This article was originally posted on the RightVIEWS Substack.

This is THE QUESTION! Is there ONE truth? Is there my truth that is different from your truth?

What I understand is that there IS something called THE TRUTH. But it is sort of beyond our human capabilities. I believe we cannot see the entirety of Truth, nor do we have the capability of experiencing it entirely.

Guru and the Tree

Students once asked their Guru why everyone’s truth is different.

The guru called one student and whispered to her to study a magnificent tree in the forest and write a report of what she saw but keep it a secret. Once she returned, the Guru sent another student to study the tree. Over the next few weeks, students went individually to see the tree and make reports.

At last, one fine day, he asked everyone for their reports of the tree. When they opened their reports, every report was different. One student had made a fantastic painting of the tree. Others had observed the moss growing on the tree. Another had dissected the leaf and showed that diagram. One student found a nest and beehive. Another found that leaves are positioned following the Fibonacci sequence. One student saw the tree in the fall without any leaves; another had seen it in full summer bloom.

The guru said if every student’s understanding of a tree is so different, is it a surprise that every person’s understanding of the ultimate truth is so different?

What Do We Know?

Each of us views a part of THE truth and understands it to our limited ability. In other words, we only see (or experience) a minute fraction of the reality and understand an even smaller fraction of what we manage to see (or experience).

“What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning.”
― Werner Heisenberg, Physics and Philosophy: The Revolution in Modern Science

What we never experience, we never know.

If we were a dolphin, we could never imagine the cities and mountains and hiking and trekking. But as dolphins, we would know many new things about oceans and seashores.

Or, we are like one of the blind men from the fable of the Six blindfolded men and the Elephant. Thankfully, we are human! So we can continue our study of “the elephant” and also listen to the findings of others with lots of kindness. Possibly, in some place beyond this world, our blindfolds may be taken away, and we will all laugh at what conclusions we are coming to.

What Lies Beyond Our Abilities, We Will Never Know

We have limited abilities. We do not have the ability to understand many things.

For instance, we do not understand how ants can make such complex ant colonies. We assume they are dumb just because our heads are bigger than theirs. Maybe we are wrong. Maybe just as you are reading this, a researcher ant in the ant colony in your garden is writing a thesis on social organisation in human society. Maybe she is not impressed by humans at all. Maybe she has written her report on a grain of rice, and she is passing it on to other ants. Our abilities cannot comprehend the experience and reality of ants.

So, Do We Pursue THE TRUTH?

Sure, we must. We must pursue the truth to understand ourselves and our world better and create within us wonder and delight as to how THE TRUTH can manifest itself in so many diverse forms. We must seek, ask questions, be skeptical and yet also be kind. As we understand a little bit of THE TRUTH, it puts new duties and responsibilities upon us. And we must be responsible and do our duty, or else we get no further in our quest for THE TRUTH. And one of the first duties it imposes is a duty to kindness.

* I forget where I came upon this story. My son believes I made it up.