Truth is the Way

Truth …
The whole truth,
And nothing but the truth,
So help me god,
Is repeated in every courtroom,
Yet how many speak the truth,
When they are caught.

The truth is a bedrock,
It is a foundation stone,
It is the virtue that has no colour or complexion for it is naked,
It stands as it is clear and visible,
Guarding the hallway of wisdom,
For no one can enter,
Who has not found the key,
For this is the only stairway that leads
to heaven as earth.

Why does truth matter?
It doesn’t for it can’t be seen,
It is hidden in dark corners away from prying eyes,
For to get one’s own way,
It is better to be silent,
Yet truth is the child that keeps asking questions,
And the adult who doesn’t have the answer
Is afraid to appear the fool.

The intellectual life is not academic,
It is a reaching out to the unknown,
With curiosity and exploration,
For the intellectuals walk and consider,
They are lost in space,
As they search the universal mind for answers to questions,
Unanswered.

It is not about tenure or status,
It is not about better than or less than,
It is simply an opportunity to explore for truth,
To reach solid ground,
And one doesn’t have to be a historian or a scientist,
One can rise to great heights by having the courage,
To firstly ask the right questions,

For these are the markers that open the way,
For answers are only seen,
When you feel, to see, to look.

For the world is only flat when one looks outside the window and only see the marks on the pane,
For the world book is not on your bookshelf,
It is in the secondhand book shop on the lowest level covered in cobwebs and dust,
It has many leaves and branches,
And many layers of bedrock unturned,
For your world is a universe,
Mysterious, expanding and unfolding,

All worlds are possible,
For life reveals itself when you choose,
As you experience sliding glass doors,
You may miss the chance or catch it,
For opportunity is always knocking,
I often wonder how many Einstein’s,
How many Rumi’s?
How many Plato’s?
Walked across the stage of your life,
For she was mis-directed to career goals,
And he was seeking power politics.

For any wise professor knows the Analects of Confucius sought to ensure a structured society of unquestioned order,
The Dao De Jing (The Way and the Truth) sought only the universal way,
For the sound of one hand clapping,
Is the question in the riddle,
It is the silence of the peace movement,
That found the way to the truth,
That sets you free.

The mystery is the beauty in the gap
of imperfection,
For to smile broadly at life is to see the humour,
Where no one is laughing at themselves,
Why not give everyone permission to see the joke,
In the games we all play,
For this is the universal playground that plays with questions and toys with your hair,
Innocence without judgement,
Enthusiasm without suppression,
Freedom of thought without censure,
Is the bedrock from which
‘Sleepers awake’.