Is there an absolute truth ?

china

china

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There is a assumption these days that everything is relative, a matter of personal opinion, that there is no such thing as truth or fact independent of personal perception.
Is my my opinion and your opinion the only facts we have? That is what the above statement implies; that everything is relative; goodness is relative, evil is relative, love is relative. If everything is relative (that is, not the whole complete, truth) then our actions, our affections, our personal relationships are relative, they can be ended whenever we like, whenever they do not please us. Is there such a thing as truth apart from personal belief, apart from personal opinion? Is there such a thing as truth?

Your thought .
 
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C

Cliffy

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Is there truth in the pursuit of money? the pursuit of happiness? or even a meaning to one's life? If not, what is the point of the pursuit? Is it just entertainment to fill up the space between birth and death?
 
china

china

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Well Cliffy ,I 'm not pursuing anything at the moment either ; just wondering if there is an absolute Truth.

Space between the death and birth ? Is there any ?....think it out.
 
ironsides

ironsides

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Only in mathematics is there absolute truth. With life there is only truth within the space between birth and death is just a blink in time.
 
s_lone

s_lone

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The statement ''there is no absolute truth'' is a paradox in itself... It self-destructs.

Therefore there must be some form of absolute truth (according to logic)

But of course, it's not because there are some absolute truths that there aren't many relative truths.

''Nuclear power is a good thing''.... now that's pretty relative isn't it?
 
china

china

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s_lpne

Therefore there must be some form of absolute truth (according to logic)
But of course, it's not because there are some absolute truths that there aren't many relative truths.
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One must find out for oneself, apart from personal opinions, perceptions, experiences, which are always relative, whether there is a perception, a seeing, which is absolute truth, not relative. If one says that personal opinions and perceptions are relative then there is no such thing as absolute truth, all is relative. Accordingly our behaviour, our conduct, our way of life, is relative, casual, not complete, not whole, fragmentary. How does one's mind, the intellect, thought, find out?
If one has an illusion, a fantasy, an image, a romantic concept, of truth or love, then that is the very barrier that prevents one moving further. Can one honestly investigate what is an illusion? How does illusion come into being? What is the root of it? Does it not mean playing with something which is not actual?
The actual is that which is happening, whether it is what may be called good, bad or indifferent; it is that which is actually taking place. When one is incapable of facing that which is actually taking place in oneself, one creates illusions to escape from it. If one is unwilling or afraid to face what is actually going on, that very avoidance creates illusion, a fantasy, a romantic movement, away from that which is. That word `illusion' implies the moving away from that which is.
Can one avoid this movement, this escape, from actuality? What is the actual? The actual is that which is happening, including the responses, the ideas, the beliefs and opinions one has. To face them is not to create illusion. Illusions can take place only when there is a movement away from the fact, from that which is happening, that which actually is. In understanding that which is, it is not one's personal opinion that judges but the actual observation. One cannot observe what is actually going on if one's belief or conditioning qualifies the observation; then it is the avoidance of the understanding of that which is.Can one actually observe one's dependency; either dependency on a person, on a belief, on an ideal, or on some experience which has given one a great deal of excitement? That dependence inevitably creates illusion. So a mind that is no longer creating illusion, that has no hypotheses, that has no hallucinations, that does not want to grasp an experience of that which is called truth, has now brought order into itself. It has order. There is no confusion brought about by illusions, by delusions, hallucinations; the mind has lost its capacity to create illusions.
The Scientists want to work beyond matter are always moving outward. But if you start inwards you'll sees that the `me' is also a matter. And thought is a matter.So ,if you can go inwards, moving from fact to fact, you'll begin to discover that which is beyond matter. Then there is such a thing as an absolute truth,that is if you'll go through with it.
 
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karrie

karrie

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ironsides said:
Only in mathematics is there absolute truth. .
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even in mathematics, there is only absolute truth as it applies in the abstract. Attempt to apply much of mathematics to the real world, and you get flaws.

As far as I can see, the only absolute truth, is that no two people perceive the world the same on a real level. In theory, perhaps... but in real world practice, it falls apart.
 
Ron in Regina

Ron in Regina

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ironsides said:
Only in mathematics is there absolute truth. With life there is only truth within the space between birth and death is just a blink in time.
Click to expand...

karrie said:
even in mathematics, there is only absolute truth as it applies in the abstract. Attempt to apply much of mathematics to the real world, and you get flaws.

As far as I can see, the only absolute truth, is that no two people perceive the world the same on a real level. In theory, perhaps... but in real world practice, it falls apart.
Click to expand...


 
china

china

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It is really not complex. You see, we don't start with the actual, with the fact, with what we are thinking, doing, desiring; we start with assumptions, or with ideals, which are not actualities, and so we are led astray. To start with facts, and not with assumptions, we need close attention; and every form of thinking not originating from the actual is a distraction. That's why it is so important to understand what is actually taking place both within and around one....If you are a Christian, your visions follow a certain pattern; if you are a Hindu, a Buddhist, or a Muslim, they follow a different pattern. You see Christ or Krishna, according to your conditioning; your education, the culture in which you have been brought up, determines your visions. Which is the actuality: the vision, or the mind which has been shaped in a certain mold? The vision is the projection of the particular tradition which happens to form the background of the mind. This conditioning, not the vision which it projects, is the actuality, the fact. To understand the fact is simple; but it is made difficult by our likes and dislikes, by our condemnation of the fact, by the opinions or judgments we have about the fact. To be free of these various forms of evaluation is to understand the actual, the what is , the absolute .
 
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