Embodying the Truth

Understanding the depths and dimensions of truth gives us a broader capacity to experience it

When we change our focus from the suffering of our trials to what they can bring us, the nature of each trial changes. (By Serhii Yurkiv/Shutterstock)

The truth is a powerful thing, but unraveling what is true isn’t nearly as straightforward as we might believe.

The dictionary meaning of truth points to an indisputable fact or an accurate portrayal of objective reality. Honesty, integrity, and transparency allow the truth to be seen. Lies, denial, and deceit cover it up.

You may think truth is merely the polar opposite of false. But there also exists a more personal and mysterious side to this idea, because our perception of what is true hinges heavily on our ability to perceive, understand, and experience.

Take, for example, the Greek word for truth, alethia. Instead of describing the true-versus-false dichotomy we typically think of, alethia refers to the process of uncovering the truth. It means “to reveal what is hidden.”

Instead of just a cold, hard fact, alethia describes a search for answers and the enlightenment that comes with finding them. This is an active form of truth—an insight that lifts the veil—allowing you a new and profound perspective on something previously obscured.

For example, we all have blind spots—aspects of our character that are more apparent to others than ourselves. We may have a problem overeating or getting angry that we dismiss, ignore, or overlook, often through personal justifications, or because we grew up around people with similar tendencies and our baseline has adjusted to consider this normal. And then, one day, something happens, or a loved one points it out in just the right way, and suddenly we can see this aspect of ourselves more clearly, allowing us to take meaningful steps to address it.

One finds a similar meaning to alethia in zhen, the Chinese word for truth. Zhen can mean real and genuine. But much like alethia, zhen also describes something more personal and intuitive.

When the zhen character first emerged centuries ago, its meaning differed considerably from the kind of truth we think of today in the West, according to a 2019 article in the Journal of Chinese Writing Systems by Youngsam Ha, from Kyungsung University in South Korea.

“Chinese people experienced development differently from the people in the West due to environmental factors,” Ha writes. “So Chinese people did not ask questions such as, ‘What is truth?’ Their interest was about doing, or how they could go on doing the right thing.”

Zhen and alethia don’t describe truth as a factoid you find on Wikipedia. Rather, they represent a type of knowledge you earn through life experience. Will Ward, a language enthusiast and CEO of a company that sells translation equipment, says the concept of alethia describes “embodied knowledge.

“For example, we often hear and recognize as truth that ‘traveling broadens your horizons,’” says Ward. “Anyone who hasn’t experienced this can receive it intellectually, but it isn’t until you actually travel and experience what it feels like to have your horizons broadened, as it were, that you have embodied knowledge.”

Our conventional understanding of the truth allows for only one version of reality; everything else is merely a subjective interpretation. But consider the difference in light of alethia. Ward says that realizing the distinction between an embodied and a non-embodied truth can provide you with a broader view of the world and the people within it.

“You begin to see the world differently in almost every way, and your interactions with, and understanding of, everyone you know and meet can become so much more meaningful when you realize you’re both relating from experiences of revealed, or embodied, truth,” Ward says.

This perception allows one to become more broad-minded and thereby freer from the inevitable biases we each hold. When we can entertain the possibility that our own perception is limited, we gain the essential prerequisite to a larger capacity to understand.

Truth of Trauma

Of course, there are times when we require the kind of truth we can all plainly see, agree on, and establish as fact. But an individual, embodied truth also serves a vital purpose. Author and coach Danielle Bernock discusses this purpose through the lens of trauma in her book “Emerging With Wings.”

“One of many problems with trauma is that people dismiss it in their lives, and so it festers and wreaks havoc either until the trauma will not be denied, or it costs them their lives,” says Bernock.

Bernock suffered numerous childhood traumas, but she always brushed them off as trivial because they didn’t compare with the kind of violent or harrowing events she considered truly traumatic. Instead of experiencing a school shooting, domestic abuse, or natural disaster, she felt emotionally wounded by friends and family, and says she was only able to heal when she acknowledged that her traumas, however small, really meant something.

