Truth Sets Us Free

TRUTH SETS US FREE

“There are many respectable and even conventionally moral people for whom there is no other reality in life than their body and its relationship with ‘things.’ They have reduced themselves to a life lived within the limits of their five senses. Their self is consequently an illusion based on sense experience and nothing else”

- Thomas Merton

While our five senses are wonderful tools that give us much information about the world around us, there is so much we remain in ignorance of when we rely only on our senses! Our eyes cannot see colors that fall into the ultraviolet or infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum, there are many frequencies of sound that humans cannot hear, and the human sense of smell is feeble compared to that of many animals. How much we remain unaware of! Whatever we cannot perceive with our senses is still unknown to us! And because our senses only give us an incomplete picture, the world as we perceive it can be said to be an illusion. This can be a difficult concept to grasp, but the following quote is very helpful:

“Many of us have heard people say, “The world is an illusion.” But why would anyone say that? (Knock, knock, knock on a solid table.) It sure seems real! A good definition of an illusion is something that tricks us into believing a false idea. The dictionary says that an illusion is a misleading image, a mistaken idea. Yet it seems that many people mistakenly think of an illusion as something that has no reality to it at all - that it does not even exist!

“Consider a stage magician. He's a master illusionist. Many people have seen the magic trick where he puts his assistant in a big box and cuts her in half with a saw. What we see is real. We see her head, arms and feet sticking out of the box. But we are not seeing the whole picture. We don't see that there is another person who hides in the box, making up the other half of the assistant, creating the illusion of one person cut into two pieces. Even though our physical senses are doing their jobs perfectly, our incomplete picture tricks us into believing a false idea” (Razzeto, 2010).

Howsoever much the ground beneath our feet and the sky above our heads is real, the physical is not all there is to reality. We truly do not see the big picture, but through a glass darkly – there is much that remains unknown to us! And what we do see, we don’t understand properly, giving everything our own “spin.” How true it is that we “…seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand” (Matt. 13:13). As Evelyn Underhill stated so aptly in Practical Mysticism,

“What is it that smears the window of the senses? Thought, convention, self-
interest. We throw a mist of thought between ourselves and the external

world: and through this we discern, as in a glass darkly, that which we

have arranged to see. We see it in the way in which our neighbors see it;

sometimes through a pink veil, sometimes through a gray. Religion,

indigestion, priggishness, or discontent may drape the panes…Inevitably,

too, we see the narrow world our windows show us, not ‘in itself,’ but in

relation to our own needs, moods, and preferences…for the universe of the
natural man is strictly egocentric” (2003, p. 33).

Our carnal minds are what Scripture terms the false prophet, interpreting the input from the five senses. We “judge according to the appearance…”(John 7:24).

Actually, Scripture says that our lack of perception is blindness – that the god of this world has blinded our minds (2 Corin. 4:4). A covering has been cast over all people, and a veil has been spread over all nations (Isa. 25:7)! 2 Corin. 3:14-15 says “…their minds were blinded... even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart.”

The dark inner circle represents the limited view of Reality as perceived by the five senses, colored by our own thoughts, and interpreted by our minds – the veil that has been cast over all humanity. The remainder of REALITY, pictured by the exterior portion of the diagram, cannot be detected by our sense organs and extends in all directions farther than we can even begin to imagine.

Several things need to be said of this veil. This veil is a result of trusting the evidence of the five senses – a veil consisting of the natural/physical realm that obscures the spiritual realm. Peering through this veil gives such a limited view of reality that it fosters deception. Blinded by this veil, we are easily fooled or tricked. This veil conceals the truth.

This veil is also the realm of foolishness. Scripture tells us there are two kinds of wisdom – one that is from above (James 3:15) and one that is earthly, sensual, devilish (James 3:17). Sensual wisdom – wisdom of the senses! – lies against the truth, creating envying and strife, confusion, and every evil work (James 3:14, 16). But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits…” (James 3:17).

Most significantly, this veil conceals the fundamental Oneness of God with all things. From our limited perspective, it does appear as if we are separate from God and from one another. When we depend on the vanity of our own minds, our understanding is darkened; ignorant of reality, we believe we are alienated from the life of God (Eph 4:17-18). In truth, there is “One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (Eph 4:6). In God we live and move and have our being, and nothing – not even death – can separate us from God. This has been a mystery to us, hid in God for untold ages and generations (Eph 3:9, Col 1:26-27).
Oneness does manifest as apparently separate beings. Things appear to be separate, but at the same time they are manifestations of the whole (Foster, 2010). The underlying reality which can so easily be missed is that “we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another” (Rom 12:4). Failure to perceive this fundamental oneness with God and with one another creates division and strife among us (1Corin 3:3). Jesus prayed that this would not be so, but “that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us…” (John 17:21).

