In Search of the Truth

by Dr Patrick Quanten MD

The Truth, and nothing but the Truth, so help me God.

But what is the blinking truth? How do we know what is true and what isn’t? We can’t even rely on our senses, because we know that what we see, or think we see, is not always the truth, is not always right. So, what do we know about the truth, the real truth?

Why do I say “the real truth”? Well, so often we are led to believe things to be true, which at some later date turn out to be fabrications. In a world dominated by advertising and political spin, we don’t really know what is true anymore. People say, you can’t trust any politician, they are all the same; and then they go and vote for one in a mistaken belief this time it will all be different. When it turns out not to be different, they say the same thing, and they do the same thing again, which is vote for another politician. But hell, what is one to do then? — Well, what about trying to find out a bit more about the real truth, so that we are more likely to recognise it when we come across it?

How?

Let’s start by trying to identify what certainly isn’t the truth, as we find it hard to know where to start looking for the truth, if we don’t even know what it looks like. Maybe we ought to begin by looking at what we recognise, and deciding whether or not it is true, or a don’t-know.

If something is going to be true, it must be the truth for everybody. If there was to be a truth for one and another truth for another, who is to decide which is which? Surely that would be a human being who happens to be put in charge of the decision making, whether this be government, church, or any other organisation. That would mean they could make up the rules as they go along, change them to suit their purpose and manipulate the truth as and when they see fit. That sounds more like the world I know, less like the real truth. You see: the real truth! It has to be the same for everything and everybody.

Furthermore, the real truth must be the same throughout time. If what was true yesterday is no longer true today, I ask myself who changed it. Might it be that the river has decided it got tired of flowing to the sea, and changed its mind by flowing upward to the mountain top? Might it be that spring decided it was too tired this year and refused to follow on from winter? Might it be that lions, by an overwhelming majority, have decided they should go vegetarian on the grounds of an animal cruelty act brought before them by the council of gazelles? No no, the truth is the truth, once and for all, forever.

And let there be no exceptions. This would again mean that there is a truth for one and another for someone else. The truth was, is and will always be the truth; the same for everything and everybody, no exceptions.

Bearing this in mind we can now start to compile our own list of things and experiences that we know are not true, such as:

• A particular brand of washing powder washes whiter than any other.
• Brushing your teeth three times a day stops tooth decay. — How did people manage before tooth paste was invented? There is definitely more, not less, tooth decay now than there was hundreds of years ago in affluent societies.
• Smoking causes lung cancer. — Not everybody who smokes has lung cancer; not all non-smokers are spared the suffering of lung cancer.
• This particular drug cures that particular illness. — Not all people who take the drug are any better; everybody who is not taking the drug is not necessarily worse off.
• Cancer is cured by radiotherapy and chemotherapy. — Every day people who are receiving this kind of treatment die. There are more people dying of cancer now then there were fifty or a hundred years ago.
• Getting infected with the HIV-virus leads to AIDS and death. — There is more than one HIV-virus. There is no established link between the virus and AIDS. Plenty of people live healthy although they are HIV positive; the majority of which are not taking any anti-AIDS medication.
• Culling a large number of sheep and cattle stops the spread of Foot and Mouth Disease. — The disease continues to appear in places without identifiable links with already infected animals.
• Peace is achieved by deploying armies into trouble spots. — Years of similar policies have not brought lasting peace to places like Northern Ireland, Palestine, the Balkan, Cyprus and several African countries.
• More money will bring happiness to people. — Eh, right!?
• Personal security depends on owing your own house, having a secure job and a stable relationship. — The economy in the last two decades has proven on several occasions that “good jobs” can go in a blink of an eye; that house prices can drop dramatically putting people in what is called a negative equity situation; and the love of one’s life can easily become one’s worst nightmare.
• Personal possessions, reaching one’s goals in life, being popular, . . . , all give one great happiness. — Achieving something you strive for surely makes one happy; but once the goal has been reached happiness fades quickly. New goals and targets are necessary in pursuit of the ever illusive happiness.
• Somebody or something is responsible for my illness, my unhappiness or my inadequacy. — Once the blame has been laid somewhere else, one does not feel better, illness does not disappear. Blame and guilt do not positively contribute to one’s “well-being”.
• Democracy delivers the best to all people. — To become elected as a representative one must convince a majority of fellow citizens that one is the best person for the job; that one is honest, trustworthy, and fully committed to someone else’s agenda. Popularity is the key issue, not integrity. Majority rule means that individuals will just have to do as everyone else does, for the good of the community. The “good” is decided upon by the people who have been put in charge as representatives, not by what the individual feels is the best for him or her.

