What Is Truth?

I have a private practice called humble warrior counseling. And it lives inside the vault and the vault is a healing center. There's also a small yoga studio in the vault. Where I do retreats and gatherings for people who want to combine the body and their spiritual practice with their mental health. This is the trifecta of. Radical healing. In fact, I just had a retreat last weekend. Where we talked about a Hamza nonviolence. And Satya, which is truthfulness. It was one of the most.

Eyeopening and loving experiences I've had here at the vault. So. If you're listening out there, ladies, thank you for showing up with your love and disarming yourself. So that our wounds could be present. For kindness and compassion. Thank you for changing my life. I'm really excited because this week I'm launching my digital course, integrative healing, the synergy of psychotherapy, yoga therapy, and mindful wisdom.

It's a full and complete course studying the yamas and the niyamas and yoga philosophy. The yamas and niyamas are guidelines for how we can live our best life. And a life with less suffering.

Does not align anymore or when the truth starts to feel uncomfortable. What happens then? Do I. Confront the truth. Do I confront those who gave it to me? And is it safe to do so? And then that identity piece. If I don't believe this thing anymore. Who am I. If I don't believe this thing that my family believes or my church believes, or my community believes. Who am I. When I used to teach at the university at Boise state. Freshmen would come in. So certain of who they were.

Certain of their identities, what they believe. That their parents are right. Et cetera. And inevitably most of them, if not all. About halfway through, start to look at their classmates and say things like I've never thought of it that way. I've never met anybody. Who's had your experience. Or you're so different from me. Tell me more. And it's not that they walked in with the wrong ideas. Because I believe that ideas are neither right or wrong. There are some that are more helpful.

I'm more applicable. It's mostly that they came in with ideas that were small. Ideas that were incomplete. There is no story that is concrete. There is no story that ends. There is no idea that ends. And watching them. Begin to build compassion for themselves. As they change because that's exactly what they're supposed to do. We don't have to abolish our belief systems. When we look at them. Looking at our belief systems and what feels true is an act of compassion for self and for others.

Because we are always changing. So checking in on how we are changing, helps us live more congruently. And an alignment. With what is good. For self and others. So today we're going to talk about how truth has been given to us. How it is shaped by power structures. And what it means to reclaim truth. As a practice of personal integrity. From the moment we are born, our beliefs are inherited. In fact, probably before we even take our first breath, we are given. Truth.

Babies in utero, start to learn the truth of their external environment. By the truth of the mothers internal environment. And that's of course not to blame the mother. But it's scientifically proven that babies start to become aware of what's outside of the womb while they're inside of the womb. So imagine from the get. Once your brain starts forming ideas of truth. Are also being formed. We are conditioned to accept these truths.

Not because we have discovered them for ourselves, but because they've been handed down to us, not only in utero, but through genetics and through generational trauma. They're also handed to us from culture. Like I said, religion, family and institutions, these inherited beliefs shaped the way. We began to see the world the way we experienced the world. Often without our awareness.

Many of us grew up being taught who God is before we have the capacity to understand or question spirituality for ourselves. We are given scriptures, rituals, jewelry, and dogmas that define universal truths. And are handed to us as universal truths. And questioning. Becomes an active resistance or defiance rather than perhaps just intellectual curiosity. Many cultures. Probably near you or around you. Define religion as true. Dictating, what is right? What is wrong? What is good? What is bad?

What is sacred? What is profane? And who is saved and who is not. The history we are taught in school is a carefully curated narrative. Focusing on the achievements of those in power. While simultaneously distorting or minimizing. Even erasing, suffering. I oppression. Murder. Genocide. Rape. Death. Our American history, glorifies the founding fathers while downplaying or admitting to the violence of colonization and slavery. Nationalism.

Is built on the historical myth that we are exactly the same. These myths serve to unify people under one common identity. Even if those narratives exclude or oppress others, but we're not supposed to have one common identity. Because we are all very different. We are also spoonfed that laws are just that leaders act in our best interest that democracy. Insures fairness. But history shows us repeatedly that truth and justice are determined by those in power. From propaganda to censorship.

Governments across the world have used quote unquote truth as a tool for control. One of the most pervasive and I think destructive, common truths. In our country. Is this idea that success. Is a direct result. Of hard work. That you will succeed. You will have wealth if you work hard enough. And if you don't succeed and get that dream. It's your fault. It is a personal failing by you. As an individual, rather than the systemic inequality. Built into the infrastructure in the DNA.

