SAMVAD &nbsp :: Dialogue of Life

If TRUTH is first SUBJECTIVE, can any absolute TRUTH exist in the world? When one has experienced a truth in a personal (subjective) way, then it becomes absolute truth for her/him. Does s/he have any right to claim that that subjective truth is universal and objective? Because in every sectarian claim—whether in religious faith, political system or any kind of ideology—a particular view or interpretation is imposed on this so called absolute truth based on one’s background, interest or even prejudice. Forgetting this fact, if one tries to imagine that her/his particular approach to that Truth should be universal, then the very Truth itself becomes ‘subjective’ stripped of its claim to be objective and therefore is universal. Take for example Bush’s claim that both Iraq and N. Korea are ‘evil’. They are ‘evil’, not because they have become a threat to the entire world, but because they have become a threat to the selfish interests of American policy.
Mathigiri, February 3, 2003.

Truth is always relative. What is Truth to one need not be the same to another person. Above all, what is the Truth even for one person at one time need not remain the same in another time. As in general, Truth is subjective. It is bound to change according to the need, mood and circumstance of the individual who searches for it. So we can safely say that what one experiences is the truth for her. But if experience becomes the criteria to decide about the nature of truth, then everybody’s experience becomes Truth itself. Then there exists no absolute truth to test whether one’s personal experience with the Truth is correct or not. This can be illustrated by the famous saying of Dr. Radhakrishnan, the philosopher and the late President of India in the context of what he said about religion, ‘the essence of the religion is the experience about the truth’. For this, his friend B.D. Moses said, ‘No. The essence of the religion is the “TRUTH” about your experience.’ So, what is tested and proved over a period of time by the experiences of people can be the measuring rod to decide any claim about Truth.
Bangalore, February 6, 2007.