Honesty and Morality
If one is of the impression that he is alone in his universe and that all other creations are only accessories to allow him to carry on his life, why would he care about honesty, legitimacy, faithfulness and other such noble sentiments?
The answer to this question is easy: everything you do is for your own selfish benefit. Basically one can argue, with sense, that nobody ever did anything for anybody else. Every act is in satisfaction of your own needs. Helping others has nothing to do with your generosity. For the sake of this chapter, consider yourself as perfectly selfish.
You do what you do because you feel an urge to do it. You do it out of love? It’s great. Love is a wonderful feeling and you want to preserve it unspoiled. It's good for you. There is no difference in doing something out of love, out of hate, out of guilt, out of vengeance, out of survival needs or for any other reason.
You are acting with generosity? It’s good, don't alter your behavior. You do it in response to a need that has manifested itself into your organism. You feel an urge to do something worthy for any kind of reason? Do it. Every positive quality you develop and every positive action you perform contributes to a better life for you. Negative qualities and negative actions tend to poison your life and make you more miserable. Go for the positive choice.
Let’s pause and ask: why are so many "good" people so unhappy? The answer: Some feel trapped in a state of mind they can't alter or escape. They need a serious reshuffling of the mind. Blockages must be dissolved first. The very basis on which the barriers stand must be smashed using the ideas offered in this book… or elsewhere.
People who are unhappy are trapped in the learning process. The lesson that life is teaching them is not sinking in. Unfortunately for them, life is a very strict teacher. The school master will keep you in the situation you are in until you understand the lesson, accept it and put it to good use. Acting as a very dedicated teacher, he will continue teaching the same lesson till you master it.
Honesty is a great value. Nevertheless occasions can occur where you should rather lie than tell the truth. Truth is just like reality. Your truth, placed in someone else's mind, could prove false. There is more, however; imagine yourself – so perfectly honest – in the following situation: If you tell the truth to your friend, he will be devastated forever. He will surely go into a deep depression that will probably lead him to commit suicide. On the other hand, if you lie, there are no adverse effects. Your lying to your friend will prejudice nobody. Lying will make you feel bad, unethical and will go against all your principles, your morality and your religion. Life is testing you. What do you do?
I am absolutely sure of what I would do in such situation. I'm a very practical person confronted with a practical problem. The benefit of lying much overweighs the inconveniences of telling the truth. Though I hate lying and avoid it because it is against my nature, I would act contrary to my basic principles, morality and normal behavior. Friendship requires that I stand ready to do something that will hurt me in order to help my friend. I would feel torn and devastated for a while but not on the long run for I would have done what was sensible and right in the circumstances. There is a principle that supersedes all other factors in such situation. When facing a problem of this kind, I revert to my own judgment and conscience. It becomes obvious to me that the best thing to do is to refrain from saying a truth that would create so much damage while, on the other hand, the lie I have to utter would remain without consequence.
What I just so awkwardly expressed above is the basis of morality. We are imperfect learning entities. Mother Nature has created problems for us to solve.
Mother Nature doesn't expect us to be perfect. She only requires that we show good judgment and act the best we can in difficult situations. You are in a position to devastate a friend or devastate yourself or… cope and make the best of a situation. Don’t be shocked by my decision – I’m not violating a moral principle, I am acting in the best interests of all concerned and that is exactly what should prevail. If you ponder the situation you will find many occasions in life where you will be placed in a difficult situation. You will have to choose between honesty, fidelity, stubbornness, love and what not. The problem then is real. The Master wants to know what you are ready to do in the circumstances he created specially for you. If a lie would save the life of the person you love most on earth while being convinced it would have no adverse effect on anybody else, would you express it? If the answer is no I am not sure you can differentiate good and bad and I beg you to devote more efforts to understand the extraordinary lesson life is trying to teach you. If you think that Mother Nature is asking you to choose between killing your child or lie, lie because Nature is only testing your understanding of your role.
Do your best in life and don't expect perfection from yourself or others. Don't poison your life with trivial things. Forgive yourself and forgive others for not being perfect. You will never reach perfection on earth. For such a high goal you will have to switch to a different college.