Help
Sign In
bad news
October 2009 
Nobody Knows the Truffles I've Seen
Posted on Mar 8th, 2008
by 
David Truman
David Truman
An old spiritual song goes, “Nobody knows the troubles I’ve seen, nobody knows but Jesus.” Well folks, that’s changed. These days, with communication being what it is, almost EVERYBODY knows the troubles that many people have seen, all over the world. And at home, people are expressing negativity and pain and sorrow to each other in abundance.
This article addresses the problem of hyper-abundant bad news. In the public media, and in the individual mind within oneself; in the global context, and in the context of relationship, people have shared the troubles they’ve seen. Troubles and negative thoughts have been shared even to the point of sinking the entire world in massive torment, pain, fear, upset, and depression.
Too many troubles and not enough truffles
The whole world has done itself terrible harm just by sharing negative thought in mass quantities. It is sinking under the weight of so much bad news, and so many dismal views. We’ve reached the point where seeing the news is actually hazardous to our health. It causes stress, distrust, gloomy expectations, negative faith.
And we can’t blame it all on the news media. A couple — even an isolated couple in a remote location, with no connection to the outside world — can, and often does, bury itself in bad news too, just sharing negative thought in large quantities.
It’s no longer true that “nobody knows the troubles I’ve seen.” These days, closer to the truth is, “nobody knows the truffles I’ve seen!” In other words, nobody knows the beautiful things that happened — because we haven’t told them. We have all seen beauty, but not many of us have shared much of the beauty we’ve seen. So the new song could say, “Nobody knows the truffles I’ve seen, nobody knows but Jesus.”
“I’m a spiritual experience survivor”?
We’re so overboard on the negative side, we don’t just hide the good things that happen to us. We actually redefine them as bad, oftentimes. Even the best things can be turned into bad news by negative minds. I’ve actually seen support groups for people who have had spiritual experiences: Spiritual Experience Survivors Anonymous! Goes to show, people can make a drag out of anything — anything can become bad news if it is badly enough interpreted or misinterpreted.
This happens all the time with love. People say stuff like, “I was in seventh heaven when I met my mate, but then things went sour. I don’t know what I was thinking at first. Now I know it was all a lie.”
I know you think you were “such a fool,” and you were “so blind.” But maybe the things that you experienced, that you thought were good, were in fact good. Surely, if you loved and were loved, it was not all a lie. Maybe you don’t actually need to turn that all around, in this kind of hindsight that you think is 20/20, whereas it’s really just painting everything black — even what was white at the time it occurred.
If it’s white, leave it white
How about having it be okay with us that a good thing is a good thing? Rather than revising history entirely, and painting everything black, why not admit: “We had a beautiful relationship for a long time.” Admit that was real. Tell the good news about the relationship.
And then, perhaps, we could begin to see that that this bad thing that happened, which is that the relationship screwed up — that was fully unreal. That was untrue. That was unnecessary. That was unworthy of what was, what coulda been, what shoulda been. Then we could know that the real was real and the unreal was unreal. It’s good to keep it that way. Otherwise, all we have is revisionist history, in which the beautiful things that we’ve painted black color our whole world black, psychologically, spiritually, emotionally.
What about the truffles I’ve seen?
It is true to say that nobody knows much of the incredibly magical, wonderful, beautiful, uplifting, healing, Godly things we’ve seen. Whether with man as Divine, or with God as Divine, so many wondrous things have happened in the Temple of love, in the bubble of love, in the magic and mystery of Divine communion. And of many such beauties, it could truly be said, “nobody knows but Jesus” (or God, or one’s partner in love). Generally, we are more inclined to share the ugliness that we’ve seen. We complain, we share negative views, and we call that honesty.
But wouldn’t this be a nicer world if many people did know the truffles we’ve seen? It would do them good to hear of it. That would help balance out the epidemic of bad news and negative views. It would buoy up the individual, the marriage, the community, the world, out of this massive negativity, so thoroughly over-balanced by the ego’s preference for it.
