I consider that the basis of a good conversation, of a good debate, in addition to patience, curiosity, and respect for the interlocutor, is having the same definitions between the people who participate in a certain discussion. This is why many times before I start writing I enjoy looking for the most common definitions of the terms involved or of the subject or topic discussed.

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So, what is ‘truth’? Is there only one or are there several truths? What is the ultimate or the absolute truth?

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‘True’ adjective (comparative truer, superlative truest) is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as: 1. connected with facts rather than things that have been invented or guessed 2. real or exact, especially when this is different from how something seems 3. [usually before noun] having the qualities or characteristics of the thing mentioned 4. used to admit that a particular fact or statement is correct, although you think that something else is more important.

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Furthermore, the same Oxford English Dictionary defines ‘Truth’ as:  1. [singular] the true facts about something, rather than the things that have been invented or guessed 2. [uncountable] the quality or state of being based on fact 3. [countable] a fact that is believed by most people to be true (universal truths).

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You might have heard the belief that there is only one truth, and that one is in possession of it, or that there is only one truth but there are many ways to perceive it. There are also others that are considering the truth itself a belief that is accepted as being true by the society and the individual mentality that one lives in.

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As a child, just to remind you, childhood is that time when all comparisons begin and the unforgettable syntagm "mine is better than yours" is entrenched in one’s mind, you might also have heard “my truth is truer than yours”, or “my truth is the truest”. And who can argue a child who has correctly used an adjective in a comparative and superlative way? Now, joking aside, is there such a thing as a truer truth or the truest truth?

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My truth is that the absolute truth leaves nothing out, the absolute truth is composed of all truths. Since it is composed of all truths, if we leave one out it will be nearly the absolute truth, it will be the absolute truth minus one and, therefore, not the absolute truth.

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My truth is a truth, it is the truth that I am choosing to explore. I have my reasoning for exploring this truth; certainly, I have my right to explore any truth I wish. One of the main reasons I sustain this affirmation is because I consider that from our linear reality we can never ever have a panoptic view or an utterly complete perspective on an object, or an idea but merely a point of view rather related to the energy we are in at the moment of observation than to the relative position we are observing the object from.

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Because the absolute truth is composed of all truths this means that all truths, all approaches, all opinions, all perspectives are valid. There is a well-known story about a rabbi who was called upon to settle a dispute between two of his followers.  The first man poured out his complaints to the rabbi, and when he finished, the rabbi said, “You’re right.”  Then it was the second one’s turn.  When he finished, the rabbi said, “You’re also right.”  The rabbi’s wife, who had been listening to the conversation, said sceptically to her husband, “What do you mean, ‘You’re also right’? They can’t both be right!”  The rabbi thought for a few moments, and then replied, “You know, my dear, you’re also right.”

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From the linear perspective we live in, one chooses one thing at a time and might not always find it easy to choose all truths, even more considering that some truths may actually seem to contradict one another. But, that does not make one right and one wrong; that makes both the truth for the individuals expressing, and exploring, that particular truth.

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Talking about contradiction, In logic, the law of non-contradiction (also known as the law of contradiction) states that contradictory propositions cannot both be true in the same sense at the same time. But even in logic, there is the term tautology which is a formula or assertion that is true in every possible interpretation (Wittgenstein first applied the term to redundancies of propositional logic in 1921).

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The willingness to begin to get a touch of the fact that all truths are true, all truths are valid for the individuals choosing to create them takes the burden off one’s shoulders of having to convert everyone over to one’s truth. At the end of the day, it is a pointless effort to assume that: “one’s truth is the only truth, and that is it” for, then one misses out on all the other options.

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As long as one has the right to explore any truth he/she wishes so can everyone else; their truth may not encompass one’s, but one’s can always continue to encompass theirs. Their truth may be seemingly contradictory with one’s truth, but they have their own thoughts, they have the same right to explore that truth as well. Basically detaching the notion that a truth is the only way, and replacing it with the notion that a truth is only one way, can increase the acceptance of others and can lead to much better communication between people regardless of whether or not they can see eye to eye on a particular idea. Increasing the acceptance of others and a better communication leads undoubtedly to a greater unity since there is strength and unity in diversity.

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Beginning to expand this version of the absolute truth to include all other truths, can allow us to come face to face with persons saying their truth is the only truth, their way is the only way, and still allowing their way to be valid for them. My truth is an alternative to their truth, which I validate, which is a reality for them, to which they are entitled, but it is not my choice. I do not criticise it, I do not judge the other realities, I simply embody my own truth, as an alternative, as a statement to myself, as a statement to the world, as a statement to those around me that this is possible, for it is.

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The above mentioned ideas are in no way intended to be considered as the ‘absolute’ truth. They are just part of my truth at the moment I wrote these lines or rather I have expressed my thoughts based on my experience, my present belief system, and my reality I chose to create at the moment of writing. Each viewer or reader may have its own truth, which is neither truer (more accurate) nor erroneous, it is just his truth at the moment of reading in accordance with the reality one is creating at that very moment.