Without vs. Within
We have lost sight of our inner gyroscope. The ‘Without’ of life has become more important than the ‘Within’.
Image has become more important than substance. We are more involved in creating the image we want to portray to the world through our Social Media DPs and Instagram pics than spend time on understanding and accepting our true inner self. So, a deeply lonely person would like to portray to the world a very sociable personality because of the assumption that a lonely person may not get the acceptance and approval which he/she is desperately seeking. Superficial likes become the surrogate for genuine approval and acceptance.
In education more importance is given to the acquisition of knowledge that is measurable. The whole of life is rapidly being quantified and surrendered to machines. But the part of life that is not replaceable by machines and which is truly human is the ‘within’ of man; his spirit and consciousness which is not being given the desired importance. And that is why in spite of being able to send humans to the moon and rockets to the farthest ends of our universe, we still can’t handle aggressive emotions like anger, jealousy, greed, revenge and so on. It’s as if we have been educated at Harvard but are still cannibals who want to eat other human beings but with a fork and knife and seated at a table. Externally it needs to appear to be proper. No matter what the content of our actions are.
In our preparation for job interviews we are schooled in the importance of first impressions. Our external appearances are carefully curated for maximum impact. Although important, the balance seems to be skewed towards the ‘without’ rather than the ‘within’. This holds true even in our efforts to fit in with the social circle we desire to belong to. We are constantly striving to acquire appurtenances which signify status to prop up our self — esteem. Our centre of gravity is continuously being placed outside of ourselves rather than within ourselves.
The proper conduct of rituals becomes more important than what the rituals stand for. The signifier becomes more important than the signified. The assumption is that the Gods are appeased through the proper conduct of external rituals rather than one’s inner values and good behaviour. And even in the aspect of good behaviour the belief is that it is sufficient to appear to be behaving in a good manner rather than truly being good in one’s behaviour. So, for instance, one indulges in photo ops which signify one’s caring attitude whereas the reality may be quite the contrary. Similarly, our word no longer holds any weight because we use words for effect not for commitment.
The Duc de la Rouchefoucauld observed 300 years ago,
“Hypocrisy is the homage paid by vice to virtue.”
We live in a hypocritical world.
On another note, isn’t it strange that a company will take all precautions to protect the human body from being injured at a factory site but not give that kind of importance to protecting the internal well — being of a person? A company may proudly exhibit its Vision, Mission and Values Statement to the public but not refer to it for guiding its actions. Very often these statements are meant for enhancing the external image of the company.
With so much emphasis on the ‘without’ we find it difficult to discern the real McCoy. We have made ourselves vulnerable to believing everything that is fake. People are able to con us. Relationships fail because we place too much emphasis on the ‘without’. We pick the wrong jobs because of the inordinate importance we give to externals like status, salary, or how ‘it will look on my CV’, or on Linkedin and so on and not so much on whether we will find inner satisfaction in the job. The face we want to show the world becomes overridingly important. But ultimately if this face is not in sync with one’s true self then a crisis of meaning erupts. One is not able to discern the truth and find fulfilment in life.
No wonder there is a hunger for authenticity. Today the image we want to portray is not in sync with our true selves. We instinctively know what authenticity is because of our inner gyroscope but are not willing to work towards it. It takes too much effort and sacrifice. The ‘Without’ is more manageable. As a result, we have compromised ourselves in all areas of our lives. Our true selves, our relationships, our communication, our work and even in the practice of our religion.
We need to get back our authenticity.
As E.E. Cummings the poet stated,
“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.”
