The Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to Your True Self

by Martha Beck

Now consider this thought: “I can fix everything that upsets me by destroying my enemies.” Write the thought down, if you like. Then put it under the microscope. Ask the questions you learned in the last chapter for puncturing any mental error: Are you sure you can fix this situation by destroying your enemies? Can you absolutely know that thought (“I can fix this by destroying my enemies”) is true? If you remember how defensive you felt about receiving your very own letter to your “monsters,” you’ll see that just attacking, with no other intention, can only escalate mental and perhaps physical violence. You may notice the irony of attack, of your hope that people will end up agreeing with you because you’re trying to hurt them. The desire to destroy others is fundamentally hypocritical, because no one, especially an attacker, wants to be destroyed. Juicy as violence feels to the righteous mind, it’s internally divisive, incompatible with integrity.