THE WAY OF INTEGRITY

It is easier now.  It is what it is.

A day is a day. Moments unfold as they should. My response is requisite. When it is complete, it is done.

Shakespeare’s Polonius uttered these famous words about integrity

“To thine own self be true”    

Isn’t it ironic that the man who authored this famous statement represented everything we dislike in our character? He was a pompous old windbag who loved expediency and superficiality.

It is not easy to trust those who speak of light from the darkness. No wonder he had to be killed off before the story could evolve. 

When I started this journey, I spoke about integrity in darkness. I could not understand why no one listened.

In time, the journey became more than I and I learned about integrity in the light. Now I understand why no one listens.

The journey shapes you.  Walking stirs health, harmony engenders peace, listening cultivates knowledge, wisdom develops discernment, humility brings joy and truth produces freedom.   

The path is gentle.   

The beginning of the path is right here, right now.

Do the right thing, do the next right thing and do things right. That, for me, was the mantra to get in touch with that which was right in front of me.       

Integrity comes from the Sanskrit root word “tag” which means to touch.  It is also the modern word for the game we all have played.  So, I guess you could say, that integrity means touching that which is untouchable –the here and now.

This is simple but paradoxical. It is also another reason why we do not listen to those who speak about integrity.

Yet, integrity is one of the things we hold closest to our hearts. A challenge to our integrity in public evokes furious responses while well placed words about another said in secret cut deeply and cleanly.  

In times of peace and prosperity, we hold our integrity out to ourselves and others as a personal shield that not only protects but also inspires. 

Yet in the heat of battle or in times of trouble, the shield is quickly abandoned.

I really don’t know much about the way of integrity. 

Most of the time, I feel like the Emperor in Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tale “The Emperor’s New Clothing”. I want to be the one with the magical clothing that only those who see truth can see.

Sadly, I am transparent and naked to anyone who looks. Vulnerability is refreshing if not frightening.   

But I persist! I know that the way of integrity is a well travelled path.

The TAO TE CHING by Lao TZU is one of the most widely translated books in the world. According to the Victor Maier translation of the recently discovered Ma-Wang –Tui manuscripts, “Tao” is the way,” te” is integrity and “ching” is the great book or classic.

 Hence the translation is –The Classic Book of Integrity and The Way.  

In the Rig Veda, the beliefs exists that there is a natural justice and a harmony that pervades the natural world. This is called rta and it later evolved into the dharma. This rta is both nature’s way and the order implicit in nature.

In western philosophy we have a similar concept of logos which means both the source and fundamental order of the cosmos.

 The world’s most translated book –the bible reaffirms my path. In the NAB version of the Pledge to Live Righteously (Psalms 101) David says “I will follow the way of integrity” and later “those who follow the way of integrity, they alone can enter my service.”

Even though I cannot expect to understand all that is written about the way of integrity, I can expect to follow the way of integrity. It is right in front of me right now.

I have all that I need.

Want to learn more?  Contact me at douglasross@principledynamics.com . I want to speak to you about integrity and how it can help you and all of us.

Douglas Ross is an advocate for the promotion of integrity as a strategy for performance.  

© 2009 All Rights Reserved, Douglas Ross, Principle Dynamics Consulting Inc.

Comments

[Robert Reil]

Isn't it funny that all we have to do is the next right thing? Like the moss that grows in the shadows so are the things that conflict integrity because we THINK that no one is looking.

It's when we realize that its not who's looking, but that we can be seen now, or later, by our god or our peers in our future. It's also that we can see ourselves. We take these things that lack integrity to bed with ourselves. Can we sleep at night? Only each of us knows the answer.

For me how wonderful it is on the days I do better than others to know that I did "the next right thing".

Our society has plummeted. Our children are not capable of what they were as far as character 100 years ago. What happened to common terms in society like "accountability partners"? Why is it so hard to not only find one, but meet some who even understands the concept?

We become like the people we hang around. This is universal truth. We are all given free will. This is another universal truth. So that being said isn't it correct to say that we choose who we hang around in order to increase or decrease our integrity? You are where you are because thats where you want to be. You are president because you wanted to be. You are in your mobile home drinking beer watching the game because thats where you wanted to be. In the end you, I, and all the rest of the people of the world made decisions to get us where we are or are not in life.

It is what it is. What are we doing as an individual, a friend, a community, a town, a country, a world, to change it?

I miss what we were as a country. The little house on the prarie days, the 50's with Mrs Beaver, etc. When there were words in our vocabulary like, values, and heres one! VIRTUES! I have not heard that word in a sentence in years! Ask yourself why! PROTEST WHY!!!!! CRY OUT TO YOUR GOD WHY!!!! and lastly... Do something about it. And to do something about it requires change. Change where? Change WITHIN!

Step up to the plate folks. Make a choice, make a change, affect a generation. But I digress... Because I know I cannot push wet spaghetti uphill.