…..IS KNOWING AND DOING WHAT IS RIGHT.
in·teg·ri·ty/inˈtegritē/
Noun:
1. adherence to
moral and ethical
principles;
soundness of moral
character; honesty.
2. the state of being
whole, entire, or
undiminished: to
preserve the integrity
of the empire.
Directions: After you see the Integrity videos, read the quotes below and pick two and write about what the
quote means to you and how you can apply Integrity to your life. (Provide an example of integrity)
Video Links: http://www.values.com/inspirational-stories-tv-spots/78-Reach &
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRkXYFuyi5U
“Those who stand for nothing fall for anything”
Alexander Hamilton
“Keep true, never be ashamed of doing right, decide
on what you think is right and stick to it” George Eliot
“Real Integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that
nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not”
Oprah Winfrey
“It takes less time to do a thing right than to explain
why you did it wrong” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Week 28
9th grade
1
Definition of Integrity
The Definition of Integrity is simple and complex. Like many words, it may appear simple in its first
scan. Dig below the surface and you will find that the Definition of Integrity has a deeper more
mystical meaning. A little like the word love. We use the word love with little thought as to exactly
what it evokes. And yet when we speak of love in the presence of love, everyone present knows it..
The word Integrity tends to be one of those overused words, bantered around with little thought to
its deeper meaning. Like love, when we speak, live, act, be in integrity, we are evoking the deepest
form of truth, a truth that defies reason.
The dictionary defines Integrity as..a noun
1. adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.
2. the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished: to preserve the integrity of the empire.a sound,
unimpaired, or perfect condition: the integrity of a ship's hull.(www.dictionary.com)
The origin of the word Integrity is from the late 1400, from the Latin, integritas..soundness, and
even deeper, from integer, =whole, complete. Uncorrupted virtue.
Integer has as its root the word Tag, which means touch. Integer is untouched, hence undivided,
whole. Integrity also has as a brother the word Integral.
The Definition of Integrity that I use as core to my work and life is about wholeness. For example,
pollution is “stuff out of integrity”. The stuff that makes up the components of pollution is not bad.
CO2 is not bad. Plastics and their derivatives are not bad. Plastics floating in the ocean is bad...out
of Integrity. Everything has a place and a use and a purpose. When something is in the wrong place
and being used for the wrong purpose, then it is out of integrity. When CO2 is in the right place,
being used for the right reasons, it is in Integrity. The trees rely on CO2.
At the level of mystical law, as humans evolve, the requirement for us to operate in Integrity gets
ever more important.
What does this mean? We are reaching a stage of developmental evolution where for the first time
our lives and our work are not simply about survival. Each of us has a particular purpose for being.
We may never truly know the full extent of our purpose. To live a life in full integrity is to live to the
whole degree for which we have been designed.
The Definition of Integrity as is applies to the postmodern human is to live their highest truth, their
highest wholeness. Destination truth. When this happens, we are in harmony with the Universe. We
aresinging our song.This does not mean that we also automatically live a life of wealth and fame.
For many years I have struggled with this paradox. With the belief that if I live my truth, do what is
spontaneously arousable within in me for the good of the highest number of people, the riches of
the world will open to me and I will be famous and wealthy. Wrong...the truth is that I will be
supported, that I will not go hungry. I will have sufficiency. And the lesson has been to get that this
is enough. Actually, it is everything. I have my love of my work, I am in alignment with the
Universe, I work with natural design, and I am cared for. All the other excess is simply my ego
wanting stuff!
Living in Integrity may mean that we spend our days caring for the poor, as did Mother Teresa. Or it
may mean that we are born into a very resource poor area and our life is about living with dignity
Week 28
9th grade
2
and grace within the environment. Or it may mean that we build fame and fortune, not for fame and
fortune,
but because they are precessional effects of living in Integrity. It is unique for each person, and part
of our journey is to uncover this.
When we look at the Definition of Integrity as it applies to the role models of our current and
historical world, the people who stand out are the ones that did not compromise their truth for the
temptations of the world. They knew the path that was theirs to walk and they walked it, sometimes
falling, always getting back up. They doubted and questioned and felt afraid and small..but they
stayed true.
Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, Jesus, Buddha, The Dali Lama, Mother Teresa, Aung San Sui Kyi,
Buckminster Fuller, plus a bunch of lesser known mortals who I hold as exemplars of Integrity.
David Martin,Caroline Myss,Lynne Twist,Cynthia McEwan,...actually most of my friends...
Applying this Definition of Integrity to the laws of stuff...nature has infinite wisdom in its design.
Fossil fuels were never meant to be used as the main supply of our energy system. They are our
back-up system, our reserves, our savings account. Each and every day we are bombarded with
more than enough energy from renewable resources than we could ever manage to use. Right now
because we have spent so much of our savings account of fossil fuels we are in extreme debt. And
this debt is reflected at multiple levels of our operating systems. Financial, environmental,
relational.
Spending what we do not have is living out of Integrity. And we know it. We knew it from the first
time we did it. That first credit card payment we made...too good to be true...we knew that it was
TOO good to be true...ie..not true. Yet everyone else was doing it...so off we went. A frenzy of
spending what we did not have, ever more in debt. Like addicts in a shopping mall.
Pollution is stuff out of place. When we take the definition of Integrity into consideration in all of our
actions, when we consider the wholeness and consequence of what we do, we simply have to design
the entire whole life cycle of what we are doing, into what we are doing, and therefore, putting the
by-product into use..or back into integrity.
The Definition of Integrity cannot be separated fromSynergy Apply the principle of Integrity and you
also apply the principle of Synergy, and vice-versa. They both have intrinsic wholeness.
How do we apply this definition of Integrity to our lives...?
As BuckyBucky said, simply commit yourself to what is true.
Easy to say, difficult to do. The path of becoming a conscious human is about being In Integrity.
Caroline Myss’s wonderful new book, Defy Gravity, speaks to this path in a beautiful way.
To get started..ask yourself these questions...
When do I know I am not living in my truth? (My heart-ache, my pain, my anger, my blame?)
Why do I continue to I lie to myself? (I will do X, and never do it.)
What parts of my life am I in denial about?
Week 28
9th grade
3
How much of my thinking, feeling, energy is directed into my past...to the failed relationships,
betrayals, emotional/physical and other violations to self? (when we have part of our energy in the
past, we are not WHOLE in the present and therefore out of Integrity.)
How much of my thinking/feeling/energy is in my future? In the projections of fear, pain, anxiety,
scarcity...? (Again, if part of me is in the future, I am not whole in the present, and therefore out of
Integrity.)
When do I stay in silence about things that I know without question are wrong?
To live the Definition of Integrity is a life’s work. The rewards...well...for those people interested in
freedom...it is the only way to be truly free. If you want more energy...this is the path. If you want
more joy, love, happiness....Integrity is it. If you want to live your truth, all of it, every last
drop...to suck the marrow out of life...Integrity is it.
When Integrity is the essence...life rocks.
See also Integrity Quotes, for more understanding of my application of the Definition of Integrity.
Website: http://www.positive-deviant.com/definition-of-integrity.html
*************************************************************************************
Activity Directions: Define what is Integrity is in your own words and provide examples of Integrity.
What is Integrity?
Week 28
9th grade
4