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Good morning. The most watched news anchor on American TV, Brian Williams, has now been suspended for six months without pay from NBC after admitting his story of being in a helicopter hit by a rocket in Iraq wasn’t true. We all love a good story – so it’s natural not to let the facts get in the way. But Mr Williams is a journalist – one of the most trusted in America – and his role demanded much greater responsibility and self-censorship. Perhaps, we each have a favourite embellished story we roll out. Mine is the claim to be the first person – by a fraction of a second - to hear Led Zeppelin play Stairway to Heaven live. It’s true I was at its debut in Belfast in ‘71 taking close-up photos of the band on stage. But, was I really the nearest to the speakers during that particular song? Maybe. I can’t remember. On Tuesday’s Newsnight, Professor Christopher French commenting on Brian Williams’ lapse, explained that, as we retell an incident, we embellish the details and the new account may become a false memory – one, we sincerely believe is true. The Hindu texts offer a similar warning that in general, humans are prone to four mental foibles: we have imperfect and limited senses that often don’t give us a true or complete picture; we make mistakes; we confuse one thing for another; and we have a tendency to cheat. Despite being infected by these failings ourselves, we rely on journalists, politicians, educators and others we trust to transcend them and present honest-to-goodness truth. However, the Vedas are more concerned how the trickery of the mind affects our understanding of reality. In particular, it suggests that the story we tell ourselves about who we are is the biggest “false memory” of all. This, it says, is the delusion of thinking: “I am this body” – the mistaken idea that the self and the body are one and the same. Hinduism contends that this powerful illusion contributes hugely to both the extent of suffering we endure in this world and to our tendency to cause pain to others. But, says the Gita: we are not flesh and blood, we are the spirit soul, the life force seated within the machine of the body. Rather than focus on sin, the Vedas emphasise curbing ignorance of our spiritual identity and purpose as the key means of uplifting human society. The Hindu prayer “om asato ma sadgamaya” translates as: Lead me from ignorance to what is real and true When Brian Williams completes his six months’ suspension, it will be interesting to see if the American public trust that he has made that journey from delusion to truth-teller.