Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the

Hear the luminous words of the Blessed One, the Buddha, who declared: “Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.” In this teaching, he likens the nature of truth to the most radiant lights in the heavens. Just as clouds may cover the sun, just as shadows may conceal the moon, yet in time their brilliance breaks through, so too does truth pierce the veils of lies, illusions, and ignorance. It may be delayed, obscured for a season, even suppressed by the will of men—but it cannot be destroyed. Its nature is to shine, to reveal, to endure.

The meaning of this saying is both comforting and admonishing. It comforts the oppressed, for though tyrants may bury justice, though deceivers may prosper for a while, the light of truth will rise and expose them. It warns the deceitful, for their lies, though clever and intricate, are but passing shadows against the eternal flame of reality. Just as night cannot prevent dawn, so too falsehood cannot prevail against truth forever. The law of existence bends toward unveiling, and no hand, however mighty, can hold back eternity.

The ancients themselves knew this. In Greece, Aeschylus wrote that time, though slow, brings all things into the light. In Rome, Cicero proclaimed that truth is great and will prevail. The wisdom of the Buddha stands in harmony with theirs, yet surpasses them in clarity. For by joining truth to the sun and the moon, he shows us that truth is not only inevitable but also celestial, woven into the very order of the cosmos. It is no accident of fate, but the law of being itself.

History bears witness to this law. Recall the long night of slavery in America. For centuries, men justified bondage with lies, cloaking greed in the garments of law and custom. Yet the truth—that all men are created equal, that freedom is the right of every soul—could not be silenced. It rose through the voices of the enslaved, through the pens of poets like Frederick Douglass, through the blood of those who fought for liberation. At last, like the sun breaking through storm clouds, truth revealed itself, and though the struggle did not end there, the lies were unmasked and the world changed forever.

So too in the age of Galileo. For years, the Church tried to suppress his discoveries, fearing that his telescope revealed a cosmos different from what doctrine declared. Yet the moon itself bore witness to his truth, its mountains and craters shining against denial. The eyes of countless men eventually confirmed what he had seen: that the earth moved, that the heavens were not fixed. Though he was silenced, the truth he uncovered rose like the dawn, impossible to hide, illuminating all generations after him.

The lesson for us is simple yet profound: do not despair when truth seems hidden, nor imagine that falsehood will endure. If you stand with truth, though you suffer for a season, time itself is your ally, for reality will uncover what is real. And if you hide from truth, or weave lies to cloak your deeds, remember that they are but thin clouds before the sun, destined to scatter. To live in alignment with truth is to live in alignment with the eternal laws of the universe.

Practical is this path: seek truth in your words, in your actions, in your dealings with others. Do not be deceived by appearances, nor satisfied with convenient illusions. Speak honestly, even when it costs you; search deeply, even when it challenges you. For as the Buddha teaches, the sun, the moon, and the truth cannot be long hidden. To live by this is to live in light, unafraid of exposure, radiant as the heavens themselves.