How to find the Truth for Yourself
1) Recognize your ego.
The ego "is" a lot of things, but basically, it is your sense of "you." Anything that can fill in the blank of this sentence:
"I am ____." More importantly to finding the truth, it is the part of the ego which fills in this blank: "I believe ____." So pretty
much everything that you describe yourself with. But it is the "I believe" part that is most important in finding the truth.
Now, ego isn't neccessarily a bad thing. Ego gives people a sense of purpose, it makes the economy keep going, it drives us
to fulfill our needs (to get food, shelter, etc), and basically it keeps us alive.
But here is the thing. Water is good for you. You are supposed to drink water. You need water to survive. But if you chug
several gallons of water all at once, you get water intoxication and die (water intoxication is similar to alchohol intoxication).
Ego is the same way. You need your ego to live, but too much of it will screw up your perception and thinking abilities, and
lead to an imbalance which will eventually create problems.
Right now, in our generation, this negative effect is especially happening. We are constantly being faced with people who have
very strong egos. I think we can all agree that those with opinions, usually won't accept other opinions. It doesn't matter how
much "proof" or disproof you give them, they will twist it so that it is meaningless. Most of the time, these people base their
ideas off of various sources which they aren’t really sure are true, in fact, most of the time they aren’t really sure where the idea
originally came from at all (think of the most basic things you know about society, history, and science and try to figure out
where all the ideas came from)
"I am ____." More importantly to finding the truth, it is the part of the ego which fills in this blank: "I believe ____." So pretty
much everything that you describe yourself with. But it is the "I believe" part that is most important in finding the truth.
Now, ego isn't neccessarily a bad thing. Ego gives people a sense of purpose, it makes the economy keep going, it drives us
to fulfill our needs (to get food, shelter, etc), and basically it keeps us alive.
But here is the thing. Water is good for you. You are supposed to drink water. You need water to survive. But if you chug
several gallons of water all at once, you get water intoxication and die (water intoxication is similar to alchohol intoxication).
Ego is the same way. You need your ego to live, but too much of it will screw up your perception and thinking abilities, and
lead to an imbalance which will eventually create problems.
Right now, in our generation, this negative effect is especially happening. We are constantly being faced with people who have
very strong egos. I think we can all agree that those with opinions, usually won't accept other opinions. It doesn't matter how
much "proof" or disproof you give them, they will twist it so that it is meaningless. Most of the time, these people base their
ideas off of various sources which they aren’t really sure are true, in fact, most of the time they aren’t really sure where the idea
originally came from at all (think of the most basic things you know about society, history, and science and try to figure out
where all the ideas came from)
Problems in Overcoming Ego
Some groups of people do try to get past this sense of an ego. One community which tries to do this is the scientific community. The
thing that people attribute to science the most is probably this: the rejection of opinion and people's own desires, in exchange for cold,
hard fact. The only thing is, in doing this, they actually have made an ego of their own in a very oxymoronic way. They have used not
having opinions and egotistical logic to create their own ego. One thing that comes up most of all, and pretty much what I'm talking
about, is the atheist vs. theist argument that comes up a lot, especially with things like the Big Bang Theory and evolution. And now,
because of their egos, people have done something uneccessary and sad. They have messed up a good thing. Something that might
lead to us finding out the actual truth. And they have done by making people think that science is anti-religious. They have attacked the
one thing that people desperately hold on to more than anything in a world of uncertainty- their souls. And their ego.
And that is where scientists have gone wrong. You aren't going to "prove" anything to someone by attacking someones ego, anymore
than someone who attacks your ego is going to prove anything to you. No one should have connected religion to science. Science isn't
religion. It shouldn't be. Whether or not God is real has nothing to do with science at all.
I will go in depth about it later, but for now, if you actually research it, science does not disprove the Bible. Anyone who says that
it does, is either a scientist that doesn't know the Bible, or a Christian who doesn't know anything about science. Or some random
person who doesn't even try to find out about either.
