Why Pursue Truth For Truth's Sake Only?

[Extreme Z7]

I just finished today's meditation a few minutes ago and during the sit, my mind pondered about the idea of pursuing truth for truth's sake which I learned from Leo. I thought about how it means that you pursue truth not for the sake of achieving something or as a means to help you, at least externally, in your life. Luckily enough, reality immediately gave me a direct test on pursuing truth: a mosquito flew by my vision and I was about to kill it when I realized that 1.) I was meditating and should remain still 2.) killing the mosquito would go against truth because I would be acting based off my constructed self-agenda. All sorts of worries came up about how letting the mosquito suck my blood would be slightly painful and I could risk getting a disease, a worry which I realized stemmed from seeing people sick of mosquito-spread diseases on the news before.

In the end, I let the mosquito suck my blood and I resisted the urge to kill it. I tried to love the experience of it as much as possible but it was difficult. In the end, I felt bad because I started to have all sorts of worries about how the mosquito might have been carrying a virus but yet I tried my best to accept all that.

The reason why I'm sharing this story is because I'm faced with a paradox now. I remember Leo talking about how one's human life should be about pursuing happiness and also that Sadhguru said that what you want as a human being is that you just want life to be pleasant, but yet, we also need to pursue truth which means fully accepting reality as it is regardless of the negative or positive outcome. Pursuing truth in this story made me a tiny tiny step closer to truth but it did not make me any happier.

So, I'm confused. . . value truth (a.k.a. accepting reality as it is) or pursue the things that directly increase my level of happiness?
 

[key]

In your case killing the mosquito would be "closer" to the truth than letting it be, why? Because your first spontaneous instinct was to kill it, regardless of wether it's ego driven or not, the fact you questioned that impulse, mulled it over and decided it goes against what you "should" be doing in that moment is more ego driven than your first thought.

Truth includes all ego driven impulses, negative thoughts, death & cruelty that's out there, don't mistake it for all flowers and sunshine

Edited December 13, 2016 by key

[Leo Gura]

Here is where a dose of Zen helps:

Notice that the only thing there is, is truth.

Do you really have an option to not accept reality as it is?

Whatever you do, truth always is. If you deny reality, truth is still all there is.

If truth is all that is, and you are escaping truth, where are you escaping to????

Can reality be escaped? Is there an "esc" button?

[Epsilon_The_Imperial]

Simply put, lying to yourself creates chronic suffering in the long run.

[WelcometoReality]

4 hours ago, Extreme Z7 said:

So, I'm confused. . . value truth (a.k.a. accepting reality as it is) or pursue the things that directly increase my level of happiness?

In your experience can these things give you an everlasting happiness? Has things given you everlasting happiness before?

To me there was a deep curiosity to what truth was so that was my main priority. What do you feel deep down?

[Azrael]

5 hours ago, Extreme Z7 said:

Pursuing truth in this story made me a tiny tiny step closer to truth but it did not make me any happier.

To see from the top of the mountain, you don't take one step and then say: "Look, I told you it wouldn't change anything if I go on the mountain." When actually, you had to walk for the next 5 years up the mountain. By the way, next time just kill that motherfucker. There are better ways to progress on your journey. haha

[Extreme Z7]

29 minutes ago, Azrael said:

When actually, you had to walk for the next 5 years up the mountain.

Haha, thanks for reminding me.

[Bob84]

@Extreme Z7 A harsh truth to swallow is that happiness only maters to the ego.
You don't need to do anything to accepting reality as it is, you just need to stop not accepting it.

[Neo]

I know it's a bit off topic, but the mentions of happiness and suffering got me wondering.

 

Does anyone have any views on life when it keeps slapping you down, one problem after another. Although on this path you do start to become indifferent to it, I wonder if that's more through expecting trouble and sheer exhaustion. Is there somehow you could be "attracting" trouble, whether it be health issues, disasters, accidents?

