ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Two-truths doctrine

So, you know how sometimes different people believe different things about the same thing? Like some people believe that pizza is the best food ever, while others think that it's just okay? Well, the two-truths doctrine is kind of like that.

It's a belief that comes from Buddhism, which is a way of thinking about the world that has been around for a really long time. The idea behind the two-truths doctrine is that there are two different kinds of truth. One kind of truth is called "conventional truth," and it's the kind of truth that most people believe in. For example, most people believe that the sky is blue and that bananas are yellow.

But there's another kind of truth, and it's called "ultimate truth." This kind of truth is a little bit harder to understand, but it's basically the idea that everything is connected to everything else, and that nothing really exists on its own. It's kind of like how the different parts of your body all work together to help you move and think and feel, even though you don't really see them all working separately.

So the two-truths doctrine is basically saying that both of these kinds of truth are important, and that they can both be true at the same time, even if they seem to contradict each other. For example, someone might say that they believe in the conventional truth that the sky is blue, but also believe in the ultimate truth that everything is connected, including the color blue and the sky and the person themselves.

It can be a little bit confusing, but the idea behind the two-truths doctrine is really just about being open to different perspectives and ways of thinking. It's okay if different people believe different things, as long as they're all trying to understand the world around them in their own way.
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