Integrity over Popularity
Taking integrity over popularity is surely the way to regain peace. Honest living bestows upon us serenity and lightness of heart. A simple refusal to either project ourselves as great or seek such an image in others’ eyes can spiral us upward towards the experience of harmony and bliss. This will be so despite many limitations and shortcomings in us.
A certain amount of (psychological) insecurity leads to making false promises or pretending. The lies then create more insecurity. The vicious circle soon becomes a veritable quicksand in which any effort then tends to make us sink more. The society – including friends and relatives – seem to put pressures upon us. We are afraid that, if we change, it will jeopardize the lives of those who depend on us. We also have the fear that those on whom we depend might reject us! Where is the way out?
We ought to shed all fears and face the reality of life. Fear is death indeed. We hardly live, when fear becomes a long-term guest in our bosom. Fear saps our energy; it cripples us.
Popularity is a hollow affair. It is of no true value indeed. It is a mirage that holds no water. To delight in it is stupidity and to seek it is a sure sign of ignorance. Popularity without true merit is as useless and harmful, as having people think we are very fit while we are actually sick and suffering.
Our aim should be to live a true life of substance. We should be made of real stuff. Integrity is like good health: we enjoy it irrespective of whether people recognize it or not.
Of course, living rightly should be neither just a wordy affair nor a matter of blaming others for the obstacles they put on our path. We would do better if we silently work on our own daily living. We have to relate with others with a lot of patience and perseverance. Hasty judgments and a tendency to shirk responsibility can leave us in mere concepts. Let alone victory, the battle has not begun then!
Swami Chidananda
Saturday, March 5, 2005