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Being an Authentic Self: Some Insights from the Lives of Sri Aurobindo and Mahatma Gandhi

Shivantika Sharad¹

 

You must learn to act always from within—from your inner being…. The outer should be a mere instrument and should not be allowed at all to compel or dictate your speech, thought or action.

 

Sri Aurobindo (1970a, Part 2, pp. 691–692)

The Upaniṣadic realization that what is natural is also beautiful and true (satyam, śivam, sundaram) implies that beauty and truth cannot be artificially made or fabricated. This ideal implies an inherent design in which these three always exist as aspects of a true and integral self. But their overt manifestation is often blocked or distorted by our misinterpretations. Unfortunately, contemporary psychological discourse on the nature of the self tends to focus on constructions anchored in the external physical world, which is increasingly governed by media and market driven forces rather than our own experiences. The perennial task of carving out one's existence has become increasingly knotty in the technology-based world of today. The experience of an authentic or true self has become inextricably linked to fulfilling one's multiple roles. Experiencing incongruities and discontinuities while negotiating the multiplicity of selves and the diversity of roles is not an uncommon phenomenon. A failure to adequately integrate the personality results in deleterious consequences for both the individual (for example, stresses, conflicts, defences, tensions) and society. It has become difficult for us to recognize our true selves and to decipher the meaning of our existence in this world. Within this experiential context the quest for authenticity should occupy a central place in contemporary life. In this chapter we will examine the construct of authenticity in the literature and situate it within the context of Indian thought. An attempt is also made to bring out the features of authenticity as a quality of lived experience. To this end the life stories of Sri Aurobindo and Mahatma Gandhi were analyzed. Following that, a model of authenticity drawn from the Indian tradition will be suggested.

Authenticity in Psychology and Contemporary Life

The study of authenticity assumes greater relevance in contemporary societies characterized by chaos and flux, where everything including relationships, institutions, and symbols are undergoing a sea change. The metaphors of ‘business’, ‘contract’, ‘exchange’, and ‘profit’ dominate today's discourse. Change is inevitable, and cuts both ways, but change manifesting as technological development and progress is often accompanied by a sense of loss. Feelings of uprootedness and a sense of alienation can dominate our lives. We have severed ties not only with our true selves but also with others in the social world. We are becoming unanchored, and deprived of a sense of meaning and direction. This state of affairs demands that we examine the nature and value of being an authentic self.

Interestingly, it seems that authenticity has not been adequately researched or discussed in mainstream psychology. There seems to be less focus on the presence of authenticity within clinical, developmental and social psychological research literature than on its absence. Themes which have captured attention are those that focus on human frailties and weaknesses, such as self-monitoring, self-presentation, social desirability, faking, compliance and self-deception, (Snyder, 1974, 1987; Schlenker, 1980; Leary, 1995). Also, a number of approaches like ethnomethodology (Garfinkel, 1967), social constructionism (Gergen, 1985; Shotter, 1993), dramaturgical perspectives (Goffman, 1959) and various post-modern perspectives question the possibility of a stable and continuous notion of self and identity. As Gergen (1990) notes, we play ‘such a variety of roles that the very concept of an “authentic self” with knowable characteristics recedes from view’ (p. 228). The post-modern person is characterized by a fluctuating, ever changing identity (described as protean man by Lifton, 1993), independent of all identifiable truth-seeking perspectives and unaccountable for anything (Rosenau, 1992). Interestingly an integrated self remains one of the major therapeutic goals of clinical work and is a major concern in the areas of socialization and education.

The English word ‘authenticity’ has been derived from the Greek word ‘authentes’ meaning author. It indicates a person who scripts his own life story, who rules or is the master, that is, a person who is in charge of the self. This requires being the author of one's own destiny, and following a self-directed course in life, rather than passively submitting to the external pressures or blind obedience to the demands and expectations of others (see Harter, 2002). The dictionary meaning of ‘authentic’ is ‘genuine, authoritative, true, and of established credibility’ (Chambers Concise Dictionary, 1992). Authentic is ‘known to be real and genuine and not a copy; true and accurate; made to be exactly the same as original’ (Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, 2004).

Instead of following the lead of the public or the crowd (Kierkegaard, 1846) or living immersed in the ‘they’ (Heidegger, 1927/1962) in an unthinking, passive manner, an authentic person follows his or her own guiding principles. This requires complete resonance with one's true self and following the inner voice. Heidegger (1931–1932) described authenticity as that mode of human existence in which the person ‘appropriates’ himself, or comes to himself and can be himself. ‘Coming to himself’ implies an ongoing journey of self-realization and self-discovery, the process of becoming and establishing relations with one's true self. It involves owning one's attributes (for example, thoughts, beliefs, feelings, values, needs, wants, preferences, actions, intentions) and standing by what one recognizes as belonging to oneself. The act of owning incorporates the sense of responsibility for one's entire being. Victor Frankl (1984, p. 131) sees in responsibleness the very essence of human existence.

The other aspect of authenticity, that is, ‘being your self’ would imply the various behavioural manifestations of the true self. In ‘being your self’ there is no space for deception. This requires a deep sense of conviction and determination. Being oneself implies self-transparency and requires self-awareness and self-knowledge. Clearly such self-transparency constitutes a necessary condition for rational self-autonomy, moral responsibility, and freedom.

