16 A Philosophy of Truth and Reality
Truth is a TIPI
Truth in Isolation Tank Gnosis is actually not so complex – it’s whatever you imagine, whenever you imagine it, even if no one else agrees with you. But it does help to expand on it, so let’s see how Truth is a TIPI. Let’s see how it is (T)emporary, (I)maginary, (P)ersonal and (I)mmediate.
Truth is Temporary
Truth is imaginary
“””There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination….”
My, I like this imagination thing. It sounds… unlimited!
“””You’re traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind; a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That’s the signpost up ahead … “””
The signpost up ahead, like the one in my dream awhile back?
“””You’re traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind; a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. “””
I like travel don’t you? New things to see and do. So refreshing!
“””You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension: a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You’re moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas; “””
Unlock the door with imagination as the key. I would like to thank Rod Serling, developer of the Twilight Zone, for the quotes above. They set the stage nicely.
So let’s work with our theme: “Truth is personal, imaginary and immediate.” This takes a great load off your shoulders. There is no longer a need to perceive this vision or that vision. No need to answer questions to qualify for an occult mystery school. Just enjoy the sensory phenomena passing by. That sensory phenomena qualifies as Truth in ITG. It happened to you personally. You imagined it. And it was instantaneous.
The real key though, is that most of your imaginations have to do with what John C. Lilly called”interlock”. For instance, if your mother has just been bickering at you for the past hour and you enter seclusion, what will you be imagining for the first few minutes or so? That’s right, her ideas and thoughts. And your reactions to them. So how personal and imaginary are your thoughts when you just had a high-sensation interlock with another human being? Not so personal.
Now, of course after awhile, you will drop your mental engagement with her and you will drop into your own world. So we see that isolation of all sorts makes Truth increasingly personal because your imaginations become more and more self-determined instead of other-determined.
The immediacy of imagination can be hindered by interlock as well. Perhaps you will spend time doubting your right to think certain thoughts. Maybe you will be worried about what Mother might think. So we see the immediacy of your Truth will improve will isolation as well.
We will delve into isolation and Truth more in a later section.
Truth is Personal
That isn’t true. They’re not necessary. Why? Why does everyone want to force me to do something I don’t want to do?
Twilight Zone “Number 12 Looks Just Like You”
TRUTH IS 100% PERSONAL. YOU ARE NEVER SEPARATE FROM THE TRUTH. Truth is the most central topic in ITG because the purpose of ITG is to aid the search for Truth. What is Truth? ITG adopts the definition of truth laid down in “Spiritologie” by Andreas Buttler: “Truth exists for you alone. If others agree with you, it becomes a Reality.”
ITG considers illusion, delusion, imagination, dreams, fantasies and hallucination to be synonomous with Truth.
There is really nothing more to say. But let’s just re-iteraite:
- If Planet Earth has 4 million people and 3,999,999 all think the sky is blue and you think it is red, then the Truth is that it is red. As John C. Lilly put it, everyone has in-sanity: EVERYONE is internally sane. The “problem” occurs when you freely express our in-sanity to others because there is never complete agreement between the internal sanity of any 2 human beings.
Psychology is, so to speak, simply being ‘used’ and even only exists – with this phony theory of ‘normality’ – to give you a hellish fear of think- ing differently or being different from your environment.
I would like to invite you to please quit adjust- ing your personal truth to that of the public and not even letting it be adjusted. That is what truth really is, namely a personal, individual thing!
“Spiritologie” by Andreas Buttler
Truth is immediate
That’s right Truth is immediate. No need for pondering, reading, reflection, long pilgrammages to sit at the feet of the guru. Nope. None of that. As Sailor Bob Adomson put’s it: “What’s wrong with right now unless you start thinking about it?”
Reality is Shared Imagination
Reality occurs when two or more beings agree that something is so. TRUTH occurs when one being says that something is so. Because one proceeds two, TRUTH is primary and Reality secondary.
That was nice and logical but let’s let Mark Twain wax poetic: “Reality can be beaten with enoough imagination.”
ITG exists to assist the return to TRUTH. Of course, since a being can never leave the TRUTH, this is a ludicrous statement. But without isolation, a being may not realize the ever-present TRUTH. So, we provide the minimum amount of procedures and viewpoint to aid the search.
We will conclude this chapter with two contrasting writings on Reality and bit of commentary on each.
