21 levels of Self-Deception: THIRD EDITION by Tom Wallace - HTML preview

T W E N T Y - O N E L E V E L S

takes up this idea:

‘So we shall not strive for truth, for there is no need. Indeed, it has been said that it is best not to strive for anything, for striving is concerned with goals, and there are no goals, for you are perfect already.

‘Striving is a tool of the ego, to keep you busy and desperate whilst you are missing the point. ‘Instead, the search for truth is a quiet and non-demonstrative business. It’s not really a search or a business at all — but an unveiling. It is the fearless and simple exposing of error in ourselves, the ruthless unveiling of motive. And out of this quiet exposure arises a new space within us, in which we can receive new impressions.

‘We begin to notice things. We begin to notice how we hurt people. We begin to become aware of the negativity that blights our days. We become aware of our endless self-justification. We become aware of the same life lived again and again and again. ‘And as we notice, and refuse to avert our eyes, what essence we become. We are the bravest of the brave, and the most to be honoured, for the steady refusal to lie to ourselves or deceive ourselves, is perhaps the noblest human act of all.’

Simon Parke — The Beautiful Life

I hope that this quote resonates with the ideas of Erich Fromm quoted in Chapter 11 — Desire Leads Us.

The desire to understand some kind of ‘deeper’ or ‘higher’ meaning to life in general and/or to our own lives in particular might well be a philosophical pursuit, independent of any

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