Truth in Community

Living a life of truth is not easy. Least of all because of the need for self-sacrifice, to do no harm, and to constantly question what is true, what is consistent, and what is valid. Since living a life of truth is so difficult, not many people try it, and those who do, often only try for a short time. Only the great spiritual leaders have been able to live a life of truth for all time, always. The goal is not to be perfect, but to struggle to be perfect. Even the best among us make mistakes. In community, we are accepted and encouraged, so that a life of truth does not become oppressive and hurtful, but instead, living a life of truth in community is liberating and protective.

One of the definitions of community used by M. Scott Peck in his book, The Different Drum, is a group of individuals who can disagree gracefully. Diverse and conflicting opinions and perspectives of truth expand the range of the community, as long as the conflicting differences do not cause harm to the integrity and unity of the whole. "Do no harm" makes it possible for a community to be more inclusive, without requiring a monotonous uniformity.

When truth is offered with loving intentions, instead of in a critical spirit, then it does no harm, and indeed, it uplifts and liberates. When truth is not concealed with a spirit of deception and preparation for war, but instead, is offered up as in the spirit of openness and vulnerability, then Satyagraha breaks down walls and barriers between people and allow them to communicate. People talk about sin all the time, but the best definition of sin that I have come across, is that "Sin is found when there is a breakdown in communication - either between God and man, or among men." Anything that can faciliate truthful communication helps to remove sin from the world.

One of the reasons that community building proceed in stages is due to the time required and the process needed in learning to communicate as a community, with openness, yet respect for one another, to have the courage and confidence to speak up, yet the empathy and compassion to listen, and most of all, to learn the rhythm of one another's style of communication, without value judgment, without any attempt to "fix" one another - to simply live, and let live. It is one of life's many mysteries, that some of the simplest truths in human experience, can be also some of the most difficult and paradoxical to live by.

Someone once said that home is a place where they have to take you in when you have no place else to go. The same can be said of community, except, they don't "have" to take you in, yet, they want to include you, as a stranger who will become one of the members. The inclusiveness of a community means that anyone who wish to be a part of it can be given the opportunity. It is a place where one does not have to hide from the truth because one is always accepted, warts and all. Indeed, when truth is the operational standard, lies have no place to anchor themselves, and will become more and more rare until they disappear except for the occasional, inevitable virtual appearances.

A community, then, is a place where it is easy to live a life of truth, to live by Satyagraha, a place where one person's freedom of expression does not infringe on another person's freedom of religion, where one person's freedom of religion does not interfere with another person's freedom to exist, where mutual respect is not just a nice phrase people pay lip service when convenient, and forget about it in a compartment somewhere in the back of the closet. There is a reason for the four stages of community formation: Pseudo-community where politeness (not respect) hides the truth, Chaos where each person fight for his or her own version of the truth as the definitive and universal one, Emptiness where the interaction between individuals is predominately one of listening with empathy and respect, where truth has a chance to be more complete, by encompassing not just one or two facets, but as many as are gifted in the group of individuals, and finally, in community, when truth is respected not as defined by one or two statements, but as the ultimate undefinable ideal that requires all of humanity, past, present and future, to grasp but a miniscule ephemeral glimpse within the much larger scope of eternity. Community formation is a process where we practice Satyagraha, to do no harm, to sacrifice one's own ego or even existence, in order to live by the principles that we collectively as humanity acknowledge as true.