What does the latest publication of leaked secret documents by WikiLeaks.org (now wikileaks.ch) have to do with you and me and the rest of us?
Nothing, you might say.
And everything, you might also say.
The state department’s response has been inevitable and predictable. The same questions get asked every time embarrassing information is leaked. Who divulged this information? How can we stop it being spread any further? How can we prevent this from ever happening again? Not prevent the two faced lying and encouragement for diplomats to train in espionage. No, that’s ok. How can we prevent ourselves from getting caught next time?
You may have already had a chance to watch a great movie that was released recently called The Inside Job, directed by Charles Ferguson. The movie documents the behind-the-scenes activity which led to the financial breakdown in the fall of 2008, and the collapse of AIG, Lehman Brothers, and many other institutions. There is a fantastic scene in the movie which highlights exactly the same response to the exposure of corruption and secrecy.
In a televised hearing, Senator Carl Levin asks a former executive at Goldman Sachs “What do you think about selling securities which you own people think are ‘crap’?” Levin is referring to confidential internal e mail, now subpoenaed for this hearing. There is a disoriented pause. The pinstripe suited exec looks around himself in panic. Finally comes his response, as frightening as it is hilarious. “I think it is very unfortunate that anyone would state that opinion in an e mail.” The question is not “are we being ethical?”, or even “are we doing good business?” but “how did we get caught?”
But this is not just about those bad guys out there, and how to punish them and replace them with someone else. If we’re honest with ourselves, we can find exactly the same tendencies in our own lives.
I had a coaching client recently who was experiencing unusually high levels of stress: sleeping badly, making errors at work, and taking more than an occasional tipple from the bottle. He wanted support in managing those stress levels in order to be more productive in his business life. So he came to me as an awakening coach. I always meet my clients as whole people, and consider that what they eat and how much they play with their kids and how much they exercise is relevant to every other aspect of their lives. As we dove a little deeper together, he told me he was having an occasional affair with a co-worker and keeping it a secret from his wife.
I asked him what would happen if he told his wife the truth. “You must be crazy,” he snapped back. “If I told my wife that I was having an affair, it would end our marriage.” In fact, his marriage was anyway already on the rocks. “Maybe,” I suggested to him, “It is not telling your wife the truth that might end your marriage. ‘Fessing up might induce a temporary period of intense discomfort, but might also open up a whole new level of intimacy and understanding.”
Believe it or not, he took a risk. He did as I suggested, in this case without the help of Julian Assange or any other whistle blower. And just as I had suspected, they went through a horribly rough few days, but they came out the other side. Now he’s sleeping better, he’s stopped drinking, and he feels more creative with his work. He stopped having his affair and discovering new depths with his wife at home.
Every time I switch on the news, every time I meet with my clients, or teach trainings for coaches, every time we have dinner with our friends, I feel that I hear the same thing. When I show up for a meeting of one of the two mens’ groups that I’m involved in, or just hang with my wife and children, I hear it more deeply. The game is up on secrets and lies. Put your ear to the ground and listen. There’s a a shift in the collective, which has been contributed to by many factors.
Mari Smith, for example, the author of several recent books on social media, points out that the explosion of twitter, facebook, Youtube and online forums in the last years have made big advertising campaigns less and less effective. A new product or service has to be of real value in order to be spread virally through social media buzz. You can’t fake it anymore. The collapse of Enron, AIG, Lehman Brothers, and countless politicians, was not only about financial or political or sexual malpractice. It was about the cover up. We are, all of us, tolerating lying and withholding less every day.
Getting real is becoming hip.
I’ve noticed that we have a choice, you and I, about how to participate in this shift in the collective. We all have accumulated secrets and lies, the things that we haven’t told the people close to us because we “don’t want to hurt their feelings.” And we’ve all paid the price. We all have our personal Julian Assange, as a family member or friend, or an employee or client, who will, eventually, blow the whistle on us when our time is up. So why not surf this wave of getting the skeletons out of the closet, and start practicing radical honesty today?
What are the things you have said to John about Mary, but forgot to tell Mary directly? What are the relevant facts in your intimate relationship that you have withheld? What are the resentments, as well as the appreciations, that you have not said?
We can all start riding this wave of full disclosure, authenticity, and honesty today. It feels good.
Here’s my suggestion: make a practice of telling one person something today, and then every day, which you have been withholding or lying about, and where you have hoped to avoid getting caught. Stay present in the room while they digest what you’ve said, don’t practice drive-by honesty. Avoid entering into a discussion about it, or explaining or justifying why it is so. Just ‘fess up, and feel your burden lifting.
