BELIEVER
GOD AND
TRUTH
FRANK GOODMAN, The Senior
I believe fervently in free expression. I respect differences of belief and your right of free expression. You are urged to respect, even if you do not welcome, my right of free expression, and I invite you to examine my ideas critically. If you do not agree or find objections of any nature, please extend me the courtesy to present your views for my consideration. If I find truth in what you say or you find truth in what I say, we both win. Try the links but keep an open mind. Some of you may be dismayed by what you read. Others may be amused or enlightened. If honesty and truth are not acceptable to you there is nothing here for you, please exit from this site now.
"Truth
has been my only guide. Wherever I see truth, my eyes and mind will
follow it. If someone should think a falsehood and believe it true, let
him do so in is own folly. But, let him not say that I lie when I see
TRUTH."
Frank Goodman,
CA 1980.
"Truth has been my only aim; and wherever that has appeared to lead, my thoughts have impartially followed, without minding whether the footsteps of any other lay that way or not." John Locke, 1686
THINKING
Did you ever wonder what it means to say that something is true or what is TRUTH? Or, just what it means to say 'think'? What does it mean to say that you are thinking 'hard'? Thinking is like eating. If you think too much you get fatuous. If you don't think enough your logic loses weight and your reason gets anorexic. It is sometimes hard to eat something you don't like even when it is good for you. It is also hard to think about something that disagrees with your mindset, even if it is true. But, re-thinking something and changing the mind make all progress in a personal life and in the history of mankind. Here is some food for thought.
Think Again
To think requires a freedom of mind to consider anything and
everything that comes to the mind. All available faculties of the mind
then are brought to bear on the item of thought. That requires a courage,
which many are not able to muster. Traditions, prejudices,
pre-conceptions, assumptions, ignorance, innocence, pride, fear, superstition,
religion, politics, and a host of other things get in the way. Any one of
the many influences may cause one to eject an idea without considering
it. An intimacy with thought can allow one to avoid most of the problems.
First, define the idea.
Is there a real thing, relationship, event, or concept that exists beyond the
mind to which the idea can refer? Does the thought item have a reality or
is it just a figment of imagination. One can have an idea that is a
figment of imagination that does not exist in reality as conceived except in
the idea. Call that a fiction. Create a story if you like involving
the figment as though it were real. However, do not claim for it
reality. Reality is what actually is whether one knows it to exist or
not.
Next, reduce the item of thought to its simplest form that does not distort the concept. Strip it of all excess baggage, including: qualifications, restrictions, justifications, prejudice, etc. Classify it as to whether it is an idea of a material thing, form, event, relationship, or manifestation of something else.
Finally, place the idea in relationship with other real existence and let the program run. Enjoy!
SUBSTANCE
I often take a trip beyond the bounds of time and visit
little islands of my mind. I chase enigmas on the shore
where I have seen them many times before.
I travel the dual highways in my brain and note
the passing
traffic in the other lanes. For passing
thoughts I do not
long delay--I'll meet them all again another day.
I trek over ageless sands of time and see the deserts of the mind.
Mystic thought-dunes drift across my path--
slowly moving dogmas from the past.
Down syllogistic slopes I often race to feel the ice-cold logic on
my face. My skis make tracks in virgin mental
snow--symbolic views of things I'll never know.
I stroll for hours deep in cerebral woods
admiring the
beauty of those sturdy goods. Intuitive
leaves stirred by a
universal breeze ethics and aesthetics in those trees.
I sail to ports not found on common charts
to find where thought and matter part,
but the only boundaries that are seen
are between my thoughts in the ever-fluid scene.
Frank Goodman, The Senior
(C) 2001
The
Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it.
Then said a teacher, Speak to us of
Teaching.
And he said:
No man can reveal to you
aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of your knowledge.
The teacher who walks in
the shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not of his wisdom but
rather of his faith and his lovingness.
If he is indeed wise he
does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the
threshold of your own mind.
The astronomer may speak to
you of his understanding of space, but he cannot give you his understanding.
The musician may sing to
you of the rhythm, which is in all space, but he cannot give you the ear, which
arrests the rhythm nor the voice that echoes it.
