Arriving At Truth

We talked long into the night about what I did and what I had learned, and, when he was satisfied that the journey was not in vain he said: "I am glad indeed at your successful sojourn, but you know it is not the Real. It is right that you should know the occult Sciences, but you realise that Truth is greater than all these things."

I said: "Yes, I do know that and it becomes clearer each day to me," and then I asked: "What about the hermits in the mountains, have they found the Truth?"

"No, my son," he replied, "you cannot find the Truth in the mountain or by the sea, nor by eating carrots, nor by concentrating on your umbilicus all day. Neither will you find it by running away from the world, because you are the world. There is no isolation, that is created only in man's mind, it is the great illusion. It is for this purpose that I have brought you here to make you see the false, then you will know what is the Real and the True. If you do not understand the false yourself, I cannot make you understand. You have been dabbling for years in the occult, that is why I want you to know the Real and the True thoroughly, so that you can be free."

"You will never understand, my son," he continued, "through a belief by mere meditation or suggestions; nor through the occult powers, nor in the future, nor in the past, can it be found, for the past is a memory and the future is hope mingled with fear. All these are of the mind, and Truth is beyond mind."

"Well," I said, "how do we arrive at the Truth?"

He answered: "I can only tell you the ways you cannot arrive at the Truth, and when you have found all the ways by which you cannot arrive at the Truth, you will find the Truth: then it will be yours, and not another's which is but an imitation."

He added: "You will not find it by mere analysis, for this is only digging up the past, and the Truth that sets you free is not of the past. When you see that the process of mere analysis is a false process you will discard it; it will drop from you like all the other false processes."

"What is in your mind," he continued, "is dead; it is not a living thing, but on the other hand Truth is that which is living from moment to moment. It must be discovered, not merely believed in, not to be quoted or formulated in the mind.

"To be alive, that is Truth; to know that you are Life and living every moment of It, that is Truth. To know this, your mind must be alert, aware, with your heart full of Love, free from all that is false; that is Truth."

-- Dr. Murdo MacDonald-Bayne (and Geshi Rinpoche) (more)