What Is Truth?

Best-version transcript — the human transcription refined against a word-timed machine transcript of the cleaned audio. Spotted an error? Corrections are welcome.

You know, after the interesting discussion we had on the phone the other evening, I thought it would be appropriate to make this little tape regarding the three principles and perhaps it may give us a clearer picture why thought has such a strong influence on our personal life.

First of all, we have to ask ourselves, what is thought? Well, thought is a gift that enables us to acknowledge the existence of creation itself. It gives us the power to think our way through this cosmic drama we call life, but if you think about it, the power of universal thought is rather an ambiguous subject to even discuss, after all, you can’t see it, you can’t touch it, you can’t smell it, you can’t hear it nor can you taste it.

The power of universal thought is there for us to use at will and it is by the usage of this power called thought that we paint the picture of the world we live in. Now, how we use such a gift is extremely important to the quality of our personal lives. Yes, one very important thing to remember is, each and every day we have literally thousands of thoughts going through our heads and believe me, no matter who you are or how perfect you think you are, we all from time to time have thoughts that are good and thoughts that are bad. Many are spontaneous and out of our control to stop. However, the main thing to remember is thoughts on their own are completely neutral and it is you, as a thinker, who puts life into them and the beauty is we are not forced to act on all of them. Only the ones we choose and this ability to choose is what is known as our free will and our free will gives us the authority to change our mind at will.

For example, one day you get really annoyed at someone and for a fleeting moment in time you say, I’d like to punch him straight on the nose, then you rethink the whole situation over and realise that your first thought of punching anybody was a bad call and maybe you should just walk away and forget it, realising the whole act would be totally counterproductive. Here you have used your free will wisely and simply changed your mind. This is why I say life as we know is truly a psychological experience from the cradle to the grave, we’re psychological thinkers. We are born thinkers, we think our way through life and to assist us in this big universal drama we were blessed with three very important gifts and they are the power of universal mind, the power of universal consciousness and the power of universal thought.

Together, these three universal gifts are what all living creatures use to weave their entire experience here on earth.

First, let’s take a closer look at universal thought. Universal thought is a spiritual power that has no form of its own and it is completely neutral. It’s the same as universal mind and universal consciousness. They too have no form and are completely neutral. Nevertheless it is by the use of these three principles that our role in this gigantic drama begins.

Throughout the past twenty-five years I am imagine I’ve been asked at least 1000 times in many, many different ways, how do these three principles work in our lives and how can I unravel such a puzzle. Well, immaterial how such a question was ever asked, my answer has always been, and always will be, that no one can come to the end of their investigation regarding the workings of the three principles, but I can tell you this, the formula to such an answer lies within the soul of every human being on earth. The only thing that stops us from seeing this is our own innocent misguided personal thinking.

You know, libraries and universities throughout the entire world have the knowledge you’re looking for, all the major religions have it but the trick is, it is you who must find it and do you know what the ironic twist is, it’s hidden in a form, the form being the spoken word and the printed word, but this I can assure you, when anyone does find such knowledge, it is found beyond the written or the spoken word. The words of the wise we try to explain what we call truth had no other choice but to try and explain it in metaphors, paradoxes at times makes it very, very difficult to understand. Throughout the ages the wise have tried in many ways to try and explain the secret of the knowledge that lies within and they knew full well that there was merely a guide to try and expand their boundaries of the listeners’ minds. They try and expand it to the yet unknown.

Let’s try another way to explain this cosmic puzzle. You know how in science it takes two or more elements to create what is known as a compound? Well, it is the same with these three elements. They are what I would call psychological elements and if you mix these elements together, you get what I am calling psychological compounds. What is a psychological compound? Psychological compounds are literally anything that you can think about or experience via your five senses. I can remember a few years ago I was asked “Doesn’t this make our five senses elements?” My answer was, no, not at all, because our five senses, smelling, tasting, seeing, hearing and touching are all activated by the power of universal mind, consciousness and thought.

Now, if anybody starts to lose their hearing for example, naturally that person would go to the doctor, who would give an examination and if necessary, send the patient to a specialist to ascertain the damage and the cause. It would be the same if anyone was losing their eyesight or their sense of taste or their sense of smell. Naturally, they go and see a specialist. This is why we have medical doctors, they take care of the physical form. Do you know an interesting thing? Deep inside all human beings, beyond the physical form, lies a knowledge that is very, very important to the function of the human body and the human mind. This knowledge we call wisdom. You know, throughout my life I’ve been asked many times, why do we all appear to see life from a different perspective? For example, why is it some people like apples and others prefer oranges? My answer to such a question would be, we are born thinkers and, by using the power of mind combined with our free will, we naturally differ from time to time. Some mystical writings refer to these differences seeing or living in separate realities. One could say our thoughts are the divine paintbrush we use to paint the picture of how we observe and relate to this reality we call life.