And he who is versed in the
science of numbers can tell of the regions of weight and measure, but he cannot
conduct you thither.
For the vision of one man
lends not its wings to another man.
And even as each one of you
stands alone in God's knowledge, so must each one of you be alone in his
knowledge of God and in his understanding of the earth.
From The
Prophet by Kahlil
Gibran
THE RELIGION OF TRUTH
THE TRUE RELIGION
The True Religion is an ecumenical attempt to reach the common ground underlying each of the human religions of the world. First, it is assumed that each adherent or believer of any formal or informal religious association truly believes that he or she has discovered, acquired, or has received a true message. However, since there are contradictions among the major religions as well as within sects, schisms, and splinters of the world religions, as well as individual perceptions, all of them cannot be true in every detail and claim.
Some are downright ridiculous and deserve to be ridiculed. Others are dispatched without difficulty by means of old-fashioned logic and common sense. Finally, there are those that attract so many followers that it would be impossible to convince all of the foolishness of their positions and beliefs.
It is not the purpose of The True Religion to disprove the basis of each and every one of the various faiths. The purpose is to give to those who are uncomfortable with the contradictions, dogmas, magic, miracles, and superstitious beliefs, as well as with intermediaries who claim direct communication with a god, gods, son-of-god, mother-of-god, demi-gods, angels, saints, etc., a comfortable place for their own good sense. The purpose is also to give to the nascent young and callow youth, even the astute believer, a handle on their own minds and abilities to sort out the mess (ages) for themselves.
TRUE MESSAGE is
the key to what is common to all. Each person wants what he or she
believes to be true, but does not necessarily want to believe something
that is in fact true. One cannot make true what is not true nor make not true
what is true. The strongest belief and commitment cannot create truth.
Neither can six billion people who believe something is true make true what is
believed when in fact it is not. The legal right to believe what one
wishes cannot make what is believed true. Respect and admiration for the
person of the proclaimer of 'truth' does not make the proclamation true.
Legislation by an elected congress cannot create truth. Finally, a
pragmatic decision to pretend to believe something, because one would suffer
dire consequences if one did not at least act as though one believes, does not
make what is believed or pretended true. I do not create truth for if
what I say is true, it is true before I say it. It is not true that
anything I, or you, wish to believe is true, because though we have a right to
believe, we do not create our own truth.
To truly believe in Truth
(as opposed to something that is true), one only has to know that something
is true, that everything true is true and, that it is true
that what is not true is not true. One does not have to know
what is true, every fact, or even if anything else is true. Truth is
certainly the monistic principle of existence.
No god is higher than Truth for if any god exists it must be true that the god exists. If there is no god separate from Truth, it must be true that there is no separate god. If there is a god separate from Truth, it must be true that the separate god is greater than Truth. If the separate god is equal to Truth, then there are two gods. God can neither exist nor not exist without Truth. Truth exists whether there is a god or not. But, it cannot be conceived that Truth does not exist. Nothing greater than Truth can be conceived.
For those who want to believe that there is no such thing as absolute Truth, I say that it is intuitive knowledge that there is, and that nothing else is reliable without absolute Truth. To say that the concept of Truth is all in the mind is to deny much that can only be perceived by the mind. A point, line, plane, or space can only be perceived by the mind, but visual symbolic representations may be seen and real problems solved by means of those perceptions in the mind. A number can only be perceived by the mind, but things can be counted. Much can be done with the perceptions of mathematic and geometric facts--all in the mind--then the results can be applied in reality.
One can believe that the act of doing creates 'truth'. But, the act of doing only verifies something true. It was always true that it would be done and it will always be true that it was done. Something true is not Truth itself. If there are two horses, the horses are not two; the number of horses is two. And two is not the horses; two is the number of horses. If there are two horses, it is true that there are two horses. All things true are true because of Truth Universal. God if you will!
That creatures imply a creator
is a weak brother of the statement that things true imply Truth.
To say that 'no creatures' implies a creator is non-sense. And, if the
creator created the creatures, the creator must have existed before the
creatures; therefore, a creator without creatures existed before its creatures.
