Let's Be Honest

As a yogi, you should always speak the truth—or should you?

By Sally Kempton

Standing in Truth

The root of the Sanskrit word satya is sat, which means "being." Your truth, your real truth, is revealed in any moment you are willing to stand unashamedly in your own being. Ultimately, that means recognizing what is in fact your deepest truth—the unvarnished awareness of the unspoken "I am." As you become more comfortable with your "beingness," it becomes progressively easier to distinguish between the instinct to speak a genuine truth and the compulsion to quickly blurt things out, to speak just to get something off your chest, or to speak just for the sake of being right. That said, almost all of us would benefit from calling ourselves to more rigor in our attitude toward truth.

Here are the basics in the practice of truthfulness: Pay attention to factual truth. Notice and make a point of calling yourself on the urge to conceal embarrassing facts, make yourself look better, justify mistakes, or run away from confrontation. When you notice yourself telling an untruth, acknowledge that you did it. As much as possible, make a point of not saying anything you know to be untrue.

As you learn how to catch your own characteristic patterns of untruth—both inner and outer—you will also begin to notice that sometimes truths need to be spoken, and other times remaining silent is an acceptable alternative. In other words, your commitment to truthfulness comes to include an authentic and trustworthy capacity for discriminating speech. Truth is a genuine teacher. When you decide to follow where it leads—constantly asking questions such as, What is my motive for speaking? Is it kind and necessary to say this? If not now, how will I know that it's right to say this?—the power of truth will show its subtleties as well as teach its wisdom. Patanjali says that through truthfulness we gain such a power that all our words turn out to be true. I don't believe that he means we become alchemists, able to turn the base metal of lies into the gold of reality just through our words. Instead, I believe that he is actually talking about the power to speak from inspiration—to hold firmly to the truth that is not only factual, but that illuminates, that can be received, and that reflects the deeper state within the heart.

Sally Kempton, also known as Durgananda, is an author, a meditation teacher, and the founder of the Dharana Institute. For more information, visit sallykempton.com.

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