Carry on. Make your own list. Don’t stop here; this is only a provisional to get us started. It does show however, that most things we do, believe in and live by are not actually true. How can that be? How can we say that? First of all, how could this have happened and secondly what else is there?

What else can help us along on our search for the truth, the real truth?

Science has discovered many things; most of which you are not told about. Even extremely important discoveries and notions have been kept away from the public. You believe that in this day and age there is so much information coming out that nothing can be kept a secret anymore. That is correct, but what is much more powerful than keeping secrets is to discredit either the statement or the person who makes the statement. That way you will never have to worry about it anymore and you do not have to defend your own statement; just convince the majority that the other statement is rubbish, because winning the public argument leaves us with the illusion that one is right and the other is wrong. Popularity rules, not the truth.

Here is an example, just one, to illustrate this point.

We get constantly bombarded with medical breakthrough news. Have you been told, through the media or elsewhere, that in July 2001 researches at the University of Manchester have published in the British Medical Journal their findings regarding breast screening programmes? They found that the number of cases of breast cancer amongst women who regularly attended breast screening clinics was significantly higher than for women who never had any check-ups. The suggestion was that maybe the mammography itself could increase the cancer risk. Linking this finding to other studies over the last three decades strengthens the suggestion that having medical attention seriously increases morbidity. Put simply: the truth we live by, that says that medical attention prevents and cures illnesses is false. Here is further evidence that suggests that medical attention increases your risk of becoming ill and when already ill, worsens the situation.

Another recent example of how the establishment, the authorities (medical or other), are quick to ridicule and defuse statements they don’t like, was the result of a long and serious study into the effect of the triple vaccine (mumps, measles, rubella). This study concluded that there was a definite link between autism and bowel disorders and the administration of the triple vaccine. Two weeks later the government published there own study which “proved” there was no evidence of any such link and the vaccine was perfectly safe to be used. Two weeks!! The original study had taken years to complete but was rubbished in one foul sweep by the authority apparatus.

Many Noble Prize Winners have been ridiculed and discredited for reporting study results that were unwanted. Rather than seriously and with interest examining their findings the authorities respond with dismay and irritation. The honest scientist is branded as demented — over the hill —, or as vindictive — having a hidden agenda.

Remember: if it is going to be true, it has to be true for everyone at all times!

Therefore, if one person is badly affected by something then that must be right; therefore it is the truth.

Yes, but wait a minute! This means that we can not eat or drink anything anymore; everything is bad for you. That can’t be right either!

It means that everything can be potentially bad; everything can have a negative influence; everything can influence everything else. And this means that any statement in the order of “. . . has no influence on our health — . . . poses no health risks — . . . is perfectly safe — . . .” can not be true.

Now what?

The last two decades of the previous century have also brought us plenty of scientific evidence which points in a totally different direction. Evidence which shows that all humans and all things in their environment and surroundings are connected; that communication inside and outside our bodies is extremely fast and pinpoint accurate; that minute concentrations of communication chemicals (pherones) spread news fast and far; that all body cells have accurate memories of all events a person (animal) has been part of; that memory does not rely on the brain or is restricted to life’s boundaries of birth and death; that physical matter is a form of compressed energy; that no matter exists without energy, but that there is plenty of energy without matter; that the world exists in more than three dimensions; that time can not be linear as we perceive it to be; that all naturally occurring atoms can be produced from helium and hydrogen by changing pressure and temperature; that nature has no waste, recycles everything; that for any force that exists in Nature, there is an opposing force — gravity is opposed by an elevation force; and so many more things that the education programme in school and university forgot to teach me.

