Integrity is the capacity to affirm the value of life in the face of death, to be reconciled with the finite limits of one's own life and the tragic limitations of the human condition, and to accept these realities without despair. Integrity is the foundation upon which trust in relationships is originally formed, and upon which shattered trust may be restored. The interlocking of integrity and trust in caretaking relationships completes the cycle of generations and regenerates the sense of human community which trauma destroys.

                                                                                          - Trauma and Recovery, J. Herman

It is wholeness based not on a pattern of unity, but upon an openness to all experiences, even experiences of isolation, pain and disintegration.

By this expansion of the potential range of experiencing, we would be more open to being touched by the beauty of nature or compassion for another, and more open as well to knowing our own limitations and human brokenness. We would be more self-empathetic, willing to see the truth of our lives, from the mistakes to the successes, from the pains to the joys. Here, no matter what the particular type of experience, we would know: "This is my experience; this is honestly who I am in this moment."

                                                                The Primal Wound, J. Firman & A. Gila                       

Here is a paradox: even though the single principle of how everything happens is great, those who follow the principal know they are ordinary.

Great egocentricity does not make a person great. The common ground of all creation is a greater source of life than any exalted isolation.

These three qualities are invaluable to the wise person:

• Compassion for all creatures
• Material simplicity or frugality
• A sense of equality or modesty

A compassionate person acts on behalf of everyone's right to life. Material simplicity gives one an abundance to share. A sense of equality is, paradoxically, one's true greatness.

Perhaps it is a mistake to consider a person whose only interest is self-interest as either caring or courageous. It is a mistake to rationalize that excessive consumption contributes to the well-being of others by giving them employment. It is a mistake to imagine that a person who acts immodestly or in a superior way is, in fact, a genuinely superior person.

These are all egocentric behaviors. They isolate a person from the common ground of existence. They produce rigidity and death.

Compassion, sharing, and equality, on the other hand, sustain life. This is because we are all one. When I care for you, I enhance the harmonious energy of the whole. And that is life.

- Heider, 1985, adapted