Conversation with Buddha and TMichael: Truth and Trust

TM: I can see upon reflection of what you have said about reincarnation and karma that I had a notion that it was a form of punishment to correct wrongdoing, or reward for good things done.  And one has to come back time and time again to get it right.  That’s not it though, is it?

Master Buddha: Getting it right, meaning purifying your essence while in material form, and consequently purifying your material form would be one way to see it.  Punishment and reward is wholly a human concept.

TM: But we have so many stories of God(s) punishing people for all sorts of things they did wrong, or for disobeying God(s).  How do we change our orientation toward that model?

Master Buddha: I don’t know.  You could just give it up because it no longer serves you.

TM: Well, that’s just too easily said.  Much harder to do I think.

Master Buddha: You have to make that choice whether to hold on to what you once knew and cherished as truth or to embrace a new idea that better suits your current state.

TM: How do you know when it’s time to do that?

Master Buddha: Ask yourself, what is the worst that could happen if I embrace this new thought?  Can you not retrieve the old one?  Who gave you all these rules that you must rigidly follow?

TM: I suppose at some point I accepted them as truth and have clung to them because I want to live according to truth.

Master Buddha: Truth shifts with you.  It is not a fixed thing that you can cling to and drag it around.  Truth represents reality.  But remember that your journey on Earth in material form presents you with an avalanche of illusion.  You must be adaptable and truth seeking, not truth-clinging.

TM: Don’t you have to have something to hold onto for just a little while?  I mean, isn’t truth-seeking a truth to follow?  When would you give that up?

Master Buddha: As soon as I believe it no longer serves me.  And service to me could mean something very different than when I adopted truth-seeking in the first place.  You like many others are afraid of losing control and so you place limits; you reduce meaning and experience.  Reincarnation and karma allow for a non-judgmental experience of life in material form.  If you are fluid enough in your orientation you can experience all that there is in the world of illusion in a very short time.  If you’re not, then you can take a long time to spin around in the same space until you realize that is what you’re doing.

TM: How do we know which truths to trust and to follow?

Master Buddha: You don’t know based upon trust do you?  You know based upon deliberation in a mental process.  You know based upon what has been handed down through the ages in the form of teachings and social norms.  You know according to your familial orientation.  And you know according to what serves your ego.

If you knew based upon trust, you would not need those other inputs would you?

TM: So you’re implying that I need to find trust first?

Master Buddha: The ego does not trust; it scans.  It searches high and low for signs of agreement or disagreement with its agenda.  It will play any role that serves to maintain its primacy.  It is, in fact, the most worthy foe of any one you could meet.  And it is who you think you are.

Trust is incongruent with ego.  That is, unconditional trust is in congruent with ego.  Trust based upon conditions and waivers abound with the ego.  To seek truth with such a handicap is nearly impossible if not maddening.

In ancient cultures, trust was based upon instinct.  With modern civilization, the mental faculty has replaced instinct.  Beyond the mental faculty you will discover the true seat of trust for your purposes of living on Earth.  Then you may choose truths based upon trust.

TM: How do we get there?

© TM 2015