stories become increasingly boring and limiting even when we just begin to become free of them. After all, whose story do you want to live, the limited version of your conditioning which came from other’s beliefs around you or the expansive timeless essence of your being in your natural state, in which “joy, peace and love emanate”? I’ll take the later!

The Tai Chi Symbol

The Tai Chi symbol, commonly known as the Yin-Yang symbol, conveys the deepest meaning of Tai Chi practice. The symbol represents the play of opposites in the relative world: white/black, male/female, good/bad, up/down, right/wrong. Each aspect also contains its opposite, indicating that the whole truth includes both sides of any situation. The outside of the circle, represents the whole, which is the truth. The line dividing the pairs of opposites represents balance. The shifting of one’s weight from side to side while maintaining equilibrium, which is an essential principle of the tai chi form, is the practice of physically embodying the truth. This practice subconsciously, if not consciously, permeates every aspect in the life of the practitioner bringing about greater well-being, a more expanded view and eventually alignment with the True Self.

What Can I Do?

When it comes to politics, my conditioning places me clearly in the Progressive camp. While listening to public radio and progressive media, I find myself appalled at the factual information which points out the discrepancies in the current administration’s claims versus the actual reality of the situation. They seem to be spinning the truth for the sake of their hidden agendas. War, in general, seems a low consciousness alternative to solving problems or bringing peace. Lying, manipulating, bullying and attacking, are qualities which have never worked very well in my personal life. In fact, these are qualities we are taught not to cultivate. Any thinking person, in my opinion, would see the insanity.

I listened to the conservative, right wing Republican’s harassing criticisms and condemnations of the Clinton’s sexual morality, or lack thereof, and my conditioning was offended. My judgment was that they were aggressively mean-spirited. Being on the “other side”, I found it painful to hear the self-righteous rants of the moral majority. It’s not that I condone lying about anything, but another’s personal and sexual affairs are not my business. The incessant need to harass, demonize and condemn actions which would have been of no consequence had they not been exposed, seemed ridiculous. I heard the cries of the condemners on talk radio, “What are we suppose to tell our children?” Had they stayed out of Clinton’s personal business, there would have been nothing to explain. It seemed insane to me.

Now, we have a conservative Republican administration and the shoe is on the other foot. Even though I agree with the critical judgments being made regarding the actions of the current administration, I remember too well how mean-spirited the condemnations of Clinton sounded to me. I realize the value and importance of information which reveals discrepancies, lies, and manipulations of truth. Exposing the truth about the facts, where war is concerned, seems absolutely necessary. Judgment and discrimination are called for, but criticism and condemnation do not further our cause, bring an end to conflict, or promote peace. They cause more war.

These days I find myself in a quandary when I hear others harshly criticizing the actions of “the other side”. Every time I think or hear another person make a mean-spirited comment I think, what can I do? What Universal principles can help me understand ‘right action’?

After practicing, teaching and living the principles of tai chi for over 30 years, I find myself looking at many aspects of my life in ways quite different from those of my earlier years. Tai chi and meditation have naturally transformed my perspective to one in which I look at people and situations in terms of energy and balance. It seems to me that through our thoughts and actions, we individually make our contribution to the big picture. The quality of energy of any thought we cultivate or action we take is what we are personally radiating out to the world in each moment. The condition of the world is the result of this radiance from the sum total of every person on the planet. The quality of the energy we each individually radiate becomes the quality of our own individual experience and, ultimately, the quality of the energy on the planet. To quote Deepak Chopra, “Every action we take generates a force of energy that returns to us in like kind. We reap what we sow. When we consciously choose actions that bring peace and happiness to others, the fruit of our karma is happiness and success.”

Regarding the leaders in office, if we are critical and demonizing we will continue to place people in that office to criticize and demonize. That is what we are in the habit of doing and habits tend to keep showing up. This is not an effective strategy. We certainly can use discrimination and proper judgment, give feedback and protest actions taken by our leaders. However, unless we give conscious, mature feedback and take conscious, mature actions, we will keep manifesting situations to complain about and continue to be dissatisfied, unconsciously polarized and out of balance.

Contemplating a profound symbol can sometimes aid us in developing deeper understanding. The tai chi (yin/yang) symbol, reminds us that it is the nature of physical manifestation to be polarized, to see one side or the other. However, the truth is in the totality, the whole circle. We can’t know darkness without the light. We can’t know day without night. We can’t know right without wrong. We can’t know female without male. To be aware of this polarization is to be conscious. Without the awareness that the total picture is the truth is to be unconsciously polarized.

When we criticize or condemn, we are usually projecting an unconscious part of ourselves onto the person condemned. This is the nature of all “isms”. Racism, for example, is a projection of a disowned part of oneself onto the one perceived as different. What we don’t accept in ourselves, we project out onto others and then reject. This is a clever tactic of the ego to stay in control and remain feeling separate and superior. However, what we condemn we become. Politically, the right condemns the left and then in turn becomes the condemned. The left condemns the right and later becomes the condemned. When we relax our position and open to seeing the bigger picture our view tends to expand. Even if we, at least, realize that it’s possible that we aren’t seeing the bigger picture, we are less likely to be caught in the yo-yo world of unconscious polarization. Practicing this technique in my life, has been very freeing, and has given me a greater sense of peace. When I admit to myself that I can’t know for sure why anything is the way it is, I can relax and become curious. This relaxing of my position puts out a new kind of energy that loosens the tension between me and that to which I am opposed. How can I expect the other to loosen their position, if I can’t?