As human beings, it is just natural we’re going to differ from time to time, because we all paint a different picture of what we see every day and we paint it by using the three principles, mind, consciousness and thought. Now remember please, I am not judging anyone or saying who is right or who is wrong, neither am I saying who has a right to be wrong or who hasn’t. All I am saying is we all work through the same three principles of mind, consciousness and thought.

You know, if you really look closely, you’ll see that the great thinkers of this world were those who were unlimited by other peoples’ concepts of life, they were the ones who forged ahead and opened their minds and raised their thoughts to new horizons beyond the known, to where the unknown was waiting to be discovered, like Albert Einstein for example or many of the other great minds of history or the great minds of today.

You know there’s wisdom written and talked about throughout the entire world every day – if you can recognise it when you hear it or see it. Why do you think schools and universities are built? They’re there to pass down to the next generation all the benefits of the teachers’ experience and wisdom.

Okay, let’s move on and have a brief look at the power of consciousness now. As I said before, the power of consciousness is formless and on its own it is completely neutral which makes it a very nebulous subject to even discuss. Yet the same consciousness is the element that gives us the ability to realise the existence of creation. It also holds the secret to the workings of all human behaviour and this world we live in.

Consciousness is an element when mixed with mind and thought can come in an infinite amount of labels resulting in limitless levels of understanding. As a matter of fact, finding greater levels of consciousness is as endless as time itself. There is literally no end to it, but it can appear at any moment. I’ll give you an example how it can just appear in your life. Say for instance you’re sitting in a classroom and a professor explaining some theory that makes absolutely no sense to you at all. You go home and you study as hard as you can regarding the professor’s lecture with little or no success and you feel completely confused. Three days later you attend another class and the same professor is still talking way beyond your comprehension. At the same time he keeps telling the class that what he’s saying is simple logic. However, to your way of seeing things, the professor could be speaking some foreign language and most definitely as far as you’re concerned he is vastly underestimating the complexity of his own lecture by saying it is simple logic. Then out of the blue the professor says something that attracts your attention and it stimulates your mind and suddenly the professor’s words start to make common sense. You actually understand what he is trying to convey to you and, just as the professor has said all along, it was simple logic. In other words, you see the picture that the professor painted from his words and thoughts. This is what I would call going beyond a teacher’s words and going from the unknown to the known.

You know, one very important thing to remember is, every day in the classroom, teachers of all walks of life are raising their students to a higher level of understanding. This is their job, to raise their student’s consciousness and make them become more aware of particular subjects and raising one’s level of consciousness leads to greater understanding. Always look for simple logic.

Example, if your head is full of insecure thoughts, then you will live in a world of insecurity. This is simple logic. On the other hand if you have thoughts of security, this naturally brings to you more secure thoughts and calmness in your life. This too is simple logic.

Let me give you an example of what I’m trying to convey. About twenty-five years ago I was talking about the three principles and how they work and a young lady interrupted me, then started to explain how her classes at college were creating much stress in her life and she was on medication and had dropped out of school, feeling sure she would never return. After the talk was over she left the meeting hall and on the way to the car it suddenly became very clear to her what I really meant. The lady in question came back into the room all excited, saying that she had just realised how it was her own thoughts that were creating a lot of her unnecessary insecure bouts of behaviour regarding her own capabilities in the classroom. That same lady was exceptionally clever and she went back to university and she finished her degree but the amazing thing was, on her return to school she found it wasn’t half as bad as she had previously experienced it and all she had done was change her attitude towards school and her life in general changed dramatically, which in turn made it quite unnecessary for her to continue with her medication.

Trust me when I tell you, such knowledge will always come as simplicity, for in simplicity lies the answers to all complexity. I can assure you, the more truth is analysed and dissected and tried to be explained, the more complicated and lost it becomes. Keep it simple and remember, it is not the words that are the main item of importance here, but beyond the words to the true meaning.

You know, when anybody is searching for a deeper knowledge of any kind, it should be exciting, it should be invigorating and full of wonderment. What you seek should stimulate your mind. The quest for knowledge, the search for the unknown, the search for truth. First of all we have to ask ourselves, what is truth? The way I see it, there are two types of truth. One is for what we call our personal truth and our personal truth is what we observe and what we think of life and what we deem is right or wrong. For example, the judge wonders, did the man on trial speak the truth or did he lie? Our personal truth is what I would call a secondary truth created from the minds of humanity. On the other hand, universal truth has no form of its own, yet absolutely nothing on earth can exist without it.

