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Absolute Truth

Foreigner

Bluelighter
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I found myself reading a Vajrayana text today concerning the two truths doctrine. It asserts that there are two varieties of truth: I) relative or commonsensical truth, and II) absolute or ultimate truth.

Relative truth describes our dualistic, concrete world and subject/object relationships; absolute truth is the understanding of ultimate reality, free of concrete and inherent characteristics, and the subject/object relationship is merged into one.

For the sake of summarization I'm quoting wiki. It tells us that:

Definiton said:
The conventional truth may be interpreted as "obscurative truth" or "that which obscures the true nature" as a result. It is constituted by the appearances of mistaken awareness. Conventional truth would be the appearance that includes a duality of apprehender and apprehended, and objects perceived within that. Ultimate truths, are phenomena free from the duality of apprehender and apprehended.

In order to understand this, a unity of both truths must happen. It's a duality puzzle, essentially:

Nyingma said:
If one trains for a long time in the union of the two truths, the stage of acceptance (on the path of joining), which is attuned to primordial wisdom, will arise. By thus acquiring a certain conviction in that which surpasses intellectual knowledge, and by training in it, one will eventually actualize it. This is precisely how the Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas have said that liberation is to be gained.

What do you think about the notion that absolute truth exists, firstly? Secondly, assuming it does exist, what do you think about the idea that it requires some level of actualization and inner attainment to grasp it? i.e. it cannot be grasped intellectually or by merely steeping oneself in scientific, philosophical, or otherwise indoctrinated practices.

The above quote also suggests that in order to be on the path to actualizing the absolute truth, you must start off by placing faith in the notion that it even exists. Conviction is needed.

Wiki also tells us that the two truths doctrine is present in Judaism, something I didn't know about until now:

Judaism said:
In his book "Guide for the Perplexed" Maimonides mentions a few times a distinction between two kinds of truths. For example - in his interpretation of Adam & Eve story (Part I, Chapter II) he says that in the garden they possessed higher knowledge, but after eating the forbidden-fruit they were punished - and God lowered their understanding only to what is "good" and "bad".

In simpler terms, is there natural law that overrides all the human opinionation, war, and subjectivity about it? Is it possible for humanity to eventually evolve to the point where universal truth is synchronized with our commonsensical truth, and we no longer fight over it?

These are heavy questions. Feel free to answer these or expand upon it on your own.
 
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