You are very wise Gino. This is exactly correct. We all want the same core things in our lives (security and survival, connection and belonging, autonomy and freedom, growth and mastery, meaning and purpose, joy and fulfillment). The truth is the very fabric of reality, reality is ordered in truth (what is, is). Since reality is truth, then living truthfully aligns ourself with the structure of reality itself. This is why honesty, integrity, and seeking understanding are often seen not just as moral virtues, but as spiritual practices. In a way, truth isn't just a fact, it's a path back into harmony with the deeper order of things (the order that makes reality possible). What most people call "truth" in daily life is often really perspective (rooted in personal experience, context, and culture). Examples: "This food is delicious", "That meeting was a disaster", "My way of life is the best". These statements can be true for me, but not necessarily true in reality. They shift with perception, emotion, or situation. Absolute Truth (reality itself) is independent of opinion, perspective, or preference. Example: "Water is H2O", "1+1=2", A wall has solidity at the human scale, and you can't walk through it". These truths hold regardless of who perceives them. They are about what is, not about how it feels or how it seems.
Why do we confuse perspective for absolute truth? We naturally filter reality through perception. When you hear someone say "my truth" that actually means "my perspective on reality". Perspective can point toward truth, but it can also distort it (bias, illusion, incomplete knowledge). You can ask any police officer how good eye witness testimony is to learn a very good lesson in perspective or "my truth". Police officers will tell you that eye witness testimony is the some of the worst evidence (but like said earlier it CAN point to the truth, but a lot of the time it distorts it, that is why many accounts are taken and the investigator will have to deduce towards the truth but still may never know the absolute truth of what happened, most of the time it is close enough).
- Relative truth = shifting shadows on the wall (appearances).
- Absolute truth = the wall itself, the unchanging order behind appearances.
