Seeking the Truth Will Dismantle Everything You Think You Know
What does it mean to “seek the truth”? Do you want the truth? What is this truth? And how will you recognize it? These questions seem simple on the surface but contain profound implications. They point to the nature of truth and the seeker’s relationship with it. Whether you turn to ancient teachings, modern philosophies, or your journey, the quest for truth remains one of human history’s most persistent and perplexing pursuits.
In the Diamond Approach®, truth is not merely a fixed concept or a set of facts. It is a dynamic living experience that can take many forms. Truth can be objective and relative, essential, and infused with love. These facets of truth are inseparable from the deeper inquiry into who we are and what reality is. As we explore these questions, the Diamond Approach offers a nuanced understanding of truth that guides us toward a more intimate and direct experience with what is real – truth.
Podcast Discussion: The Uncomfortable Truth
The Elusive Nature of Truth
The truth, as we often imagine it, is something external. We think of it as a fact, a concept, or a state of affairs that, once discovered, will resolve all doubts and uncertainties. Yet, as Confucius, Tung-Shan, and mystics across traditions remind us, seeking the truth outside oneself may only lead us farther from it.
Tung-Shan captures this paradox beautifully in his teachings:
If you look for the truth outside yourself, it gets farther and farther away.”
This suggests that the truth isn’t something “out there” to be found, captured, or conquered. It’s intimate, always near, and yet it recedes the moment we chase after it. In modern life, this idea can feel counterintuitive. We are conditioned to believe that effort, striving, and hard work will yield results. But when it comes to the truth, effort might hinder our discovery.
The truth Tung-Shan speaks of cannot be attained by simply acquiring more knowledge or “getting it right.” Instead, it requires a shift in perception, a merging with reality. He continues:
Today, walking alone,
I meet him everywhere I step.
He is the same as me,
yet I am not him.
Here, we see a glimpse of a deeper, mystical understanding. The truth is both separate and inseparable from the seeker. It’s a state of alignment rather than an object to be attained.
In the Diamond Approach, this state of alignment reveals essential truth. Essential truth is not an abstract or intellectual understanding but the direct experience of the underlying reality of existence. It arises when we move beyond the surface of our personal identities and encounter the truth of our being. This truth is not static; it is a living, unfolding experience, something we continue to discover as we deepen our inquiry into the nature of reality.
Do You Want the Truth?
This brings us to the next question: Do you really want the truth? It seems like an odd thing to ask. Who wouldn’t want the truth? But as you peel back the layers of this question, you may begin to see that the truth often disrupts more than it comforts. It unsettles the foundations of how you perceive yourself and the world around you.
Make no mistake about it- enlightenment is a destructive process. It has nothing to do with becoming better or being happier. Enlightenment is the crumbling away of untruth. It’s seeing through the facade of pretense. It’s complete eradication of everything we imagined to be true.
Adyashanti, The End of Your World
Consider the story of the rich young man in the Gospel of Matthew, who asks Jesus what he must do to attain eternal life. When Jesus tells him to sell his possessions and give the money to the poor, the young man “goes away grieving, for he had many possessions.” He wants the truth but isn’t ready to let go of the comforts, attachments, and identities that stand in his way.
Truth asks us to relinquish. In Buddhism, this letting go is called non-attachment. In Taoism, it is referred to as following the Way—acting without striving. In the Diamond Approach, it is understood as releasing identification with the ego-self to reveal the underlying reality of Being. In this sense, the truth is not about possessing knowledge or facts; it’s about surrendering the illusions that obscure our perception.
But is this what most of us want? Or do we prefer a comfortable, digestible version of the truth that aligns with our current worldview and supports the self-images we hold dear? To genuinely seek the truth, we must be willing to dismantle these illusions, knowing full well that doing so may leave us in profound uncertainty.
The Diamond Approach speaks directly to this challenge, differentiating between relative and objective truth. Relative truth is what we know through our everyday experiences and perceptions. Our personal history, biases, and societal influences condition it. On the other hand, objective truth is the deeper reality that exists beyond these personal distortions. It is the truth of what is, independent of our subjective interpretations. To desire the truth means moving beyond relative truth and facing the often uncomfortable but liberating reality of objective truth.
What Is This Truth?
This leads us to the next question: What is this truth? The nature of truth has been a subject of debate for millennia. For Confucius, truth was intertwined with humaneness (or ren) and virtue. He taught that the highest truth is lived, not merely known.
If you like humaneness but don’t like learning, it degenerates into folly,” Confucius said. In this, he emphasized that humaneness without cultivation, without effort, leads to wildness. The truth is not a static entity but a dynamic learning, refining, and deepening process.