Imagine what the world would be like if telling each other the truth became the accepted norm. What If diplomats could came clean with leaders of other countries and confess to them their withheld judgments, before needing Julian to help out. What if large corporations told you exactly what to expect from their products, and encouraged public forums with customer reactions? What if politicians came clean about their weaknesses from the get-go, so we felt inspired to elect them for their courage to be authentic rather than the rhetoric of empty promises? What if religious leaders were as lyrical about their doubts as they are about their faith? And what if you and I and everyone we know put being real as a higher priority than looking good?
Now, Julian Assange is wanted by Interpol for alleged rape that took place in Sweden. The arrest warrant includes the request that he be sequestered without contact with an attorney, friends, or relatives. Gimme a break, here! These charges had already been dismissed while he was still in Sweden, and he made himself fully available for an interview at that time. The two women involved had already agreed that this was consensual sex. You know, and I know, and everyone knows why Interpol has been instructed to lock him up in a prison cell without contact with the media. And you know, and I know, and everyone else knows why this suddenly seems so important when it didn’t a few weeks ago.
On Friday Assange answered questions on the Guardian’s website. One of the questions was what would happen if he gets “taken out.” Assange answers “The Cable Gate archive has been spread, along with significant material from the US and other countries, to over 100,000 people in encrypted form. If something happens to us, the key parts will be released automatically. Further, the Cable Gate archives is in the hands of multiple news organizations. History will win. The world will be elevated to a better place. Will we survive? That depends on you.”
But it is not only these specific secret cables that are being unearthed here. It is a much more widespread atmosphere of deception that we have all participated in, one way or another. You can find it deeply ingrained in banking, politics, religion, and at home in our own back yards. History can win at all of those levels, and the elevation of the world to a better place that Assange talks about has everything to do with you and me and everyone we know.
You can start to practice radical honesty today. It’s fun, it’s energizing, it’s refreshing, and it leaves you feeling more creative, more open, and years younger.
Excited to to taste this for yourself? I will host a free tele-seminar about Radical Honesty on Thursday December 9th at 6pm pst. My special guest will be Brad Blanton, the author of Radical Honesty and several other books. You can register here. Our Awakening Coaches are trained to lead a process we call “Dissolving Separation.” It gives you a taste of radical honesty within yourself, before you start practicing with someone else. When you join the call, you can set up a time for a free mini-session with one of them.
December 21, 2010 at 6:12 am
[…] There is a great article about Wikileaks and the truth of us all on the blog of Arjuna Ardagh, ‘Wikileaks, You, and Me’. Mercury is still retrograde. Retrograde means that it seems as the planet is going backwards, […]
December 21, 2010 at 5:00 am
[…] een prachtig artikel over Wikileaks en de waarheid van ons allemaal op de blog van Arjuna Ardagh, ‘Wikileaks, You, and Me’. Mercurius is nog retrograde. Retrograde betekend dat het lijkt alsof de planeet achteruit […]
December 12, 2010 at 6:41 pm
In total agreement with you. AMEN!
December 10, 2010 at 2:29 pm
Thanks for the valuable insights around the Wiki-leaks saga.
It is absolutely vital that the technology driven world of today is driven by people without those secret agenda of their own that they had been so used to grow up with and use against one another and supported by institutions like banks and other big business .
It is vital because our very existence may depend on that . In the events of the last few years it has been demonstrated that the people who takes the role of our politicians and country’s decision makers has the auto-capacity to create any sort of false world around us through cooked up information[e.g weapon of mass destruction] and lies. And it has been brutally demonstrated how such false world can stand-up for a limited time [a few months or a few years ] and leave us ordinary people, with full lives, exposed to the potential of being annihilated[through operaton like war contracts between “leaders”] from this mother earth. Truth is no matter where one is born, how rich or poor one is , no other person, no matter what strategy or belief he/she holds, no one[no matter what contry,relegion,cult the person comes from] has any right or reason to annihilate another human being from this planet. And this is true even that person with ‘power’ says that “only a small number of civilians were sadly killed or injured… for the greater good…nonsense”. It is time each of our politician take the lesson to learn “Truth is Oxygen To Human Being” as the first lesson in this New world.
December 10, 2010 at 1:09 pm
thanks for your discussion of this topic. Shining light on the debate is also healthy.
Mr. Assange has broken no laws regarding the leaks. If he has, then the same laws are currently being violated by every major media outlet across the globe that is carrying exerpts of the leaks.
The original leak was the disclosure of war crimes perpetrated by US forces on behalf of the unknowing American people that had no legal justification for being “classified information” to begin with.
What is truly interesting is the backlash of major internet service providers such as Amazon, Pay Pal, Visa, Mastercard, and the Swiss banking industry who are now claiming that people who want to support WikiLeaks are “violating terms of use by participating in ‘illegal activity'”. These same businesses have freely participated in massive fraud through the corporations you mentioned in your essay above, as well as through unchecked participation in Presidential campaign contribution fraud, even after it was brought to the public’s attention. What constitutes “illegal activity”? Excellent questions for us all to scrutinize! It is for each of us to examine and decide how we want to wield the light of the Soul through our energy, force and substance.