What do we do with all that then?

Let’s concentrate on human beings as they are dear to me, being one myself — although some of you may argue about that.

We now know for definite that a human being consists of a body and a mind. Religion teaches us to add a spirit to all that. The body I can go along with because I can experience that through the senses: I can see it, feel it, smell it and so on. The mind bit has become acceptable as there are things my senses pick up that I can not explain directly through the body concept. Sometimes I am aware of a sensation — coldness, a presence, a bad feeling about something. There must be a non-substantial part of me; a part that has no body. It seems to me as if that part of me knows more than the rest of me does, as it more often than not is right when I follow my “gut-feeling”. This knowledge goes beyond my brain capacity; I can not follow it with my logical analysis. The mind is the energy part of me that directs the show. The ego is part of the mind. The body is an expression of the mind. The spirit goes even further than the mind; it is simply beyond comprehension. We have no concept that can give us any idea what the spirit is really about. How do we know it exists then? Stay with me; just remember, the truth is non-changeable, timeless and has no exceptions.

The Body

The body expresses the mind. It has no function of its own; the only function it has, is to be used as a communication medium for the mind. Why should the body be of any importance to you? Certainly what it is made of is not precious; it is extremely fragile indeed. It also has certainly no feeling. It conveys and transmits any feeling you — your mind — wants it to. The body receives and sends messages that it is given. It has no feeling for them. All feeling with which they are invested is given by the sender and receiver — your mind. What your body feels, or feels like, is given to it by the mind.

The body does not exist without the mind. When the mind separates from the body, all bodily functions stop and the matter starts decaying. The mind is the regulator, the body the expression.

So, if the body displays signs of illness, it can not be its own doing; it must have been told to do so. The mind must have instructed the body to behave in the way it does. Consequently, no repair to the body is ultimately going to change the outcome of illness. The only “cure” has to lie in a change in the instructions given to the body. The only cure for illness is “to change your mind”.

The Mind

The mind is the mastermind behind the façade of the body. Why the hell would my mind want to hurt me? Why would my mind want to dish up all those lies? — Ever heard of Ego?

No no, wait a minute. Listen carefully. Do not dismiss before you have allowed this to go beyond the barriers you have put up. Remember who put the barriers there in the first place. Exactly, your own mind. You either decide to carry on hiding behind them, and then I suggest you don’t bother reading any further or you at least allow yourself to look at what lies hidden behind the barriers. “The search for The Truth” ends here for you if you are not willing to go beyond what you perceive to be your limitations. If, however, you are willing to do just that, or at least are willing to have a look at the other side, follow me.

We will come back to the mind and the ego later, and in much more detail.

The Spirit

The spirit is the real “you”. Your spirit is the truth as it is. Although the form the spirit takes, is way beyond our comprehension, it has to be there because there has to be a Truth. This Truth now has to be, per definition, unchangeable, timeless and without exception.

This means that you are always the same; you never change. You have always existed and will always exist, as you really are. As you really are, unchangeable and timeless, you must be part of the ultimate Cosmic Energy, which is the creative force of the universe, and although the expression of this force may seem to us to change constantly the Force itself will never, can never and has no need to ever change, because it is Perfect as it is. You are an essential part of this Cosmic Energy, the Universal Consciousness. But then, so is your neighbour, and the chap living in the Amazon jungle. All of Creation is a spark of the Universal Light and belongs to, is part of, the Whole. This Whole is constant, knows no exceptions; this Whole is The Truth. And you are part of it. What’s more, we are all part of it; and all of Creation is part of it. Put simply: what you do to your brother, you will do to Me, and consequently, because you are part of Me, you will do it to yourself. Every bit of Creation you disturb, will have disturbed the balance of Creation and your own. But as Creation never changes, it does not make any difference because errors can be corrected and will be corrected. All errors are correctable. You can rectify your mistakes, it is never too late! In the realm of the spirit, the Cosmic Consciousness, all errors are immediately forgiven, and therefore corrected. Unity, balance, bliss, heaven, serenity, none of this can ever, even for a brief moment, be disturbed. It is impossible because The Truth can never change, ever.

