As I have said, I am going to try to talk to you this afternoon about Truth - or "What Is Truth?"

I realize that I am assuming a big job.  I've read but very little of the philosophers of the ages, but we know during all the years there has been the continual cry of, "What Is Truth?"
 
We often hear it said that Truth is evasive, Truth is naked, Truth will not be downed - but what is Truth?

We remember, if we turn to the books of the New Testament, that possibly the greatest moment in history was when Pilate asked of the Master, "What is Truth?"  Possibly that was the ONLY time it could have been answered in one or two words that would have at least satisfied the greater portion of the thinking world today - but he didn't wait for the answer.  Yet we know that the Master said that He CAME that He might show the way unto Truth.  All right.  Then we know Truth is something that we may be shown.

When we speak of A truth, or THE truth, or TRUTH, we possibly mean different things.  You will remember, those of you who have read the little story - and I'm sure most of you have - there were three men of Hindustan who went to see the elephant, but all of them were blind.  Now that's US!  We are all blind, but we are seeking the truth; seeking the truth because we are very much in the same position as the three men who went to see the elephant.  One of these stumbled against the side of the elephant, and he said, "I perceive, without a doubt, the elephant is very like a wall."  Was that the truth to him?  Another one, as he stumbled about the animal, found his trunk, and said, "I perceive with a certainty, the elephant is very like a tree."  Was he correct in his supposition?  The other man, as he stumbled about, got hold of the tail, and said, "I perceive the elephant is very much like a rope."  Now were they in error?  Did they have the truth?  Or did they have only a portion of the truth?  Or did they have any of the truth?

We often say that any movement of any character succeeds in so far as it has a portion of the truth.  We may be sure THAT'S truth; that any movement succeeds in so far as that movement has the truth.  Then don't worry because you disagree with any individual as to what your conception of any movement may be - don't think that they are going to hell because they don't think as you do!  Remember the three men that went to see the elephant - just remember that!  Keep that in your mind.  KNOW that they are right, but they are wrong as YOU would see it, with your eyes wide open.

As Mr. Blumenthal has been telling us, life in its projection into this material plane has been a constant growth.  Then, if we are to believe the things that have been presented to us, and AS they are presented to us, we know that even Truth ITSELF may be a GROWTH INTO that understanding in which we will be able to apply it in our everyday life.

I am sure that we believe God is Love.  The love for an individual, then, is an expression of the force, or manifested force, that we define as Love.  There was this experience that came to a man.  He was very much in love with his wife.  He thought more of her than anything in the world, but God saw fit to take her home, and when he erected a monument in the cemetery he had inscribed on it:  "The light of my life has gone out."  He couldn't find anything that could satisfy him with this separation, but after a while he met a young lady whom he fell very much in love with, and he was altogether mistaken about his first love being able to satisfy every thing in his life - there was something else that had been added, he had gained the knowledge of someone else being able to fill up a portion of his life.  The young lady, knowing about this inscription, said to him, "I might consent to be your wife, but I don't think I could ever do that as long as the inscription remains as it is."  So he went about to find a man who could correct this for him, and as the man who had charge of such things told him he saw how he could rectify this, he went ahead with the wedding.  When they came back from their honeymoon they went to see how it read, and this is what they found:  "The light of my life has gone out - but I've struck another match."

So, you see, those are individual experiences.  When we read, or get the idea of some particular thought, or some particular rule, gradually we build into OUR own selves the idea that we have GOTTEN the whole thing.  Now IS Truth such a thing that those who have been followers of Mohammed have ALL of the truth?  Have they who have been the followers of Moses the law-giver, all the truth?  Or has it rather been a growth in our individual lives, and what may be truth to one individual possibly may not, in the experience of the other individual, answer at all?  Does that make the other any less true to the other individual?  Did this man love the second woman any less from his experience of being in love before?

