Honor – Standing With Your Convictions
The third white lotus code is “Honor. I will stand with the truth and my convictions.” Last month we talked about how telling the whole truth is part of true honor. This month we will talk about living by one’s convictions – when we do this it is called “integrity.” A conviction is something you believe to be true – it can be a philosophy or a deeply held belief, and it generally impacts the way we live. For example a person may believe that one should never drink alcohol (teetotaler), another believes that it is okay to drink but not get drunk (moderation), and though not as often, you may even find someone whose philosophy is anything goes (hedonism) and you can drink as much as you want regardless of consequences. Any of these three positions if held firmly by an individual is a “conviction.”
We have convictions in almost every area of life – from politics, spiritual beliefs, the purpose of life, and how we treat others. There are many specific convictions you have or will develop – what is good music, what is marriage, abortion, the death penalty, universal health care, what is a healthy diet, how much should you exercise, and the list goes on to pretty much everything in life.
There is a lot to be gained when two people of different convictions on an issue can rationally and respectfully try to persuade each other. One may change their mind or sharpen their own convictions. However I am not attempting to change your mind with this blog about any particular conviction, but only that you should develop your convictions and then live by them. Because even if we don’t agree with someone else’s beliefs, we acknowledge that if they are living by what they believe they are honoring themselves and their view point.
When people don’t live by their convictions we call that hypocrisy. So in our first example, if someone believes that they should drink alcohol in moderation and they go out and get blasted drunk, then they are being hypocritical to their values. Our goal as a Pai Lum warrior is to do the opposite of that – to live by the values we believe. Then we will have integrity and respect ourselves. Then we will live by honor.
