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Truthfulness Is Mandatory

Discussion in 'Snippets of Life (Non-Fiction)' started by HariLakhera, Sep 12, 2018.

  1. HariLakhera

    HariLakhera Platinum IL'ite

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    Truthfulness is mandatory.


    From early childhood I was preached to be truthful, honest and trustworthy. As I grew up, I was told lying is not sin if it benefits me or someone else but harms none.
    For example I make some misrepresentation about myself and thus praised for, it satisfies my ego but does not harm anybody. It may not be a sin but it's a lie anyway. There can be other examples. So truthfulness is not mandatory as I was taught. One can make few calculated lies here and there.
    A butcher is chasing a caw with the intention of slaughtering it but the caw dodges him and he asks me sitting at my doorsteps if I saw a caw running this way. I saw the caw but deny any knowledge. The caw was saved for that moment at least. When I narrated the story to others I was praised for my act of compassion which is a virtue. It could have been a buffalo, a bull or a goat or any other animal. I will not make a guess if the opinion would have changed but that is another issue. In this case the caw was saved but the butcher lost his money. Still it is being treated a virtue. What should I make of it? Truthfulness is mandatory because I saved one at the cost of other. My speaking the truth might have benefited the butcher. In any case he would find it sooner or later.


    What do you say?
     
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  2. Amulet

    Amulet IL Hall of Fame

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    Grownups, especially those who are coached by lawyers, are taught the phrase " ..to the best of my knowledge". For example, the eye-witness in the following scene may have seen a spider running by...
    A beast that had two legs up front, two legs on the back, two on the left and two on the right.
     
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  3. shyamala1234

    shyamala1234 Platinum IL'ite

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    Dear Hariji,
    Our parents told us to speak truth, we told children to speak truth and they to their children.... it goes on.
    But in reality..
    There is a Sanskrit sloka ...
    Satyam bruyat priyam bruyat.....
    Means truth should be pleasing to others, the way we tell it. Truth should not be told which is unpleasant or harm or harm others. But this is not an absolute rule.... Depends on circumstances. Politicians making promises in a sweet voice.... Can we trust? No!!!! So, we should our descrition.
    Syamala
     
  4. kaniths

    kaniths IL Hall of Fame

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    We do not have the knowledge of what happened beyond the 'present moment' that you were involved in. The butcher could have caught the caw or he could have chosen to let the caw escape free forever. So in the given situation, you made a calculative choice - to lie or not, evaluating the would-be circumstances to the best of your ability. Our moral responsibilities need not have to extend beyond this limit, over outcomes that we do not have control of, is my humble opinion. :innocent:
     
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  5. Cheeniya

    Cheeniya Super Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    After the death of Bhishma, Dhronacharya takes over the leadership of the Kaurava army. Lord Krishna knows that he cannot be killed through fighting. He knows that Dhronacharya has great love for his son Aswathama. He wants Yudhishtra to tell Dhronacharya that Aswathama is killed so that Dhronacharya will not touch weapons after that. Everyone refuses to utter this lie. So he asks Bhima to kill an elephant named Aswathama. Then he asks Yudhishtra to convey the news to Dhronacharya. Yudhishtra is about to convey the message to Dhronacharya that an elephant by name Ashvathama has been killed. When this message is communicated to Dhronacharya, Krishna sounds his conch loudly so that Dhronacharya hears only the words Ashwathama is killed and not the elephant part of the message. He lays down his arms and gets killed by Arjuna. There are some variations to this story.
    Lying for gain was justified at that moment and we are just merrily carrying on!
     
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  6. Summasumma

    Summasumma Guest

    Below Tamil Thirukural...

    poimaiyum vaaimai yitaththa puraidheerndha
    nanmai payakkum enin

    meaning...Even falsehood has the nature of truth, if it confer a benefit that is free from fault
     
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  7. jayasala42

    jayasala42 IL Hall of Fame

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    LONG LIVE LIARS !!!

    -------------------------------

    From the day the child is born into this world,he is brought up among lies,lies and unmixed lies.Researchers on child psychology convey that lying plays a positive role in normal child development.