Then, is it possible if this be true, that this is a changeable thing, is a growth?  Will it be possible for us to find something of which we can say, "THIS is truth," and KNOW that it will answer in everything or every way that life may present itself to us?  I believe that we can.  You may differ with me.  I don't think, however, that you will be able to REFUTE what will be my definition, or what I will be able to say IS Truth.  But many of you will say, "Well, have you been given some peculiar power, that you have knowledge of what Truth is, and can answer the question that has been sought throughout all the ages, so that we may know what TRUTH is?" Let's see if this will not answer the whole question in our lives.  First we must know that, if we are to accept any word, or any follower as a truth, or THE truth, or Truth, we must be sure of the AUTHORITY that we quote.  We must be very sure of our foundation, or platform, for what we have assumed.  Where would we begin, as we would say, to assume something as being true, or a place to begin?  Or how far could we go with this formula?  Or where would we begin with this formula, so that we might know, when we hear a thing, that to US it is Truth?  We must recognize these facts in our lives:  there is a physical body, there is a spiritual body.  We know the physical body is dependent upon its physical attributes for its development.  It is also the temple, or the dwelling place of the spiritual body.  The spiritual body, we know, is of the Creator - whatever we may call the Creator.  It comes from the same thing - even if we go back to the scientific reasoning and say it begins from the lowest form of life.  WHEREVER we begin, we have to say there is something beyond that where it has developed, whether you believe in evolution, creative evolution, or what not, it all has to come back to the very same thing, AND if I can answer this I don't believe I'm wrong in saying that you can take it from any standpoint you want to take it, but this IS Truth:

THAT WHICH KEPT BEFORE YOUR MENTAL MIND, YOUR SPIRITUAL MIND, WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP YOU UPWARD!  That which, held before you, will continue to develop you upward.

Now, let's see how this fits in with what Mr. Blumenthal says of evolution.  Let's see if this applies to any of the phases that may present themselves, or to any the questions you would want to ask:  THAT WHICH, HELD BEFORE YOUR MENTAL VISION, WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP YOU UPWARD.  Not that which satisfies selfish purpose at all, no!  Not that which tells you whether it is wrong to go fishing on Sunday or not, or to play baseball on Sunday.  Not that which answers you in that.  It answers you, yes - but that which will continue to develop YOU upward?

All right!  What do we mean by developing upward?  That which will enable you to hold the vision of that which YOU worship as YOUR God.  Every man, every individual, every OBJECT, has its conception of its superior position.  We would say, "Well, would it answer the Indian who is looking for his Happy Hunting Ground?  Why would it not answer?  That which will enable him to hold before him that which HE worships as HIS God is Truth to him.

Now, what have we taken for granted?  We have taken for granted that man has a mind, that man has a body - a physical body, a spiritual body.  He has a SOUL, if you choose!  We have taken for granted that his mental body is controlled by his mental being.  His soul, or his spiritual body is controlled by his subconscious, or his spiritual mind.  That which will continue to hold before the individual that which he worships as his God will continue, then, to develop the individual towards that which he worships.  Now, does that answer your question?  Then you will say, "What would have been the Master's answer to Pilate's question?"  "I came into the world to do no other than conduct you into that which is Truth."
 
Truth is not a thing, then, that we can see, that your eyes or body, or ears, or things of that kind - but it is the essence with which an individual builds faith, hope, and trust.  That is Truth!  That essence that we are enabled to hold before our mental vision, is truth.  Will it build your body?  It will!  Will it heal the sick?  It will!

A few days ago I was talking to some people - they were telling me about a book that had been written by some of the masters from the far East.  I had never seen the book before, but when I opened it to read it I knew what was in it before I read it.  I don't know how, nor why, but I knew the experiences that I was going to encounter.  I don't know why except THIS:  I have been continuing to think of how I might answer this question.  With the first four or five pages I found that in this book, this ONE thing was continually held before the individual; that which you hold before yourself, to create that image you worship, that will develop you always upward, and will continue to enable you to know truth!

Truth, then, being a growing thing, truth being a thing that will develop you, is a something that is ENTIRELY IN ACTION! Not inactive, but IN ACTION!  That's what God is!  For in every MOVEMENT that has ever been, it has been a continual upward development, or upward toward that which IS Truth.

If you hold malice, you can become one of the meanest persons in the world.  You know that if you continue to send out thought (that may become a miracle or a crime), you create just those very same cross-currents in your mind.

What is prayer but simply attuning yourself to that which you are seeking assistance through?  That's all prayer is - attuning yourself to that very same thing.  That becomes Truth when it becomes in action.  When it goes into action, to YOU it becomes Truth.  It's your own conception of what your God is.  If it makes you better to the very thing you worship, or more in accord with the thing you worship, THAT you become, whether it's downward or upward, you go whichever way your standard is set.