Are you still there?

Can you believe that? If all that is true, will someone then explain to me why I have to suffer so badly? If everything is so perfect, why do I find it impossible to create satisfaction in my life, let alone perfection? Why do I get punished for my mistakes and why do they make a hell of a difference in my life?

Let’s recapitulate before we move on.

The body does not exist on its own; has no function of its own. All matter is only an expression of energy. In the whole concept of the universe the body means nothing.

The mind is the energy that uses the body as an expression. The mind is where the ego resides. Something that needs to be explored in more detail.

The spirit is a spark directly off the Universal Consciousness. It is perfect. It is constant. It is part of the Universal Truth and therefore, by definition, is the Truth. The spirit is “the real thing” as it is an integral part of the Big Truth.

That said, we now want to hear some answers to explain the difference between all this and the “reality” we experience in our daily lives.

Have you ever asked yourself what the purpose is of Life? Why are we here? Why are we born into this life, suffer our way through it and then die? The only reason must be because it is part of a big journey we are all undertaking; a journey which started long before this birth, and which will continue long after our death. A journey which will lead us into consciousness. Being in the Universal Consciousness means that everything is as it is; everything is perfect; nothing changes. Animals and plants live as they live, without questioning their existence and being perfectly happy within their existence, all in perfect balance with each other and themselves. In other words, even in hard times — drought, attack by a predator, accident, natural disaster — these animals and plants react as they do and as they should, because everything is perfect as it is. It all has its purpose; all things and events are small cogwheels within the large grinding stone of the Universal Paradise. And although all is perfect, none of these creatures — created things — are conscious of themselves or Paradise. Paradise is, but it is not conscious of that fact.

The spirit of each human being is an essential part of the Universal Consciousness; therefore it is changeless, timeless and errorless. But “we” are not conscious of this; the spirit just is but without knowing it. In order for the Universal Consciousness to become “aware” of Itself, to become “conscious” of Itself, It needs to go through a process of “finding” itself. It needs to journey through a series of experiences which will allow It to become aware, conscious, of Itself. This can be achieved by separating parts off from Paradise and allowing these parts to go on a journey which eventually necessarily will end up where it started from, Paradise, the Universal Consciousness, because all of Creation, all there is, has to be part of the Truth. There can be nothing which is not part of the Universal Energy, the Source of all things that are, otherwise we would have two different truths which is impossible. Consciousness, the level of perception, was the first split introduced into the mind after the separation, making the mind a perceiver rather than a creator. Consciousness is correctly identified as the domain of the ego. The ego is a wrong-minded attempt to perceive yourself as you wish to be, rather than as you are. Once the parts return from their journey they will be joined totally and completely with the Source, only now the spirit will be “conscious”; now it will be aware of its own being and everything else that exists. Now, the Universal Consciousness will have become “conscious” of Itself. Mission completed! Paradise revisited, forever!

So, what about this journey then? How does it explain what is happening to us?

In order to become “aware” the spirit will have to leave the safe haven of Paradise. When it does so, the memory of Paradise is erased, otherwise the spirit would not travel anywhere. Wouldn’t it be foolish to leave bliss and eternal happiness, for a silly journey of torment, disappointment and despair? This is no different from what we experience with our earthly children. We need to push them away from the shelter and protection of the parents in order for them to learn their own lessons in life. The Universal Consciousness, Our Father, does exactly the same. And we lose the knowledge of Paradise and the notion of togetherness. All of the sudden we experience ourselves as separate from other spirits, and separate from the Source, Our Father, and separate from all other spirits. Please meet the “ego”. And as you have the feeling you have been left all on your own, you are more than happy to accept “ego” as your guide through this part of your journey. He proclaims himself to be an excellent guide and he will always look after you and provide the best for you. This is how I met my ego and you met yours. And now we have this notion that we are separate. We have totally lost sight of the fact that we are all One, and that what you do to another, you do to yourself. Ego likes to be in charge and will do anything necessary to retain that power. It will use any trick in the book to maintain that illusion of separateness. Trust me, I’m an Ego.

