The Ancient Trinity of Truth, Beauty & Goodness

“People of today and tomorrow need the enthusiasm of wonder if they are to meet and master the crucial challenges which stand before us. Thanks to this enthusiasm, Humanity, every time it loses its way, will be able to lift itself up and set out again on the right path. In this sense it has been said with profound insight that `Beauty Will Save The World `.” Pope John Paul II

True or False: Truth Is Relative, Goodness Is Situational, and Beauty Is Subjective? Those who said False, you can sit this one out and be at ease. Those who said True, please pay close attention to what follows.

Our Modern Times are only as young as yesterday, around 500 years old. The Ancient-Modern Era is around 3 500 years old, and Ancient Times about 6 000 years old. Just the past 200 years since the advent of the Industrial Revolution is barely enough time to assimilate the wisdom of the ages with any measure of assured depth. This obviously not helped by the fact that the lifespan of information has become shorter and shorter, and the quality thereof increasingly questionable.

Bold assertions are made very frequently nowadays, mostly based on purely circumstantial evidence. Which, in the long run, rarely holds any water. Indeed, modern pop culture would like us to believe that which is Temporary is the name of the game, that which trend in the shortest space of time is GOAT!

There are those Fashions, Fads, Trends, Music Styles, Art Forms, Thinking Patterns, Media Productions, etc., etc., created to only last as long as the attention span of the not-interested. Like a cheap piece of chewing gum that loses its flavor even before it left its wrapper. Contrived, specifically designed to be disposable, soon to be replaced. Regrettably, or maybe conveniently, Pop Modernity ignores the solidity that comes from that which is Proven and Real. Comparatively, those concepts, ideas, and ideologies that really matter, that will stand the test of time. As relevant in the spaces of today, as they were occupying the environments of yesterday. Elements of our Humanity that are beyond flavor of the month, which Transcend our every Presence.

We need to understand, as much as every generation needs its own revolution, like Thomas Jefferson so wisely said in the 1780s, no revolution exists in isolation or is perfectly brand-new. A demand for change no one has ever thought of before. The revolution that Generation A adopted as their own years ago, will probably be the same revolution Generation Z will take up today. This Gen Z Revolution might sound or look different and will probably even be executed differently. But at its very basic, is still the very same revolution of Gen A.

It is always said that, as we traverse this Life, we should strive to be slightly better today than we were yesterday. That we should be a bit more tomorrow than we were today. These are constant reminders that we should make continued growth and progress – Mental and Spiritual, a key factor of our Days. We might not quite attain spiritual Enlightenment in this Time, some dedicate entire lifetimes to it. But, it won`t be because we didn’t make the effort to be better versions of our Conscious and Subconscious Selves. Conscious in terms of the relevancy of our daily activities, and Subconscious in terms of our adopted Habits and Thought Patterns, amongst others.

Question is, as we aspire to continued growth, what are those virtues we should emulate and eventually come to embody? If we were, for a second, to understand that there`s nothing new in this world, do we seek to re-invent the Enlightenment wheel, or do we rather dig deep and seek to emulate the Ancients? To dig out and practice those elements that made them to have defined our history…possibly forever?

In this day and age, where something trends but for a few moments, where everyone is chasing the illusion of their 15 minutes of fame – one way or the other, is it a good idea to fall back on the basics. To look for that which was relevant millennia ago and appreciate the fact that those are still very relevant today. Times might have changed, but the fundamentals haven`t. The fickle will go, there will always be next flavor of the month. What will endure though and stand the test of time, will be those principles and modes of conduct that have sustained Mankind for generations. Those valued traits and characteristics that have defined a virtuous person since time immemorial.

Try as we might, we can change some things some times, but we can`t change all things all of the time. If we were to do that, we are doomed to an existence where we must rediscover the wheel each time. Where every generation is forced to start over and over from square 1. This is not a very wise approach to traversing this Life, there`s every guarantee that we will not advance one single step.

It is often said we ignore the lessons of the past at our peril, another said that those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. No one really knows who the first quote is attributed to, Winston Churchill apparently uttered the immortal words of the second. With history, therefore, being this important, we`d be doing ourselves a big favor if we were to unearth those values of exemplary Humanity of yesteryear and apply them to our affairs today. What was important thousands of years ago, is as important today. The qualities that exemplified a sterling human being in the days of Marcus Aurelius, are the same virtues that make for a decent human being in this era of Robotics and Big Data. Those qualities that have Transcended time and space and will do so for as long as Humanity draws breath.

Whether Man ends up settling on Mars or straddles this overburdened spinning rock until the end of our days, it doesn’t matter. The context might change, but the elements of our base Humanity won`t. That being the case, to which of those elements of Greatness should Humanity aspire? What are those fundamental qualities that make for a person of superior presence and character? To answer these questions, we need to go knock on the doors of the Ancients once again. They were very wise people, free from the heavy burden of too much information we must suffer today.