Paradoxically, universal truth is both before creation and after the physical form. Such a paradox can only be unfolded and understood from within your own consciousness. That is the only place you’ll ever find it. It’s something you already know, but have temporarily forgotten and, as the memory comes back, you uncover a wealth of understanding that lies deep within your own consciousness. Now, as this inner knowledge evolves, it brings harmony between the form and the formless and perhaps someday, if you’re lucky, you will see that the form and the formless are one and the same thing and this is where one of the biggest mysteries of life begins and ends. This is what some mystical readings call realising the great oneness of life.

Another way to vocalise this great oneness would be to say the great nothingness and the physical are one and the same thing in different disguises. Oh yes, one very important thing to remember is, there is only one universal truth but there are billions of personal truths. Now, universal truth is directly connected to what we call wisdom and wisdom is a spiritual knowledge before the contamination of human thought. This is why the great sages and mystics throughout time have told us to look within for the answer we sought. They knew that wisdom wasn’t discovered, but uncovered from the very depths of your own soul, here lies the truth.

You know, I hope you realise that what we are calling universal truth can never be explained. Not by words alone because words are merely a guide to try and explain the unexplainable. For example, imagine if you will try to describe a beautiful green valley filled with cherry blossoms and warm sunshine to someone who had never seen anything in their lives but dark skies, snow and ice. They would probably think you were crazy and full of delusions and would have incredible difficulty relating to your description of green valleys, sunshine and cherry blossoms, due to the fact that you’re trying to describe the unknown. But immaterial, whether they believe you or disbelieve you, it wouldn’t change the fact that the valley and the cherry trees exist and that’s what the wise have been trying to tell us for many years. The knowledge that they talk about does exist if you can see it.

My advice is, the next time you’re reading the books of the wise, give yourselves some time for reflection. Give yourself some time to slow down your mind before reading and try and get a calm mind, for it is in a calm mind you will find the true meaning beyond the words. There’s a substantial difference between what we are calling our personal truth and what we call the impersonal truth. For example, the impersonal truth has no form of its own, it just is. On the other hand, every living creature on earth uses this impersonal truth to create their own version of what they in turn call their personal truth.

Okay, let’s lighten up and take another look at this from a different angle altogether and, if you’re not quite getting it, at least see it as funny and we’ll try and have another look at this paradoxical duo.

You know how in some eastern philosophies they talk about the difference between the big mind and the little mind? Well, let me try and explain this illusionary difference. The Buddhists see the big mind as God, which I wholeheartedly agree with, big mind being the universal intelligence of all things. Now, what is sometimes known as a personal mind or little mind accompanied by a free will creates a picture of how we perceive life in its entirety.

However, we are human and we’re not perfect and our personal minds can be very flippant and changeable from moment to moment and we are not always on track as far as truth is concerned, believe me, we all get lost. On the other hand, what is sometimes known as the big mind can never change, because what is known as the big mind is a formless spiritual energy that exists before time, space and matter, yet paradoxically, time, space and matter wouldn’t even exist without this spiritual energy. Therefore, this formless energy I am speaking of is both the physical form and the formless. Both energies are the same energy in a different form. Again, we have oneness appearing.

Here is where the three principles could take you into the world of physics, then you could say all matter in this world, immaterial of its form or density, is created from the same formless energy. Again, the form and the formless are one.

You know the wise American native people explained the oneness of life in a totally different way. They spoke of spiritual facts that can never change. For example, when they talked about the deer, the mountains, the fish and everything else on mother earth being made of spirit, then they talked about the Great Spirit which encompassed both mother earth and mother sky, thus making one Great Spirit. It was their way of trying to explain the oneness of life and try to bring wisdom back to their people.

You know what we talked about on this tape is nothing new, it’s been here since day one. As a matter of fact, if you were delving deeper into it, it would be a blanket cover for all human experience, but as I said before, each individual in this life has to find it for themselves and only you can find what lies within.

To end this tape, I would like to say as human beings we have joined the world of thought and we have become thinkers and for such a privilege we should be very grateful.

I realise this short talk covers extremely little regarding the three principles and, as you already to know, to try and explain such phenomena would be an endless project and it would cover subjects such as theosophy, Mysticism, philosophy, psychology, theology and psychiatry. As a matter of fact, it would be a blanket cover for all human experience.

Well my friend, I realise this tape is rather a digested explanation of the three principles but who knows, perhaps someday we could continue this little talk about the rewarding effects of understanding the true meaning. Thank you.