Mar 3, 2017 15:09
7 yrs ago
3 viewers *
English term
sitting with truth
English
Art/Literary
Linguistics
Hi, I’m not sure about the meaning of "sitting with truth" in the passage below. The author is describing the limits of language.
Thank you very much for any hint!
Words are information, as they are symbols for something other than the energy pattern of which they are composed.
But even as representations, as symbols of sound or light, the terms such as grasping and understanding don’t fully capture the essence of deep comprehension, of ** sitting with truth **, of seeing clearly, and perhaps nothing short of the inner sensation of clarity will.
Thank you very much for any hint!
Words are information, as they are symbols for something other than the energy pattern of which they are composed.
But even as representations, as symbols of sound or light, the terms such as grasping and understanding don’t fully capture the essence of deep comprehension, of ** sitting with truth **, of seeing clearly, and perhaps nothing short of the inner sensation of clarity will.
Responses
+6
12 mins
Robert Forstag
United States
United States
Native in English
&
English
United States
Translating words, preserving meaning
Native in: English
Works in: Spanish to English, English
Related KudoZ points
:
68
English term (edited):
of sitting with truth
Selected
of fully appreciating the meaning and implications of a particular insight
In other words: really coming to grips with the realization or epiphany that has been experienced.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Jack Doughty
8 mins
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Thank you, Jack.
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| agree |
magdadh
18 mins
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Thank you, magdadh.
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| agree |
Helena Chavarria
: 'Understand' (and other words) are just a series of symbols; the real meaning goes beyond the utterance of words. I interpret 'sitting with' as 'realisation of'.
41 mins
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Thank you, Helena.
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| agree |
B D Finch
: Epiphany seems right.
1 hr
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Thank you, B D.
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| agree |
Yasutomo Kanazawa
13 hrs
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Thanks, Yasutomo.
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| agree |
Yvonne Gallagher
: yes, insight/epiphany/being fully aware or seeing clearly
21 hrs
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "First of all, I’d like to thank all of you for your valuable help! Actually I think that all of your proposals contain a part of truth, since I’ve found that “to sit with” seems to be an expression commonly used in meditation as a sort of synonym for “presence”, that is “being open and receptive to all that emerges as it emerges”, being fully aware of something.
Thank you very much again for your kindness!
"
+1
20 mins
experiencing it fully
It means experiencing Truth fully from within yourself, feeling it deeply. The author gives several options, each another step closer to his final suggestion: inner sensation of clarity.
The website below is another example where the word 'sitting' is used with a similar meaning.
The website below is another example where the word 'sitting' is used with a similar meaning.
Reference:
https://www.elephantjournal.com/2013/01/the-four-noble-truths-daily-living-sitting-with-suffering/
+1
28 mins
being in the company of / in immediate proximity to / one with truth
I believe this refers to the concept of satsang (of word of Sanskrit origin) in South Asian spiritual contexts:
"Satsang / Satsanga / Satsangam in South Asian religions is being in the company of the truth or the good, by sitting together with a guru or a group of spiritual students."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satsang
"Satsang (which means sitting with Truth) usually includes a guided meditation, a spiritual talk, and questions and answers with students."
http://www.awakeningguide.com/bonnie-greenwell/
"Sitting with" needs to be interpreted in the sense of "being one with", and I think that's the meaning in your identification: actually being the truth, with no separation between them:
"Saddarsanam- Seeing the Truth is Being the Truth
[...]
When you are sitting with Truth , that is satsangati !"
https://luthar.com/2009/05/26/saddarsanam-seeing-the-truth-i...
Outside such a context it's a very strange expression, but interpreted in this way it makes sense.
"Satsang / Satsanga / Satsangam in South Asian religions is being in the company of the truth or the good, by sitting together with a guru or a group of spiritual students."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satsang
"Satsang (which means sitting with Truth) usually includes a guided meditation, a spiritual talk, and questions and answers with students."
http://www.awakeningguide.com/bonnie-greenwell/
"Sitting with" needs to be interpreted in the sense of "being one with", and I think that's the meaning in your identification: actually being the truth, with no separation between them:
"Saddarsanam- Seeing the Truth is Being the Truth
[...]
