By following truthfulness, we will make progress and be a noble example to others searching for the way back to God, writes Sant Rajinder Singh
For those treading the spiritual path, truthfulness is one of the most important ethical virtues we need to inculcate. If we are following the spiritual path back to God, we need to develop all aspects of truthfulness. If we are to become a pure mirror to reflect God’s light, there must not be any stain or defect in the glass. Our thoughts, words, and deeds should be above board. As one of the great saints of the past century, Sant Kirpal Singh Ji, often said: “Truth is high, but higher than truth is true living.” By following truthfulness, we will make progress and be a noble example to others searching for the way back to God. Let us examine the various aspects of this trait and explore ways in which we can make it an integral part of our lives.
What are the factors that will instill in us the quality of truthfulness? We need to realise that while we may sometimes hide the truth from others, we cannot hide it from God. He is all-knowing, and He is watching us at all times. We may think that we are too insignificant for such an all-powerful and great God to worry about us, but He is aware of every living thing in creation — from the tiniest blade of grass to the large mammals that roam the planet. We cannot escape His ever-watchful eye. He is sitting within each living being. Knowing that He is always with us helps us realise that no matter what we do, no matter what we say, and no matter what we think, He is aware of it. We may try to hide the truth from others, but He is aware of all actions.
Truthfulness involves being able to be honest about our failings. We may hide our faults from others, but we should not hide them from ourselves. Trying to ignore our failings or trying to make excuses for our behaviour will not help us. No matter what we tell others to save our face, or to make ourselves look better than we are in the eyes of others, this is not going to help our spiritual development. If we want to make ourselves fit to enter the kingdom of God, we have to remove our stains and blemishes. Covering them with make-up does not make us beautiful, for God sees us the way we really are. We need to recognise our failings, admit them to ourselves, and then work on weeding them out.
We may dress up and try to look nice when we visit a doctor, but we know that when we go to him or her the doctor is interested in our blood pressure, our pulse, and our internal organs, and he or she looks beyond our physical appearance. We may look presentable when we go to our school and take exams, but we know that the teacher is interested in our results on the tests. Similarly, God wants to make us fit for entry into His abode. We may try to cover up our faults outwardly, but He is interested in our true spiritual nature. He is looking to help us remove the character traits that keep us from rising above consciousness. He is not concerned with our outward show of character. We may act polite and courteous, and we may boast about our achievements, but He looks beyond that. He knows our true condition. He is concerned with helping us correct those flaws that keep us from our spiritual goal. When we colour ourselves perfect, we have allowed our mind to dupe our soul. Our poor soul goes nowhere and our mind has succeeded in stopping our onward journey. If we can become aware of the mind’s deceptive play, we can take steps to overcome its tricks.
If we can honestly examine ourselves and criticise ourselves as we criticise others, we will find our faults and correct them. Recognising our faults is not a time for self-flagellation or to beat up ourselves. It is not meant for making us brood and worry. It is meant for us to see the faults, make a resolution to change, and start improving. Worrying and brooding and feeling guilty will not help. It will only waste our valuable time and take our attention away from the goal. We should admit freely to ourselves that we have made a mistake, realise that the mistake is a part of being human, and then make a plan to change so that we do not repeat the mistake. We must forgive and forget the actions of others, and we must forgive and forget our own actions once we recognise the mistake and correct it.
The longer we delay being truthful about our mistakes, the longer we delay our own progress. No one is watching us but ourselves and God within us. Similarly, whatever we do, we may hide from others, we may hide from ourselves, but we cannot hide those actions from God. We may present a beautiful face to the world, but God will see our true condition and will not allow us entry into the highest abode until we become spotless. We must be purified to reach His inner kingdom. The sooner we realise this, the better.
So let us resolve to develop the qualities of truthfulness. Let us be honest in all our dealings. Let us rid ourselves of deceit and hypocrisy. Let us earn our livelihood honestly. And let us be true to ourselves. We should honestly recognise our true condition so we can make the necessary improvements. If we can develop truthfulness, we will find that our inner progress will take a leap, and we will achieve our goal with greater speed. As an important exercise, let us observe the number of times we are untruthful each day. Note down the various shades of untruth we’ve been involved in during the day — lies, deceit, hypocrisy, and illegal gain. Also note the times we deceived ourselves by not recognising our own failings. Let us try to catch ourselves and replace untruths with truth. Try to reduce the number of times you are untruthful day by day. We will note its effect on our peace of mind.
The writer is a spiritual leader