    Why would one try to live a life of total honesty? We are social animals, and lies act as lubricating agents to have a smooth coordination with everybody.

    If everyone speaks only the truth,Judiciary can be dispensed with totally.

    Actually we do not lie but embellish, spin, doctor, massage, amplify, exaggerate and decorate the truth. Have you got business in the court? A lawyer that does not lie is the last person you need.

    We know pretty well that lying requires a lot of effort. When you tell the truth, you simply remember what happens. When you lie, you have to remember it for the rest of eternity so that you never get caught.Better,just like password, you record the lies you have told in a separate diary.

    For fear of concealing the truth, if we are silent,then silence also becomes a lie.Can we find a single field that is free from lies?

    The liars that have social acceptance are the actors,dramatists,historians and fiction writers who are specialized in the art of weaving series of lies .They escape the scandal because of the professional tag attached .Election promises are nothing but lies wrapped in pretty packings.For lawyers many lies belong to the 'technically true' category.

    Medical professionals give false hopes to the relatives of the terminally ill patients,extract lakhs of rupees within a week, only to convey God’s will and handing over the mortal remains. or suggest unnecessary surgeries threatening of dire consequences.

    I believe that there is no absolute truth in the world.

    We show our contempt to corruption but never hesitate to grease palms to get things done.We talk so much of ethics but yield to temptations

    We talk of nation building but use all tactics to save taxes and term it as clever tax planning.Even ladies who talk of women empowerment prefer to have a male child.

    As Cheeniya Sir has pointed out ,

    Lies too attain the status of Dharma!Lord Krishna can never go wrong.

    Sathyameva Jayathe- the definition sathyam has changed.That is all.
    Sorry for the long response.I become very tense at the very word'Sathyam'.,which is almost extinct.

    Jayasala 42
     
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  8. Cheeniya

    Cheeniya Super Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    @jayasala42
    I know some puritans will lodge a protest against this statement but this the truth and nothing but the truth.
     
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  9. Amulet

    Amulet IL Hall of Fame

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    Ah... that Krishnaleela story makes it sound like "truthfulness is mendacity". o_O
     
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  10. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Hariji,

    Living life like Yudishtra is difficult if not impossible. The learned people say that we need to sync thoughts, words and deeds. How is it possible to sync them if the mind knows the truth and the mouth tells a lie or hands do something different than what was thought about earlier? The lawyers have come up with a few sentences such as "to the best of my knowledge and belief", "to the best of my recollection", "not that I recall", etc. Knowledge itself is defined as "known" or "known after reasonable inquiry" and so on. The courts will not ask for the oath and consider a lie as perjury, if everyone is supposed to tell only the truth.

    In a famous "I Love Lucy" episode, Lucy's husband Ricky reprimands his wife for telling a lie and instructs her that she should never tell a lie from that day. She takes the vow seriously. When they were playing cards she declares, "You are a terrible player" to her best friend. She tells her husband, "Your Cuban accent is terrible and you don't even pronounce the words correctly" and so on. After that, everyone around her tell her to get back to her old ways.

    Recently, Rudy Giuliani, former Mayor of New York and a famous prosecutor representing Trump told "Truth isn't Truth". Everyone laughed at him and it was covered extensively in all the TV channels including MSNBC. Everyone in the US believes that Special Prosecutor Mueller was going to find out the truth. He is relying on corroborating witnesses and simply because more than one confirms the conspiracy between Trump campaign and Russia, will it become the truth? Unless the one who committed the crime admits it, the truth can never be established.

    Sometimes, truth plays a significant role in relationship building especially with the spouse and also admitting our faults truthfully help shape the children for future. The most menacing part is hiding the truth in plain sight with clever coining of words. It brings the feeling of guilt to the surface. May be trying to be truthful as much as possible unless it hurts a third party is a good initial goal.

    Truth, Love, Right conduct, Peace and Non-violence are all remaining as the goals to be achieved with many of us struggling to reach that goal post.
     
    Last edited: Sep 12, 2018
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