Positive Thinking and Truth

We are encouraged
to think positively
and to be positive
especially in the face of
life's difficulties

And we can do that
by all means
if it works
till it works

I was drawn
to the positive thinking
school of thought
and it helped me
in many ways

The biggest service
it provided however
was to bring me
to its own limitations

Positive thinking
may be preferable
to negative thinking
for most people
but let us not forget
it is still within
the same paradigm
and this paradigm
has limitations

Don't believe me
check it out
in your own experience
check if positive thinking
brings you
lasting satisfaction
check if positive thinking
can ever address
negative thinking
except temporarily

The good news is
there is something
way more reliable
durable
and solid
than positive thinking

And that potent something
is truth

I am not talking
theory or philosophy
metaphysics
or theology
I am talking
of something
more real
something that we
experience directly

We try to freeze truth
and make it something
permanent like a goalpost
and so we miss it

Truth is not a static thing
but rather dynamic
flowing like a river
It is what is unfolding
moment by moment
impossible to capture
in words or images
and yet eminently available
and accessible in
direct experience

So when life presents us
with difficulties
and we feel swamped
sad, frustrated, angry or hurt
we can look to the truth
for deep contentment
and for effective empowerment

But the truth is ugly
you say
truth is cancer
and truth is death
truth is pain
and truth is misery
what good is this truth?
how could it be satisfying
or empowering?
you ask

I can't deny
that truth is not
always peaceful
and positive
and loving
and good

Truth can wear
different faces
it does not
conform to our ideas
of what it must be
that is why it is truth
and not theology
or philopsophy;
those are our ideas
of truth

Our ideas are
very important to us
we make up
our whole world of experience
from them

And it is humbling
to really see and get
that truth does not
agree with our ideas
Things that "should not happen"
happen all too frequently

But what would something be
if we could drop
all our ideas
of it
about it?

This is radical
for the human mind
for we are so used
to looking
to our ideas
to see and understand
reality

What would something be
if we saw it simply like it is
without any overlay
of idea or belief?

It would be the truth
undistorted
and this truth
dear friends
is so deeply resonant
at a cellular level
inside us
that we don't fear
anymore
how it appears
on the outside

This is the grace of truth
It enables us
to enter eternity
from this moment
as it is
It enables us
to be free
inside human experience

This is not linear
what is being spoken of
but rather
multi-dimensional
This is not leaving out
thinking mind
what is being spoken of
but rather
including and transcending it

When we are not
so invested
in our ideas and beliefs
we can recognize
this human self
to be an expression of truth
we can recognize
every moment also
as an expression of truth
and meet it
with eyes and arms wide open

Then we can address
everything
not from fear
for ourselves
but from the freedom
for everything
to be as it is

If we want
we can
open to the possibility
that this moment
is more than
what we think
and feel
about it

If we want
we can
examine the reality
of the deeply entrenched belief
that this moment
must only be good
or safe or happy
or positive

If we want
we can
stop making
the short walk
from a bad idea
to a good idea
and contact
the naked truth
instead

Perhaps it is time?
to risk being counter-intuitive
to venture into the lion's den
to embark on a most exciting adventure
to greet this moment
simply as it is