There is an old joke about two American policemen who are on a mission to recover money from a Russian smuggler.  The Russians don’t speak English and the Americans bring along a translator.  One of the policemen points a gun at the Russian smuggler’s head and asks where the money was hidden.  “Under my wife’s mattress,” says the smuggler.  “What did you say?”  asks the policeman.  “She said she doesn’t have to die,” says the translator.  On a scale of 1 to 10, with polite lies (like fear “this dress looks great on you”) at the bottom of the scale and destructive ones like the translator’s at the top, most of your lies will fall around to the 3 or to the 4. These lies now lodge stable in the psyche and part of them constantly emanate their effects on your way of being.

 Watch the trail…

With the cynicism, distrust and doubts you feel about yourself, and the suspicion that other people are lying or hiding something from you.  Recognize the path that lies have traveled in consciousness is something you will have to deal with in your spiritual growth.  Thirty years ago, inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s biography “My Life for Freedom”, I decided to practice absolute truth for a week. I lasted two days. At the third, when a person I was trying to impress asked me if I had read Vyasa’s Brhana Sutras I heard “sure!” Not only had I avoided reading that complex treatise on Vedanta philosophy, but I had never even seen it. A few minutes later I confessed my lie, And it wasn’t that hard. However, practicing that week based completely on unconditional truth made me aware of the web of unspoken lies that I have always lived with. I observed the pretense of wanting to please someone I find , ultimately, irritating. Or the detachment mask with which I hid the desire to be chosen for a certain job. It was an educational week, and it led me into the most substantial practice of self-analysis of my life.  it became clear that honesty is much more complicated than it seems.

Tell it the way

It is The debate on the meaning of truth has long been celebrated and there are three different aspects to consider.  On the one hand there is the absolutist position of Patañjali, in the “Yoga Sutras”: SATYA (truth) is the unconditional value on which a yogi is founded. Never lie. The opposite position, familiar to those involved in politics, be it of governmental, religious or corporate nature, which we can call “utilitarian.” It has a materialistic nature and was forged in the West with Machiavelli, but it also has origins in Indian culture with Arthashatra (an ancient Indian treatise on political science, economics and strategy military of 30th BC): “always tell the truth until a lie is no longer advantageous.” The third position is more balanced and is based on a profound work of discernment. It takes the truth into great consideration, but also the fact that truth may have harmful consequences, taking into equal consideration the other Patañjali sutra, non-violence (AHIMSA). The absolutist position, although difficult to maintain, deserves to be simple, which is why a  Some philosophers and theologians like Immanuel Kant, or spiritual personalities like Saint Augustus, have the no, Patañjali or Ghandi have always maintained that the truth (in terms of no lies, disguises, exaggerations) is the only road that must never be abandoned.  No foothold.  Lying is the irreversible action towards final decay.  Lying is a waste of energy, once done you have to continue to build fictitious realities to support the lie.  And this takes us to a deeper stage: in psychic terms, lying detaches us from reality and always makes us a little “alienated” or strangers.

Anyone who grew up in families, communities and societies where secrets and concealments reign may have experienced this sense of cognitive dissonance.  The effects are socially and spiritually destructive.

The Need to Lie Sometimes

Not telling the truth can be important in preserving higher values.  Let’s take an example from a passage from the Mahabaratta, the great poem of Indian tradition, a metaphor and moral and ethical inspiration of Indian (and also universal) culture.  Krishna is leading the brave Pandavas to battle against the forces of evil, and is recognized by orthodox Hindus as the emblem of absolute truth.  Before the battle, he approaches General Yudishtira and suggests that he turn a lie among the enemy ranks, with the aim of demoralizing the opponent: the son of their general Aswatthama has been killed.  Despite himself and astonished, Yudishtra lies for the first time in his life, because he cannot disobey a advice of Krishna.  The goal of the supreme deity is to lie to safeguard the universe from defeat against evil.  Something similar happened in World War II, when the allied forces withdrew information from Nazi counter-espionage before the Normandy landings.  Another situation in which not telling the truth can be ethical and moral is when it can be harmful to one person.  Telling the truth to a patient, about her state of health, for example, or in some delicate emotional situations involving people to be protected.  But there are cases in which telling the truth turns into an act of aggression towards someone.  The criterion with which to calibrate this powerful energy called truth is to answer the 4 questions: is it true?  and kind?  it is necessary?  is the best time to say it?  Better to reflect on these questions to discern whether or not to say the bitter truth.  they can also be gods.

Return to self

The Sanskrit word satya (truth) has its root in sat, to be.  Unconditional truth, the deepest one, is linked to the true nature of being.  The closer you get to this sphere, the unconditional reality, only yours, the easier it becomes to distinguish between the instinct to speak directly with the heart and the drive to blunt reality.  We understand the difference between speaking only to say and looking for words that lead you to the sacred, right, true part of you.  That said, all of us should have more attention and rigor towards the truth.  Patañjali argues that through truth we reach such a power that all words and actions would become the divine within us.