When you are sitting with Truth , that is satsangati !"
https://luthar.com/2009/05/26/saddarsanam-seeing-the-truth-i...
Outside such a context it's a very strange expression, but interpreted in this way it makes sense.
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Robert Forstag
: Once again, you may well be right. But I think the phrase is assmilable to the idea of "sitting with" some realization, insight, etc. The phrase seems to have grown out of self-awareness movements of the 60s and 70s (which were influenced by Eastern tht).
8 mins
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I've never heard it used to mean "fully realising" in my variety of English. "Deep comprehension" and "inner sensation of clarity" seem to me to invite a metaphysical reading.
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| agree |
Mair A-W (PhD)
53 mins
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Thanks!
|
+1
12 hrs
Juan Arturo Blackmore Zerón
Mexico
Mexico
Specializes in field
Mexico
Confianza, certeza, creatividad.
Native in: Spanish (Variant: Mexican)
Works in: English to Spanish, Italian to Spanish, French to Spanish, and 6 more.
Reference comments
3 hrs
Helena Chavarria
Spain
Spain
Native in English
&
English
Works in field
Spain
Striving for excellence
Native in: English (Variant: British) 
Works in: Spanish to English, Catalan to English
Related KudoZ points
:
8
Reference:
Sitting with the truth of crumbled walls and a city destroyed, I cannot help but wonder what this says about God.
http://shereadstruth.com/2016/10/27/the-conquest-of-jericho/
When the love of your life leaves, you are left with a bottomless void that validation once filled.
[...]
We must silence our egos and sit with the truth, rather than healing our wounds with the comfort of fiction.
http://www.rebellesociety.com/2017/02/14/monicatorres-intimi...
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Note added at 5 hrs (2017-03-03 20:12:29 GMT)
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Thank you, haribert! It seems very interesting.
http://shereadstruth.com/2016/10/27/the-conquest-of-jericho/
When the love of your life leaves, you are left with a bottomless void that validation once filled.
[...]
We must silence our egos and sit with the truth, rather than healing our wounds with the comfort of fiction.
http://www.rebellesociety.com/2017/02/14/monicatorres-intimi...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5 hrs (2017-03-03 20:12:29 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Thank you, haribert! It seems very interesting.
Note from asker:
| Thank you Helena! I've found also this text that may be useful https://www.google.it/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=19&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj_p8-_irvSAhWCdCwKHUifDVkQFgiBATAS&url=http%3A%2F%2Frepository.upenn.edu%2Fcgi%2Fviewcontent.cgi%3Farticle%3D1059%26context%3Dedissertations_sp2&usg=AFQjCNGwj8VFgz9Lxwx1ayo8GUlqYd96cw&sig2=ncc4AQ3m46wfUruXcPBP9A |
Discussion
I haven't finished reading the following PDF yet, because I guess I'm going to sit somewhere else now...well at the table in my kitchen!
have a nice weekend!
https://www.google.it/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd...
"sitting with" is derived from the practice of meditation, where one simply sits and holds awareness. In other words, the physical act of sitting is a model for being present with thoughts, emotions, and sensations (Magid, n.d.)
I wanted to keep away from accidents, wars and other kinds of news.
I assume haribert is male. In our case, "a child" would have sufficed =)
Maybe I can add something to the discussion. Here's another reference, a work of art titled "Standing with Truth" (Asian in origin):
"Standing With Truth (2013) is titled after a poem by the mystic Indian poet Kabir, who wrote ‘I eat with truth, I sleep with truth, I sit with truth, I stand with truth.’ Various disparate states of human action are depicted, in a realm of imagined endeavours that questions the nature or truth of our human condition."
http://www.blainsouthern.com/exhibitions/2013/francesco-clem...
I think the author is trying to distinguish between a sort of "top-down" knowledge obtainable through symbols like language and a more direct, "immediate" understanding, something we can also "feel" at a sensory and bodily level, without the distance from experience that symbols and representations can create.
I was trying to imagine what "sit with truth" might look like... maybe, it is a sort of "being face to face with truth", "confronting truth", along the lines of your proposals...
2. Accepting the truth
But I don't think the text is very well written or easy to understand.