Honesty

It seems to me that we have lost our true voices. For us, moments of truth are rare and memorable occasions. That’s what we call them, right? “The moment of truth.” THE moment of truth. As if truth were something that happened only once in a great while. Isn’t truth happening all the time? How could it not be?

It’s not dishonesty in the usual sense of the word that occupies us. It’s a constant posing, a continuous adjusting of our presentation and behavior to the expectations of others. This is what we learn to do in life. Accustomed as I am to all the posing that I do, I don’t expect Maharaji’s honesty. It takes some getting used to. At some point, it dawns on me. He isn’t posing. He is who he is. He’s not afraid to say it. He’s not afraid to be it. This is very rare.

Passionate admiration comes in my moment of truth – the recognition that I hunger and thirst for that honesty, that I have been looking for it all my life. It’s music to my ears. How does he know me so well? I don’t mean “when he starts talking about being stopped on the highway by a cop, how does he know that it happened to me driving to the airport that morning?” I mean “how does he know me?” Not Steve Kowarsky. Me. No one else knows me that way. But I know the answer: because he knows himself. As Emerson said, "To believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men - that is genius."

His honesty is not brutal. It’s the very opposite of brutal. It’s refreshing, revitalizing, inspiring. “Brutal honesty” is a strange and unhappy phrase. Why brutal? Who wants to be honest if it means being brutal? Is it because, as we also say, “the truth hurts?” Somehow, we can all relate to that. I guess that life could really be that way. Lucky for us, it isn’t. The real truth doesn’t hurt. It comforts. It supports. It’s beautiful. Not the simulated comfort of verbal reassurance, “It’s OK.” The real comfort is that the truth we tend to avoid is the very thing we want and need most. Slow down, for starters. Stop, even. Turn around. Take a look. Take a good look. No hurry. You’ve done enough hurrying. Just slow down a little.