And the last type of person, who doesn't know anything about either, is talking for a reason. That reason is the ego. They HAVE to
know something, they HAVE to decide on a belief because of their ego, regardless of whether they actually know the truth or not.
So neither side of the argument is asking, "What is the Truth?" They are asking, "What do I believe?" It becomes all about them, MY
beliefs, MY God, MY lack of one. Its all about their own ego, not the actual Truth. Theists say, "But mine IS the truth." Atheists say, "mine
is the truth." Well we can't all be right, can we? And as long as we stand around arguing, we won't have time to find out who is. By the
time we finish arguing, we will be dead, won't we?
Let's not forget that scientists used to think that the earth was flat, that the earth was made of only four elements, that draining
people's blood was supposed to heal them. Let's also not forget that there were Greek philosophers who described atoms, and who
insisted that the world was round, but they were ignored because they had no proof at the time and people considered it just a stupid
myth. And although we think that we are smart, so did all the people before us. I wonder what people a thousand years from now will
be saying about our intelligence.
I'm not saying that either view is wrong, I'm simply saying that you can't blame anyone for believing something just because they don't
have enough proof to please you. No proof doesn't mean "proof that its false". It just means uncertainty. Theres nothing wrong with
opinions, but there is something wrong with letting opinions waste away your life.
So let's not stand around and argue about a problem which we can't find an answer to.
(By the way, I'm not saying that ALL scientists or atheists are this way, or that ALL Christians or theists are this way, I'm just saying that
is the way the majority has been represented to the general public. Which isn't my fault if it's an incorrect representation; only YOU guys
can change this.)
So in trying to cool down your ego, it is important not to let trying not to have an ego interfere with finding the truth either. Don't become
so anti-ego that you refuse to accept anything that seems slightly egotistical that comes your way. Because although too much ego is
blinding, ego is still a big part of our reality, and there are truths about reality that you will never understand if you don't consider it
without being biased towards it.
thing that people attribute to science the most is probably this: the rejection of opinion and people's own desires, in exchange for cold,
hard fact. The only thing is, in doing this, they actually have made an ego of their own in a very oxymoronic way. They have used not
having opinions and egotistical logic to create their own ego. One thing that comes up most of all, and pretty much what I'm talking
about, is the atheist vs. theist argument that comes up a lot, especially with things like the Big Bang Theory and evolution. And now,
because of their egos, people have done something uneccessary and sad. They have messed up a good thing. Something that might
lead to us finding out the actual truth. And they have done by making people think that science is anti-religious. They have attacked the
one thing that people desperately hold on to more than anything in a world of uncertainty- their souls. And their ego.
And that is where scientists have gone wrong. You aren't going to "prove" anything to someone by attacking someones ego, anymore
than someone who attacks your ego is going to prove anything to you. No one should have connected religion to science. Science isn't
religion. It shouldn't be. Whether or not God is real has nothing to do with science at all.
I will go in depth about it later, but for now, if you actually research it, science does not disprove the Bible. Anyone who says that
it does, is either a scientist that doesn't know the Bible, or a Christian who doesn't know anything about science. Or some random
person who doesn't even try to find out about either.
And the last type of person, who doesn't know anything about either, is talking for a reason. That reason is the ego. They HAVE to
know something, they HAVE to decide on a belief because of their ego, regardless of whether they actually know the truth or not.
So neither side of the argument is asking, "What is the Truth?" They are asking, "What do I believe?" It becomes all about them, MY
beliefs, MY God, MY lack of one. Its all about their own ego, not the actual Truth. Theists say, "But mine IS the truth." Atheists say, "mine
is the truth." Well we can't all be right, can we? And as long as we stand around arguing, we won't have time to find out who is. By the
time we finish arguing, we will be dead, won't we?
Let's not forget that scientists used to think that the earth was flat, that the earth was made of only four elements, that draining
people's blood was supposed to heal them. Let's also not forget that there were Greek philosophers who described atoms, and who
insisted that the world was round, but they were ignored because they had no proof at the time and people considered it just a stupid
myth. And although we think that we are smart, so did all the people before us. I wonder what people a thousand years from now will
be saying about our intelligence.
