Questioning The Truth

To quote a line from one of my favorite movies, Peaceful Warrior, “ I want you to stop gathering information from outside yourself and start gathering it from the inside. It’s the only way people can find the real answers they are looking for.”

I believe the real answers in our lives are found by looking inside of ourselves. The mind is great for the everyday, mundane things. Does the yard need mowing? Do I need to go to the grocery store? But if you want to know why you’re here on earth, or why you’re stopped in some area of your life, the mind can’t help you. Because most of what is in most people’s minds are things they put there or were put there by others. To find answers that no one else has for you, you have to look to your heart, the inner voice.

What is the inner voice? Have you ever had a strong feeling about something? A premonition? A little voice, if you will, telling you to do or not to do something. How often has it turned out to right? Following that voice is following your heart and sometimes it’s in opposition to what your mind is telling you to do.

When I talk with people about this, I hear pretty much the same thing from everyone. That is, that little voice is usually right. I have a friend that told me he always used to listen to that voice, but somewhere along the line got away from it. Coincidentally, he added, “That’s about the time I got off track in my life.”

Everyone on this planet is on his or her own spiritual journey. Some want answers and some don’t. Some people don’t think they can get answers to life’s questions or that we as humans are not allowed to have those answers. I don’t agree, but it’s fine either way, because whatever someone believes is fine and perfect for that individual.

What exactly does “questioning the truth” mean?  It’s another way of saying, “question everything.” Most everyone already questions things they either don’t know or don’t understand, but they rarely question what they already believe to be the truth. Why? Because it’s something they already know for sure; so why mess with it? But whether you realize it or not, truth is always changing.

If you think about it, I’m sure there are things you believed days, weeks, months or even years ago, that you no longer believe to be true today. Some of those truths may have really been entrenched in stone and thought were absolutely unchangeable, but suddenly with nothing more than a little new information, your belief changed. New information or understanding may have made you to look at something in a new light and caused your beliefs to change, transforming them into new versions of the truth. At the same time, those same truths that are rock-solid for you may not be true for someone else.

Where did these beliefs come from that we sometimes hang onto so strongly that we will argue their case, often in the light of evidence to the contrary? In other words, how did these beliefs get into our minds to start with? The list is long: parents, teachers, books, mentors, pastors and television are only some of the ways. Oh and don’t forget blogs!

Everyone wants to tell you what to think and what to believe. That’s not my goal. My purpose is not necessarily to get others to think like me or believe what I believe. I just want to stimulate people to question everything, even what they believe is the truth. Since we know that truth can change, the question is, “Is there a limit to the beliefs that can be challenged?” If you think that the answer to that question is no, then I ask, “What else do you know to be true that possibly isn’t?”

Start questioning everything today, because the clock is always running. Or is it?