How
to Know Truth
Every
human being has a built-in ability to know truth. You do not need an
outer authority to tell you what is true. You need to go within and
contact a higher part of your being.
By Kim Michaels
There are reasons why so many people take the outer approach to religion
and refuse to change that approach. One reason is that the outer approach
is an easy approach. If you allow a religious organization or authority
figure to tell you what to believe, you don't really have to think for
yourself. When you let someone else tell you what is true, you don't
have to make personal decisions about what is true. This is not only
easier; it can also seem a lot safer.
When you take the inner approach
to spirituality, you cannot allow someone else to tell you what to believe.
You have to think for yourself, and you have to decide what is true.
At first, this can seem confusing and even unsafe. After all, how can
you know what is really true?
In reality, the task is not
as difficult or scary as it might seem. You already have the ability
to know truth. This is an ability that is built into your being. It
is a gift from God, and you cannot lose it completely. As every ability,
it can atrophy from lack of use, but by making an effort, you can develop
it to full capacity. The ability to know truth is commonly known as
intuition. The teachings on this website might help you realize that
intuition is far more than most people expect.
How do you decide
what is true?
To begin overcoming
your fear of deciding what is true, consider how you came to accept
your current beliefs? No one can force you to accept an idea; you must
make a decision before accepting any idea. You might not be consciously
aware of making such a decision, but the decision was made nonetheless.
Therefore, before accepting
your current beliefs, you made a decision. You might have been brought
up in a culture that conditioned you to accept a particular religious
doctrine as true and infallible. Yet, somewhere in your past you had
to make a decision to accept that claim, and you must continually make
decisions to uphold your acceptance of that claim.
You will find many religious
people who will reject this idea. They claim that they follow the only
true doctrine there is. This is not a matter of opinion or a personal
decision; it is simply the only truth. If you think about this more
closely, you will realize that there is no absolute and undeniable proof
that a certain doctrine is true. Even a spiritual leader such as Jesus
did not convert everyone, and the reason is that people have free will
and that they make decisions based on their current level of consciousness.
Therefore, the acceptance
of a certain doctrine is not a matter of an undeniable proof, it is
a matter of a personal decision. That decision is inevitably affected
by your current understanding (people often cling to what is familiar
and makes them feel comfortable) and your current level of consciousness.
To grow or not to
grow
If you take
the outer approach, you accept a certain doctrine and declare it infallible.
It follows that you will never come to accept any understanding that
is beyond the doctrine. Therefore, you could never be part of a spiritual
renewal. Imagine that everyone in ancient Israel had stuck to orthodox
Jewish doctrines. The Jewish authorities rejected Jesus, so any orthodox
Jew should have done the same. Consequently, Jesus would never have
attracted any followers and Christianity would have died with him.
When you take the inner approach,
you accept the fact that your current beliefs are not final, complete
or infallible. You made a decision to accept your current beliefs, and
that decision was based on your current understanding and level of consciousness.
You also recognize that you are following a systematic path that leads
you towards a deeper understanding and a higher level of consciousness.
As you move forward on that path, it is only natural that you will receive
a higher understanding, and this might cause you to go beyond your current
beliefs.
The simple fact is that you
are constantly making decisions about what you think is true, even if
it is a decision not to question your existing beliefs. This is what
is illustrated in Shakespeare's play Hamlet. Prince Hamlet was facing
a difficult situation and did not want to take action. Yet, by not acting
he brought about his own death. Therefore, not making a decision is
still making a decision.
The essential point is that
you cannot avoid making decisions, so you might as well make the best
of it and learn how to make constructive decisions. You might fear making
decisions about what is true, but all fear is a fear of the unknown.
Once you understand what influences your decisions, you can quickly
learn to consciously make the best possible decisions.
Fear and love
What causes
you to accept a certain idea? There are two forces that influence your
decisions about what is true, namely fear and love. When you take the
outer approach, your decisions are based on fear. You are afraid that
you cannot know truth on your own, so you allow an outer authority to
tell you what to believe. You are afraid of making a mistake, so you
want someone else to decide for you, but that is still making a decision.
When your decisions are based
on fear, you are reluctant to open your mind to any ideas that seem
to go beyond your existing belief system. Therefore, you tend to cling
to your existing beliefs as if it was a matter of life and death. How
can you escape the clutches of fear?
When you bring light into
a room, the darkness disappears. When you bring love into your mind,
the fear disappears. You might have heard the expression that "perfect
love casts out all fear," but where can this perfect love come
from? What if it comes from a higher part of your own being?
A central theme on this website
is that your mind, or being, has several levels, or layers. Some psychologists
embrace this idea and talk about a lower mind that is the seat of the
negative aspects of human nature, such as fear, and a higher mind that
is the seat of the positive qualities, such as love. What if you have
a higher part of your own being which is capable of telling you what
is true?
If you were brought up in
a traditional religious culture, this idea might be new to you, but
was it new to the religious leader who inspired your culture?
Let the higher mind
be in you
Is it possible that some of the religious leaders of the past
were very familiar with the concept of a higher, more spiritual part
of our beings? As an example, let us take a look at Jesus.
Jesus said, "He that believes on me, the works that I do shall
he do also." Saint Paul admonished people to "Let this mind
be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." Have you ever considered
what these statements truly mean?
How could you possibly do
the works of Jesus? How can you let Jesus' mind be in you? Incidentally,
what kind of mind was Paul talking about?
What if a part of Jesus'
mission (not his entire mission, but part of it) was to demonstrate
a path that all people have the potential to follow? This path leads
to a higher state of consciousness in which you have moved out of fear
and embraced a higher spiritual understanding based on love. You have
literally allowed a higher mind to be in you, as that higher mind was
in Jesus.
If you look at the mission
of Jesus, you might realize that he delivered a supreme example of a
person who is applying the inner approach to spirituality. He did not
claim to have outer authority, such as the scribes and the temple priests.
Instead, he claimed that he received his teachings from a source inside
himself.
In fact, Jesus was constantly
opposed by those who took the outer approach to religion. They refused
to let go of their existing beliefs, and therefore they rejected the
higher understanding offered by Jesus. Would you reject a higher understanding
coming from inside yourself? Why not open your heart and let that mind
be in you which was also in Christ Jesus? What do you have to lose but
your fears? What do you have to gain but perfect love?
If you did not grow up in
a Christian culture, do not despair. This website will demonstrate that
virtually every religion contained teachings about the inner approach
to religion and the possibility to attain a higher state of consciousness.
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Copyright
© 2005 by Kim Michaels |
