The Taste of Truth

"The only book worth reading,
is the Heart."

Ajahn Chah

I like honey. It has a very distinctive flavor, unlike any other kind of candy or sugar. I love eating pancakes with honey. It's amazing that this gift of Nature comes from the world of insects. Normally when we think of insects we think of flies, annoying mosquitoes and other flying things. But there are these beings known as honeybees that through a natural and mysterious alchemical process, transform the nectar and pollen from flowers in a creamy and delicious goo. It's amazing!

I could dedicate this text in trying to describe the taste of honey and the impact it has on me. But I think that no matter how much effort I could devote to this description, it would never come close to the actual taste of honey.

In the same way, we could get the most inspired poets who ever lived, the brightest scientific minds, the purest saints and gurus, place them around a table and ask them to together write a book with the best possible description of this flavor, so that whoever read it could perfectly known it without having to taste it.

But it is clear that, even if this were possible, whoever read this description would still remain in ignorance of the true taste of honey. And indeed that person could even get confused or deluded, convinced that because she has read it, she knew the true taste of honey. Oblivious to the fact that she actually never really tasted it.

To really know the taste of honey, there's only one solution: open a jar of honey, dip in it a small spoon (or a large one) and place this delicious substance into your mouth. Only from this moment onwards can we really understand for ourselves that which was explained in the description of this flavor. And by doing this one will realize that reading the book was actually a waste of time when we could just taste the honey.

Whenever I try to write a text for this blog I am confronted with a difficult task. First because it is not easy for me to write. It requires some confidence. And because this is a blog that is open to anyone who surfs the Internet,  I am often confronted with my insecurities, fears, and ego. But mainly it's hard because I like to always get to the bottom of what I really want to express. To point directly to the essence of the matter so that clear understanding can take place in the readers' minds. I guess I haven't been successful in doing this.

What led me to create and write this blog was the misconception that it was possible through words to explain the taste of honey so that there remained no doubts about it's flavor. Nevertheless, the experience of being alive is showing me that it is impossible to bring the essence of what we want to express into the world of words, conversations, ideas, theories, or any other form of intellectual expression. The best we can do are approximations. And then hope that there might be people that actually understand what we're trying to express.

Anyone who has read this blog before knows that I do not write about food, insects or beekeeping. What I try to do here is to describe the taste of another type of honey, infinitely more delicious, but also sometimes poisonous if we are not true to ourselves.

This honey of which I speak, the one I always try to bring into my writings, is Truth with a capital "T". I am not referring to truth in a particular context, because the real Truth in its fullness does not recognize contexts, borders, barriers, or any other kind of limitation.

In order for the taste of honey to be experienced, honey must be discovered first, and then brought to the mouth. In the same way, for the taste of Truth to be experienced, Truth must first be discovered, and then brought to the "mouth".

Something I know with 99,9939545% of absolute certainty, is that Truth is nowhere to be found in the World. It is not in words, theories, numbers, or art; not in politics or leaders; not in gurus, religions, beliefs or superstitions; it is not in heaven, not on earth or in the darkness of the Cosmos; not in friends, in relationships or family; not even in any kind of extra-dimensional Alien world. This statement may seem negative. It may seem that I am denying the human world and along with it some of the things that make us happy and connected. And some of them really do carry some wisdom and mystery that might inspire us in our search. But although these things have their origin in this Truth, they are not it. We can look at all of them, investigate them, lift all stones that nothing will be found, except a lot of confusion, contradiction and doubt.

But there is one stone that if lifted can show us the delicious honey, but it is not in the world, nor in thinking or time.

The place I want to point out with this word, Truth, is not metaphysical knowledge, or any other kind of esoteric secret. I just want to refer to that point where when we're there, everything becomes clear. The point where we can find unconditional satisfaction, unconditional peace, silent understanding. That point where all is well,  even when external conditions are not the best.

To find this place we do not need any kind of intellectual effort. We only need some silence, some space, a smile, respect, honesty and love for ourselves to know it, because it is located in the most unlikely, dark and lonely place of all: within each one of us.

But to get there we have to face the bees that protect the hive. We have to face our fears, the shadow side of ourselves, which for so long has separated most of us from our own Hearts.

Now this may (or may not) seem all very beautiful, romantic or poetic. But in truth, these words are completely irrelevant and still do not express what I really want to express. For all that has been said are still words. Intellectual statements are not the Truth, or True Understanding.

That is, you can intellectually understand this text, but its' understanding is not True Understanding. True Understanding occurs in the subjective experience. It happens in the world of intuition, emotions and feelings. It is something that is understood in the gut level of our being, in our Hearts and not in our heads.

When I speak of "Truth with a capital T" it may also arise the idea that I am referring to some kind of cosmic state of consciousness, where all the truth about the Universe and human existence is revealed to us in a way that we can actually pronounce it, write it, and show it to others and so on. But grasping this hope or idea is to again fall into the trap of the intellect that so much enjoys to know things, to seek answers to its' questions. The intellect revels in truths that can fit in books, numbers and theories. So much would it like to bring the Truth to this world of appearances and ideas, reduce it in order to look at it and touch it. So that in the end, at the top of its' glory, it could proclaim his final triumph, the conquest of the Universe. But much like Moby Dick continuously escaped from the frantic hunger of Captain Ahab, so too this Truth will always be out of reach to the intellect.

I'm far more interested in the theme of human suffering than metaphysical assertions. I strive in pointing to that invisible reality that lurks inside every living creature. For if recognized, it could bring peace and harmony. I believe that the problems that plague the human race have their origin in the absence of recognizing this simple Truth within ourselves, this simple well being, which is natural. We are all born with it. But somehow when we fall into the bowels of this world we lose it, thus forgetting who we really are.

This illusion in which humanity has fallen, due to our collective amnesia, belongs to the mental world, and can be recognized and transcended. What can save us from this illusion? Ourselves. By taking into our mouths this delicious and sacred honey. By taking into our sick minds our own Soul. After tasting it there will remain no doubts about it's flavour.

Taste your own Truth and you will know Truth.