Because we spend our lives driven by thought, it can be terribly difficult for even the tiniest snippet of Truth to edge its way into our consciousness. Without such Truths, the inner journey lacks legs.

I’ve always suspected this is in part what Thoreau meant by ‘the mass of men leading lives of quiet desperation.’ We are drowning in thought, yet thirsting for Truth.

I call them Truths with a capital ‘T’ because they transcend self and time. By contrast, human truths come and go, subject to the whims of emotion, thought, and circumstance.

“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evidence.” – Arthur Schopenhauer

In my estimation this also applies to psychedelics. Lots of folks these days talking about how an entheogen forever changed them. Color me dubious. If these substances truly changed folks they wouldn’t need to keep using them.

Transcendent Truth is different. It may rise up over and through you, or abruptly materialize when you least expect it. (Actually, you never expect these kinds of things. If you did, they probably wouldn’t be transcendent – point being they transcend the human in us.)

Once one of these Truths hits you you’re never quite the same. The change may be subtle, but it’s real. Very real.

“And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” – Jesus of Nazareth

Simple example: One morning many years ago, I lay in bed practicing a little self-inquiry. Specifically, I started peeling away any part of me that wasn’t inherited from others and / or didn’t come into this world as part of this meat suit called a body.

Layer by layer bits and parts of Doug were removed or otherwise seen through. Out went Doug and its history; out went American and male and human being.

Eventually, all that was left was raw awareness (or if you prefer, consciousness).

Now this may sound like a purely cognitive exercise. And for a considerable time, it was. But at some point it led to a brief, yet complete quieting of the mind and a recognition of awareness by awareness. That was all there was.

“If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.” – Rene Descartes

It was dazzling in its simplicity and intensity and lasted mere seconds. But that experience has never completely left me and to this day I routinely marvel that I exist. That anything exists at all. Because it doesn’t have to exist. Yet it does.

This Truth also revisits from time to time, requiring me to see the world through its lens. A tree is no longer a tree, for example. I feel compelled to strip away all the mind-made labels and constructs. What is left? Isness. It Is.

Practice this Truth on everything you encounter for an hour. It will change your life forever.