Only after creation does 'creatures' imply a creator. Capacity to create does
not identify a creator. Yet 'not true' implies that it is true that
something is not true. Truth is stronger than a creator.
Creator implies an act of creation. Truth implies a being greater
than a creator and no act required except to exist. If no creatures
existed before the creation, that is true. If something exists which is
not created, God, then what is the meaning of reality? Truth defines God
in itself. Creator does not. Truth hath no Creator. It is
true that Truth is God.
There are matters of
fact and there are matters of absolute certainty. The statement that 'God
exists' is a matter of fact for it can be believed, and even
conceived, that God does not exist (So long as one does not believe that God
and Truth are identical). The statement that 'Truth exists' is a
matter of absolute certainty for it cannot be believed nor
conceived that Truth does not exist.
Belief is what one holds to be true whether true or not. Many use the word truth when belief is what they mean. The True Believer (in God) is a believer in Truth Itself (God).
Frank Goodman, The Senior
(C) 2001
And an old priest said, Speak to us of
Religion.
And he
said:
Have I spoken this day of
aught else?
Is not religion all deeds
and all reflection,
And that which is neither
deed nor reflection, but a wonder and a surprise ever
springing in the soul, even while the hands
hew the stone or tend the loom?
Who can separate his faith
from his actions, or his belief from his occupations?
Who can spread his hours
before him, saying, "This for God and this for myself; This for my soul,
and this other for my body?"
All your hours are wings
that beat through space from self to self.
He who wears his morality
but as his best garment were better naked.
The wind and the sun will
tear no holes in his skin.
And he who defines his
conduct by ethics imprisons his song-bird in a cage.
The freest song comes not
through bars and wires.
And he to whom worshipping
is a window, to open but also to shut, has not yet visited the house of
his soul whose windows are from dawn to dawn.
Your daily life is your
temple and your religion.
Whenever you enter into it
take with you your all.
Take the plough and the
forge and the mallet and the lute,
The things you have
fashioned in necessity or for delight.
For in revery you cannot
rise above your achievements nor fall lower than your failures.
And take with you all men:
For in adoration you cannot
fly higher than their hopes nor humble yourself lower than their despair.
And if you would know
God be not therefore a solver of riddles.
Rather look about you and
you shall see Him playing with your children.
And look into space; you
shall see Him walking in the cloud, outstretching His arms in the lightning and
descending in rain.
You shall see Him smiling
in flowers, then rising and waving His hands in trees.
From The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
GOD IS TRUTH
St. Anselm said, "God is that than which nothing greater could be
conceived."
Gandhi said, "No god is greater than
truth."
One of the ninety-nine names of God found in
the Koran is Al Haq Mobin (The real Truth).
First, distinguish "Truth" as a universal concept from
"truth" as something that is true. The Universal
Concept of Truth applies to all things true, whether existence of material
things and objects, or any other term or proposition that is true. One
analogy is a number, such as the number two (2). The universal number 2
applies to the number of any thing of which there are two. In the
specific sense, 2 donkeys refer to donkeys and 2 unicorns refer to unicorns.
The universal concept of 2 can refer to two ideas, two concepts, two of
anything. Just as 2 as a universal concept can be dealt with in
naked math without regard to what there are two of, Truth as a universal
concept can be dealt with in belief and faith without knowing what, or if
anything is true. Thus it is that Truth is God.
Truth touches everything that is, was, or ever will be. Of what
exists now, it was never true that it would never exist. Of what has
happened in the past, it will never be true that it did not happen. And,
it is true that whatever will be will be. Que sera sera! Of
what is impossible in fact, it is true that the impossible never happened, does
not, and will never occur. Of what does not happen, it will always be
true that it did not happen. Truth rules what is and what is not.
Nothing is greater than Truth itself. If, indeed, there is a
single monistic principle, it is Truth.
To say that "...no god is greater than truth...” is to recognize
that, if a god exists, it must be true that the god exists. If anything
is true, Truth is required, just as universal 2 is required if there are
2 of anything. The existence of any god requires Truth. But,
existence of Truth does not require existence of a god separate from Truth
itself. Truth is "... that than which nothing greater
could be conceived." Truth is God.