Of our country. The American dream, for example. It tells us if we just try hard enough, we can achieve wealth, happiness, and security. We'll look around you. I look at the people, you know, that work their asses off. Do they have wealth? Do they have security? Maybe it's you. What about those born into poverty, those born into cultures that are not legitimising. The reality is that success is often determined by privilege. It is often determined by access. And opportunity.

Yeah, this myth persists to keep individuals, people like you. People like me striving within a system that benefits a few. These truths are reinforced through media education, religion, family structures. I could go on and I know I'm being redundant. But we are created by these truths. Our identities are created by these truths. And we will not stop seeing ourselves and others through these very small ideas. Unless we begin to question these roles and ask, who am I beyond what I was told to be.

Because you see the challenge with inherited truths is that they feel absolute. Many of us spend years living under these beliefs only to realize later and sometimes. Only after much harm has been done. That they do not align with who they are. And that is where the journey of knowing oneself. So well. Begins. When we have the opportunity to question what has been spoonfed to us. The process of distinguishing between truths. We were spoonfed.

And truths, we must discover and uncover for ourselves. This is where knowing oneself begins. For centuries? Well, probably from the beginning of time. The concept of truth has been debated. Or sought after. and when I get stuck, I often turn. To the philosophers who I studied, who taught me how to think. Many of the greatest thinkers in history suffered greatly for standing in their truth. Socrates born four, seven, eight BCE and died 3 99 BCE.

Believed that truth was not something given, not something to be spoonfed. It was something to be questioned and uncovered over and over and over. He developed what we now call the Socratic method, which I use very often in therapy with my clients. The Socratic method. Is a way of seeking truth through relentless questioning. He challenged politicians, poets, and fellow Athenians asking them. Whether they actually knew what they claimed to know. And for this, he was put on trial.

For corrupting the youth and disrespecting the gods. And his sentence. Was death by hemlock. He was offered an escape. But he refused believing that to abandon his principles would be the real death of himself. His final act was to prove that truth requires courage and integrity, even in the face of execution. Frederick Nietzsche born October 15th, 1844 and died. August 25th, 1900. Challenge the idea of absolute truth, arguing that all truths are created by those in power.

He called out the moral hypocrisy of religious and political institutions. Claiming that they use truth as a means of control. His ideas were so radical at the time he was ridiculed, dismissed and rejected. After his death, his ideas were manipulated and misused, particularly by the Nazi regime. Distorting his true philosophical intentions. Gandhi. Born October 2nd, 1869 died January 30th, 1948. Redefined truth. As not just factual. But moral and ethical. His philosophy of such a Gras.

Or truth force. Was the foundation of his nonviolent resistance against British colonial rule. His commitment to truth, especially his belief in the unity between Hindus and Muslims led to his assassination by a Hindu nationalist who believed Gandhi's truth was a threat. To India. Malcolm X born May 19th, 1925 and died February 21st. 1965. He was only 40 years old. He was a relentless truth teller about systemic racism, oppression, and then necessity. Uh, black self determination.

He challenged the narratives. That change could only come through patients and compliance. Advocating instead for self-defense economic empowerment and black liberation. This led him from the nation of Islam to a broader vision of global human rights, challenging both American racism and oppressive structures worldwide. His assassination was a direct response to the power of his truth. His refusal to be silenced and his insistence on dismantling white supremacy.

Michael Born October 15th, 1926 died June 25th. 1984. Believed that truth is shaped by those in authority. He examined how medicine prisons, education. Create truths that justify their power. He warned that those in control decide what is true. Not because it is right. But because it benefits them. His work. Ironically challenged institutions. That were harming him directly. For co died from complications related to HIV and aids in 1984. At a time when the disease was highly stigmatized.

And politicized. His death itself was shaped by the very power structures he exposed. And Martin Luther king Jr. Born January 15th, 1929 and died April 4th, 1968. Embodied truth as nonviolent activism, justice, and radical demand for equality. His commitment to truth was rooted in nonviolence. A himsa. Also in love. And the belief that justice must be pursued relentlessly. Well, he is often remembered for his dream of racial harmony.

His later years were spent speaking uncomfortable truths about war capitalism and systemic inequality, his assassination for standing in his truth. Proved that even a commitment to peace and justice is met with violence. When threatening power structures. So, what does this mean for us? Are you having fun yet? Most of us won't be executed or imprisoned or assassinated for seeking the truth, or even speaking the truth. But there is still a cost. So I want to talk about truthfulness.