Now that we have met the players, let’s see how it works.

The ego has a strange notion of time, and it is with this notion that your questioning may well begin. The ego invests heavily in the past, and in the end believes that the past is the only aspect of time that is meaningful. Since in reality time does not exist and the only time there is is the “now”, this notion creates separation from the Source. The emphasis the ego puts on guilt enables it to ensure its continuity by making the future like the past, thus avoiding the present. By the notion of paying for the past in the future, the past becomes the determiner of the future, making them continuous without an intervening present. We prove the present doesn’t really exist by saying that by the time you notice a particular moment it is already gone and therefore belongs to the past. Consequently, “now” has no meaning to the ego. The present merely reminds it of past hurts, and it reacts to the present as if it were the past, and although the past is over, the ego tries to preserve its image by responding as if it were present. It dictates your reactions to those you meet in the present from a past reference point. It is these shadowy figures of the past that you must escape. They carry the spots of pain in your mind, directing you to attack in the present in retaliation for a past that is no more. And this decision is one of future pain. Any attack or retaliation directed against anyone else is only directed against yourself as all spirits are One in the Source, Paradise.

The ego’s messages are always send away from you, in the belief that for your messages of attack and guilt someone other than yourself will suffer. And even if you suffer, yet someone else will suffer more. To convince you this is possible, the ego urges the body to inflict pain by attacking the other, calling it pleasure and offering it to you as freedom from attack. “The best defence is the attack”. But all that you put out, you will receive back. As you sow, so shall you reap. If you meet your fellow men with contempt, contempt is what you will receive. Attack others and your life will be a continual war zone. There can be no peace outside of you, unless there is peace inside. Those who believe that peace can be defended, and that attack is justified on its behalf, cannot perceive that peace lies within themselves. No one compromises with an enemy without relinquishing the hate for what was kept from them. Mistake not truce for peace, nor compromise for the escape from conflict.

There is no safety in a battleground.

What does it mean if you perceive attack in certain forms to be unfair to you? It means that there must be some forms in which you think it fair. Some, then, are given meaning and they are perceived as sensible. And only some are seen as meaningless. If not all attack are meaningful, but only some, then that must be an error. All of them must then be senseless. Beware of the temptation to perceive yourself unfairly treated. In this view, you seek to find an innocence at the cost of someone else’s guilt. Can innocence be purchased by the giving of your guilt to someone else? If you can, so can someone else. The world will only grow dim and threatening, based on this belief.

So it is essential that mistakes be forgiven, as if they never happened. It is the mind which plans and executes the hurt, the attack. This means the mind is guilty and will forever remain so. It is this illusion the ego wants you to buy into. In this belief the mind would continue to be evil, which is a sin and can not be corrected. Sin calls for punishment as error calls for correction, and the belief that punishment is correction is clearly insane. Our penal system has completely failed to “correct” the injustice that was done or “correct” the perpetrator of the injustice. If it’s not true all the time, it simply isn’t true at all. Punishment does not, and can not, correct. And sin is not an error, since sin would mean that reality can be violated successfully. Sin is the proclamation that attack is real and guilt is justified. The truth is that it is the mind that believes it can attack. In reality this is not so, because if it were so, you would be able to attack and hurt another. But through this action you would damage yourself, which means you would be able to change the reality of what your spirit is. This is impossible as there can only be one reality, unchangeable, timeless and without exception. Conclusion: the mind can not attack, the ego can.

