A Life of Truth

A life dedicated to truth is not easy. The most famous example is that of Mahatma Gandhi, who formulated his life-long philosophy as Satyagraha,

1. Satya - truth; implying openness, honesty, and fairness.
2. Ahimsa - refusal to inflict injury upon others.
3. Tapasya - willingness for self-sacrifice.

It is not just the telling of truth, but the living the truth, that is hard. Even liars tell the truth half the time, but to live according to the truth requires self-discipline, and self-sacrifice, and ironically, an emptying of the self for the sake of others. It is this insistence on living the truth that sanctified the early Christians, and made Gandhi the most revered man while he was alive among Hindus and Muslims. The same dedication to truth also lifted up Martin Luther King Jr. above the chains and shackles that an unjust society placed over him.

Everyone always talk about truth, and accuses each other of lies. Yet, what is truth? Is it a system of logic that always yield the right answer according to some rules of logic? Is it a book of facts that record all the irrefutable truths, like the laws of physics? Einstein once said that it is a mystery that the laws of the universe is understandable. The Bible says that the mystery of the world is a glory to God, while an understanding of the mystery is the glory of kings. Lao Zi wrote that, "The Truth that can be told is not the truth." And finally, the penultimate mathematical achievement, in my opinion, is Godel's Theorm, which defines the limitation of logic systems, that any sufficiently powerful logic is either incomplete or inconsistent, and can never be both complete and consistent.

The late great M. Scott Peck wrote in The Different Drum, that truth is always paradoxical. It goes without saying that we refer to human truth, not physical, arithmatical, objective truth. Indeed, even mathematical truth can be paradoxical when it approaches the complexity of human truth. So what is the definition of human truth, and furthermore, the definition of the truth that cannot be defined? A simple explanation refers to the momentus book "Godel, Escher, Bach" which explains the work of three great artists, who created opus containing self-referential symbols. At the foundation of all human attempt to understand the universe which includes humanity is a self-referential language, whether it is poetry or music, mathematics or computer programs. By definition, when we refer to ourselves in a sentence, it falls under the boundary of Godel's Theorm. It cannot be both complete and consistent at the same time. In other words, when we try to be consistent, we must acknowledge our incompleteness, and if we try to be complete, we will naturally be inconsistent. Indeed, this is consistent with religious teachings. By definition, human beings are limited and therefore incomplete. In all religions from all the different cultures, the fundamental tenet is social justice, which is simply translated mathematically as consistent behavior following a set of laws. We are urged to be consistent, and submit to our incompleteness before God, who alone is complete, and therefore, beyond our understanding.

Of all the sins in the Bible, Christ condemned the most, and most frequently in the Gospels, is the sin of hypocrisy, which is the paragon of inconsistent living. Indeed, contrary to Catholic dogma, all sins are forgivable, but one... well, that's another blog, for the Christians and pious. Suffice it to say that it is a universal human virtue to live a consistent life, one based on truth rather than falsehoods, not only of telling the truth, but according to truthful principles.

According to Ghandi's Satyagraha, the three principles of Satya, Ahimsa, Tapasya, living according to the truth requires first and foremost self-discipline. Without it, there is no control over when and where one inflicting harm on others. A British lord once said, "A gentleman is one who never offends others unintentionally." This implies that there are times when it is appropriate for a gentleman to offend someone. The key is to have the self-discipline to restrain and act according to self-will, rather than to react. But unlike the willful self-centered child with perfect self-discipline who manipulates and control everyone and everything for his own advantage, Satyagrapha demands also Ahimsa and Tapasya, self-sacrifice and do no harm, submitting to a higher power than one's own desires and even one's own needs.

One of the most frequently misquoted work of Chinese Classics is Zhun Zi's Art of War. Instead of quoting the most important passage which states that war is evil and must be avoided if at all possible, and the best warrior is the one who can win a war by not fighting, the most frequently quoted passage is the one much later in the Classic, teaching that when all else fail, and war is inevitable, then to win, one must first deceive the enemy. The problem with this belief in half-truth, and the lesser half at that, is the commitment to falsehood instead of truth, without the agony and soul-searching of the first step, to avoid war if possible. Admittedly, war is sometimes unfortunately necessary, as against an evil invader such as Hitler's Nazi Germany. However, even then, all possible means must have been attempted to avoid it. As the adage says, "Violence is the last resort of the powerless." Whenever someone misquote and commit to war, the life is already not dedicated to truth, because it is against Ahimsa, to cause no injury. No matter what anyone may say, lies will always result in injury, eventually. Under conditions of war against Nazi, the Allied forces won many battles and eventually the war by first of all, breaking the Enigma code, and then misleading the German High Command in all vital information. Yet, to commit oneself to this life style, without careful consideration, is like going to war without careful planning. Some wars should not be fought. Indeed, some wars can only be won by not fighting. Ghandi proved the power of Satyagraha, and inspired similar results in Martin Luther King's struggle for civil rights, and Nelson Mendela's commitment for a free South Africa. The common mistake is often a commitment for war when the devastation and destruction can be avoided.

Finally, Satyagraha is not possible unless one is ready and willing for Tapasya, self-sacrifice. Christ lived the ultimate life of truth, bringing light to the world, and made the ultimate sacrifice. Instead of a war against the Romans as the zealots had wished, Christ hanged on the tree to illustrate for all mankind the love of God, the Grace of unconditional acceptance, and the faith of life lived according to truth.