Integrity
By Karmayogi
Integrity is an inner value
unconditioned by outer circumstances. To be good to a person who is good to us
is not difficult. To be good to a person who is evil to us is not easily
possible. It may not be necessary for the outer life. However, it is necessary
for inner integrity. There is a film called Finding Forrester. A famous writer
goes into seclusion for years. His first book had become famous, but he stopped
writing. Near his apartment is a public basketball court where Black youth
play. All the boys take an unhealthy interest in the writer in seclusion, not
knowing who he is. One day they challenge one boy to enter his apartment to
find out. This boy is 16, and a writer himself. After meeting the writer, they
become friends. The writer finds in the boy original talent and wishes to
foster it.
The writer initiates the boy into writing, giving him the title and opening
paragraph of one of his old essays. The boy writes very well and submits his
essay for a class competition. The teacher discovers that the title and first
paragraph are not the boy's own. The boy is bound by an oath to the
writer to keep their relationship confidential. When the teacher confronts the
boy, accusing him of using another person's passages, the boy denies it. The
teacher shows the original to the boy, proving him wrong. Still the boy keeps
silent. In the class, the boy had been found to be resourceful, intelligent and
more informed than the teacher who takes it as an affront to him. He now
suspends the boy's scholarship and removes his essay from the
competition. On the day when the competition is to be held, the writer, who has
heard all about the boy's situation, comes out of his seclusion for the
first time in years, enters the class and asks permission to speak. His
appearance after prolonged seclusion is a pleasant surprise to address the
audience. He tells them what has transpired between him and the boy. The
teacher is all appreciation of the writer, but does not relax the punishment of
the boy. The famous writer says, ‘‘This youth risked his career to
protect me, who did not come forward to protect him in the hour of need. That
is integrity.'' The Chairman of the Board overrules the teacher and
exonerates the youth, praising him for his integrity.
Integrity is a spiritual value. As soon as the boy got into trouble because of
his promise to the writer, the writer should have taken up the matter with the
authorities and saved the boy's scholarship. Life is not that GOOD, even
in a famous writer in seclusion. Because he honoured a spiritual value, the
Spirit in the boy compelled the writer to come to his rescue.