On Honesty:
Yesterday’s post touched on Harry Frankfurt’s essay “On Bullshit”.
The opposite of bullshit, of course is honesty.
Honesty is hugely underrated. Honesty burns away deception, including self-deception. Deception is the source of suffering, both for the deceiver and the deceived. And therefore the alleviation of deception results in the alleviation of suffering.
Peter Ralston would always talk about “adopting a principle of honesty”. It means creating a possibility in our experience, for being honest at all times.
Sometimes we think we are being honest, but really we are using a front of honesty in order to manipulate, to get what we want. This is not true honesty.
Honesty is truly and genuinely being what we are — after tossing out the lies, the distortion, the deviation, the deception, the hiding, the insecurity and the bullshit.