Obviously, what we need is not tacky power cheer — sentiments of a false positive, compensatory nature. We just need sincere declarations of truly good news, beautiful experiences, etc. We need to bear genuine witness to wonderful things and beautiful things. We need sincerely to broadcast the beauty that we know is true.
Friends, if we would admit the beauty and share the beauty that we’ve seen, it would actually keep a lot of personal horror stories from ever even happening. Because a lot of the failure of relationships is caused, for example, by not being willing to give credit where credit’s due, by not being willing to put positive energy into someone or acknowledge things that are good, or by being too willing to say things like “you always” and “you never.” In other words, the “half-empty” mentality, the over-emphasis on the part of the cup that’s half empty, is what torpedoes a lot of relationships.
Shout it from the rooftops
If nobody knows the truffles you’ve seen, tell them. Tell them of the truffles, the sweetness, the beauty you’ve seen. Broadcast your good news and views around the land. That, then, will become the gift that keeps on giving. Your good news will go on giving and living through one person after another. As it is shared by a succession of minds, it keeps on replicating itself, and it heals the world. Good news heals and uplifts the spirit just as much as bad news sickens and depresses it.
This kind of sharing is essential for the health of the human race, and possibly even for its survival. It is essential for psychological, spiritual, emotional health, at minimum.
“Commit random acts of kindness,” they say. “Commit senseless acts of beauty.” But for this, a genuine appreciation of what is genuinely good is needed. A genuine love for what is genuinely loveable. These things are essential.
Share the beautiful spiritual experiences you have had. Shout it from the rooftops. Be the bringer of good news, good tidings. Bear happy witness to the beauties, the wonders, you’ve seen. This will make the world a happier place, for sure.
Access: Public
Funny you should make this invitation, Amadon. I thought about responding to your previous blog about Jesus and Mary, and then decided against it. My theology, if you wish to call it that, is different from yours, but I am intrigued and moved by your religious experience. However, if you are asking for the experiences of others, that’s another matter. Among other differences you cited between Jesus and other avatars was that he was not averse to getting his wings dirty. He embraced humanity, made a loving commitment, and stayed. I have no objection to your devotion to Jesus. But surely your assessment of other avatars is mistaken. How could you know? Have you met one? I have.
Ramsses, your point is well taken, that I have not met all avatars. In fact, I have no IDEA at all how many avatars there may have been, even in the strictest sense of the word “avatars.” But then, as you have met avatars, under some defintion, so have I. And I have seen what I have seen, in that.
However, please note exactly what I said in the Jesus and Mary article. I said this: “Jesus did not fit the usual concept of a heaven-born being who comes here, lives as a rolling stone, gathers no moss, . . .” Note there, that I said “CONCEPT.” I have not, in so saying, actually judged the other avatars. Can you see that? I know that the concept may well differ from the reality.
Also, the whole notion of avatars – what or who IS an avatar – is open to various definitions. In the case of your Amma, I would say that if one were to consider HER an avatar – and that is not entirely unjustified, in my view – then Amma, too, is unlike the usual paramahamsa CONCEPT. And so is my Asha.
You might well agree that in the case of your Amma, it is precisely BECAUSE she is so different, in this exact mixing-it-up respect, that people respond to her so well – and indeed consider her so exceptional among Indian saints. Amma is clearly famous, partly for the extent to which she mixes it up with regular old humans – no distance, yes? And she loves, quite personally, AS Divinity – as the “I” of all. And that is a grand thing. I am sure that is one thing that really impressed you about her. It certainly impressed me, I'll say. So again, hats off to that!
I think that both Rama and Krishna may also be of this mixing-it-up type. Now again, as you say, I do not know them personally. But their stories, at least, suggest as much. And they are surely avatars in the strictest traditional sense. So perhaps avatars, as a group, are doing better, with respect to investing emotionally here, than perhaps I implied.
