This blog is about mindfulness. That is a simple truth. Why? Because mindfulness is the key to all other truths. You may disagree. You may say, not at all. Truth is written in books, in English. I would not disagree with you. I would agree that what is written in books, is truth. What you believe is truth. But it is just a relative truth. Relative to you. Consider the following quote by David Foster Wallace.
"The Truth has nothing to do with knowledge and everything to do with awareness of what is so real and essential, what is so hidden in plain sight all around us all the time, that we have to keep reminding ourselves, 'This is water, this is water.'" - David Foster Wallace
This quote is from David Foster Wallace’s famous commencement speech, “This is Water,” delivered at Kenyon College in 2005. In this speech, Wallace emphasizes the importance of awareness and mindfulness in everyday life. He suggests that the most significant truths are often the ones that are hardest to see because they are so familiar and omnipresent. By saying “This is water,” he encourages us to recognize and appreciate the fundamental aspects of our existence that we often take for granted.
If you would think truths are written in books. That is a misleading, idea. As I have discussed earlier in philosophy of language, it is just a tool to deliver a message. But this message is always erroneous as the language is not a natural 'thing'. If you really want to know simple truths about life you may want to tap into the awareness or mindfulness as they call it nowadays. Does this mean you have to chant, "this is water, this is water", every time you drink a cup of tea? Definitely not! Again, mindfulness is also a tool. Theory will point out everything is relative, but its only mindfulness which will show that everything is. I can show you some simple facts. Let's do the same example given by Mr. Wallace.
Simple truths about a glass of water.
Let's look at a glass of water. Imagine you have a glass of water in front of you. Maybe you already have a one. And you can use some other simple object you see. There is no doubt you see the glass of water. If we ask 1000 people what is in front of you, they will answer, a glass of water. That would be the correct answer in any scientific session.
Now, let's be 100% true to ourselves in answering following questions.
Close your eyes, and now, if someone asked you is there a glass of water? what would be your honest answer. I am sure some of you will say yes. And others will say, I do not know.
If you are in the former group, I would ask you to stop reading the article further and come back when you are more honest at the end of your life and read the rest of it. Because for a 100% honest person, they cannot answer the question with a yes or no. Because for a glass of water to be present in front of them, they must first be aware of it via their sensations. Once the sensations are cut off, there is only a doubt. If you want to read more on this phenomenon, I suggest you read the article on consciousness.
Now this is a simple truth. So, I have proven that the glass of water in front of you is a relative truth to your consciousness. Because its presence is doubtful, just when you close your eyes.
There are more ways we can see such simple truths about a glass of water. As it is interesting I will show you another. Imagine you drop all the water on the table and keep the glass on the table. Now, everything you called "Glass of water" are still there on the table. But where is the "Glass of water" now. You would say, it is just a name for the formation, of 'water inside the glass'. The problem is this applies to everything. This applies not only to the Glass of water, but This also applies to the water, water molecules, atoms, subatomic particles, the glass, silicon, atoms, subatomic particles. All these are just names. What is truly out there, as a glass of water is something we can never see. Because we can only see some abstract level which is far above than what is truly there. No matter how much the science is going to improve in future generations, they would still be stuck in some level of abstraction.
Awareness plays a role in identifying and showing us these simple relative truths about life. Like I have said earlier, all written information is partially true. Hence, you will have to see for yourself with this information to grasp the true meaning of these words, which were passed forward by our past generations.
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