The Wisdom of Honesty

The Watercooler
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Hi there,

I feel original wisdom is not some kind of view about life or about phenomena. The wisdom that frees the heart is not different from what we call honesty, uprightness, sincerity, truthfulness, genuinely. The ability, the power to be brutally honest to oneself. Like looking in a mirror and just see. No pretention, no looking away from what you see, no embellishing, no hiding stuff…you see.

The freeing wisdom of the heart is not some special insight, not some idea, not some doctrine, not something read, something learned, something developed, something heard. The wisdom of the heart is more like the ability of being sensitive, non-protective, the capacity to really seeing things as they are. Seeing things as they are in a totally open, honest way. Not faking anything. Honest to the bone.

I really feel, there is no greater quality then this uprightness, sincerity, truthfulness, honesty.
It is not different from wisdom itself. That is what i have finally understood.
And if this sincerity lack, all lacks. Without sincerity there is no Noble Path, i believe. How knowledgable and wise one might seem, and well spoken, without sincerity one cannot be a noble, i feel.

Being brutally honest to oneself. As if oneself looks into a mirror which reveals all nakedly as it is and still not be scared by it. I believe that way one cannot be lost. This way one is always on the noble Path, i believe. Regardless of ones views and regardless of being a christian, buddhist, jew, muslim.
But without sincerity one is lost, even if one is a buddhist and has adopted all right views. Thats my opinion :slight_smile:

The light of this uprightness, of being genuine, will lead one and burn away anything that is anatta, not upright, not authentic, not sincere, alien, not truthful. This light we all have.

In this sense i also do not believe that we must have some correct worldview of rebirth and being trapped in endless samsara. If we have all right views but no uprightness, no sincerity towards ourselves and others, what are all those socalled right views good for?

No, always leading is the light of sincerity, uprightness. That is the real power of wisdom.
That is what it really means to see things as they are.

Buddha says that friendship with a noble is the whole spiritual life. Yes, i believe this refers to the great quality of the nobles to be brutally honest, upright, genuine. They have ended all self-deception. They have had a carreer of being honest. That is what really counts to progress.

This Noble path is not buddhist. This is the universal Noble Path.

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Yes. Honesty and self-insight are foundational to learning. But in the company of like companions… more Dhamma becomes clear.
Isn’t this the story of Moggallana and Sariputta?
Given enough time all honest roads lead to the 8 fold path - which may or may not be identified as the Buddha’s doctrine. According to the Buddha :hugs::face_with_peeking_eye:

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I read a book about a Catholic nun and the similarities of her efforts to “our” efforts/ beliefs struck me! I suddenly felt and saw so deeply that all this looking for differences between religions is so unnecessary.
Every person who sincerely follows a religion needs to start with honesty, compassion and kindness. Mix in some seclusion and refraining from indulgence and deep insight follows. Some people do this in the name of God/Jesus, others for Buddha etc.

This filled me with so much calmness and reassurance that we are all “on the right path” and it deepened the joy of my practice… :smiling_face:

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While we are all on the same “journey,” the amount and duration of suffering is something we have influence over. Sometimes, we are not on the right path and need some help.

Out of compassion for that, the Buddha was exacting when it came to specifics and the 8 Fold Path is a specific set of practices/views that he qualified with “right” and “wrong” presumably for that reason.

How lucky we are to have stumbled upon them!

Holding those distinctions,
for only that same reason - compassion,
and with that sense of giftedness…
is difficult for those not freed of taints.

This is why we say “thus I have heard,”
and our Christian friends encourage themselves to be mindful of “entertaining angels unaware.”
The Dhamma has a life of its own and an interesting relationship with dishonesty and arrogance.