Quotes About Truth

And there is a crack in every story of "life is wonderful

Normally, a view of the world is nothing more than a set of beliefs, a way to freeze the world in our minds. But this can never match Reality, simply because the world isn't frozen. Nevertheless we carry on as though the way we've frozen it in our minds is the way it actually is.

A] book is not merely a book, it is the sun as well.

If your idea of good opposes something else, you can be sure that [it] is not absolute or certain.

T]he term 'I' … must … be used … in order for us to talk with one another. But it's not a very accurate term.

Belief may serve as a useful stopgap measure in the absence of actual experience, but once you see … [it] becomes unnecessary.

After … all the philosophy and science that we've laboured on for centuries, it's becoming very hard to find a story we can buy.

W]hat purpose does it serve to deny actual experience in order to run with an idea instead?

religion is about seeing or experiencing Truth—not about holding a set of beliefs. Religio comes out of our deeply felt desire to get back to Truth. We don't want to be deceived.

Reality … cannot be put into conceptual form.

A buddha recognizes that anything put into speech is never completely reliable.

How can a hard and fast view of a world that is never hard and fast possibly be accurate?

O]nce in a while there's that fleeting moment when the kindest thing you can do for another is to utter a severe word or a sharp observation that may hurt momentarily;

I'm not anything in particular. Nor are you. Nor is anyone.

You won't get Truth from the Buddha, or from a … Zen master … , or from a priest or monk or nun or teacher or guru. You won't receive Truth … from any other. (…) The only way to see Truth is by noticing if your mind is leaning.

We … habitually overlay our direct experience of Truth with thoughts – with beliefs and opinions and ideas.

Ignorance is not the inability to see, but the act of ignoring what is really going on in favour of what we imagine.

Relative truths are the day-to-day things and thoughts we can easily discuss, teach, sell, and conceptualise. … Each one depends on a vast multitude of other … relative truths for its existence – an existence which is, of course, conceptual.

To a buddha … there's no habitual overlaying of perceptual experience with concepts, … ideas, … beliefs, notions, pre-formed habits of thought, that are used to explain existence.

The buddha-dharma … is about directly seeing Truth, prior to forming any ideas about it. It is about responding to each particular situation as it comes … , not according to some … program of dos and don'ts.

The moment we try to capture and encapsulate Truth, we have paradox, confusion, contention [and] doubt[.]

We cannot. . .begin any real inquiry into Truth, with any assumption or belief whatsoever. We must be willing to see things as they are, rather than as we hope, wish, or expect them to be.

Truth and Reality are … not found in the way we frame our thoughts.

W]e reject … experience in favour of what we think.