Thursday, July 12, 2012

Insights into Living an Authentic Life

I have been interested in the concept of Authenticity since I started reading the philosophy of Martin Heidegger my junior year of college. His work inevitably led me to Eastern philosophies such as Zen Buddhism and Taoism. The wisdom in these works is incredible, and at the time I was intellectually drawn to them. I researched, read and discussed, but did literally nothing to change the way I was living. Recently, my choice to neglect my spiritual side has caught up with me and now I find myself actively seeking a more Authentic way of Being, not so I can write a good philosophy paper for a class, but so that I can achieve personal insights and awareness about the true nature of Being. I want to stop feeling so restless and angry and anxious. I want peace and joy in my life and want to spread it to others. My intellectual endeavors have led me to the realization that if these are truly my goals then I must transform my way of seeing the world and act in accordance with my own spirit and mind. So this blog is an attempt to merge my studies with my current practice and to share them with all of you (all 5 or 6 of you who read this...haha....thank you by the way!).

What has stuck with me most about Heidegger's work is his concept of Das Man, or They-Self (I will refer to it as the They-Self because that's how it was presented to me in college). The They-Self is not an individual person, but rather a collective way of knowing. The They-Self prescribes our state-of-mind and determines the possibilities we see open to us. We know the They-Self through social norms and even the conventions of our language. When we are caught up in the They-Self mode of Being we are not freely choosing our own future possibilities. It's as if we are floating along passively allowing decisions to be made for us, without questioning. Take for example the child who asks her mother why people wear shoes.The mother might reply "because that's what people do." This is the They-Self mentality at work. Doing things simply because that's how things are done. I consider our tacit acceptance that we must work at least 5 days a week (or an average of about 40 hours or more per week) in order to somehow earn a little bit of free time (which we call our precious weekends) the work of the They-Self. When did you decide this was a good way to spend most of your time? You could argue and say "well that's just how things are" but that's a non-argument. The real answer is that's how you accept that things are. If enough of us got together and agreed to stop working so much what would happen? Would the world stop turning, or just the world we've gotten used to?



There is always the danger that we may just do the work for the sake of the work. This is where the respect and the love and the devotion come in - that we do it to God, to Christ, and that's why we try to do it as beautifully as possible.
- Mother Theresa



When looked upon in this manner Authenticity is the ability to stop and question the They-Self and decide for oneself whether or not an act is truly meaningful. Let's pretend I was the child who asked about wearing shoes (in a way I am because I used this example in a paper in college). I could press my Mother for better reasons as to why I should wear shoes. She may say "so that you don't cut your feet" or "so that you can avoid callouses." There are plenty of legitimate reasons why wearing shoes is a good idea, and thus I could choose one that suits me Authentically, rather than just accept the answer because that's what one does. Rejecting the They-Self doesn't mean doing everything opposite of the way society does it. It is simply the internal knowledge that your activities are truly your own. That you have thought out the meaning and purpose behind your actions and can honestly tell yourself that you are living in accordance with your own personal values. 


Don't be afraid to stick out in a crowd. Wouldn't this look better if ALL the umbrellas were different colors? I look at this photo and it makes me long for actual diversity in the world. Be the change you want to see ;)
I am in the process of asking more questions like this, but now that I'm 24, married and "independent" from my parents (whatever that means), these questions have gotten more urgent and much harder to answer. I find that through connecting with my spiritual side and listening to my intuitions I'm making choices that lead to more Authentic outcomes. In the past few months alone I have been noticing odd little coincidences that seem to lead me to my next spiritual revelation. I have been paying more attention to my dreams and to odd little encounters with strangers. In doing all of these things I realize how impractical and even illogical it seems at times, but I also recognize that I feel different. I feel lighter and more present. I am taking better care of my relationships and more importantly myself. 


The Buddha once said, "It is better to travel well than to arrive." When I think about how this relates to my life it means that goals and achievements are hollow if we do not get to them Authentically.

Love to everyone. Thanks for reading and please leave comments or share this as you see fit.