As opposed to truth. My understanding of truthfulness comes from the Sanskrit word. I mentioned it earlier. Called Satya. Such as more than just the truth or more than just honesty. It is the practice of aligning our lives with our deepest truth. Regardless of external expectations. It is not about rejecting falsehoods. But about committing to a lifetime of self examination, integrity. And authenticity. At its core. Sacha is existential in nature.

It forces us to ask ourselves who am I. What am I. What do I stand for for whom do I stand outside of this cultural conditioning? Outside of my conditioned response to societal pressure or the fear that I won't belong. It challenges us to recognize when we are living out of alignment with our values and have the courage to recalibrate. It's a process of knowing oneself so deeply that your values are not something you have to reach for, but they are embedded into your existence.

And when you find yourself out of alignment, which we all do. It's having the courage to question oneself and recenter. Truth is not a static thing. It is something we uncover. Something we deepen into and evolve with over time. What I learned in therapy every day. Is that truth is not static. Someone will come. And tell me something that is very certain in their mind. And the next week that certainty has evolved. Into something more complete.

And then not certainty is evolved into something more complete. Over and over and over. When we discover that something we thought was true. No longer resonates. It can feel very destabilizing. And that's okay. We're humans with consciousness. We are supposed to change. That's our job. We're here to die. We're here to change. Practicing Sacha. Is. Releasing the pursuit. Of truth for certainty. It is practicing. The presence and awareness and willingness to grow.

Truthfulness means questioning your conditioning and truthfulness means being honest about your wounds. Healing cannot happen when we are in denial of reality. Truthfulness means aligning your actions with your deepest integrity. Many people claim to value honesty, but compromise it daily for comfort and convenience. Or approval. Like I said, most of us are not going to face execution for standing in our truth. And living in your truthfulness. And alignment with who you truly are.

And your deepest values. Sometimes means losing relationships. Or necessitating that relationships change. Sometimes it means breaking away from institutions where you shop. Where you go to yoga. Where you go to church. Uh, practicing truthfulness. Often involves dismantling identities that no longer serve us. But in return. This alignment. Offer something invaluable, So today is Monday, January 20th. Martin Luther king Jr. Day.

It is also an aggravation day, a day, where you're never going to get back. And the hardest thing about consciousness, I think is realizing that in the present we cannot correct the past. This is where we are. The philosophers that I spoke about today knew that truth. It wasn't just an idea. But rather a way of being. So I'm going to leave you with these questions and I hope you'll sit with them. I hope you all set with them. Non-violently and compassionately. And earnestly.

Where are you out of alignment with your deepest values? Where have you been avoiding? The truth. Because it is uncomfortable. Where have you accepted a version of truth that benefits you, but harms others? Where have you accepted a version of truth that benefits others, but harms you. And what would it mean to live fully in alignment with your own integrity, your own deepest values? What would you lose? And what could you gain?

What I learned in therapy is that my truthfulness is what matters to me. I am not policing anybody's truthfulness because they will show me their values by how they act. And when they show me their values, by the way they act, I get to choose. If my values align with theirs, Great. And if they don't, it is my choice to turn away without violence. For my safety. One of my core values is nonviolence. And I have to check myself because listen, Oh Lord.

I had a moment last week where I wanted to step out of my values and walk up to someone and just berate them for wearing a shirt. That calls into consciousness. The harm. Of LGBT. People. I was inflamed. I wanted to call him names. And harm him. But one of my best friends in the world, Mary said, Jamie, remember who you are? And remember your values. And so I did, I dropped in, I did some breathing. And I remembered one of my core values. Is compassion.

The man wearing the shirt that is designed to harm people. Who have never harmed him. Is an L man. He has illness. And I have deep compassion for people who are ill. As we left. I turned toward him and I wished him well, And not only did I wish him well, I wished him into his wellness because that man is ill. Knowing yourself so well. That your values are embedded in your life. and your life as an example of your values. We'll always be your most powerful tool in this world.

So write down your values and keep writing them down and keep questioning them. And then question them again. And again, Nonviolently. Please. Keep questioning. Your values. With nonviolence. So that you can practice living in Sacha. Your life is your example. Thank you for listening. And I go out there and that big old world and spray paint it with all of your love. All of your integrity. And all of your truthfulness.