A sick body does not make sense. Sickness is a way of demonstrating that you can be hurt. It is a witness to your frailty, your vulnerability, and your extreme need for the guidance of the ego. It dictates endless prescriptions for avoiding catastrophic outcomes. Sickness is merely your insistence on asking guidance of a teacher who does not know the answer. Whatever the sickness, there is but one remedy: to change the messages that is making your body sick.  Pain demonstrates the body must be real. Pain compels attention. Yet pain, as well as pleasure, is unreal because its purpose can not be achieved. Pain will always come back; pleasure will never remain. Remember: If it isn’t true all the time, it is not true at all. Love never changes however. To love oneself is to heal oneself; those who are sick do not love themselves. Therefore, they are asking for the love that would heal them, but which they are denying to themselves. If they knew the truth about themselves they could not be ill. Love is the Universal Healer.

It is impossible that one illusion is less amenable to truth than the rest are. But it is possible that some are given greater value. No illusion has any truth in it. Yet it appears some are more true than others, although this clearly makes no sense. All that a hierarchy of illusions can show is preference, not reality. Your preference gives illusions no reality.

Is it not strange that you should cherish still hope of satisfaction from the world you see? In no respect, at any time or place, has anything but fear and guilt been your reward. One thing is sure: the way you see, and long have seen, gives no support to base your future hopes on, and gives no suggestions of success at all.

How hard is it to see that what is false can not be true, and what is true can not be false? What you have taught yourself, however, is such a giant learning feat it is indeed incredible. But you accomplished it because you wanted to, and did not pause to judge it hard to learn or too complex to grasp. No one who understands what you have learned, how carefully you learned it, and the pains to which you went to practice and repeat the lessons endlessly, in every form you could conceive them, could ever doubt the power of your learning skill. There is no greater power in the world. The world was made by it, and even now depends on nothing else. The lessons you have taught yourself have been so overlearned and fixed they rise like heavy curtains to obscure the simple and obvious. Say not, you can not learn these simple things. For your power to learn is strong enough to teach you that your will is not your own, your thoughts do not belong to you, even that you are someone else. Now does your ancient overlearning stand before the Voice of Truth, and teach you that the lessons of Reality are not true; too hard to learn, too difficult to see, and too opposed to what is seen as truth. Yet you will learn them.

In quietness are all things answered, and is every problem quietly resolved. In conflict there can be no answer and no resolution, for its purpose is to make no resolution possible, and to ensure no answer will be plain. A problem set in conflict has no answer, for it is seen in different ways. And what would be an answer from one point of view is not an answer in another light. You are in conflict. Thus it must be clear you can not answer anything at all.

A world without conflict is a world without blame and without guilt. There can be no attack, only total forgiveness, not for mistakes made, not in recognition of errors, but forgiveness because it is all all right. Forgiveness because there is no guilt, nor your own, nor the guilt you would lay upon another. Forgive others and forgive yourself for there is no separation. Forgiveness is your peace, for herein lies the end of separation and the end of the dream of danger and destruction, sin and death; of madness and of murder, grief and loss. Forgive yourself in order to free yourself, and others.

Forgiveness is the great need of this world, but that is because it is a world of illusions. Those who forgive are thus releasing themselves from illusions, while those who withhold forgiveness are binding themselves to them. As you condemn only yourself, so do you forgive only yourself.

What conclusion can there be?

The fact that truth and illusion cannot be reconciled, no matter how hard you try, what means you use and where you see the problem, must be accepted in full. Until then, you will attempt an endless list of goals you cannot reach; a senseless series of expenditures of time and effort, hopefulness and doubt, each one as futile as the one before, and failing as the next one surely will.

Spirit makes use of mind as a means to find its Self-expression. And the mind which serves the spirit is at peace, is filled with joy. Its power comes from the spirit. Yet mind can also see itself divorced from spirit and perceive itself within a body; confusing itself with the body. Apart from spirit the mind can not think. It has denied its Source of strength, and sees itself as helpless, limited and weak. It thinks it is alone and separate, attacked by armies and it is hiding inside the body’s frail support. Now it must reconcile unlike with like; mistake with forgiveness.

Waste no more time on this. Who can resolve the senseless conflicts which a dream presents?

Stop the dream — turn on the Light.

Stop the deceit — see the Truth.

Allow yourself

Dr Patrick Quanten MD

September 2001

In memory of Maria Everett who never ceased to be an Angel