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The Truth

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Here is a (free-of-charge).

My book is in the Public Domain. I welcome your donations! Please send them by PayPal to

What is this book about?

In this highly personal work, Andrius Kulikauskas summarizes and illustrates all that he has learned so far in his 42 year quest to know everything and apply that knowledge usefully.

Andrius organizes his findings as six lessons which take us from relative truth to absolute truth. The lessons relate four points of view: Them, You, I and God. Each lesson lays out its truth with a relevant visualization that pairs a sequence, hierarchy or network as an evolution, atlas, handbook, chronicle, catalog or odyssey.

"The Truth" is an innovative book of visual thinking. It is a litany of more than 300 deep thoughts, each expressed with a few sentences and an associated black-and-white image. Andrius aspires to present the deepest truths to the widest audience. As a self-taught artist, he provokes our emotions with art work he created in Lithuania and Chicago, including oil pastel portraits, large figurative installations, outdoor sculpture, printed boxes, learning canvases, animation, a see-through labyrinth, metaphysical diagrams, and photos from all stages of his life. He appeals to real life with photos he took of the eviction of his friend David Ellison-Bey from his home in Englewood, Chicago, as well as gang members whom Andrius engaged in Pavilnys, Vilnius.

The reader who absorbs this book will learn:

to know themselves and others by asking questions such as, What is your deepest value in life, which includes all of your other values? and What is a question which you don't know the answer to, but wish to answer?
to map out the limits of our minds, and see how our values clash, and in particular, how we divide everything into two, three or four perspectives;
to investigate any question creatively with a system of 24 different ways of figuring things out;
to imagine and hear from a God who loves us more than we love ourselves;
to live as a "good kid" rather than a "bad kid", and so to define every moment as taking place in the mindset of eternal life, where God doesn't have to be good, and life doesn't have to be fair;
to imagine a God who asks, Is God necessary? and makes way for us to discover if he will arise as Love in each and every person;
to note how the above six understandings lead us step-by-step from our personal, relative truths to an absolute truth that we can foster as a shared culture;
to appreciate the six understandings as a taxonomy of paradox, and to look for absolute truth in the gap that paradox reveals;
to make the most of doubts with a system of eight counterquestions;
to engage violent people by looking at everything from their point of view;
to see the link between the most abstract theory and the most daring practice;
to work toward a culture of inquiry, of learning forever, growing forever, living forever, here and now.

This book is an invitation to work together towards a culture of inquiry. Andrius thus places this book in the Public Domain. He invites you to join him at selflearners.net He also thanks you for buying this book and supporting his work. Thank you!

Other versions

Here is an earlier 20-page version with less text and many fewer pictures: .

Reviews

I think that's what gives my book a chance to be found there and purchased. I value your critical comments as well as your moral support. I also include your thoughts here:

Marcus Petz, thank you for your notes, which I'm absorbing!

has agreed to be my first student at my institute. Her first thoughts upon starting my book were that some of my ideas provoked strong responses in her, sometimes agreeing, sometimes disagreeing, and sometimes both. Sometimes her intellectual and emotional responses diverge. She'd like to be able to record her responses as she reads. I'm very excited to hear this and I'm wondering how to do that with her and possibly with others.

Franz Nahrada by Skype, March 7, 2014.

Andrius: did you see the latest version?
Franz: maybe not
Andrius: It has about 300 illustrations ... What did you think of the one you saw?
Franz: very much you ;-)
Andrius: is that a compliment ? ;) :D
Franz: of course
Andrius: the new version :: illustrates every few sentences ... I included a picture of you :: and your deepest value :: and also I credit the Hotel Karolinenhof at the end. ... thank you for supporting my endeavors over the years :: for all the times you let me stay in Vienna with you :: that was very meaningful
Franz: looking at the first pages when you grew up -. who is the young woman ...eg on the mountain?
Andrius: that is Regina, who I was in love with for 18 years
Franz: oh...I see :: I love the fact that you honor her that much, thats what I do with the women in my life
Andrius: I thought she was a fitting metaphor :: and I wanted to express myself as intensely as possible :: and I needed lots of illustrations :: that's why I ended up using the personal photos
Franz: Thanks for also having me as a metaphor :-)
Andrius: yes!

April 2, by Skype:

Andrius: and how did you like my book?
Franz: thx for the book, its a piece of art

Aistė Kaminskaitė, March 8, 2014. The book looks nice at the Amazon website. :D But they wouldn't let me write a recommendation because first I have to purchase at least one item through them. So I will try to promote your book through my social networks. :D "Amazone" tinkle knyga gražiai atrodo :D man neleido parašyt rekomendacijos, nes pirma turiu įsigyt bent vieną daikt iš jų, tik tada leidžia :/ Bet šiai pabandysiu paplatint tavo knygos reklamą soc. tinkluose :D

People I have Alerted

invited me to post my thoughts and excerpts at the P2P Foundation Blog.

, and favorited my tweet.

Maria Popova of Brain Pickings. I like her Seven Lessons from Seven Years, her thoughtful selections, her overall enthusiasm and her love of art and visual thinking.

Carrie Figdor of New Books in Philosophy. They do interviews.

Brian Leitner of Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog. He's at the University of Chicago Law School.

People I Should Alert

People whose work I might relate to my Website.

Jerry Michalski

Statistics

March 8, 2014. My mother Ruta has bought the first and only copy so far at Amazon. Currently, my Amazon Best Sellers Rank is #222,689 among Kindle books, and among them, #54 in Epistemology.
March 12, 2014. #500,000+ and dropped off the Epistemology list.
March 13, 2014. Peter Kaminski purchased the second copy. #159,708 and #23 in Epistemology.
March 30, 2014. A third copy bought. Lucas? #170,000 and #34 in Epistemology.