I'm not saying that either view is wrong, I'm simply saying that you can't blame anyone for believing something just because they don't
have enough proof to please you. No proof doesn't mean "proof that its false". It just means uncertainty. Theres nothing wrong with
opinions, but there is something wrong with letting opinions waste away your life.
So let's not stand around and argue about a problem which we can't find an answer to.
(By the way, I'm not saying that ALL scientists or atheists are this way, or that ALL Christians or theists are this way, I'm just saying that
is the way the majority has been represented to the general public. Which isn't my fault if it's an incorrect representation; only YOU guys
can change this.)
So in trying to cool down your ego, it is important not to let trying not to have an ego interfere with finding the truth either. Don't become
so anti-ego that you refuse to accept anything that seems slightly egotistical that comes your way. Because although too much ego is
blinding, ego is still a big part of our reality, and there are truths about reality that you will never understand if you don't consider it
without being biased towards it.
Other Ways Controlling Your Ego will Help You
Actually paying attention to yourself is the biggest part of it. In the search for Truth, you have to understand yourself before you can
start to understand what's around you. Once you start paying attention to yourself, start to figure out where all your emotions, desires,
and opinions are coming from. First you have to decide to be completely honest with yourself. That is basically what controlling Ego is
all about. Often Ego will lie to you. Ego is the part of people that warps reality.
I'm sure at some point you may have been associated with two people who had an argument over something (maybe 2 friends,
maybe some family members). And when one person talked to you about it, you could see why they were upset over it. But then the
other person talked to you, and it sounded like almost an entirely different story, because the way they had viewed it was so different.
Of course, they weren't actually telling two different stories. They were telling one story, with two different egos. Their egos had lied to
them about it.
If you have control over your Ego, you aren't neccessarily going to be happy with everyone all the time. The only way it would bring
complete peace was if everyone in the world did this. And that's being stupidly optimistic. So there are still people who will have egos
besides you. And sometimes you might actually see the Truth about something, and try to tell someone, but they won't listen
to you because they are wrapped up in their Ego. So controlling your Ego is NOT going to keep you from having disagreements (this
isn't some magic potion that will give you eternal peace, I'm sorry to say.)
BUT it will definitely reduce the number of disagreements you do have. It will also help you in endless other ways, in ways that you
would not have guessed it would.
Again, controlling your Ego isn't neccessarily not having one. You are still going to draw opinions sometimes, but the thing is not to let
these opinions bother other people (not to extremes I mean, like getting into pointless, endless arguments; Doesn't mean that you
should constantly worry about bothering people, or let people walk all over you). However, there are still ways to downsize your Ego,
even though you can't and really shouldn't get rid of it completely..
start to understand what's around you. Once you start paying attention to yourself, start to figure out where all your emotions, desires,
and opinions are coming from. First you have to decide to be completely honest with yourself. That is basically what controlling Ego is
all about. Often Ego will lie to you. Ego is the part of people that warps reality.
I'm sure at some point you may have been associated with two people who had an argument over something (maybe 2 friends,
maybe some family members). And when one person talked to you about it, you could see why they were upset over it. But then the
other person talked to you, and it sounded like almost an entirely different story, because the way they had viewed it was so different.
Of course, they weren't actually telling two different stories. They were telling one story, with two different egos. Their egos had lied to
them about it.
If you have control over your Ego, you aren't neccessarily going to be happy with everyone all the time. The only way it would bring
complete peace was if everyone in the world did this. And that's being stupidly optimistic. So there are still people who will have egos
besides you. And sometimes you might actually see the Truth about something, and try to tell someone, but they won't listen
to you because they are wrapped up in their Ego. So controlling your Ego is NOT going to keep you from having disagreements (this
isn't some magic potion that will give you eternal peace, I'm sorry to say.)
