Levels of Truth

Today I did pay attention to what the date was—it was UFO day for the Eastside Daytime Neighborhood Group of Tucson’s American Sewing Guild chapter. Those of you who sew know that UFO means unfinished objects. I called in advance to let them know I was coming and received a warm welcome. This NG meets in a pleasant room in a church 3 miles away from our house. On UFO day, members come to sew together, talk, and perhaps go out for lunch. Back in Bellevue, we have something similar with Sew Lab, but Tucson doesn’t have a gifted instructor, Jacque. I took along a knit top I had been working on. It’s a t-shirt with an unusual diagonal line. I needed some advice on how to finish it. I discovered that I had already met one woman there in Albuquerque last summer. Her good friend lives on Mercer Island and she wanted to help her get involved with ASG locally. I soon was talking to most of the women and enjoyed the instant fellowship that sewing groups seem to provide. I received the help I needed to complete my top and received many complements. One difference in levels of intimacy I noticed—my close sewing buddies in the Seattle area would have been a bit more critical in a loving way. They would have said that the top is too low at the back neckline, that I should have put stabilizer on the diagonal hem so it wouldn’t wave, etc. As we get to know each other better we’ll give more complete feedback.

In Purna Yoga classes, we often talk about “levels of truth”. I learned in the teacher training program that we should not give the same kind of feedback to beginners as more advanced students. Each must be ready to hear what the teacher has to say. We also talk about how to know if something is true, integrity, and building trust. It gets complicated. I found this brief spiritual discussion by a fellow blogger (acknowledged at the end) that seems to be relevant.

The 3 Levels of Truth
1. Experience
2. Reasoning
3. Spiritual Knowing
What is truth? Someone once told me that ‘Truth is Death’. The basis for his explanation was that it is the ONLY thing that is GUARANTEED to all beings that take birth.

Experience is the first type of truth most of us know. Once an individual experiences something, they know it. None can then persuade them otherwise.

The second type of truth is something that we attain through rationalization or reasoning. In most cases the truth is not immediately apparent. The truth is borne out by testing or analysis of the abstract idea, or point of discussion.

Both of the above types of truth are relative, they have a range of validity. Even though truths are superior in comparison to opinions, beliefs and superstitions – they are limited by their range of validity. There is another type of truth, much different to the above two.

The third truth is the direct way of Spiritual Knowing. This is an internal experience of ‘truth’ through the opening of higher faculties. In order to attain this level of truth one must meditate to obtain perceptions of absolute certainty. There is no need for further investigation, doubt is eliminated. The attained knowledge is beyond rationalization and verbal description. The danger with this truth is that one must be careful not to let the fruits of one’s meditation pass into the realm of rationalization otherwise you will be subjected to the relativity of external truths ( e.g. the first two types of truth).

Below is a short compilation entitled ‘Truth of Life’.


True is taking birth
True is love for all
True is compassion
True is acceptance
True is knowing peace
True is detachment
True is suffering
True is Pain
True is Death
POSTED BY HARVINDERPAL SINGH


What level s of truth am I ready to experience? How do I recognize the truth? Who knows! But at least I think about it now and then.

Larry walked right into my blog topic tonight. I made chili for dinner. Chili for me is a creative process during which I use up vegetables, fruits, and spices I have on hand. Usually Larry likes what I make. Tonight he kept his mouth shut and spoke with his eyes. Unlike my closest sewing friends, my husband knows when to keep his mouth closed when he doesn’t like what I’ve cooked. That is a level of truth!