Tolstoy’s Wisdom For the Uninitiated

“If you have not reached the stage when you see two truths contradicting each other, you have not yet begun to think.”

Where do you go from here? So you begin to think. And you hold two contradictory truths on the palm of your hand. And then what? How do you convey them? What if you convey only one? Would it be a lie? Or just BS? Do you stay puzzled and silent, observing the dance of contradictions? Do you write a poem?

It is a conundrum, but Tolstoy finds a way even out of this one: “If you know the truth, or think you know the truth, pass it on to others as simply as you can, along with the feeling of love toward them.”

So you see. Truths come and go. Contradictory, complimentary, whatever. But if they are not conveyed with the feeling of love toward your audience, they are worthless. Truth conveyed without love is hate. But is love conveyed without truth still love?

It seems to me that for Tolstoy, love is like blood circulation. Without it, nothing can be conveyed, nothing would reach your heart or your brain. So blood circulation is essential and fundamental, it carries and transports nutrients, oxygen and so on. So nutrients and blood stream have to work in unison for you to go on living. Nutrients --to be delivered to their destinations --have to enter your bloodstream. If all sorts of nutrients/ truths enter your body outside the bloodstream, outside love, they turn into viruses/poisons -- it does not matter how nutritious/truthful they are by themselves.

Consequently, any truth delivered without love is harmful like a virus, and false, like a half truth. Because remember: a single truth without a complementary contradictory truth is not a result of thought. Just of brainwashing.

So yeah! All you need is love. And all you need is thought. And all you need is truth, or rather two truths. That contradict each other. All locked up in the endless process of metamorphosis.

And if you are confused, just read Tolstoy. At least, that's what I do.