We live in a time when there seems to be more awareness in the general population about how meditating and practicing yoga can be instrumental in supporting a person’s spiritual growth. There are many other aspects that play a part in spiritual development as well, yet sometimes the smallest and simplest of things can be so easily overlooked. Being completely honest with oneself when trying to achieve spiritual enlightenment is a basic element that is so crucial to the process.

Everyone knows that honesty is a good and valuable characteristic to cultivate, but it is not as often recognized as a necessity when seeking out spiritual growth. However, as most people move along through their spiritual journey, most people start to really discover the significance and importance of honesty as it relates to their quest. There are four primary areas where honesty comes into play most significantly.

The first of these four areas is a willingness to face weakness. In the quest to enjoy spiritual growth, the person has to be able to look at his own faults and frailties with complete honestly. There is no one who is without human weaknesses, but if a person cannot see and acknowledge their own shortcomings, then that can be a serious deterrent to spiritual development. It is common to use justification or just refuse to acknowledge the flaws, but this simply curtails the ability to change.

Secondly, honesty is needed in facing up to the realities of your life. You need to be completely honest about the state of affairs of every aspect of your life. Stop clinging to the image that you want to present to the rest of the world, and begin to embrace the true state of your life and your relationships. The problem with clinging to the image, which is most likely “perfect,” is that it gets in the way of being able to make real, lasting and significant changes that can lead to real happiness, rather than just an illusion of it. With honesty, one can look at the real truth and then have a realistic place to begin to improve.

Thirdly, honesty is needed to help people eliminate fake personalities, which must be eschewed in order to enjoy true spiritual enlightenment and growth. Most people put an enormous amount of energy, thought, and anxiety into creating and then maintaining completely false portrayals of themselves. They become more like characters acting in a play than real people engaged in real life. In order to have any hope of enjoying true spiritual healing and development, a person must peel away these false personas and be sincere and forthright beings.

The fourth way that honesty plays a role in the spiritual journey is through the use of meditation techniques. When a person begins a session of meditation, they should be aware their flow of thoughts. For most people who are just learning to master their minds through meditation, they will discover thoughts that are filled with false reasoning and justifications. The best way to begin to control this flow of thoughts is to deal with them in an honest and forthright manner, then setting them aside and allowing the more centered and real thoughts to come to the surface.

As you continue on your path of spiritual growth and development it will be helpful to always keep these for aspects of honesty in mind and review your progress with them. As you do, you will enjoy moving to higher levels and stages of spiritual development, which will lead you toward your true spiritual life.