BUT it will definitely reduce the number of disagreements you do have. It will also help you in endless other ways, in ways that you
would not have guessed it would.
Again, controlling your Ego isn't neccessarily not having one. You are still going to draw opinions sometimes, but the thing is not to let
these opinions bother other people (not to extremes I mean, like getting into pointless, endless arguments; Doesn't mean that you
should constantly worry about bothering people, or let people walk all over you). However, there are still ways to downsize your Ego,
even though you can't and really shouldn't get rid of it completely..
How to Directly Control Your Ego
I've been going off topic from how to keep your Ego from getting in the way of Truth, because I wanted to give you a good
understanding of it first. So here is the way to downsize your Ego so that it doesn't interfere with the Truth:
1) Pay attention to your emotions, desires, and opinions, especially when you start telling them to other people. Just start thinking about
them, try to think of why you have them, where you got your information or your personal idea of it. If it's information, consider that it could
be wrong. If it's personal ideas, consider how other people, especially the people against your ideas, might feel.
2) Remember that whenever you decide something, it becomes fact in your mind, so you will always try to prove it as fact from then
on, and it will be harder later on for you to deprogram yourself from thinking that its true if it turns out that it's not. Often, you build ideas
on top of ideas, so if you decide too soon what your belief will be, if it turns out it was incorrect, all the ideas that are connected will
collapse, which will make it even harder. Nothings wrong with not knowing or having an opinion on something. A lot of the times people
will let their ego drive them into deciding something before they understand everything about what they are deciding.
3) I promise, you will know the Truth if you do this. And when you know the Truth, it will set you free from any doubts. It won't come to you
the same way that an ego-inspired decision would. It will come to you fully as the Truth, as something you just know the same way you
just know that you've been breathing for all of your life. So you don't have to worry or push it.
4) It takes practice, and you'll get better at it as you work on it. Perfection isn't the goal right now, progress is. You don't have to
completely get rid of your sense of individuality, it's more about achieving understanding and denying ignorance. I'm definitely not
perfect and don't follow this perfectly, but I try my best.
understanding of it first. So here is the way to downsize your Ego so that it doesn't interfere with the Truth:
1) Pay attention to your emotions, desires, and opinions, especially when you start telling them to other people. Just start thinking about
them, try to think of why you have them, where you got your information or your personal idea of it. If it's information, consider that it could
be wrong. If it's personal ideas, consider how other people, especially the people against your ideas, might feel.
2) Remember that whenever you decide something, it becomes fact in your mind, so you will always try to prove it as fact from then
on, and it will be harder later on for you to deprogram yourself from thinking that its true if it turns out that it's not. Often, you build ideas
on top of ideas, so if you decide too soon what your belief will be, if it turns out it was incorrect, all the ideas that are connected will
collapse, which will make it even harder. Nothings wrong with not knowing or having an opinion on something. A lot of the times people
will let their ego drive them into deciding something before they understand everything about what they are deciding.
3) I promise, you will know the Truth if you do this. And when you know the Truth, it will set you free from any doubts. It won't come to you
the same way that an ego-inspired decision would. It will come to you fully as the Truth, as something you just know the same way you
just know that you've been breathing for all of your life. So you don't have to worry or push it.
4) It takes practice, and you'll get better at it as you work on it. Perfection isn't the goal right now, progress is. You don't have to
completely get rid of your sense of individuality, it's more about achieving understanding and denying ignorance. I'm definitely not
perfect and don't follow this perfectly, but I try my best.
Conclusion
This is THE first and most important way to start understanding Truth, and all the other tips for understanding after this are just
continuing this step. So if you only pay attention to one thing I tell you, this would be it. Pay attention to when it's your ego talking to you,
and you will be much more likely to find the truth rather than blindly follow your ego.
continuing this step. So if you only pay attention to one thing I tell you, this would be it. Pay attention to when it's your ego talking to you,
and you will be much more likely to find the truth rather than blindly follow your ego.