The Truth is a game of Subtraction, not Addition.

Finding the truth is not difficult. It doesn't take very long to find Consciousness. How long does it take to answer the question: Am I aware? The answer is immediate. More importantly, the answer is experiential.

It also doesn't take very long to get to the experiential understanding that I = Consciousness. In other words, when I refer to "I", I am referring to Consciousness.

In summary, I am Consciousness.

The problem is that this isn't very helpful. The reason it isn't helpful is because we have not yet destroyed the many deeply rooted beliefs and concepts running in the background that prevent us from the true experiential understanding that says 'Yes, I am that.'

In other words, the truth is not about adding more information onto existing information. But rather, experiential understanding comes as a result of dissolving existing beliefs. That said, dissolving deeply rooted beliefs is easier said that done. For most of us it takes time and a commitment to understanding the truth.

Finding the truth is not nearly as difficult as letting go of beliefs.

We need to be committed to the truth. We need to always put our love for the truth on the shrine above everything else, including love. We also need to trust our intelligence over existing beliefs....even when these beliefs are widely held by our friends and our culture.

The truth isn't for everyone.

Experiential understanding of the truth is therefore a game of subtraction. In other words, if a truth seeker were to somehow drop all of her existing beliefs, in particular somehow be able to drop all beliefs about herself, a person would have no choice but to wake up.

As Francis Lucille says, wisdom is simply the removal of ignorance.

So let the games begin. What am I believing right now that might not be true? Is it true that I hear with my ears? Are humans Conscious? Is it true that the world was here before me? Is it true that I was born and therefore will die? Is it true that the body is made of flesh?

Are these facts or beliefs? How do I find out?

I strongly suggest seeking the truth with the same attitude as playing a game. Games are not to be taken too seriously. Ever. This game of seeking the truth is infinitely more interesting than any sport or board game. It will also produce some beneficial side benefits along the way such as dissolving fears without effort. However, the side benefits are not the goal, they just come along with the truth.

For example, like a headache that magically disappears without noticing, one day I noticed that my lifelong anxiety had left me without having to do anything.

The process of subtraction works because the truth is not hidden. It only seems to be obscured (like clouds covering the sky) because of the many concepts we are super-imposing onto everyday experience. Quite simply, the truth is revealed when we stop believing things that are not true.

Unfortunately, our beliefs are so deeply rooted we don't see them as beliefs. Because our beliefs are so deeply conditioned, and share the commonsense view of the world, they have become facts. But when we take the time to methodically investigate every belief, like a true scientist, there is no evidence to support these beliefs. We just need to need to be open and interested enough to investigate, and the willingness to trust our intelligence.

And for most people, myself included, the help of a really good teacher(s) is also needed.

As I said in a previous blog. The spiritual path is a dangerous path because it is inevitably about a person progressing along a path, adding information rather than subtracting.

Likewise, I think a person teaching mindfulness for a living would be at a disadvantage because more information is being added. Mindfulness is a new tool and becomes extension of the person concept. Even worse, there might be a hidden belief that mindfulness somehow leads to the truth. Like all practices, including meditation, one has nothing to do with the other.

Yes, the truth is mind blowing. However, it is only mind blowing from the perspective of our deeply held beliefs. The truth about the world being round, for example, is only mind blowing from the perspective of deeply believing it to be flat my whole life.

Likewise, understanding that Consciousness is the reality that perceives is only mind blowing from the perspective of spending my whole life believing that I am this body, which is therefore real, existing independently in time and space.

What are you believing right now? Remember, nothing you believe is true.