American Buddhist Net

Nine eleven truth appears to have the potential to drive lasting positive change in human society. This is because the realization that the official story is totally false makes for a truly shocking experience, so much so that when people are able to accept that 9/11 was a deception, they are able to make greater leaps of understanding as well. Such a greater leap of understanding includes the fact that the lies of 9/11 point to self-deception as the root cause. And if followed through, this fact allows people to see that self-deception is behind most human suffering.

Unfortunately, it is possible that revelation of the truth concerning the events of 9/11 could actually make things worse in the long run. This is due to the fact that, if we fail to realize and act upon the root cause, then getting the truth out could result in only a temporary victory. That is, if we continue down the path of easy answers, and treat the lies of 9/11 as simply the acts of those we call “evildoers”, we’ll miss the chance to make real change. We won’t see how similar lies have been behind almost all social crises of the past and present, and more importantly we won’t see how lies like these have always been used to control us.

It seems fair to say that, within a large society, there will always be a few people greedy enough to lie to others for personal gain. But we can live with this. What we can’t live with is large numbers of people lying to themselves, because habitual self-deception is fatal. Long-term successful lies require not only a teller but also willing listeners, and when millions or billions of us engage in such duplicity, they make it difficult, if not impossible, for anyone to survive.

In order to avoid a potentially greater catastrophe than we currently face, if that is imaginable, perhaps one day with a larger global population that is even more dependent on delicate supply systems, we need to learn how and why we lie to ourselves. In doing so, we may be able to prevent the greedy few from using our weakness against us as they’ve done with the crimes of 9/11.

But if we can understand the processes of large-scale deception, we also have the chance to consider the impact of more subtle deceptions in our lives. This might open people up to important questions that will ultimately determine the future of humanity.

Do today’s governments exist to serve the people?
Do our academic institutions seek truth above profit?
Do our business institutions still have a human identity?
(How) do we determine when the suffering of others is acceptable or can be ignored?
Where is the line between self and other, and how is it maintained?

The problem of self-deception is one that has been addressed by Buddhist teachings, and the science of Psychology has made inroads on the specifics as well. Therefore, study of Buddhism and Psychology makes sense for those of us who have realized the need for 9/11 truth. It seems quite possible that the shocking lesson of 9/11 truth could be used in conjunction with Psychological principles and Buddhist teachings to construct next steps for lasting positive change.