“we are each born with a spark of divinity. when this spark glows brightly, we experience our best and noblest aspects. we cooperate and are real for each other. this condition occurs instinctively during times of crisis, but it can be deliberately created to accomplish great work.

on the other hand, when the spark disappears we feel separation, and the egoistic and rapacious aspects of our nature appears. custom and pretense replace realness in our relationships. conflict, quarrels, fear, and mistrust become commonplace.

what determines if our spark of divinity glows brightly, sharing its lights and blessing with other divine sparks, or fades to black? Honesty. Honesty is the measure of our willingness for others to know our actions, our thoughts, our feelings, and our intentions. anything that reduces this willingness separates us further from source.

when we are dishonest, we project onto those around us the actions, thoughts, feelings, and intentions that we are reluctant to express. they , the others, become the cheaters, swindlers, robbers, liars, or cowards that we will not admit in ourselves. we deny the worst by projecting it into the world where some broken soul, desperate for any attention, acts out our secret. then we point an accusing finger and wash our hand of responsibility. we project onto the world our secret dishonesty, and it returns to us in the actions of strangers. self-deception is the source of social decay in the world. crime and violence have their beginnings in a denial of responsibility.

to protect our dishonesties from discovery, we shut ourselves off from the connection we have with other beings. of course, we shut ourselves off from  source as well. in place of dishonesty, there is pretense and identity. the door is closed. the cosmic gauge that measures wasted lifetimes creeps upward, but our innermost thoughts are safe. at such a cost! imprisoned by  our own secrets and numb to the pain we cause, we join the line of broken souls. no amount of punishing or humiliation is worse than the suffering we create for ourselves by being dishonest. if the world could only see.

but there is hope. if we drop the pretense and become really honest, something divine within us begins to awaken and grow. balance is restored by a sincere effort to repair the damage that was done. we cease to deceive and begin to live deliberately. freeing the attention fixed on our secrets empowers us to direct change and reshape lives. habits and addictions that held us powerless become manageable; illnesses and upsets are healed; trusting relationships can be established - just by becoming honest.

the solution is to begin to practice self-honesty from where i am.

i will exert my best effort to become less deceitful, to be more fair in my dealings, more sincere in my speech, more deserving of trust and MORE FORGIVING.

i can steer my own ship. i must!  for if i am not master of my course, i will never live in a word that reflects real integrity.

no one else can make the world honest.”

harry palmer in

“resurfacing: techniques for exploring consciousness”