Ayinde
Honour

You said : "After a while, seeing from one's self (one's indisputable pure identity) becomes automatic."

Agreed. The hardest part though is waiting until the time when that facility of self-based insights become fully operational. There are false dawns and relapses, some so severe that the person gives up on himself/herself. People, as the saying goes, are often the hardest judges of themselves. What we must do, I think, is permit ourselves the occasional failure. This is not easy, because the line between giving allowance for human nature and self-indulgence is very thin. But it becomes easier when we have a starting point in mind. This, I find, is best constructed from certain ideals which will never be compromised. We must have a view of ourself which is based strongly on the adherence to certain principles and we must know that if we go against any one of those principles, the self - that was - will effectively be dead.

You also said : "The ability to examine information and weigh it properly is all about integrity."

Yes. And I was taught that integrity means having certain principles that are non-negotiable, not even if one of the negotiating parties is something (or someone) close to me. Needless to say, the price for adopting this attitude has been sometimes high (in the material sense and in matters of personal relationships - people will sometimes see one who is sticking to a principle as being one who is judgemental, smug, selfish or unfeeling and, there is often a temptation to compromise for the sake of ones social image).

"Quite often it is not about how much information one has, but the quality of one's character that allows one to learn more easily."

Also very true. The quality of the character is what determines if one will take as much knowledge from a negative experience as one took from a pleasurable, positive experience. It is also true that more times, it is the 'hard to live through this' experience that brings about the most effective lessons. I have always likened this to working out. It is not the first set of a series that does the work, it the last one (the one where every muscle is screaming in pain) that strengthens the body.

Wisdom and Strength.