Swordwriting III-Can you dig it?

When a book is into the direction of “philosophy” there is usually, and rightfully, the need of the author to persuade the reader that “he is right” in his sayings.
Through mankind’s history “the truth” has become complicated and difficult and any scientist with value would tell you that “the truth is relative” or “the truth is a matter of point of view” or any suchlike…
Many claim that the truth neither is black nor white, and that it is naive to seek the truth with such absolutes…
Religions (all of them) ask us to “believe” in their truth, which is usually expressed in their one and only book, without ever giving us the benefit of a doubt. And we talk about many religions here, who ask for our blind faith… 

It seems that the more great men express their view on what is right and what is truth, the more impossible truth has become. 
We are in danger of (deep breath please…): Being securely relative but never specific, jump from opinion to opinion according to points of view, win the “naive medal of honor” for searching some truth, become believers of a faith which we cannot crosscheck, all this and much more wrapped in a suitable scale of grey…

On top of it, there are treasures out there (books) which can feed minds, or better said they can literally open your path… Of course the challenge remains actually applying what you read and learn. Even “The Ultimate Book of Wisdom” can mean nothing if your life has the wrong priority list… But can make a whole lot of difference when you start your day with practice in mind…

So, where do we go from here?
Grown-up people seek no further such questions any longer. They carry themselves through life with a fragile confidence… having accepted their state of ignorance. Younger people, who still have the spark of search in them, feel frustrated and angry, in their agony to find some truth. They feel insecure, which is the correct way to feel in the face of ignorance. But their spark doesn’t last long, for sooner or later younger people “mature” and their spark dies…
Very rare, a spark can start a fire, a fire that can spread and travel.

Seeking the truth or what is right, goes through a pile of nonsense, turning simplicity into a problem.
And yet, there are concepts, axioms and approaches, which clear the way from a confused mind and the chaos of relentless thinking…
Just an example is an old Chinese proverb which strikes like thunder and lightning… “The truth exists, while the lies must be invented”

During the time I was writing my book (but as well nowadays whenever I put down texts) I did realize how futile it was to express the truth, any truth… From where I stood it was more than impossible…
So, I entirely dropped any effort in transmitting that I might be “right” or that I was telling “the truth”.
I had to dump politically correct, forget intellectual persuasion and do away with anything that looks like “telling the truth”.  

Turning the reader to agree with me is not my aim.
To be understood is…  
And that is fair enough.
The reader should have his own mind.

                                                                              “Seek to be clear, not to be right”
                                                                                                                     Hagakure

April 12, 2011