December 9, 2010 at 8:39 pm
[…] honest with yourself and with others around you? I fully agree with Arjuna Ardagh on practicing radical honesty. Not sure if it’s all fun though however it definitely has the power to shift […]
December 9, 2010 at 1:37 pm
Nicely stated Arjuna,I enjoy your neutral way of seeing the various perceptions of this phenomenon. It is said that all things are neutral.That our point of view is what creates a negative or positive .The truth is the greatest of liberators.Particularly when we put ourselves forward sharing or head space about anything.In particular things which are charged with feelings and anxiety.Real intimacy is created by sharing such difficult and challenging topics. This in turn frees us from our own chains and gives us room to move and grow. Humility rules in living the inside out .Pride is indeed the killer of all. I mean false pride.Sadly too often those in power fear being seen as they really are. The people deserve to know the truth.They can handle it . Now more than ever I think more people want it.Accountability is a requirement for a healthy ,happy and fruitful life.
I am not so sure about the whistle blowing bit.Is the knowledge truly first hand or what.If it is can just the facts be shared.None of us are perfect and mistakes are best put forward to improve situations.I am glad for wikileaks .It is a good start.
I am reminded of a comedy I saw a while back . I think it was called the ‘Man who invented lying” Everyone told the bold ,blunt truth about every little thing. The movie was hilarious ,it implied that life was sort of mundane that way until one man created the first lie.
Clearly there will always be a lot of gray areas in life.When it is too black and white it is not at all real.
Thanks for putting yourself out there and sharing your humanity. The world can use as much of that good stuff as it can get
December 9, 2010 at 7:03 am
The outer world, it is said, is simply a reflection of what is inside of us all,if we have a “charge/judgement about someone/something we pecieve/see as “wrong” then we can know with utter certainty that it is within us,when we dissolve the issue wthin ourselves,it ceases to have power over us & often the outer situation resolves itself.Thank you for a wonderful article.PEACE OF I
December 9, 2010 at 9:04 am
thank you
December 9, 2010 at 5:47 am
Be the truth that we want for the world. Are we that really?
December 9, 2010 at 3:29 am
Very thorough and well stated. I hope you are right…that greater transparency is a reflection of a global shift in consciousness. I would welcome that. Also, it is important that when we get all emotional and lathered up about the dishonesty of our government and corporations that we see where we are doing the same in our lives. A good place to begin correcting things would be to come clean with ourselves and those we interact with.
December 9, 2010 at 2:19 am
The call for collective awakening is quickening. Thanks for your clear and insightful article on why it is more important than ever to be truthful and authentic. Humanity is at a crossroads where the old ways do not serve us and telling the truth, no matter how painful is the only call here. Conscious leadership is called for and it is up to each of us.
December 8, 2010 at 10:59 pm
So true again Arjuna! Imagine a world where the governments truly worked for the better of humankind. Maybe it is possible? From the outside (Norway) it looks funny I must say, the reactions against Assange in personal are abnormous. I find it rather ironic that the US are at the same time hosting “international freedom of speech day”. War is peace? Freedom is slavery?
December 8, 2010 at 10:30 pm
Total honesty as part of every relationship brings authenticity to ourselves, as well as our world. Thank you, Nathaie
December 8, 2010 at 9:40 pm
Thank you, Arjuna for introspection. Often the discomfort with ourselves and others, has to do with holding back something that needs to be in the light.We are moving further into an age of truth, as we realize our daily intake of lies from the press, and those who hold positions that through their actions and ‘untruths’ attempt to hold us in abeyance, cannot be sustained. The unbelievable number who have lost their lives or have had emotional, physical and mental damage,initiated by untruths in many form, is inhuman. Brad Manning and Julian Assange, including all who are involved by their decisions and work, have assisted in the moving out of the darkness into a new form of living. The only way to get rid of the dirt is to bring it up and cleanse the interior of the container. Thank you to all at Wikileaks for their contribution to a ‘new world coming’ and thank you, Arjuna, for your contributions, as well.You are all appreciated.
December 8, 2010 at 7:40 pm
This is so beautifully written; direct from the heart and soul. I felt my own contractions,knowing the times I didn’t speak my truth or tell the whole truth. Confrontaion has always been hard for me. This comes from telling the truth early in my life and being punished for it. This is something,sadly, many of us have experienced. Today I stand with more courage to say what is true; knowing someone may reject me for that truth. I also know the biggest rejection is my own soul when I don’t tell the truth.
Thank you for this bold and well written piece. I would love to see it posted on facebook. I know that I would post it to my profile page.
December 8, 2010 at 6:37 pm
Arjuna, we know that deception on every level will have the light shined on it as one of the processes that this planet is going through as it raises its vibrational frequencies. To me, this is clearly what is happening here. Assange is playing his part…..