“Since then, I’ve learned that trauma is not the event,” Bernock says. “Trauma is an involuntary wound left behind by something a person was unable to process. Validation of trauma is a vital part of healing. Trauma is personal, and until someone owns that truth, they will remain trapped in the pain.”

Many people who are unable to see the truth of their own experience remain shaped by events they are unable to examine honestly, because they exercise an involuntary self-deception that denies them the clarity they need to heal.

A Consequence of Truth

Finding the kind of truth contained in alethia can be a gratifying experience. You can look back on your previous ignorance and appreciate the world from a clearer perspective. But psychologist Claire Grayson says these epiphanies come at a cost: They can make it harder to relate to others who haven’t yet made the leap.

“On one hand, we’ve been taught to believe that ‘truth is the root of all good.’ On the other hand, it has also been suggested that ‘the more you know, the more unhappy you are.’ So why do ignorant people tend to be happier?” asks Grayson. “The reason for that is that knowledge can put a burden on trying to be understood.”

It’s less stressful when we all agree and get along. And life might be easier if we all decided to see everything in the same uniform way. But for many of us, our quest for truth trumps our desire to conform. Grayson says humans are curious creatures. We want to know, even if it might alienate us somewhat from friends and family.

“Investigating and finding the truth can help us make meaning in life,” says Grayson.

Consider those who have lived through times of great deception, like Nazi Germany or the communist revolutions in many countries around the world. At such moments, political leaders censor information and scapegoat a portion of the population, leading others to accept or participate in acts of cruelty. For people that choose to believe what is objectively and personally true in these environments, truth can come with a mortal risk.

Your Thoughts Shape Your Truth

Aside from extreme situations, how do we embody a truth? Grayson has a few tips. First, have an open mind. Consider that grief, anger, and sadness can cloud your vision, so strive to be emotionally sober before seeking truth, and be prepared to feel vulnerable. Understand that truth can be subjective and expect the unexpected.

Some may look to a higher power for guidance. For outside observers, this approach may seem quaint, irrational, or naive. But outsiders have not witnessed all the signs and confirmations of truth that have led the faithful down this path.

For those that hold that creation is linked to a benevolent force present in their lives, truth includes dimensions that others may reject. Often, people that hold this belief have experienced a transformative experience that led to this type of embodied truth—an experience that often began with an illness, tragedy, or some other painful tribulation that inspired a search for answers.

In 2002, Patricia Heitz was devastated by a kidney cancer diagnosis during a routine checkup. She eventually dealt with the news by developing a daily prayer: “Help me see what I need to see and know what I need to know about this disease.”

While recovering from cancer surgery, Heitz found an answer in “You Can Heal Your Life,” a book by Louise Hay that describes how physical disease is linked to chronic emotional patterns and thoughts. It made Heitz realize that the anger she had been holding since childhood was the driving force behind the cancer that had been festering in her body.

“I had created a perception about who I was based on my need to be loved and approved in my dysfunctional family,” Heitz says. “When I realized what I believed about myself was not the truth, I then went on the journey to find out what the truth of me really was, and lo and behold, I found out I had some amazing gifts that, when I tuned into them, gave me great joy.”

The epiphany for Heitz was how powerful thoughts can be, and how they could dictate her truth. That knowledge gave her a new sense of control. If she could create disease out of self-hate, what could she create from self-love?

“I looked at the world through the eyes of unlimited possibility,” she said. “If I could discover what the beliefs were that sabotaged me, and correct them, I could create anything. If I could create disease through negative beliefs, I could create anything through positive beliefs.”

While such an idea may sound unscientific or idealistic to some, what is true for Heitz has been true for many. Experiences of miraculous disease recovery with a change in thought, the power of the placebo effect, and the links between mental state and disease are all well documented. So, while science gives us one way to agree on what is true, being broad-minded and willing to entertain ideas we disagree with gives us another.

Conan Milner has been a reporter for 16 years, covering health and wellness for the past 7 years. He graduated from Wayne State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and is a member of the American Herbalist Guild.

This article was first published in Radiant Life magazine.