Thanks for your comment, brother. It is very good. I wish, in keeping with the spirit of the article at hand, you would go ahead and spread your good news, just as the article says. Critique is another ilk, however valid, yes? People who love to hear of your love of Amma, for example, no doubt. – am
By the way, while I have a devotion to Jesus, my devotion is by no means of the exclusive variety. Quite the contrary: I respect and love MANY spiritual types, of all stripes, from many traditions, and from no traditions. Thanks for your comment, Ramses. It is very valid and right. I will take care NOT to convey such an impression in the future. – am
Aha! Gotcha, you old rogue. Just as I suspected. You are madly in love with Asha. Quite understandable. A love like that would land you in the arms of Jesus and Mary.
I'll tell you what happened when I first met Amma. I had been involved with another religious organization for a long time founded by an Indian guru. I am still trying to evaluate that experience. It nearly destroyed me. I married a devil. I had read about Amma, and took my wife with me to see her. I concluded that she was indeed a great saint. That was enough for me. I wanted to leave. My wife enjoyed doing the opposite of what I wanted. She insisted we go up for darshan. That experience changed my life. How can I describe it? You have to experience it yourself. I knew it was divine, but what was it? Who was this woman? I kept going back to see her when I could. Gradually, the incredible enormity of who she was dawned on me. She was God.
i have heard so much about Amma. it's glory that so many benefit from her.
Yes, Amadon, I am a big believer in spreading love and light wherever I can. I have been so richly blessed. It makes my heart ache to see how miserable and confused so many are…. so I just try to be beside them until they work out what it is that their heart tells them to do to be free and find joy.
Yes, Ramsses, I am a sucker for Divine love. “Who wouldn’t be?” is what you feel, once you experience it. As you well know. Thanks for your beautiful story of your first meeting with Amma. I do know exactly how you felt. Enormity. Good word. It took me quite a while to adapt to the fact that God was in my life, loving me personally.
What I have learned from Asha is that the true realization of Selfhood is to be the I – the I of all. You know this. And you know, too, that the true reality of both man and God is flexible. Therefore, in truth, it is not at all unusual that various aspects of God will manifest through (and also as) a Self-realized soul.
Example: Sant Keshavadas was a teacher of mine. He generally incarnated (lived as) the Divine Mother. He loved every soul with an intense and radiant love-light — each and every one. This was awesome, perfect. Thus, it is even possible for a “man” to incarnate a female form of Divinity, just as it is routine for Amma to incarnate as Krishna.
As you know, Amma is always, in a real sense, incarnating God. And then, within that, and on top of that, there are also “special” functions in which that manifestation can be, shall I say, more? These functions are driven in part by Divine whim, but also, and largely, by context. Appropriate context. Necessary vibrational levels. So …
From what I understand, at night, after the hundreds of “tourist devotees” go home, there remains the highly committed group in Amma’s ashram. And at night, sometimes for many hours, it may occur that intensified iterations of forms of Diety — The Divine Mother, Krishna, etc. — can and do manifest to those devotees. This is well documented. And so, while it is all special, and every moment of Amma’s life and benediction is special, these phenomena of which I speak are indeed, if I may say so, extra-special. Clearly, in the realm of relative experience, there are infinite degrees in God — as well as no degrees. And it is all true.
I know something of these “extra special” modes of Divine benediction because a similar function happens around here, in Asha. Asha is, herself, an incarnation of the Divine Mother, and as such, she is quite capable of incarnating other forms of Diety as well. Like your Amma, she does so. But here too, such revelatory events are hard core — or esoteric. A certain vibration is required for it. Consequently, only the people who have seen it can bear witness to the nature and power of these exquisite and rare blessings/appearances of God.
am
Interesting. Give my love to Asha. She blows me away too. I do not believe Amma herself makes a distinction between tourist devotees and an inner circle, nor, to my knowledge, has there ever been an exclusive darshan for highly committed devotees. At different times, people have witnessed different aspects of her manifestation. She has all the powers. She is omniscient. She is available. It is not a magic carpet ride. She healed a leper who came to her. There is actual film footage of her licking his pus. Everyone else had to leave because of his stench. How could she do that? For her, everything is God.
i am in awe of such people