Reflections on Thirukkural 664: Integrity - Success Beyond Success

“Easy it is, to say; rare it is

the ability to do what one says.” (Thiruvalluvar)

This verse serves as a strong reminder that while talking is easy, living with integrity is rare and requires committed action. Although it’s simple to preach, truly mastering integrity in our daily lives can be quite challenging. This article explores the various dimensions of integrity.

Integrity, as defined by Oxford Languages, is 'the state of being whole and undivided' and 'the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.' To me, integrity means aligning our thoughts, actions, and words with our deepest values, especially in difficult situations or when no one is watching. It’s about being true to ourselves, practicing what we preach, and walking the talk. When we act as a unified whole, free from internal contradictions, our thoughts, words, and actions are in harmony. This consistency allows others to trust us, knowing we follow through on our commitments, remain dependable, and act with sincerity in both personal and professional settings.

Integrity manifests in various contexts, from the professional to the personal, and even in moments when no one is watching. Here are three examples of integrity in these areas:

1. Workplace: A manager admits to making a mistake on a project rather than blaming their team. By acknowledging their error, they demonstrate accountability and set an example for others to take responsibility for their actions.

2. Friendship: A person keeps a friend's secret, even when pressured by others to reveal it. This shows loyalty and respect for the trust that was placed in them.

3. Personal Life: In moments of introspection, a person practices integrity by not entertaining thoughts that conflict with their core values. They strive for internal consistency, ensuring that their values, thoughts, and actions are aligned, even in their private reflections.

In Conscious Business, Fred Kofman defines integrity as the alignment between our behaviors and values. Every action involves both outcome orientation and process orientation. Outcome orientation focuses on achieving a desired result, measuring success by how well our actual and intended outcomes align. In contrast, process orientation emphasizes how we conduct our actions. The true measure of integrity reflects the alignment between how we conduct these actions and our core values. This alignment represents what Kofman calls "success beyond success."

While achieving success is important, winning is not the only thing that matters. Success is never guaranteed, as many external factors lie beyond our control. However, we always have the choice to act in alignment with our essential values, which brings strength, inner peace, and self-confidence. Integrity empowers us to express who we truly are and what we value most. By embodying our highest values - such as love, compassion, kindness, commitment, gratitude, generosity, peace, joy, and openness - in every action, we become a beneficial presence in society. We might not always achieve our outcome goals, but we can consistently fulfill our process goals. This is what constitutes success beyond success.

In The Ultimate Coach, Steve Hardison is portrayed as the embodiment of integrity and commitment: “If Steve says he is going to do something, he does it! It is his cardinal principle. He lives it. He breathes it.” While no one is perfect, when Steve makes a commitment, the chances are extremely high that he will follow through. If for some reason he doesn't, he takes responsibility and makes it right as soon as possible. What he says matters. Being our word - doing what we say we will do - creates power. Things get done, and efficiency soars. Hardison observes, “Most people speak like they are printing paper money. They throw out words as if they don’t mean anything. The more they speak, the less valuable their word becomes because they’re flooding the market with words that have no backing. We live in a verbally inflationary world.” In contrast, being your word means speaking as if “gold bars are coming out of your mouth.” When you are your word, people can count on your words as if they are real. Steve also emphasizes that integrity goes beyond walking the talk. Ontological integrity is about the consistency of being; it’s not only about doing what you said you would do but also about living in alignment with who you truly are at your core in every situation.

In The New Leadership Paradigm, Richard Barrett asserts that integrity is an essential component of trust, demonstrated through honesty, fairness, and authenticity. He identifies the principal components of trust as character and competence. Character reflects who we are on the inside - our intent and the level of integrity we display in relationships. Competence, on the other hand, reflects how we operate on the outside - our capability and the results we achieve. While competence focuses on achieving results, character is about how we achieve them. Barrett emphasizes that “the focus on character is more important because these qualities are required for bonding and are much more difficult to develop. Selecting candidates with these qualities should be a priority.” Trust accelerates a team's ability to accomplish tasks and removes unnecessary bureaucracy from communication; it is “the glue that holds people together and the lubricant that allows energy and passion to flow.”

Dr. Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani often emphasizes that being ourselves is energy efficient. When we pretend to be someone we’re not - living out of alignment with our core values - we expend unnecessary energy. By fully embracing and living in harmony with who we are, we not only feel comfortable and at ease but also conserve energy, experiencing greater peace and vitality.

In Being Love, BK Shivani encourages us to integrate our values into our actions by creating a ‘to-be’ list alongside the more common ‘to-do’ list. For instance, if we value kindness, we must actively embody this quality in our daily actions; otherwise, we cannot cultivate the habit of kindness. Each morning, we should reflect on how we plan to BE throughout the day while performing the tasks we want to DO. She emphasizes, “We need a ‘to-be’ list. We are not human ‘doings’ but human beings. Human beings who are doing things.” By expressing our values in the doing, bringing our ‘being’ into ‘doing,’ we can truly experience the depth of our being.

🧘‍♂️🧘‍♀️🟠🧩 The Yoga we teach at Stillness Does is a practice of wholeness and integration, transcending mere physical exercise. Rooted in the moral and ethical values (Yama and Niyama) articulated by Maharishi Patanjali, the Gitananda Yoga tradition encompasses all aspects of Yoga: Asanas (body postures), Kriyas (systematic movements), Pranayamas (breath-energy controls), Mudras (gestures of energy), Jnana and Raja Yoga Prakriyas (visualization, relaxation, polarity techniques), and Laya Yoga (techniques of energy sublimation).

We cultivate wholeness on the mat by aligning our mind, bodily actions, and energy. We harmonize the functions of the left and right cerebral hemispheres, enhancing their effectiveness and improving communication between them. We align the gross, subtle, and causal levels of our existence. By embodying this sense of wholeness on the mat, we bring greater awareness and integrity off the mat, carrying this feeling of completeness into our every action and interaction.

🛠️📋 Finally, let’s explore how we can put this into practice:

1. Reflect on what is most important to you, and act in alignment with it, moment by moment. Consider: What truly matters to you? How can you honor this in your everyday life? Which essential value will you commit to nurturing today? What do you seek through success that holds even greater significance than success itself?

2. Choose to be your word - what you say, you mean, and what you say, you do, because that’s who you are. For one week, keep track of every instance where you followed through or didn’t on what you said.

3. Create a 'to-be' list (What values do you stand for in your actions?) alongside your usual 'to-do' list (What do you want to create?).

4. Practice Pranava Pranayama from the Gitananda Yoga tradition, which unites mind, body, breath, and sound to experience integrity firsthand. This practice cultivates the integration of all sections of the lungs and harmonizes the lower, mid, and upper parts of our body, as well as the reptilian, mammalian, and human aspects of our nervous system. Ultimately, it aligns the gross (Anandamaya Kosha), subtle (Pranamaya, Manomaya, and Vijnamaya Koshas), and causal (Anandamaya Kosha) levels of our existence.

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📚✍️Written over 2000 years ago in Tamil Nadu, the Thirukkural offers timeless wisdom on the art of living through its 133 chapters, each containing profound insights on life. For English translations, I use both Dr. M. Rajaram's 'Thirukkural – Pearls of Inspiration' (Rupa Publications) and Kannan’s translation available at thirukkural133.wordpress.com .

This translation of Thirukkural 664 comes from Kannan. Dr. M. Rajaram’s translation of the same verse is as follows: "It is always easy to preach something But hard to practice the same thing".