What Now?

Call for Integrity and the Case for Meditation

Does integrity have any place here anymore? Are we going to need to go deeper again? What good will that do? Seriously, Patty…

We have never seen anything like this. What is our responsibility—to ourselves, our loved ones, our community, and the world? Are we willing to really take responsibility for our thoughts and actions, even when it demands greater commitment, diligence, and honesty with ourselves?

Are we ready to inquire deeply into the nature of life and what is unfolding here? Because that is what is needed to see the situation and take appropriate action. This is not going to be easy.

Integrity Is Yoga

Yes, we need integrity and we need to up integrity’s game to new levels. Integrity comes from the Latin integritas, meaning wholeness or completeness. It is:
— the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.
— the state of being whole, undivided, both in character and action.

Most of us strive to be good people, and we act with what we call integrity. But now we are being called to go deeper. Integrity itself requires further inquiry. We tend to think of integrity in terms of our actions, yet our actions stem from who we are. How we express ourselves in the world reflects our inner state. Are we sure we truly know what integrity means?

Integrity is fundamental to yoga. To embody it fully, we need to examine both our actions and especially the consciousness from which those actions arise. Who are we really? Can we be whole in the outer world if we are fractured within? You know the inner and outer reflect one another. Responsibility.

Who among us can honestly say, “Yes, I am whole and complete on the inside”?

Full integrity requires embodying and living the wholeness of who we are. And that requires actually knowing who we are. This is no small task. But even the effort to understand ourselves more deeply is a step toward wholeness.

Integrity in Action Is Rooted in Inner Clarity

Consciousness and action are part of the same continuum. We need to reunite the inner and the outer aspects of self into an unbroken whole. Unifying and harmonizing the inner and outer worlds requires consistent self-inquiry and meditation. There is no other way.

Now is the time to take real responsibility—yes for our actions, and for the person behind the action.

Clarity is unbelievably hard to find in the world right now. The chaos is massive. Even some of the most focused of us (ha! not me that’s for sure) have found the inner spaces of consciousness that used to offer refuge are now riddled with pockets of grief and fear. Love and truth haven’t disappeared, but they have retreated deep within, hidden beneath layers of density and horror.

We are experiencing a breakdown in organization, not only in the world but also within ourselves. The tough truth is this: the external chaos reflects our what is also true internally. I know it’s hard to hear. But before you say, “Not me!”, pause and think honestly. The chaos is not new in any of us. There is work to do and it is on every level. Unfortunately none of us is immune.

Yes, I know we’re all good people. We mean well. And yet, here we are. So, what will we do now?

Action is Required

Each of us has our own best work, what we can do to contribute. We need to find that and do it with renewed passion and direction. I am speaking for all of us, certainly myself included.

And, we need to do things differently. We need to dig deeper. This situation is not someone else’s fault or problem. It is all of ours. Have you noticed how chaotic and disorganized our response to what is happening has been? Who’s in charge here? I know it’s not me…I am feeling the pain, just like you.

Action is required in the world, but action without clarity leads to more chaos. Inner clarity strengthens outer action. Collectively, our intelligence and discernment have become muddled. We must change that.

It is our responsibility to refine our own inner state while choosing the most effective action we can, every single day. Yes, we are going to have to meditate.

Meditation Reveals Clarity

Wholistic inner vision, the knowledge of life’s interconnectedness, and direct experience of spacious intelligence fuels our ability to perform effective action in the world. The inward journey is necessary if we are to do our best—to use appropriate means and to act with integrity.

There are no shortcuts. Inner clarity is the foundation of strength in action.

It takes courage to commit to excavating the confusion and incessant self-involvement that clouds our minds. But meditation clears the way, helping us find the clarity that already exists within us. Meditation is only the inward stroke — we go inward not to simply dissolve into bliss (good luck). For god sakes, I am not saying stay home and meditate all day! We go inward to be strong and clear in our actions.

In meditation we are invited into direct communication with more refined and pleasurable layers of consciousness. This feels good. In feeling good, our nervous systems can take rest. Deep rest. Unusually deep rest. The levels of rest and release that can be found in meditation are unrivaled by anything that we experience in sleep. It’s just so.

As we meditate — using skillful means — the nervous system and the thinking mind drop into an experience of comfort that is only found at the subtle levels of consciousness. The body and mind sigh with relief. The power of the restfulness inspires deeply held knots of tension that have become locked inside to quite spontaneously begin to release. These often forgotten pockets of resistance and tension, when built up over years and years, can finally begin to let go their hold.

Regular meditation is supportive of clearing — excavating — the muck and debris that in effect clouds our awareness.

Even a few minutes of deep inner exploration each day can be profoundly helpful. A skillful method of inward journeying allows us to bypass the sleeping elephants of self-involvement and touch the very core of life itself. As we go deeper, we uncover the subtle, beautiful aspects of life—love, wisdom, and true understanding—waiting to be freed.

Take Action in the Outer World—Do Your Best

Bring your deepened understanding into all that you do. And do act! Without regular access to this inner reservoir—our knowing, our compassion, our love—we remain untethered, flailing on the surface of life. But when we cultivate inner reserves, we fuel our most skillful action in the world.

Love, intelligence, and benevolence are hidden now, but they are not gone. We must do the work to free them once again. And that work begins in our own consciousness.

We need to meditate.
We need to visit these inner layers every day.
We need to emerge strong.
Our lives depend on it.

Choose well. Do your work. Do it well. And as you do, continue to delve deeper into what you do not yet know.

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