The Barenaked Truth

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Certainly I am not the first desiring to reconcile science and
mysticism, or to seek to plumb the mystery of consciousness. Neither
am I the first to want to reconcile the different paths of mysticism
and religion; Aldous Huxley did this nicely in The Perennial Philosophy,
showing the common thread of all religious philosophy. Peering
deeply enough into the mystical origins of one’s own spiritual
tradition, you will come to the original mystery: the mystery
of consciousness. This is evident in the practices of the ancient
orders of monks who were the keepers of the secrets of their traditions.
Without exception, their fundamental practice is meditation: the
daily return to inner stillness that reveals the true nature of
consciousness itself. This experience becomes wrapped in symbolism,
and in doing so, the original experience is lost, leaving only
the symbol. This symbol, a mental abstraction of the divine inner
presence, becomes the object of worship, ritual, and faith. All
modern religions have emerged from this common beginning with
their own names for this ancient secret. No need here to go into
detail about comparative religious nomenclature.

There is something nearly as important as reconciling the diversity
into the unity; it is getting at the barenaked truth about things
as they are. It is neither common nor easy to find the innermost
truth of a thing. It requires perspicacity in the extreme to peel
back the many layers of obfuscation wrought by well meaning folks
to pass on what they were told or what seemed reasonable… it’s
easier that way. But if it matters to us to winnow the true from
chaff, then we must persevere in our inquiry until what we seek
is revealed in our experience.

The quest for truth is not for everyone, of course, and that’s
good. For most it is fine just to go along and believe what we’re
told, to accept as verity what we see on TV and take the authority
of someone higher in the pecking order. This preserves the order
of society and protects governments from anarchy. But still, there
will always be a few who will take immense inner satisfaction
at knowing without doubt, that the curiosity arising in the mind
has been resolved.

Then; when the mind has been satisfied, it can stop its ceaseless
chatter and just be still. In this stillness arises the peace
that passeth understanding and a contentment we have never known
in this lifetime. A warm sweetness arises and we wonder, what
was all the drama about.