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A Rare Peter Levine Video | Peter Levine, PhD | YouTubeToText
YouTube Transcript: A Rare Peter Levine Video
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do you know the word integrity yes
I know the word how would you describe
Integrity for someone who doesn't know
the word well I tell you how I describe
it for myself
I don't know if it's helpful for
somebody else but for me Integrity is
being in alignment with myself
to be in alignment with my authentic
self so again you have more words
without definitions you know what itself
what's an authentic self but for me the
the meaning is clear
it's not always so easy to adhere to it but
but
the idea of being aligned I think is
critical in so many things and I think
forms the basis of Integrity how
important is integrity for you on your
personal scale of values maybe you can
give it even number between one and ten
ah okay whoa between one and ten I would
and it's important to the people that I
relate to
that I am close to that I work with
because also if they're in their own
Integrity in their own alignment then
they are aligned Parts can meet
and then I think that's the power
of alignment is there somebody
especially of Integrity for you a person
you know and what for of Integrity that
is a really good question
um I think of someone like Nelson Mandela
Mandela
I think he was really really in
alignment with himself and alignment
with very important values because again
you have to be aligned to something
so for me he he's an example I've barely
met but I I've found that Han was very
much in alignment
alignment with himself and and alignment
with his followers and his readers
uh and and there are other people too of
course you know great religious
I think in many ways um
that really stand out I mean some people
are in alignment in some ways but not in
other ways I think of Albert Einstein in
some ways he was very
aligned to his self to his mission
but really not very well aligned in his
personal relationships how often
Antiquity do you perceive yourself maybe
also with the number between one and ten
yeah between one and ten it depends it
depends I mean sometimes I find I'm
really in alignment with myself and it's
difficult I think people should
understand that to be an Integrity to be
in enlightened once with oneself it
really takes a lot of practice a lot of
commitment and it's not so easy and we
also have to acknowledge when we're not
in alignment and we're not in alignment
with other people and so then what do we
important if you think of the challenges
that we just face in the world
oh I think it's essential I mean
everything you know gets crappy when
when people aren't in alignment
it's um I mean if you want examples of
not being in alignment just turn on the
news channel the BBC or the CNN you know
there are examples many very good
examples right yeah
yeah that's the society you live in
allows you to live in a technique that's
a good question with you that's a good
question you know I mean I have
experience in being in different
countries I don't really know any
yeah societies that really have that
kind of integrity
they're different you know uh you know and
and
in the United States
many many people are not in alignment
uh and you part of that is because you
have a government that's not in alignment
alignment
and so that permeates you know the
society itself being not in Integrity
affects all of the members of the society
society
yeah so it also affects you affects me
you know I mean here in Switzerland you
know things and of course they're all
comparative but there's a lot of
rigidity of bureaucracy but there's a
certain stability and a certain
commitment to work things out my
understanding is that the parliament
picks these five people five seven
people I guess five and that when
there's an issue they come together and
they try to work it out
to me that's a good form of government
that's what governments should be doing
you know and there are very few places
where that that's the you know that's
the case and that's probably one of the
reasons why I'm attracted to spend more
and more time in in Switzerland than
teaching in Switzerland what do you
well
hmm your whole planet
it would be a very different planet
you know
um would um I think it was Martin Luther
King wrote once that all others uh needs
and values
have to be equal for us if we want
a good balance in the world we have to
also provide others with that balance
so again Martin Luther King was
certainly a person who was in many ways
in integrity and in and and again you
when you hear people like that
you know those three people for example and
and
they're they're very different
especially different than say take that
on or the Dalai Lama or some of the real
authentic spiritual teachers I mean even
to some degree the pope you know more
than many many many other people in that
position he's in this really a higher
level of integrity
so you mean you can sense that a person
is yeah yeah and in order to sense that
we have to have our own Integrity or and
our own you know connection or we don't
know that we don't see it so if you see
it that means you have it
okay what are from your specific uh
point of view maybe as developer of
thematic experiencing are the essential
ingredients for integrity building respect
respect
that's primary I mean I work with many
I'm over my career I've worked with tens
of thousands of people and
and
I don't always do this
but when I'm at my best
I really meet them where they are
without me judging
you know and in a way
working with people and you know working
in my teaching
it gives me the opportunity always to
say okay how can I really connect with
this person in an authentic level in
other words
two people aligned with themselves
aligned with each other
so respect respect is essential
self-respect but especially respect for
others how does shame interfere with the
Integrity well shame chronic shame
interferes with everything
I mean there's a healthy shame
which which is in alignment so if I do
something to you that was not good and
that hurt you
it's healthy for me to feel shame and
for me to listen to you
and apologize
but shame when it becomes chronic that's
all people have nothing they really
could they their growth is is deadened
wishing it's just immobilized
so uh we have to differentiate again
between healthy shame and chronic shame
and humiliation which is what
unfortunately many many parents and
teachers do to children which takes the
Life Energy out of them Peter what are
your essence associations if you hear
the word Soul Integrity do you have any um
um
well you know we actually did a trauma
tag on this on soul and soul and so so
what is so so in psychotherapy and
and
you know
we know
so when we hear it for example
you know
if you hear Mahalia Jackson
or Aretha Franklin
or so many musicians
you hear them you see them and you know
and I think we also know when we are not
open to our soul and again Soul comes
from this alignment with this authentic
untouched
and pure
and it burns like a flickering Flame
that never goes out it gets dim
sometimes and we have to listen to it carefully
carefully
but then it becomes brighter again
what do you know about the Dark Knight
of the Soul The Dark Knight of the Soul
you know I think there's a mistake that
a misconstrue that people make
I mean there is of course you know and
you see it in in Christian theology
especially where we go enter into these
dark places
but that there's somebody there to guide us
us
you know though I walk through the
shadow of death thy will be with me
in many religions you have something
like that
and so you don't go into it alone when I
worked with people
it's important that because the pain is
so deep that they don't be alone they
don't feel alone you know maybe uh if I
think about it this way it's not because
again my worthless was trauma it's not
so much or just what happened to us
that really makes the difference what
makes the difference is what happens to
us in the absence
of the present connected empathetic other
other
and this we can provide to as therapists
to our clients when we're in line with ourselves
ourselves
Peter you often say that trauma is a
fact of life yes could it be that it is
even a condition for life
I think that's well said I think it
could be a condition for life
you know the birth process itself
can be very powerful and can be both
painful and you know and life and life
promoting I met once this
this
Hasidic scholar
uh I think his name was Rabbi Ginsburg
and we were talking about things like this
this
and he said yes
people are still working with the trauma
you know and there's truth to that
because everything that's happened in
the planet at all times it comes through
us if we are open to those channels wow
feel that energy yeah
yeah yeah
we can still experience
is there anything you would like to add
that was not covered by the questions in
terms of Integrity yeah I think you know
the more people that take Integrity
seriously the better it will be for all
okay thank you very much Peter you're
welcome thank you for your time yeah yeah
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