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Honesty

Honesty

Last updated on: March 1, 2012 at 3:27 am by chrisjohnson

Honesty 2012-03-01T03:27:05+00:00 chrisjohnson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

By Bruce Adams

Have you noticed that there appears to be a growing mistrust in this world. According to a recent poll conducted by The New York Times and CBS, Americans have such a strong mistrust of the government, the poll suggests, almost 90 percent of Americans do not trust government to do the right thing. On a global scale, it is becoming nearly impossible to watch the news without hearing of some business executive, government official, or a religious leader being investigated or charged with some form of corruption.

When I was a kid, I was naive enough to believe basic honesty was an ideal that was more common than not. I also believed, there were laws in place to protect the public, such as laws against false claims and false advertizing. What I discovered through years of observation was, those laws were either non existent, unenforced or totally overlooked.

According to the FDA, there are many companies that not only violate federal laws but also use misleading” product labels to cover their actions.

So which is it? Is honesty a common or a rare attribute accepted and demonstrated by most people in this world? To answer that question we must first define honesty and what is really means to be honest. To some, there is only black and white, others however, hold to the belief that there are grey areas.

To get an idea of how this has come to be or which is true, perhaps it would be good to start with a definition of the word.

The following are a few of the definitions I found on the internet.

Honesty:

1.the quality or fact of being honest; uprightness and fairness.

2. truthfulness, sincerity, or frankness.

3. freedom from deceit or fraud.

4. sincere; frank: an honest face.

If we define honesty as being free from deceit or fraud as a true definition, then it follows, anything other than total transparency, would have to fall into the category of dishonesty/lying.

Like the word honesty, the word lie, appears to have many interpretations. The following is a broad definition.

To lie is to; hold something which one knows is not the whole truth to be the whole truth, intentionally.

Although many believe they are basically honest, if total transparency was used as a standard, most people would find there are instances where they lie from time to time. As a matter of fact, lying has become so common place in our world today, there are in actually different categories and ways to describe our lies.

The following are just a few of the descriptions I found.

1.Contextual lie: A contextual lie is where a part of truth is stated out of context, knowing that without complete information, it gives a false impression.

2.Economy with the truth: Economy with the truth is popularly used as a euphemism for deceit, whether by volunteering false information (i.e., lying) or by deliberately holding back relevant facts. More literally, it describes a careful use of facts so as not to reveal too much information, as in speaking carefully.

3.Lying by omission: Also known as a continuing misrepresentation, a lie by omission occurs when an important fact is left out in order to foster a misconception. Lying by omission includes failures to correct pre-existing misconceptions.

4.White lie: White lies are minor lies which could be considered to be harmless, or even beneficial, in the long term.

As child, I was often conflicted with the mixed messages I received regarding honesty and lying. On one hand, I was told, your word was/is the most important thing you have in this world and you should always be 100 % honest. On the other hand, I was also told, there are times when it is O.K. to tell a white lie if it was to protect someone’s feelings.

In Prophet or Madman, a book I wrote that explores many of the myths and reality of creation, I put forth the following question. “Why are the rules different for different people?” Anyone who uses their logical mind would assume that the rules should apply to everyone equally if God is in fact a fair and just God.

To get a deeper understanding of things, I would like to address one of the most misunderstood concepts or beliefs that exists in this world. What I am referring to is, the belief in judgment.A common belief held by many traditions, is the belief that there is some outside deity or God that will judge us and than dole out our reward or punishment. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. Knowing this is why Jesus was so explicit about there being no one but your spiritual self that will judge you.

According to Jesus, The Father (that which created creation), will never judge you. He also added, he was not in this world to judge anyone but to save them. What he endeavored to teach was, although there is no judgement regarding our actions there are consequences.

Although at first this may sound confusing or hard to believe, with a greater understanding you will discover the perfection of a system based on consequences rather than reward and punishment.

That said, I would like to now point out that only through total honesty are you free from experiencing the consequences of your thoughts and actions. Similar to the creative force that gets put into play from our judgements, any thought that is a forethought based on self-interest will lead to dishonesty. This in turn will continue a self created perceived separation from God.

Again this was understood by Christ and why he said;

But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost Mark 13:11

In terms of the “Now Moment” as experienced from the quantum view, only those who are free of all thoughts of deception are able to see the REAL TRUTH.

In closing I wish to end with a Zen saying that is vitally important to all.

“The giver is the receiver.”

No one can escape experiencing their thoughts. More importantly, our thoughts can continue to bind us to illusions based on our fears or they can serve to free us and bring about the peace many claim they are seeking.

Regardless of your path or what religion you practice, if you wish to awaken yourself and live awakened in this world you may find yourself reinterpreting your view of reality itself!

More to come…

Love and Light,

Brother Bruce

Prophet or Madman