They`ve defined 3 virtues, the Ancient Trinity of Truth, Beauty, and Goodness, which came to be called the Transcendentals. The idea of the Transcendentals first emerged in Greece around the 5th century BC. It took a while, its representative concepts of Truth, Beauty, and Goodness, were only clarified with the writings of Plato around 400 BC, in what has been termed the ‘Socratic Trinity’, or ‘Platonic Triad.’

For the ancient Greeks, the world had meaning and purpose. The philosophical principles they’ve proposed in this regard are one of the reasons they are called the architects of Modern Civilization. What they said was that the mere gift of Life meant having to have a presence of Purpose and Fulfilment. This significantly bigger than our Earthly existence and finite human forms. As such, the cosmic values of Truth – That Which Defines Reality, Beauty – That Which Is Lovely, and Goodness – That Which Fulfils Its Purpose, were objective in nature and of some familiarity to the seeker of Transcendence.

Since human beings had the internal capacities of Logos – Reason, Ethos – Morality, and Pathos – Emotion, these internal capacities corresponded to the cosmic values and brought forth Human Fulfilment – the Highest and Best we should always aspire to: Logos corresponds to Truth, Pathos to Beauty, and Ethos to Goodness. Plato believed that Man should actively explore the virtues of the Transcendentals as he seeks to discover his own Bigger-Than-Life Truth. In short, the eternal quest for Truth, Beauty, and Goodness is a divine call, originating from a space way beyond the reach of our physical presence. An invitation to awaken the fullness of our Humanity and restore the human soul to its rightful participation in the divine life.

The Shaolin and Buddhist monks are just two subcultures that dedicate their entire lives to finding this Truth. As it is called, the quest for Enlightenment. As both the Buddhists and the Shaolin believe, being free from Cosmic Ignorance. Such ignorance being a Cosmic Reality taken to be Undifferentiated, the One is just like the Other. At a more existential level, we don’t have to be Buddhists or Shaolin to know this is a very narrow way to look at the world, much less our entire Purpose in this Life. Once this Ignorance is cleared, they continue, in the sense that the individual has attained Enlightenment, will such a person experience Cosmic Reality as it really is. A space where Everything is One, where the Knower is also the Known. The realization that our Eventual Reality is all the same, regardless of our activities or status in the Conscious Life.

What the ancient Greeks did with the Transcendentals was to give Enlightenment a face, breaking it down into simpler concepts we can understand and identify with. In that way making our individual quest for Enlightenment not necessarily easier, but more `illuminated`. No doubt, if we can really feel Truth, Beauty, and Goodness in the deepest parts of ourselves, if we can truly reach the pinnacle of the understanding of these fundamentals and apply them for the Betterment of All Man, then we certainly would have achieved our own forms of Enlightenment. To truly be the very Best and the Very Highest we were always meant to be. To understand, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it`s not about us as Individuals, but about every single one of Us All.

This is the Ancient Trinity positioned at a very high aspirational level. The absolute Highest and Best we should grow into as Humanity as we seek to fulfill our Purpose in this Time. At a more real-life level, however, how do we inculcate Truth, Beauty, and Goodness into our everyday lives? Well, we start with simplifying the base premise into what it means to us Individually. Making active efforts to improve our understanding of the proposition at hand, and what we think it means when turned upon ourselves. It won`t be wise if we`d want to ingest the vastness of the Ancient Trinity in its totality, we are neither a Plato nor a Socrates. We`d make our figuring-out efforts far more effective if we were to assess the individual components, the Transcendentals, one be one.

As a starting point, as we aspire to be better versions of ourselves, so we aspire to a better appreciation of that which is True and Just. Our very existence depends on the honest and sincere practice of Truthfulness, always. We don’t handle uncertainty very well, it is a huge waste of our Everything to have to look at the world with a doubtful, distrustful eye. If, best-case scenario, Truth is what defines our days, our environments, and our very existence, then we can take a load off our shoulders with a clear focus on that which is important. When Truth prevails, we don’t have to doubt the motive, the veracity, the very approach itself. When we practice Truth, we know that what is presented, is real.

In the same way that we have the wisdom to appreciate True Beauty, and not just look at it through our own generalized, overly subjective lenses. This time Beauty shouldn’t just be in the eye of the beholder, Beauty should be present whenever it is presented Truthfully, and with Good Intent. Once we ascribe conditions to Beauty, we fail to look beyond the surface to the intrinsic essence of what lies below. Be it a human being or a work of art, it doesn’t have to be presented as being Beautiful in a narrowly defined, populist manner. It was created, it was presented, and the very fact that an effort was made to bring it into being, is Beauty in itself.

As mentioned in a previous chapter, the honest recognition of Beauty doesn’t bring out the worst in us. On the contrary, sincere Beauty is something we can all appreciate and associate ourselves with. This brings me to the virtue of Goodness, and I`m short of saying that which is Truthful and Beautiful can`t be anything but Good. This book has gone to significant lengths to lay out what our Inherent Goodness is. In our practice of this virtue, we are True to ourselves, and we allow the beauty of Man`s Kindred spirit to shine through in all its radiant, wholesome Beauty.

