May 22, 2023
Integrity and sincerity are not technical skills that can be acquired, they are spiritual qualities that manifest themselves when the covering veils are removed. Neither wholeness nor sincerity can be fashioned by human effort — it is human effort that veils them! The man who tries to be sincere is insincere, no matter how "sincere" his efforts may be! One who is sincere, does not have to try — and this applies to integrity too.
The self, the ego, veils the wholeness that remains forever untouched in the heart of all beings. The self is the flaw which the self itself endeavors to mask by inventing what appear to be clever systems and marvelous organizations. These latter are twice removed from the truth, which is beyond the self.
One may or may not believe in God or what has come to be called religion. But it is clear that as long as the self rules life there can be no peace, happiness, welfare, wholeness or sincerity.
Simplicity, goodness, integrity, sincerity and other divine qualities are gifts of God — they cannot be acquired. They manifest when one surrenders the self in loving devotion to the divine.