8 comments:

  1. How you manage to express yourself so eloquently is beyond me. Keep the thoughts rolling... em

    ReplyDelete
  2. Do you have any good recommendations on this topic? I have had one hell of a year and am finally realizing the importance of Inderstanding and striving for an authentic life. I am curious about the different views on authenticity.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The notion of Authenticity I described above is from Martin Heidegger's Being and Time...but it may not be the best place to start. Intellectually you might want to read it some day because it is very insightful, but honestly if it's happiness and peace you are looking for you should watch the videos of Alan Watts online. A good place to start would be the one I posted in conjunction with this post, but he has some on Enlightenment that are amazing.

      Another trick is just being more honest and aware during everyday interactions with others. Heidegger calls it our "average everydayness", what he means is that we live our lives without reflecting on the meaning of our existence. In those everyday interactions it is important not to do things that add to our inauthenticity (e.g. don't ask "how are you?" if you don't have time or don't care to hear the True answer!). It's simple things that we do, usually without thinking, that add up and keep adding up until we suddenly stop and one day realize we don't know who we are anymore.

      I hope this helps a bit. I'd love to talk more about it anytime if you are interested! It helps to just talk about this stuff. Thank you so much for showing interest!

      Delete
  3. “Man is a mystery. It needs to be unravelled, and if you spend your whole life unravelling it, don't say that you've wasted time. I am studying that mystery because I want to be a human being.”
    ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey it's me, Das Man. Just wanted you to know that it's my goal to make you hate feeling awkward. Don't put yourself in any positions to feel awkward. Don't talk to strangers, don't stray from your routine. DON'T - under ANY circumstances, chase a fleeting, whimsical intuition. You may get hurt! Be safe. Heed my words. Get back into your routine. I am Das Man.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Buddha. Hit the nail on the head. Pretty much sums up my idea of how I want to go about living my life. It's the journey, not the destination that matters to me.

    I enjoyed reading the brief introduction into the concept of They-Self and completely appreciate that you pointed out living authentically doesn't mean you are completely anti-establishment, tree-hugging, going against the grain and doing everything opposite of society expects. I think this is a really important point because once you are thinking through your decisions, asking yourself why you make the choices you make, you begin to understand what it feels like to be living authentically, knowing as you said your decisions are your own. This is important because if you just decide you simply aren't going to conform to society, you still aren't living authentically in my opinion.

    I could go on but I am probably rambling at this point. :) Can't wait to talk!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad you picked up on that point I was trying to make...I think for a while I misunderstood and I really did think you had to be anti-everything in order be authentic...but obviously that's not the "real" me either! It's great because so much of the eastern and western philosophy that I really appreciate basically lays out the same principal.

      Alright, Mal, I think you're ready to read some Heidegger on your own. I'll send it over as some light reading to take to Peru ;) (I'm totally joking by the way, I would never do something that mean to you! haha).

      Thanks for your interest in my ramblings and for sharing your on wisdom and experiences. I love the crap outta you!

      Delete
  6. I think the scariest thing on earth is waking up when you. Are 50-something and realizing half of your life is over and most of it was spent following the regimen proscribed by everybody else's consummerist idea of normalacy. My biggest fear is waking up one day knowing that I want to become a professional dancer and realizing that I've been a tax lawyer for 30 years because I was afraid to be my authentic self. My big question is though....why are so many others not afraid of the same thing?? That's what really gets me. As much as it sucks feeling uncomfortable making decisions that everybody else could fathom, it can't hurt worse then waking up on your death bed realizing you've been dead all along. The Protestant,Puritan work ethic is so strong in this country, a sense of duty to everything but yourself simply because "that's the way it should be" makes me terribly sick and yet the struggle to act Authentically is a terrible ordeal. It makes me look at the kid i teach and they misbehave in an entirely new light. (this of course said when I am on summer vacation). Living authentically is the bravest and most challenging thing you can do i think. And it makes me upset (I need to let go of this) that people would walk away from the challenge and choose to sleep than wake up.

    ReplyDelete