Truth  

When you declare that you intend to pursue truth in your life then all that is obviously false about yourself becomes painfully apparent. These are the things you need to work on. The little self will object, deny, and resist any change, but overcoming the little self is the goal and objections only serve as clues to what needs to be confronted.

It is curious that we would do anything that is not in our self interest, but because we identify with our little self, our self interests are almost always self destructive and weak. Life is hard enough without weakening ourselves yet we are all doing it. It has bothered me because I confront myself with this dialog every day, every minute of every day sometimes.

The work is to reach beyond ourselves, to let go of what is safe and stretch. The more we conquer our little self, the stronger and clearer we become. For me, making things with my hands has provided a way to see the process. It is a joy to translate time into objects because the object becomes an event in my life. It captures every nuance of my struggle and reflects it back to me so that I can learn and grow.

There are pitfalls to this approach though and the most obvious is that we identify ourselves with our work, failing to remember that the real work is within. Others have a tendency to identify you with the work that you do as well. The way that others respond to you can have a huge effect on how you perceive yourself, it is another form of feedback and is very powerful. Knowing yourself is the best shield against the assaults of the world.

When I speak about knowing yourself, I do not mean yourself the individual, but rather the universal self. It is that knowledge that comes from truth. The individual self, the organism, is always on the verge of being crushed by the universe. Let go of that perspective and one is not crushed, but transformed. The universe, or multiverse as current thinking is conjuring, depends upon the observer. It is an active creation and the mystery of it unfolds before us as we seek it out.