December 8, 2010 at 6:27 pm
My feelings about Wikileaks is in two areas. First, transparency is often proclaimed by our president but then not put into practice. When you read the cables, you see what was really said. My other feeling is one of dismay. Many in the US are hungry to sentence Wikileaks and destroy it. I have seen no story on this seemingly large security breach on investigating how it happened. Is US security so bad that anyone can take what they want or is Wikileaks so expert that it can infiltrate any system? I am looking for honesty on how this happened and what is being done to prevent it. A parallel question is why must the US keep documents away from its citizens. What is being done to be more transparent?
December 8, 2010 at 5:40 pm
A couple of thoughts when I read this:
#1: When we each make a commitment to the kind of person we intend to be, and to become, then decisions become quite simple. Not easy, but simple. And that twinge of shame that you feel when debate within yourself, “What should I do here,” is a good sign that you should do the thing that makes you anxious … with a caveat.
#2: There’s honesty and then there’s honesty. My rule of thumb is to ask if what I’m telling this person, even if it might be painful or embarrassing, would enable him or her to change something s/he’s done or is about to do – for the better. Because what call “honesty” in this culture all too often, is actually “payback” or just plain being mean. It’s not done “for someone else,” but rather “for oneself” … and not in the way you’re describing. A little reflection before the “blurt” is often a really good idea.
December 9, 2010 at 1:52 am
Dear Suzie,
I think the aspect you speak of in #2 is a very important issue and I agree completely.
Even though it is vital for us all to be more honest in our encounters, it pays to think first whether our disclosure may be of use to the whole and invoke a positive change for all, despite being uncomfortable.
Thank you for voicing the thoughts that were going through my heart while reading this brilliant blog article.
December 8, 2010 at 2:05 pm
Thank you Arjuna…you are absolutely correct in every area! How can we stand for hearing the attacks on WikiLeaks rather than looking at the real problem. But this is how we have become accustomed to living in our own lives. What a freedom it is to be honest.
Would love to share this post on my blogs…is that alright.
I have so much respect and appreciation for you and Chameli.
Thank you both for you r work and your light.
December 8, 2010 at 9:38 am
[…] also has a blog post about Wikileaks that you might want to read for some further […]
December 6, 2010 at 1:43 pm
I look forward to our conversation on Thursday! I think Julian Assange is a hero and I am quitting Paypal because they took him off their list of people that receive money from Paypal and I am taking Paypal off of my list. Brad Blanton
December 5, 2010 at 12:53 am
By the way, many people are arrested now because they told the truth. F.e. the soldier who filmed the killing of innocent people in Afghanistan is arrested in american prison for more than 50 years! I think since 2008 a big “cleaning” is going on globaly, in ourselves and outside, the truth can`t be hold back any longer, I like it!
December 4, 2010 at 12:50 pm
It takes courage to tell the truth and hold the space for what comes next. It can be very heart opening.
So many of us have been lying even to ourselves for so long, we forgotten how to be fully present and honest.
I can’t say I like all that Wikileaks revealed, but who would. But it’s about time a lot stuff comes into public view. If we want to live in truth, this a great new beginning for the US.
Thanks for all you do Arjuna to assists the world.
December 4, 2010 at 7:08 am
Wonderful article, and I wholeheartedly agree. One place where I am having difficulty being real, though, is at my job. I find myself not making eye contact with my boss and engaging in few discussions because I can’t be fully honest. He and his wife (who helps run the company) tend to do things behind the scenes and not communicate with us. They also have this reality that doesn’t jive with what the rest of us see. It’s amazing how we can hold perceptions that allow us to justify certain behaviors (yes, we all do it to some extent, I know this). So I’m hoping I’ll have an answer someday regarding how to approach this or if I am supposed to find someplace else to be. I realize that I must use everything I see to look inward and confront my own thoughts and behaviors. So maybe the answer is to focus on that and watch everything shift. : )
December 8, 2010 at 4:59 pm
Bless your heart Julie. You are in a predicament shared by many many people. What some people did is in my book, The Truthtellers. Unbelievably, when people make private one on one appointments with their bosses and tell the complete truth, face to face, about differences, resentments and appreciations and continue until they are complete, that usually results in a promotion, more responsibility, more pay and a closer working environment with the boss as well as others. Believe it or not, most people running businesses are looking for help by an independent person more than a yes man or woman. Consider the risk, then take it. It very very seldomly results in you getting fired. Good luck. brad
December 3, 2010 at 6:58 pm
I love this…my husband and children and strive to live this, listening deeply and speaking truthfully as our friend ‘The Authenticity Accelerator’ Robert Rabbin says (whom would be an awesome interview for you). Although, we will all admit, it is easier to do inside the sanctuary of our own home…Thank you for putting this out there. I’ll stand with you on this.