Many of the greatest minds across history have given their versions of the Ancient Trinity and what it means. There was general agreement, albeit in various degrees of intellectual depth. Amongst others, what Plato and Socrates said was that we Transcend our present, by living the elements of Human Excellence of the past. By doing that, hopefully, in time, we`ll reach a measure of critical mass where the Bad is no longer as prevalent, and it will be the Good that holds sway. As such is the battle between Good and Evil not always about physical disputes, we fight the Good fight in our very souls as well.

When we Transcend our base nature to be more Enlightened, with a deeper understanding of what makes us tick as Man, we win the internal fight. With an assured core of internal conviction so we can more confidently manifest our purpose of becoming progressively Better. Consistently aiming Higher every time. When we`ve overcome the demons of doubt about our self-worth and resist the periodic foray into the dark side to somehow `prove` ourselves, we find it easier to embrace our Inherent Goodness. In doing so, we`ll more readily accept the Beauty represented by the next person, and the sincere Truthfulness of our collective efforts to make this world a better place.

In closing this chapter, I briefly want to mention Russian novelist, Fyodor Dostoevsky, who famously said: “The World Will Be Saved By Beauty”, in his excellent The Idiot of 1869. Was the novel a between-the-lines story about his own life? Unfortunately, we’ll never know. What we do know is that this quote was referenced widely by many with the question, “What Could He Possibly Have Meant By This?”

It is known that Dostoevsky was no stranger to hardship and suffering. In 1849 he was imprisoned and sentenced to death on trumped-up political dissidence charges. At the very last moment, last as in being tied to a pole just about to be shot, his sentence was reduced, and he ended up spending time hitting rocks in the unforgiving Siberia. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he lived a life of relative poverty because of his gambling addiction. To top it all off, Dostoevsky suffered the unspeakable agony of the death of his first wife and two of his four children.

It wouldn’t have been very surprising for a person who's had to endure so much to curse his life, to curse this world, and go through it a bitter, hate-filled, and vengeful person. Yet, he didn’t. He might have been a deeply `agonized` man, but he was a giant who towered head and shoulders above the rest. His saving grace was his recognition of his many shortcomings, and the fact that he did his utmost to do something about them. Probably because of his distressing circumstances, he had an uncanny understanding of Beauty and how it Transcends in-your-face aesthetics.

In his many excellent books, one message was woven like a golden thread through them all: Beauty Is That Which Inspires The Best In Us, Our Uniquely Human Aspirations For That Which Is Good And True. Those basic elements of our humanity that connect us to each other over Time and Space. The way I see it, when Dostoevsky spoke of Beauty, he wasn’t discussing the mercurial nature of commercialized beauty. He was referring to the enduring and heroic virtues of Man, the same way Plato and Socrates did. He was talking about Truth and Goodness and Love, those seemingly small things that were at the bottom of many a rebirth.

When considered against the totality of us all, these sentiments will inevitably strike a chord. Not just for the purposes of this book, but for the fact that the very essence thereof is beyond Time, beyond Space. It is a reflection of our very Humanity, no matter When, Who, Why, Where, and What We Are. Like a solid rock in a raging stream, so will the Ancient Trinity help to carry us on our way. Strong, dependable, proven.

In the 2014 sci-fi movie, Transcendence, AI Scientist, Dr. Will Caster, was shot with a radio-active bullet and had no more than a month to live. His character wife, Evelyn, came up with a plan to upload his consciousness into a sentient quantum computer. In essence, to transcend his current reality and move him into the realm of near immortality. It is a movie, it is fiction, it`s a given that any aspiration for Transcendence will be dramatized to a certain degree.

Luckily for us, to tap into the timeless Human Traits of Truth, Beauty, and Goodness, we don’t have to go to the extent of uploading our `existential consciousness` into some sort of digital cloud. If we are to achieve some semblance of sentient immortality, for our names to live on beyond the next generation, we just have to be true to who we are and do what we know to be right. Not sometimes, all the time. And to pass on those same timeless practices to the next generation with a commitment that they too will pass them on to those next in line.

To abolish the funny mentality of Do As I Say, And Not As I Do, and be one with the spirit that our actions speak louder than any amount of words ever can. To make a reciprocative promise, as much as we demand a commitment from them, to also lead by example. To practice just as hard as we always preach.

This time around, we don’t just have to aspire to Understand the Truth, Appreciate Beauty, and Recognize the Good. All we must do is reach out and embrace them. All we must do is make real our efforts to Transcend our self-created limitations and run with the elements of Superior Humanity. We have them in abundance already!

PS.: As the writer is it incumbent on me to say every chapter in this book is important.

I must be honest though, if I would want to reflect on the philosophy of Our Inherent Goodness, will this be the chapter I`d turn to. Reading it slowly – a few times, thinking very deeply about the heavy significance of the Ancient Trinity and how it relates so strongly to Us. If we can conquer the ideals of Truth, Beauty, and Goodness, we`d have conquered any doubts about our true Benevolent Selves.

These concepts demand that we elevate our Thinking and Doing to a slightly higher level than the average. For it is then that we`ll know where we stand in the eternal battle of Good and Evil, the message so comprehensively laid out within these pages.