IN PURSUIT OF TRUTH
A Meaningful Life
IN The Story of an African Farm, Olive Schreiner (1855-1920), a noted South African novelist, recounts the story of a hunter who goes in search of the beautiful White Bird of Truth. All he had seen of it was its reflection in a lake once while he was out shooting. He tried to catch the bird in the snares of credulity and the cage of imagination, but he realized that the bird of truth could be obtained only through truth. He left the Valley of Superstitions and started climbing up the Mountain of Truth. He continued climbing till he reached a high precipice. He started cutting rocks and making steps in the stone. He continued doing this for years, till, old and wizened, he managed to reach the summit. But, on arriving there, he found another range, higher than the previous one. Here, overwhelmed by old age and weariness, he laid himself down to die, but as he lay dying, a white feather fell close to him from above.
Now he felt sure that the bird he sought existed on the next range. Even though he could not reach the bird of truth, he died with the solace that those who followed him would not have to cut the first steps. His last words were: “Where I lie down, worn out, other men will stand young and fresh. By the steps that I have cut they will climb. They will never know the name of the man who made them…But they will mount on my work. They will climb and by my stair. They will find truth and through me.” This story illustrates our quest for truth.
The pursuit of truth is the oldest adventure of humankind. It is innate in human nature. Mahatma Gandhi, a great champion of truth and nonviolence in the 20th century, put it quite aptly, “I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and nonviolence are as old as the hills.” The quest for truth is embedded in the human psyche. Life will be rendered meaningless unless it is anchored in some sort of truth.
We are encouraged to pray in the following words: O God! Show us the truth as truth, and inspire us to follow it. Show us falsehood as falsehood, and inspire us to abstain from it.
