Freedom #05: the Right to TRUTH … (07/11/13)

RIGHT #05: the Right to know the TRUTH

“The truth will set you free,
but first it will piss you off.” ~ Gloria Steinem

As a species we are slowly and steadily waking up to the fact that we are not being given the Facts; the truth that we are not being told the Truth; the reality that we are not living in Reality.

Our governments have teamed with the mass media to smother us with false information and twisted propaganda. Our churches have teamed with our politicians to smother us with hateful preachings & fearful dogma. And our bigger businesses have teamed with our own egos to smother us with manipulative advertisements & the threats of poverty & destitution.

These institutions have invaded our airwaves, they have invaded our schools and they have invaded our minds — filling our thoughts and the thoughts of those we Love with desires for things we do not have or hold, and fears for enemies we cannot see or touch. They have robbed our lives of any semblance of deep-seated Joy or lasting Peace, and they have convinced many of us that there is no alternative and no way out … that life must forever remain this way because “these are simply the facts” and “that’s just the way things are.”


Well, I am here to remind you all that this misinformation is SIMPLY NOT TRUE. Indeed, while our world is admittedly a place riddled with lust & fear; filled with treasures to be sought & enemies to be conquered, there are other Truths waiting to be embraced — Truths just as valid and real; Truths that will empower you to transcend the injustice in your lives instead of soaking feebly therein in silence.  And all you have to do to find them is take off your society-provided glasses, open your own eyes and take a look …

Note — I give fair warning: these TRUTHS soar over & above the delusional “reality” you have been sold by those “in power”. These TRUTHS will upset the “natural order of things” in your life, and as such, they will probably upset you at first as well.

If this proves to be the case — if you feel yourself tempted to smirk and turn away, fair enough. And yet I would in-Courage you to give them a try before abandoning them altogether … After all, many of you have literally little to lose and, as those adopting them will soon see, all of you have literally everything to gain.

With that in mind, consider the following …

*TRUTH: your government is NOT looking out for your best interests, and it never will … YOU will have to be the change you want to see; YOU will have to reach out to those in need nearby; YOU will have to do your part to rebuild your community. So stop investing your time & your money & your energy in the futile fallacy that is politics, and — even if it is only amongst your own friends & family — become the just & gentle government you wish you had instead.

*TRUTH: your mass media news providers are NOT giving you accurate information. Rather, they are actually brainwashing you with loads & loads of bullshit — advertisements designed to keep you wanting, and stories designed to keep you afraid (or make you angry). So, to get the only facts that matter, put down your newspapers & turn off your televisions, and immerse yourselves into your neighbors & your neighborhoods instead.

*TRUTH: money & things & popularity do NOT make us happier. In fact, the more of these things we accumulate, the more difficult it becomes to know true Joy & deep-seated Peace. Your possessions only bring Calm when you realize that you do not need them, and they only bring Bliss while you are giving them away (or using them to benefit another). So get off the treadmill of buying & consuming & having & collecting, and hop on the train of paring down and giving away and sharing instead.

*TRUTH: the degree to which your reverends, gurus, experts, idols, pastors & preachers are telling you to judge others, to take care of yourself first, or to sit back & passively watch as injustice and corruption and violence infest your townships, is the degree to which these “spiritual teachers” are NOT guiding you towards lives of true Joy & Peace. The TRUTH of the matter is: you don’t need a teacher to know what you have known since birth — that we are all literally ONE … that our Purpose here is not to be served, but to serve; not to aggressively condemn, but to silently inspire; not to defend ourselves & our own interests, but to actively Care for others & theirs instead.

*TRUTH: you do NOT need to eat animals to live lives that are happy & healthy. In fact, your lives will be MUCH happier & MUCH healthier once you stop gorging on needless (& carcinogenic) cruelties inherent in the milk & meat industries. Humans are NOT “natural omnivores”, we do NOT get efficient calcium or protein from milk & meat, and animals — even on the most progressive of farms — are NOT processed (i.e. murdered) “humanely”. Indeed, every hunk of flesh that makes it to your plate was once a caring, sentient animal who experienced immense amounts of pain & suffering to get there. We’ve slated our primitive lusts for dominance & our ignorant beliefs in “superiority” long enough … It’s time to wake up … It’s time to go vegan.

*TRUTH: you do NOT need to wear certain clothes or apply the right make-up or have a certain body-type or resemble a certain superstar to be “beautiful” or “sexy” or “worthy” or “loveable”. Beauty is your birthright … You were beautiful the day you were born, you are beautiful today, and you will be beautiful until the day you die. If anyone else cannot See this TRUTH, then evidences their lack, not your own. More importantly, in all the moments that you have the courage to reach out and be selflessly Kind to another, your innate Beauty cannot help but shine forth … In such moments of raw & courageous gentleness your innate Beauty becomes undeniable to everyone … In those moments, you transcend the mere beautiful — you become Beauty itself.

In conclusion it is true that you won’t hear these TRUTHS from your politicians or your preachers, you won’t hear them from your classmates or your coworkers, and you probably won’t even hear them from your family members and friends … and yet regardless, your TRUTHS they will forever remain.

And because they are constant & unwavering, they do not care if you believe them or enliven them. They are yours to embrace or reject as you see fit.

If you choose to reject them, they will not abandon you … they will patiently wait for you to one day turn to them once again; to return your embrace with Hearts as open as your eyes were once closed; to step under their cool waters and let them bathe away the dusty ignorance of all fears & yearnings.

There is no rush, of course … We may remain covered in the comforting filth of lusts & lies as long as we wish. And it is in the nature of TRUTHS to wait in calm for us forever.

But I wonder … now that we remember, why would we wait?

“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of Truth and Love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think about it … always.” ~ M. Gandhi