[AlwaysBeNice]

Truth is happiness, oneness, enjoyment, freedom.

Ego is fear, entrapment, paranoia, depression. 

[Shin]

36 minutes ago, Neo said:

I know it's a bit off topic, but the mentions of happiness and suffering got me wondering.

 

Does anyone have any views on life when it keeps slapping you down, one problem after another. Although on this path you do start to become indifferent to it, I wonder if that's more through expecting trouble and sheer exhaustion. Is there somehow you could be "attracting" trouble, whether it be health issues, disasters, accidents?

How you feel about your life and the number of good opportunities that arise is in direct correlation about your inner beliefs.

If you think you deserve happiness and success, you'll get more of that, and if you think you don't deserve them, well ...

Now of course, some people, despite how optimist they are, a series of bad "luck" can still happen, life is impredictable yes.

 

[Neo]

2 minutes ago, NTOgen said:

 

It's not always pleasant, but if you have the distinct sense that you're being manhandled by the universe, then you can basically consider that a good sign. All the more so because reality will not throw anything at you that you can't handle.

 

I have to admit I have actually told life itself to "fuck off" over the last few days. I also had this feeling that as the grief was lining up one after the other that I was in some cosmic "Trueman show"... still smiling though at the end of the day...

[Tancrede Pouyat]

Why pursue Truth only for Truth's sake ?

Good question. Why live ? Why do things when you could just sit and do nothing for a few weeks and then die ? It's funny how we tend to forget that this whole 'life' thing is mostly a game, like the matrix (from the popular trilogy).

Still, I wonder how so very little people ask themselves the real questions in their life. How can so many people hold themselves to such low standards ? Also, it's really funny to see hardcore gamers spending THOUSANDS of hours developing their skills at their stupid games but then don't apply the very same knowledge to themselves.

I guess a good way to look at this is that Zen way that Leo mentioned above.

No matter how far down the rabbit hole you are, Truth is still all there is.

Reality being Absolutely Infinite, we, as kids in a playground, will forever make everything and anything we want from it. And reality needs us to, because it wouldn't be Absolutely Infinite without an absolutely infinite number of manifestations of itself.

Or you can just sit and look at the sand until you realize that you ARE the sand and that you are absolutely every impermanent thing ever made from it and radiate reality in the most perfect way you can - the way it needs you to.

[vizual]

The only reason we crave objects like sex, status, money, relationships etc. is because you hope it reduces some kind of suffering in your current situation. You maybe pursue money because of:

-You're broke so you need money to pay the bills
-You grew up poor so that imprinted the belief in you that money is very important
-You think it will get you love and respect from men and women
-You think it will grant you freedom
-Or whatever else you can think of

In all cases you chase money because you have this mental itch, an itch that you want to be scratched by obtaining the object "money". You think you will gain freedom when you get money, you think you can avoid the suffering from your childhood when you were poor etc. So what the ego then says, it says that it wants money. It makes you think that when you get the money you become happy, or that you than acquire happiness. But it won't really make you happy, it may relieve a little bit of suffering you experience in your life but suffering is a bottomless pit. As long as you are clinging now to concepts you will do it forever. The ways this life can make you suffer is literally infinite. Something goes, something new comes. Sure, it can be relatively fun for a while chasing these objects like money, but will it grant lasting happiness?

That is where Truth comes in. Truth will make you look at the root of these mental itches. Truth will give you an answer how important money really is, how happy it really makes you. Truth can grant you the happiness you are truly seeking without trying to take it away from external objects. But realize that inaction is not necessarily acceptance of reality. To let a mosquito bite you is not true acceptance, that is simply the ego trying to prove something: "Look at how accepting I am". It is not the ego that accepts reality, it is consciousness that accepts everything including the actions of the character("you"). 

Keep looking for the ultimate truth, it will set you free. But until you do try to make your life as pleasant as possible, not only for you but also for your environment. Your life experiences will also aid you in finding the truth.