In Taoism, truth is synonymous with the Tao, the Way, which cannot be fully described or captured in words.
The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.
Lao-Tzu’s description of the Tao mirrors Tung-Shan’s understanding of truth: shadowy, dark, unknowable, and yet the source of all things. In Sufism, the truth (Haqiqa) is the ultimate reality of God, something both transcendent and immanent, hidden and revealed.
So, what is this truth? In all these traditions, it is a direct encounter with reality, unfiltered by the mind’s need to categorize, divide, and possess. It sees the world as it is, not as we wish. In the Diamond Approach, this is called objective truth—the ability to see the essence of things without distorting the lens of personal biases, histories, and desires. This objectivity allows us to encounter the truth of existence itself, to see through the veils of illusion and projection that often cloud our perception.
How Will You Recognize Truth?
The final question is perhaps the most challenging: How will you recognize the truth when encountering it? The trouble with this question is that recognizing the truth requires an openness that often contradicts how we’ve been conditioned to operate. We’ve been taught to label, differentiate, and judge. However, recognizing the truth demands a certain innocence, “like a child in your breast.”
This isn’t about naivety. Instead, it’s about cultivating a state of openness and wonder, unclouded by preconceptions. In Buddhism, this is called beginner’s mind—the ability to meet each moment without clinging to past experiences or future expectations. When we approach the truth with such a mind, we allow it to reveal itself on its terms, not according to our agendas.
In the Diamond Approach, this openness is linked to love of truth. Love of truth is not merely an intellectual curiosity; it’s a deep, heartfelt devotion to discovering what is real, no matter the cost. This love of truth propels us forward, even when the path becomes difficult or confusing. It allows us to embrace the unknown and trust that the unfolding of truth will bring us closer to our essential nature.
The absolute truth of Being is absolute existence which is at the same time absolute absence… It is the source and essence of everything, but at the same time it is total openness, an absolute absence of any weight or substance.
A. H. Almaas
Recognizing the truth often feels like a homecoming, a deep, resonant sense of rightness that transcends intellectual understanding. It’s less about figuring something out and more about resting in what has always been present. As Lao-Tzu suggests, it’s about aligning with the Way, allowing the current of life to guide us rather than fighting upstream. This doesn’t mean passivity but rather a heightened sensitivity to the subtle movements of truth as they arise in each moment.
Truth and Simplicity
To seek the truth, we must simplify. Joseph Goldstein speaks of spiritual urgency, urging us to awaken from the entanglements of our worldly lives. We accumulate knowledge, possessions, and even identities, but all of this will disperse in time. “The end of all accumulation is dispersion,” he reminds us. This resonates deeply with the wisdom of Taoism, Buddhism, and Sufism, which all point to the necessity of letting go to encounter the truth.
Endless distractions and complexities in the modern world weigh down our lives. We fill our homes with objects, our minds with information, and our schedules with busyness. But the truth requires spaciousness. It requires us to clear away the clutter, not just externally but internally, so we might have the clarity to perceive what lies beneath the surface.
The Way Things Are
So, what does it mean to seek the truth? It means letting go of searching for something external and recognizing the truth already here. It means releasing attachments, both to material possessions and to mental constructs. It means stepping into the unknown, willing to have your beliefs and perceptions dismantled.
The Diamond Approach adds an essential layer to this journey. To seek truth is not just to find answers but to experience the unfolding of essential truth—the living, dynamic reality of who and what we truly are. Truth, in this sense,
The journey of truth invites a deeper engagement with our inner work, a process of inquiry, self-reflection, and understanding. To fully embrace this unfolding requires a willingness to turn inward, to explore beyond the surface of our identities, and to encounter the rich dimensions of our being. If you feel called to explore truth in its fullness and engage with the deeper layers of who you are, consider stepping into the work of the Diamond Approach. Learn more about this transformative process.
Watch That First Step
Everyone is seeking Truth
Though their lives remain uncouth
Relying on the seller’s booth
In vain hopes to cut a tooth
A word of caution, if you dare
To lay your hands on that plowshare
Proceeding slowly, take a care
The trip is through the devil’s lair
Though quaint words you’re quick to speak
Of insincerity, you reek
And run the risk of being meek
When facing what it is you seek
Many have lost their way
Failing to hold fear at bay
As they yelled — Come what may!
Forgetting debts they must repay
Truly if you wish to find
That which lies beyond the mind
Then admit that you are blind
And all assumptions leave behind
Those that make the better start
Pause before they do depart
Keeping horse before the cart
They purify an ailing heart
Who could know this simple thing
Would set their very soul on wing
Soaring to where night can’t cling
And silent voices around them sing.