If God were separate from Truth and each were such that none greater
could be conceived, they would be equal. Since Truth can exist
without a separate god but a separate god could not exist without Truth,
then, Truth is greater than any separate god. Truth
does not equal God--Truth is identical to God. Thus there is only
one God--Truth.
Try to conceive of any article of religious faith or belief. If what is
believed is true in fact, Truth is required for it must be true
that what is believed is true. If what is believed is not true in
fact, Truth is still required for it must be true that what is believed
is not true in fact.
All is dependent upon Truth. Nothing exists without Truth.
Nothing is true without Truth. When you hope and pray for a unique
event, it cannot happen without Truth. Truth determines
what is possible and what Truth allows is the Will of God.
It is true that all that is good, desirable, and possible requires Truth.
Love Truth, love God and seek your place of comfort.
It is also true that what is dangerous and harmful requires Truth.
Fear Truth, fear God and seek your place of safety.
It can be conceived that any other god does not exist, but it cannot be conceived that Truth does not exist. A statement of belief that "...Truth does not exist..." is meaningless. In this faith, there are no atheists, agnostics, or doubters--only believers. If you are a Truth Seeker, you have found Her.
Free
your mind of all doubt. Know Truth and Truth shall set you free.
The Truth Lovers Frank Goodman, The
Senior
(C) 2001
TRUTH
(GOD)
______|______
true
not true
|
|
It is true that TRUTH (GOD)
exists.
It is true that TRUTH (GOD) does not exist.
|
|
TRUTH (GOD)
exists.
If true that TRUTH does not exist, TRUTH exists.
Intuitively
confirmed
Intuitively contrary to reason.
It is true that TRUTH exists.
(GOD EXISTS)
It is not true that TRUTH does
not exist. (GOD EXISTS)
IT IS NOT POSSIBLE THAT TRUTH
(GOD) DOES NOT EXIST
GOD EXISTS
Frank Goodman, The Senior
SUPRA NATURAL VS. SUPERNATURAL
REAL OR IMAGINARY
What is the difference between "supra natural" and "supernatural?" Both mean over, above or beyond. Because the term supernatural has traditionally been used to refer to a deity who cannot be understood in a logical sense and must be accepted on faith alone, I prefer the term "supra natural" to refer to an entity which can be understood in a logical sense to be over and above all other being, beings, and entities. I see the entity referred to as GOD to be logically and rationally understood as TRUTH. By that I mean TRUTH itself as opposed to that which is true.
Any reference to a supernatural god, which must be accepted on faith alone, belongs to the realm of superstition. Such a god must be specifically described in such a way that a mental connection can be made. That necessarily involves images, attributes, qualities, and manifestations assured by a prophet or seer of some sort who can command respect or credibility and invoke sufficient threat to cause the followers to pretend to believe out of fear. Such a god is a figment of imagination.
Truth as a concept can be dealt with logically. Anything true in reality can be accepted as a manifestation of the concept of TRUTH UNIVERSAL. The reality of TRUTH is intuitive. It is no figment of imagination. Everything true is the total evidence for the existence of TRUTH (GOD).
Anyone who has a normal faculty of mind can understand that TRUTH (GOD) is real. Truth has a quality such that it can be understood to apply to everything in all time and even prior to, after, above and beyond time, space and all other reality. Truth is spiritual in that it is timeless and cannot be detected in any way by the physical senses. It is more real than physical existence, which is temporary, and subject to changes. Truth is never subject to changes. TRUTH UNIVERSAL (GOD) is ONE--unchangeable forever.
"Whatever will be will be." One can know intuitively that, though fate is not pre-determined, it will be whatever it is at any time it is determined to be. And it can be known that it would be whatever it will be from all time. It can be known that there never was a time that it was true that what has happened did not happen. Likewise, there never will be a time when it will be true that whatever happens did not happen. And, que sera sera! It is intuitively certain that what will be will be.