So we see that our perception of reality can be aligned in two ways:

Realm of the Senses Realm Beyond the Veil

Physical Spiritual

Earthly Heavenly

Foolishness/Confusion Wisdom

Strife Peace

Evil works Good fruits

Division Unity

ILLUSION TRUTH

We all live our lives according to one of these views of reality. We live as those who are wise or those who live as foolish. We live according to our mind’s interpretation of the evidence of our senses OR according to whether we have seen through the veil to the reality beyond. And, depending on which view we yield ourselves to, we live in bondage or in freedom… (Rom 6:16,18).

Bondage vs. Freedom

From our limited perspective, it appears to us that we must take care of ourselves or perish. It seems the height of foolishness to trust in a God we cannot see. It is the most difficult thing in the world to do as God says when the evidence of our senses screams at us to do the opposite! It causes us to live in ways which make sense to us and consequently experience much sorrow and grief, for to live in fear of perishing is torment (1Jn 4:18)! And it is this very fear of death that keeps us in bondage (Rom. 8: 15, Heb. 2: 15).
When we behold the Spirit of the Lord with open face (without the veil) there is liberty (2 Corin. 3:17-18)! “We have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but the spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba, Father” (Rom. 8:15). It is only in a secure attachment to God that we can see we have nothing to fear. When we realize that we are One with God and that nothing – not even death – can ever separate us from Him, we become fearless! “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love” (1Jn 4:18). True freedom is freedom from the fear of death, and the antidote to fear is LOVE.

Seeing Through the Illusion

With the giving of the law in Moses, the Lord began to reveal truth to us. But the truth was still veiled because our senses were dull and the truth far too bright for our ability to perceive it. The truth was communicated to us in concrete terms – a physical temple, rituals and ceremonies – mere shadows of the real – so that in the infancy of our understanding we could begin to grasp it with our physical senses. Scripture says this veil is still in place when we read the LETTER of the law (2 Corin. 3:6) without perceiving the depth of meaning. Even though we read the physical words, we do not understand spiritually. 2 Corin. 3:14-15 says “…their minds were blinded... even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart.”

Scripture terms seeing through the lens of this veil seeing through a glass darkly, but goes on to say that this veil is removed as we “with open face (without a veil) beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord” (2 Corin. 3:18)! Christ said, “If ye continue in my word, then ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” When the veil that obscures the true nature of reality is removed, we will see the truth. The TRUTH that is so freeing is simply this: Wonder of wonders, GOD LOVES US! And because He loves us, we have nothing to fear. We don’t have to live in bondage any more. We don’t have to rake and scrape, beg, borrow, or steal. We don’t have to worry and fret and fear… There is no longer any need to plot, control, or manipulate situations and relationships to our advantage. We don’t have to defend ourselves or compete with others to get our needs met. In short, we don’t have to sin because – wonder of all wonders! – God loves us! He made us, we belong to Him, and He will carry us. Now, we may not be able to see the solution yet. But we see Jesus, who has shown us that resurrection is on the other side of death. And we can know that “whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's” (Rom 14:8). As Julian of Norwich was famous for saying, "all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well."

There is an ancient story that tells of a student monk who began to laugh during group meditation and prayer. The other students, horrified and embarrassed for the monk, hoped that he would stop laughing. But his laughter grew louder and louder, until the other monks could not help but wonder what the master would do in the face of such irreverence. But to the amazement of all the other monks, the master pronounced the laughing monk enlightened! At first, this story seems difficult to understand. But the monk laughed because he saw through the veil – he saw that everything is wonderful! Everything does work together for GOOD! It may seem cliché, but everything IS just the way it is for a reason and a purpose and God is working it all together for good, even what seems bad to us from our limited perspective. We begin to see that suffering and sorrow, although very real, are only for a season, and that everything is perfect and as it should be. This is the peace that passes all understanding. This is freedom.

When the veil of illusion that obscures the truth is removed, we will see that there was never anything to fear. We will see that it was only our limited perspective that gave us sorrow and made us cry. We will see that even death has no sting, but really is swallowed up in victory! Once the illusion is seen through, we can emerge from bondage to the fear of death to live in glorious freedom!

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Written November 2010
*All emphasis mine.

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Foster, J. (2010). Nonduality And Nihilism Why “No Person, No Past, No Path”Is Only ‘Half’ The
Story. Retrieved Nov. 12, 2010 from
http://www.advaita.org.uk/discourses/teachers/nihilism_foster.htm.

Merton, T. (1961). New Seeds of Contemplation. (p. 27). New Directions Publishing Corp. New York, NY.

Norwich, J. Retrieved Nov. 12, 2010 from http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/julian-of-norwich.htm.

Razzeto, T. (2010). Is the World an Illusion?Retrieved Nov. 12, 2010 from
http://www.infinitelymystical.com/essays/illusion.html.

Underhill, E. (2003). Practical Mysticism. A Little Book for Normal People. (p.33) Random House,
Inc. New York, NY.