“The world is in your mind” viewpoint
We need to define one term in the quote to follow and that is “consideration”. A consideration is a creative thought — Michael Jackson before composing “Billie Jean”, Van Gogh before composing “A Starry Night.” So now let’s read the quotation:
Considerations take rank over the mechanics of space, energy, and
time. By this it is meant that an idea or opinion is, fundamentally,
superior to space, energy, and time, or organizations of form, since
it is conceived that space, energy, and time are themselves broadly
agreed-upon considerations. That so many minds agree brings about
Reality in the form of space, energy, and time. These mechanics, then,
of space, energy, and time are the product of agreed- upon
considerations mutually held by life.
The aspects of existence when viewed from the level of Man, however,
is a reverse of the greater truth above for Man works on the secondary
opinion that mechanics are real, and that his own personal
considerations are less important than space, energy, and time. This
is an inversion. These mechanics of space, energy, and time, the
forms, objects and combinations thereof, have taken such precedence in
Man that they have become more important than considerations as such,
and so his ability is overpowered and he is unable to act freely in
the framework of mechanics. Man, therefore, has an inverted
view. Whereas considerations such as those he daily makes are the
actual source of space, energy, time and forms, Man is operating so as
not to alter his basic considerations; he therefore invalidates
himself by supposing another determinism of space, energy, time and
form. Although he is part of that which created these, he gives them
such strength and validity that his own considerations thereafter must
fall subordinate to space, energy, time, and form, and so he cannot
alter the Universe in which he dwells.
The freedom of an individual depends upon that individual’s freedom to
alter his considerations of space, energy, time, and forms of life and
his roles in it. If he cannot change his mind about these, he is then
fixed and enslaved amidst barriers such as those of the physical
universe, and barriers of his own creation. Man thus is seen to be
enslaved by barriers of his own creation. He creates these barriers
himself, or by agreeing with things which hold these barriers to be
actual.
There is a basic series of assumptions in processing, whose
assumptions do not alter the philosophy of Scientology. The first of
these assumptions is that Man can have a greater freedom. The second
is that so long as he remains relatively sane, he desires a greater
freedom. And the third assumption is that the auditor desires to
deliver a greater freedom to that person with whom he is working. If
these assumptions are not agreed upon and are not used, then auditing
degenerates into “the observation of effect”, which is, of course, a
goal-less, soulless pursuit, and is, indeed, a pursuit which has
degraded what is called modern science.
The goal of processing is to bring an individual into such thorough
communication with the physical universe that he can regain the power
and ability of his own considerations (postulates).
— L. Ron Hubbard “Scientology 0-8”
Now, if considerations take rank over the mechanics of MEST (Matter, Energy, Space and Time), then certainly creative thought processes take rank over the entities and interactions within MEST as well! This means that all of the hard and soft sciences are transient figments of imagination.
“The world exists independent of your mind”viewpoint
We now will read a different text which explores another viewpoint on reality.
... Reality ... expresses that which is completely objective as
opposed to anything subjective. By objective we mean existing without
the mind, outside it, and wholly independent of it. Subjective, on
the other hand, takes the meaning of that which is in the mind. For
instance, consider the case of a small child which has its fingers
stepped on for the frist time. The child perceives through its sense
of sight that a thing has caused a sensation of pain, also that this
was not under the control of his mind --- therefore it is
objective. The sensation of pain passing to the child's brain forms a
thought of fear, or anger directed towards the cause of the
sensation. This thought is subjective.
— “Reality” by John Lilly, Republished in Appendix One of “Simulations of God”
Relating States of Being with Truth
| Human Experience | Point of View | Description | Signature Text | Truth Abides Here For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deep sleep | None | Nothingness, emptiness | “Hsin Hsin Ming” (The Book of Nothing) by Sosan | Zen and Tibetan Buddhism |
| Upon waking | Subject with no objects | Pure being, Consciousness without an object, Advaita Vedana, All-one, Aloneness | “Reality in 40 Verses” by Ramana Maharshi | Advaita Vedanta, Franklin Merrell-Wolff |
| Dreaming | Subject with personal objects | Truth, Imagination, Illusion, Shamanic Journeying, Psychedelic Trips, Pure Mathematics | “Spiritologie” | Isolation Tank Gnosis, Poetry, Dance, Art, Cartoons, Pure Mathematics, Quantum Physics |
| Waking state | Subject with objects other subjects agree on | Reality | Any classical mechanics textbook | Applied mathematics, Science other than Quantum Physics, a Court of Law, Intentional Communities |
Life State Review
There are pictures of me as a child, but I was not there controlling that body. Yet, somehow it functioned just fine without me thinking and worrying about it and hating others because of it like I do now.
Terrence Brannon
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Enlightenment is freedom from being an individual, not freedom as an individual.
Arunachala Ramana, AHAM.com
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Study Questions
- Enumerate the 4 primary life states.
- Create a life state review chart. This is an extensive exercise and could take several weeks or months to complete.