Pondering over a statement that ‘in yoga the authority is in your self-realized truth and not in any book, person or system of belief’ I realized that at any given point in time each one of us holds something as a personal truth which is the ultimate truth to us. So, the authoritative self-realized truth has to be a result of a ‘quest for the ultimate or absolute truth.’ In the absence of this quest, there is no realization that ‘the truth so dear is only relative.’
From this thought I zoomed out with a view of human history as essentially ‘a chronicle of relative truth, mostly in favor of the victor.’ Most of the human clashes appear to be fueled by the two relative truths locking horns and blinding the beholders even to the bloodshed. I am sure if someone was to compile statistics, human beings killing each other would rank much higher than the natural calamities or accidents.
If you are driven by the quest for the unchanging truth about us and the universe, truth will always show up wrapped inside some untruth. So, the way to go seems to be questioning each truth and if it falls apart the next truth appears underneath. But, questioning also needs courage. Leaning on the truth, even if relative, provides warmth and comfort; unsettling each truth makes one homeless.
If you continue on the search for truth, you start dwelling more in the inner domain than outer. When you are new, that alienates the truth-seeking from the daily living. Some seekers take it negatively, and consider themselves ‘selfish’ in seeking inner peace while others suffer in the real world. Some others develop a ‘holier-than-thou’ attitude and feel obliged to dish out their new-found higher truth to one and all. Only a very few continue to become better and humble human beings with compassion for the needy.