I believe we need a paradigm shift in consciousness. The shift has to happen within each person. We cannot force a shift on others if it has not happened in us. The macrocosm is a reflection of the microcosm. We are the most conscious beings on the planet, as far as we know. It is up to all of us to look within and ask ourselves, “Am I at war with anyone?” Am I at war with another’s politics? Am I at war with another’s style? If we are condemning, criticizing and complaining, we are at war. When I replace criticism with proper judgment and understanding; condemnation with acceptance and curiosity; complaining with a sincere desire to act from a place of clarity or if appropriate, allow “what is”, at the moment, to “be” until it is not, I am at peace.

It has become a regular practice of mine to visualize “light” on myself regarding this situation with which I am dissatisfied. In my mind, this is an attempt to align myself with the truth of the situation. I cannot see the total picture and even the partial view I have is filtered through the lens of my particular conditioning. In my tai chi classes I ask my students to join me in meditation to visualize the “light of alignment with Truth” on ourselves and on the situations we find unacceptable to our conditioned way of thinking. The Buddhists essentially define suffering as the condition of not wanting something that does exist (aversion) or wanting something that does not exist (craving). When I envision the “Light of Alignment with Truth” regarding the disturbing circumstances, things either change or I see them from a more expanded viewpoint. It always delivers a greater degree of harmony by bringing me out of my unconscious polarized position and relaxing my mind and body so that any action I take comes from a place of clarity and maturity rather than reactivity. Not only does this feel healthy for me, it also stops me from radiating negative energy out into the world in which I am living.

I realized that, while not abandoning judgment and discrimination, I could radiate to the leaders of our country the “Light of Alignment with Truth”. I cannot know, absolutely, the TRUTH of any situation. I can only know my preferences and my intentions. If I radiate from my mind and heart, to the leaders minds and hearts, my intention that they be aligned with the Highest Purpose, (and I can’t know for certainty that they are not) and ask for my own understanding to expand to see the Highest Purpose for all involved, I am doing my job. I am accomplishing this according to the law of attraction, by creating a different quality of energy for those people and for myself. In this way, I radiate a quality of energy which enhances the condition of harmony and well-being, rather than adding to the dysfunction. Complaining and projecting are powerless ways of dealing with situations in which we want to effect change.

Circumstances are not always the way my conditioning would like to see them, but I have found that going to war with things as I perceive them, is not the answer for me. When I know I am polarized, the answer for me is to act from a conscious place of compassion. I may need to step in and use discipline to stop an injustice or relax my position and visualize the light of truth shining on me allowing me to see the bigger picture. This may or may not result in me seeing the bigger picture, but in time, the picture changes, and usually more to my liking. If I stay in opposition and condemnation, then I keep creating things to oppose.

I am not suggesting that we all sit back, go to sleep, trust and let everything be as it is. If I disagree, I will disagree. If I am moved to protest, I will protest. If I see what I perceive to be an injustice, I will speak out and act. However, if I want to effect change or to be heard, I must do so from a place of balance rather than unconscious polarization.

I view humanity as embodying an entire spectrum of maturity levels. I believe it is the responsibility of the more mature to help guide the less mature. We must act with conscious maturity to stop injustices or dangerous actions as we would if we were watching a child about to hurt itself. Just as we would not let a child run dangerously in the street or play with fire, we must speak out and do what we can to prevent and protect those who are less mature from causing irreparable damage to other humans and our planet as a whole. We must do this with balance, discrimination, judgment, curiosity, understanding, patience and kindness.

As within, so without, it’s up to each of us as individuals to look into our own hearts and be honest about what and with whom we are going to war. We must become conscious of the quality of energy we are contributing at any moment. When we change ourselves from within, we change what is reflected back from the outside.

Now when I ask myself what I can do, I realize I can work on becoming more consciously aware of my own projections and radiance. I can remember that what I reap, I sow, not only for myself in my own life, but also for the entire world. I can visualize the “Light of Alignment with Truth” on myself and on those who need guidance. I can act from that place of conscious response rather than unconscious reactivity.

I feel an empowering paradigm shift, in my life when I take responsibility for my own thoughts, words and actions. It helps remind me that the quality of my thoughts, words and actions return to me in like kind and create my experience in every moment. We can each make a contribution to that paradigm shift and change the world one person at a time by vigilant and conscious awareness of the quality of thoughts we cultivate, the quality of the words we speak, the quality of our intentions and the quality of our actions. As I experience the difference in the quality of my life when I live these principles, I know this difference extends out into the world, one moment at a time.

Right Thinking
Right Speaking
Right Intention
Right Action

--Jarl Forsman