The ordinary human mind may not be able to accommodate the idea of freedom of action along with the idea of que sera sera. However, if one accepts that the decision and the conditions are part of the pre-determination, one can see it more clearly.
Some would have it that there are 'many truths', that 'truth' is whatever one believes, that contradictions or contraries at the same time and place are possible. Such beliefs require a support system involving the assumption of a supernatural beyond the senses and logic. There is no faith in such a special belief without constant articulation of the faith. Some sort of physical or vocal pretense is needed for the ordinary adherent.
Those whose existence denies them access to the set of beliefs essential to the believer are left out. Those who lived at the wrong time of history, in the wrong geographical space, in the wrong neighborhood, or who were intimidated to disavow belief in such a faith, are essentially left out. However, nobody is left out in the chance to believe in Truth. Anyone can believe in Truth without knowing what or if anything is true. One can adhere to a fabrication or figment of imagination, believing it to be true, therefore, believe in Truth without knowing that what is believed is not true in fact.
Truth is one of the most misused words of the English language. We speak of "other truths," "partial truth," "whole truth," "real truth," and many other qualified forms of the concept of Truth. Most think of truth as the entire body of all that is true. Thus a search for "the truth," or "reality," is a search for infinite facts believed to constitute Truth. The existence of so many things true leads to a frustration resulting in denial of the possibility of knowing Truth. Then, truth is seen to have an opposite value giving rise to untrue, lie, falsehood, deception, fake, mistake, and others. It is perfectly clear that if it is true that something does not exist, Truth exists just as certainly as if something does exist. It must be true that what would be a real thing with specified attributes if it did in fact exist, but in fact does not exist, indeed does not exist. The non-existence requires Truth for it to be true that there is nothing in fact that fits the attributes and no such entity or reality manifests anywhere or any time even though conceivable and possible.
Hume saw two kinds of truth. One, he attributed to those things of which it could be conceived that they may not exist or some event that could be conceived not to occur. He called those "matters of fact". The other referred to, as "absolute certainty" could not be conceived to be not true. Three legged or five legged dogs could be conceived to exist, and humans could be conceived by any other sapient being not to exist, but it is absolutely certain that round squares and four sided triangles do not exist.
Truth is supra natural, as is each integer of number, and conceivably other so-called universals. Plato's universals may not all qualify in a complete sense. Beauty is not of the same universal quality as Truth, or even number. Beauty is too subjective to qualify and absolute beauty cannot be conceived. Neither does love, faith and other of the so-called universals.
A line in a geometric sense cannot be seen, but may be conceptualized as infinite regression of space to only one dimension or to a boundary condition. Infinity cannot be conceived, but may be conceptualized by a mathematical approximation to whatever significant level of approach is desired. Thus the supra natural includes the concepts of infinity, number, line, plane, point, space, and Truth. They are all spiritual qualities. Not spiritual in a sense of a supernatural capable of circumventing possibility and reality or miracles involving matters of fact (Hume), but spiritual in a sense of absolute certainty while not apprehended by the physical senses. These are of the realm of the supra natural.
What is the good for man? To know there is a real TRUTH over and above all reality is to have a sense of being and an anchor for belief and faith as well as the courage to live and to let live. There are no atheists, agnostics, or doubters in this faith.
Frank Goodman, the Senior
Hot Links
Gandhi did not distinguish truth from belief. He stated that there are different 'truths', thus different 'gods'. That is the problem. I resolve that by saying that TRUTH is the transcendent, unitary, monistic, existence over all that is true. What you see and do is the temporal effect of TRUTH. But TRUTH is not that which is true, but over all that is true. When you say that there are two horses, you do not mean to imply that two and horses are the same thing. In that way, you should see GOD (TRUTH) as transcendent over all that is in the same way that 'two' is transcendent over the concept of two horses. Two is transcendent over horses of which there are two, but two is not horses in any way. A horse is no part of TRUTH, but something true. It is TRUTH that makes horse possible and allows a horse in fact. Thus, it is that TRUTH determines all that is and denies all that is not.
Poems by Frank Goodman,
The Senior
If you have comments or suggestions, email me at fdgsr@comcast.net
This page last updated
June 12, 2006