Since we commit ourselves, in our code of ethics, to RESPECT FOR ONE’S OWN INTEGRITY AND THE INTEGRITY OF THIS WORK, let us get some clarity on this concept.

I looked up quotations from writers throughout history to see what is the common use of the word. It usually has been defined as acting according to one’s beliefs, or being consistent in professing what one believes.  That must have been the understanding Samuel Johnson had when he wrote: “integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.”

I find it difficult to think that integrity can be weak and useless. Surely it has to be more than being ‘true’ to your beliefs, for our beliefs can be lies, though it would surely include this.

When I was a child I was taught: always follow your conscience, no matter who says otherwise, even if it’s the pope. As a seven or eight year old, I felt proud to know that my conscience had that kind of authority.

But, I was told, your conscience needs to be mature and well educated. You have an obligation to educate it. You need to listen to what great teachers and authorities say. But you have to decide for yourself what is right.

Conscience = con-science, and from the Latin derivation, means: "with knowing". Conscience is not just beliefs. Beliefs change. My beliefs about myself change. My beliefs about what is best for life change.  Still I must be faithful to what I believe now.

Integrity is being true to your beliefs; it is also that our beliefs are true to our self, to our knowing. It is not enough to live according to our beliefs. Our beliefs need to be congruent with our whole life; and they need to support life. We need to be willing to examine our beliefs. What is the truth?

Socrates is supposed to have said: “the unexamined life is not worth living.” He called himself the midwife of truth, helping people give birth to fuller awareness and truth. The popular teachers of the time were the Sophists. They were skilled in argument dedicated to defending their beliefs and convincing others of them, as well as in teaching their students how to defend their own beliefs..

Socrates claimed no authority to teach. He enjoyed questioning others, openly challenging peoples’ beliefs and prejudices so that they could examine them and find out what they really believed. He questioned the common beliefs of society and its teachers and politicians to expose falsehood.

Having all one’s beliefs put in question is a risky thing, especially if one does not have a passion for truth,  and Socrates regarded passion for truth as a necessity.

Causing other peoples’ beliefs to be put in question is a dangerous thing if they don’t have a passion for the truth. That's why Socrates was sentenced to death. He did not believe what society determined he should believe.

So much of our belief system is what we were told to believe; it’s not ours. There are popular beliefs that are not life-giving, but rather harmful.

So if integrity is being true to our beliefs, it had better be to our own beliefs, the beliefs that we own. We had better find out what we believe, and examine our beliefs to determine if they really are life-giving, or merely based on fear and insecurity.

We could allow our current beliefs to be put in question so we can examine them. That is not the self-doubt that undermines our free choices; it is a willingness for the truth that is based in self assurance and attunement. So integrity includes being true to one’s beliefs and a passion for truth.

The “real self” message of Avoidance #5 is: “communicate with others in reflective dialogue.”  That would mean a passion for truth. The avoidance is to look for more information to support our insecure belief systems. It would be better to read books that challenge and test our beliefs and to converse with others who have our well being (and the truth) at heart.

Integrity is indeed being true to our beliefs, acting according to our beliefs. On a deeper level, it is having our beliefs true to our self.

Our beliefs live in our left brain and manifest in the world. Our expanded awareness lives in our right brain. And, you know, our brain is not just in our head. Our “one brain” integration ( metaphorically) lives in our heart.

To me, integrity is oneness of Being, Knowing and Doing. To the degree we are being who we are, knowing our truth and doing this truth, we are a person of integrity.

To me, what we do at Three in One is the holiest of conversations. I am in utter awe at the power of the work, and its simplicity. It is a work on its own, and really not like anything else. In its fullness, it does not fit as part of some greater system. I have a difficult time with any effort to make it popular or generally acceptable. To me it feels like I have to sell our soul for it to be acceptable. This work works for everyone and anyone, anyone, that is, who has a passion for truth.

We catch ourselves telling lies. We believe something, we say it aloud and it’s not real. And we know we lied. That’s a belief we can change.

I know when someone is lying to me or about me; it’s just a matter of attunement.  I feel the separation. It feels hard and violent. We have to harden our heart to lie. I can’t stop others’ lies.  I can only be patient, as Ruth advised us in her song last night. I can stop my own lies, especially my lies to myself.

It’s good to remember that, if we are talking about someone and are angry or afraid, we will be lying about that person. That’s a fact.  The only thing to do is to defuse the self-doubt holding us in the anger and fear. Take your anger to the person you’re angry at, not to others. Or stop it.

The US Army Intelligence and Security Command directed a study in 1993. White blood cells were scraped from the mouth of a volunteer. They were centrifuged and put in a test tube. A probe connected to a polygraph machine was put in the test tube. The donor was shown videos with scenes of fighting and killing. When he saw violent scenes, the polygraph recorded extreme excitation–even at 50 miles distance apart and two days after donation of the cells. If a few cells have that kind of connection to the body, what is the connection we have with each other, all over the world. Let it be a connection that fosters oneness and not separation.

Lies are all about fear and insecurity–self-doubt.  In a session we discover our lies. What a blessing that is. And when we don’t want to have sessions, it’s just that we don’t want to discover our lies.

What kind of sessions do we have? Is the ego playing make believe? Or is it the real self in its passion for truth? We do our share of both, I suppose.

My attention is caught by  students doing a defusion in an advanced class. I know ego has made the arms lie. I know this creates a conflict in the belief system. That has to be dealt with. The desire for truth will eventually have its way. Even when we make our arms lie, it moves us toward the truth. We catch our self in the lie–and we get better.

It works the same way for our students and clients. It works best if they catch themselves in their lies. When they find out that their beliefs are not working for them, are not life-giving, they can change them. The individual is the authority of their own life. They need to own their own belief.

A session is the worst place to be playing God or spiritual guru. We want our students to get better. But what is better for them? Do we want them to have significant changes so they’ll value our sessions? But do they want changes? Do they need changes?

I suggest that what they want is acceptance and respect for who they are. They want to be listened to, not told. And we have excellent tools to listen to them and help them listen to themselves. They want what we want–their self-trust, their self acceptance, their self-worth. They need their self-trust and self-acceptance and self-worth. That can only come from themselves.

When we tell them what’s right for them, when we give them what we think are inspired messages from other dimensions, we rob them of the best that Three In One Concepts can offer.

What Three In One offers students and clients is an opportunity to move from self-doubt to more self-trust, more self-acceptance and more sense of self-worth. When they trust their own knowing, when they realise that they have found their own solution–with as little help as possible from us, we have done them the greatest service. We only told them what their arms are saying. They found their own way.