Frequently Asked Questions of August Turak

August Turak’s stunning and irreverent responses to even the most basic spiritual questions show why he is redefining the conversation around spirituality today.

What is your definition of "God?"

God is a circle whose center is nowhere and whose circumference is everywhere. God is by definition undefined and indefinable. He can’t be boxed with a definition.

What is your definition of “truth?”

Do you want me to answer this question truthfully? If you do, you already know the answer to this question. A shared understanding of truth is assumed in your question and all other questions for that matter. If not, then why ask this question? Or any questions? Truth is the quality of being in accordance with facts, experience, and reality. (This is the dictionary definition.)

Who or what is to say that an individual has found the truth?

If the question refers to a math problem then I determine whether an individual has found the truthful answer using math. If it refers to Absolute Truth, I use the same faculty I use to determine whether someone is telling me the truth about being in love with me or having had a dream about me last night. It is called intuition.

Wars have been fought over what people believe to be the truth. Please answer this.

Is it true that people have fought wars over truth? Or just your opinon? How do we decide that question? If there is no truth then how can we say that it is true that people have fought wars over what they believe to be true? Shall we fight a war over it?

People like to fight. We have fought wars about everything imaginable. The problem is not with truth it is with people. Wars have been fought over women. Does that mean women are a problem?

What is your definition of “faith”?

Faith keeps you going when the shit hits the fan and intellectually, emotionally, and physically you want to give up. It might also be called trusting the process though I hate that term because it is so overused and poorly understood.

What is the “ultimate goal?”

Reality, truth, certainty, freedom, answers, authenticity, absence of bull shit where bull shit is defined as fear based lies, mendacity, rationalization, self-deception, selfish stupidity, self destructive behavior, phoniness, silly games, illusions, etc.

Are you a teacher, mentor, coach, guru, inspirational leader - what?

I’m a voice crying in the wilderness pointing at something much bigger than me. I am an apophatic mystic desperately trying to turn people on. I am what people need me to be depending on where they are and what questions they’re asking.

What are your methods of teaching? And how are they different from others?

I don’t teach. Teaching implies a transfer of information through intellectual means. Who was Socrates? Socrates called himself a midwife of excellence. I like that. Like Socrates, I want to inspire, persuade, infuriate, dazzle, upset, confront, in short anything I can think of that will get people to live the questions that are really bothering them until they get the answers they want, need, and all too often don’t want to hear.

To the extent that Socrates taught at all, he taught that everything that people around him thought they knew and took for granted was really ignorance. He taught people to realize how ignorant they really are. He taught humility and they killed him for it. I am a throwback to the ancient Zen Masters. I want to get people out of The Truman Show and The Matrix by undermining all the things they take for granted that are keeping them from getting outside the box of Life and Death. I am the great disillusionist. I destroy illusions so the truth will be revealed.

What do you believe?

I believe that it is not what you believe that matters but what you know. I believe that you should seek the truth like your hair was on fire, even if the truth is that there is nothing worth believing in. I believe in seeking. I believe that we have no choice but to assume -- for the moment -- that with effort we can be less stupid than we are.

How is your take on enlightenment better than others?

Enlightenment is enlightenment and the truth is the truth. I am not inventing God, after all. However, I know that the best way to the goal is not through adding layers of belief structures, definitions, and concepts but to question all assumptions. We must go beyond thinking itself by rethinking everything.

How do you help others reach enlightenment?

By holding up a mirror and pestering the snot out of them. I teach by sticking Popsicle sticks into the cogs of all the games people play without even realizing it. I short circuit bull shit. I also encourage them when they are thinking about giving up.

You have followers and believers. What is it exactly they are following/believing that you teach them?

My believers believe in disbelief. They want Reality not opinion. I can draw a road map. I can’t take the trip for people.