9/11 Contemplation but Much More: The Shifting Sands of Truth

By Lori Lines

Navigating the Shifting Sands of Truth

In our ever-evolving human existence, the quest for truth remains a timeless pursuit. How to know what is true? This question has puzzled philosophers, thinkers, and seekers throughout the ages, and it continues to challenge our understanding of the world and our place within it.

One fundamental truth emerges from the depths of introspection: our perceptions are not static. They are ever-changing, shifting like sand dunes in the desert. To acknowledge this inherent variability is to open our minds to the profound nature of our existence. Our personal experiences, the cornerstone of our understanding, are subject to the constant ebb and flow of change.

Worldviews, like civilizations, rise and fall. They emerge as dominant paradigms, casting their shadows over the collective consciousness, only to crumble into the sands of time when confronted with new perspectives. There is no preordained path guiding humanity toward a singular truth. Instead, we traverse a labyrinth of shifting philosophies, each offering a fleeting glimpse of what we believe to be real.

The allure of authority often leads us astray. Just because someone speaks with confidence and charisma does not guarantee the veracity of their words. We have, over time, been conditioned to equate the charismatic actor with the mouthpiece of truth, a dangerous assumption that obscures the fluid nature of knowledge. The ego, that ever-persistent narrator of our lives, deludes us into thinking that we possess absolute certainty. We label certain beliefs as "facts," constructing a facade of permanence in a world where everything is in perpetual motion.

Resistance to new information is a common human reflex, driven by the fear that our ego's carefully constructed identity will crumble if confronted with unfamiliar truths. We clutch to our preconceived notions, desperate to preserve our perceived certainties. Yet, with each revelation that the universe is more expansive than we dared to imagine, we are compelled to add another layer to our understanding.

Knowledge, we must recognize, is not an isolated entity. We only apprehend ideas and concepts against the backdrop of our existing understanding. In this light, the notion of knowing becomes a spectrum rather than an absolute. We do not possess knowledge; instead, we interact with a web of interconnected beliefs, each subject to revision and reevaluation.

In this ever-shifting landscape, one indisputable fact emerges: our knowledge is intrinsically tied to our personal experiences. It is through the lens of our unique encounters that we interpret the world. What is real for one may not be real for another, as individual experiences diverge and intersect in the complexities of human existence.

In essence, we find ourselves in the paradoxical position of knowing very little about an ever-expanding reality. We are explorers in an uncharted territory, navigating the shifting sands of truth. Our quest for understanding may never yield absolute certainty, but it is through the relentless pursuit of knowledge and the openness to change that we inch closer to glimpsing the elusive truth that lies beyond the horizon of our current comprehension. And, that is within.

​ - Love y'all crazy explorers of consciousness! - Lori