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Androscoggin in Summer
Brunswick-Topsham, Maine
Note: Truth, what is this? Truth can be understood in two ways. First, a truth, whether it appears through the form of a verbal idea or nonverbal insight. This truth, lower case, is true only in that it accords with Truth, or Reality. Second, Truth as Truth, Reality, God, Wisdom, etc. This is nonverbal and nonlocal, totally free of conditions. Truths are meant to lead us to Truth by reflecting Truth. What is truth and Truth not? Doctrines, teachings, philosophy in themselves. One could say, "What I believe is true?" It may be, but it is not truth or Truth. "True" in such a case means only it is a means of conveying truth and Truth, for all truth is one with Truth. Recall, Jesus saying, "The Truth (or, truth) will free you," not "a truth"? The grandest ideas and teachings, all the doctrines, all the creeds and confessions of faith, all the spiritual classics, all the most highly esteemed spiritual teachers have zero capacity to free anyone. Now, we proceed...
Revelation always comes as somewhat of a shock, not only to the person who receives the revelation, but also to those with whom it is shared. It is the nature of revelation to be shocking and startling because when it hits up against our cherished beliefs, we become conscious of the degree to which our minds have been conditioned by the opinions and theories current in human thinking, and suddenly realize the extent of our unenlightenment.
*Joel S. Goldsmith. The Thunder of Silence.
Hongzhi (China, Chan Buddhist monk, 1091-1157) -
Follow the current and paddle along, naturally unobstructed!
Taigen Dan Leighton, Trans.; with Yi Wu Hongzhi. Cultivating the Empty Field: The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi. Rev. Exp. Ed.
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How these unveilings Goldsmith refers to affect us - mild surprise, subtle wonder, thunderous astonishment ...- relates to how conditioned we have become to receiving them. When we live what Buddhists call "beginners mind," we accustom ourselves to living with the question mark. We enjoy curiosity and uncertainty, though we do not deny the need for a degree of certainty. Certainty and uncertainty are not opposites; really, they are complementaries. Holding lightly these complementaries, life becomes an unveiling, as natural as breathing, smiling, laughing, or blinking our eyes.
* * *
I recall vividly the sense of isolation in my mid-to-late 30s while attending an evangelical Christian seminary, when my mind opened to fresh insights, even those contradicting what I had been told was sacred truth. I was in doctoral studies; my mind seemed unhinged from its prior boundaries. The door to new information was wide open, and I was on the exhilarating adventure of discovery. I was labeled the liberal of my fellow students, but I did not see myself as anything other than one enjoying learning. This exploratory openness began noticeably during my Master's studies. It led to a painful sense of isolation, as other students seemed content to learn only within the boundaries of the doctrines we had all been taught was inviolable.
A friend and fellow student commented that he did not accept anything but what he had already been taught unless solid evidence was presented otherwise. I could not see where he had solid evidence to support most of the belief system he clung to, and I had clung to in the past. So, why cling? Why not just be open to however truth shows up? I thought. One need not cling or not-cling, just be open.
My approach was to welcome any potential new data that might deepen love for and relationship with Truth Itself - truths arise from Truth. I was thrilled with the sense of discovery, but I was aware of the potential future professional consequences - which came to pass and far more than I fathomed then.
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A professor made a startling confession to some of us. He was speaking to us outside an educational building when he calmly noted that he did not open up to any new insight that might expose him to those who were so closely scrutinizing the views of professors in the denomination then - we were amid a fundamentalist takeover. He was aware that adopting new views might lead to his loss of career - and a number of professors over the denominational seminaries were released in the following few years. One, over our largest seminary, was even met at his office door upon arriving for work, being informed he was fired and was to get his belongings and leave.
Only about seven years later, I resigned from my professorial post, partly resultant of the duress directed at me through the college administration where I served as a Religion and Philosophy Department professor. Only after my resignation was I informed of the pressure from area clergypersons put on the administration to fire me. I was on their heretic list, apparently. That I loved Jesus and Truth did not seem to matter, nor that I was an excellent teacher - in my last year, chosen as one of the leading college and university professors in the United States.
* * *
For me, revelation has been, for the most part, startling in a positive sense. I have seen many fresh unveilings of the single Truth and fell in love many years ago with the Process. Yet, I do recall standing in my office at the college and wishing the unveilings would stop. With each unfolding of fresh, new insight that would open me beyond the boundaries I had been given, had been called beyond questioning, the disclosure would require another painful stretching of boundaries in thought and relationship with others, and exposure to the religious right. I lost the battle with the religious fundamentalists, gladly, and kept unhinged to Truth and, thankfully, did lose my place in the religious sect I was raised in from childhood, educated in, and credentialed in for professional ministry.
About a decade later, I left the institutional church altogether but not devotion to Jesus' wisdom teachings. Those teachings, which include his example, continue to challenge me to grow, learn, and love. I know I will never live up to the heights those teachings point to. Yet, I enjoy aspiring to live them. I also relish and imbibe daily Buddhist wisdom and am thankful for that wellspring of guidance. Part of the teaching of my upbringing was Buddhism is a cult and I should stay clear of it. No one can put wisdom in a box, by whatever label.
I never know what a new unfoldment from Truth will be - no one does. And It keeps unfolding Itself in a myriad directions and shades of insight. I do not regret the unveilings, whatever the cost has been. Truth has loved me, and I have loved Truth. For Truth is not a static idea or belief system; Truth is relational. Truth is free; no one owns Truth. No one possesses truths. Truths are present to enhance the relationship with Truth and others, including all Nature, seen and unseen.
A freshly arising truth can be startling, even stunning with unfathomable beauty, for Truth is Beauty. Truth can be felt as threatening but need not, for It is beneficent, leading from love to love, in Love.
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My closing recommendation... look closely at Hongzhi's advice. He tells us, "Follow the current and paddle along, naturally unobstructed!" How wise! How natural. So, do not struggle with the openness of heart and mind. Please do not turn it into a project, even a holy, sacred, spiritual, or enlightened one. Wear your beginner's mind and enjoy the discoveries that show up exactly when it is time to see each one. Surrender to the current; the river will carry you and meet you. Or, to mix metaphors, doors will open of their own - you do not need to push them open.
(C) brian k wilcox, 2025
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