Carl Rogers (1969, p. 228) uses the term congruence, which results when the ‘experiencing of this moment is present in my awareness and when what is present in my awareness is present in my communication, then each of these three levels matches or is congruent. At such moments, I am integrated or whole.’ Equating congruence with transparency he writes, ‘genuineness, realness or congruence…means that the therapist is openly being the feelings and attitudes that are flowing within at the moment…the therapist makes himself or herself transparent to the client’ (Rogers, 1980, pp. 115–116). Rogers’ term congruence is closely related to authenticity.

The developmental precursors to authenticity, that is, the role of early childhood experiences and parenting in nurturing authenticity, can be recognized in the work of Carl Rogers, Karen Horney and D. W. Winnicot. Horney's work centres on a basic belief that there is an inner essence of our being that is the source of our growth and self-realization. This essence she called the real self (Morvay, 1999). Horney (1950, p. 17) writes, ‘The human individual, given a chance, tends to develop his particular human potentialities. He will develop then the unique alive forces of his real self: the clarity and depth of his feeling, thoughts, wishes, interests; the ability to tap his own resources, the strength of his will power…the faculty to express himself and to relate himself to others with his spontaneous feelings. All this in time enables him to find his set of values and his aims in life.’

Winnicott (1960, p. 145) likens the true self to the ‘spontaneous gesture’ (of the infant) and views it as the foundation of all subsequent healthy living. For Winnicot, parents who are intrusively over-involved with their young child foster the development of a false self based upon compliance. He says about the false self, ‘This compliance, on the part of the infant, is the earliest stage of the false self.’ As such, personal representations of preferences, thoughts, wishes, needs, and emotions may be stifled to comply with parental demands. As Winnicot (1960, p. 148) says, ‘Only the True Self can be creative…can feel real…the existence of a False Self results in a feeling unreal or a sense of futility.’ And so the notion of the self as the centre of spontaneity that has the ‘experience of aliveness’ constitutes the heart of authenticity. However, this ability to enact such spontaneous gestures is contingent on the responsiveness of the ‘good-enough mother’ within an appropriate ‘holding environment’.

For Sartre (1969), persons enjoy a special kind of agency, wherein the ultimate determinants of action and identity are their own choices for which they are endowed with freedom. He equates authenticity with good faith, and as long as they consciously choose and accept full responsibility for their actions, they are in good faith. Sartre's notion of bad faith involves renunciation of human freedom in the service of self-deception. Sartre views the whole life (identity) of an individual as expressing an original project (the project to be) that unfolds through time, and not something which is ready-made. People create meaning by moving away from ‘bad faith’ (trying to become identified with their roles or temperaments) and creating their own comprehensive fundamental projects.

Maslow (1968) suggests that authenticity occurs when individuals discover their true inner nature by sufficiently satisfying higher order psychological needs or ‘being’ needs. Focusing on growth-oriented needs presumably results in fuller knowledge and acceptance of one's true or intrinsic nature, which then moves one further on the path toward self-actualization.

The notion of a true/real self is central in all these writings. However, the authors do not make a clear distinction between self and ego, and at times the ego is confused with the true self. The presence of an encompassing (or spiritual) self is also not asserted in most of these works. Their concept of self is very limited and is confined to the boundaries of ego functioning. For instance, while Rogers spoke about the built-in motivation to develop our potential to the fullest extent, his work is primarily limited to the apparent aspects of existence, and does not adequately address the higher levels of existence. The being of a person is defined by the possibilities, which are infinite. An authentic life would require us to make the choices to transform these possibilities into reality. However, the humanistic and existentialist schools, being philosophies of human finiteness do not deal with this issue. Also, the way these theorists have conceptualized authenticity and self-growth, it might appear to some readers as endorsing the values of individualism. There is little reference to the social, ecological and transcendental dimensions of human existence in most of these writings. This view has, however, been central to the development of both psychological theory and clinical practice, as well as the broader domain of helping relationships. The self-contained model of man implicit in these writings does not situate human experience in a relational framework and therefore offers only a limited perspective.

The Indian Perspective on Authenticity

Unlike the Western approach, the Indian perspective attends to the complexities of the multi-layered structure of being, without taking recourse to reductionism. The holistic view present in diverse schools of Indian thought is inspired by an understanding of transcendence which encompasses various domains of life. The authentic choice in the Indian thought system is not centred on death, but towards the realization of the true Self and liberation. The Indian tradition is rooted in a deep awareness of an implicit and underlying continuity and connectedness across various life forms throughout the universe. It maintains that the striving to be authentic enhances and facilitates self-expansion/self-transcendence. It incorporates love and respect for others and is inclusive. It emphasizes the notion of Self as a ground for existence. Within this paradigm a search for true or authentic self is held to be the prime goal of human life. It is held that one may renounce or sacrifice this world for ātman (ātmārthaṃ pṛthivīṃ tyajet).

At the heart of Indian thought is the concept of brahman. At the core of our being, in the innermost sheath of our existence, lies the all-pervading brahman, an Absolute that makes us what we are. Leading an authentic life implies a striving for relationship with one's true Self (brahman), and realizing all the possibilities of our true nature. Authenticity, therefore, becomes the realization of our oneness with the transcendent and cosmic Divine, and with all beings. As Sri Aurobindo (1970c, p. 726) observes, ‘to arrive at freedom, mastery and perfection we have to get back to the real self and soul within and arrive too thereby at our true relations with our own and with universal nature.’

Becoming authentic can also be viewed as the psychic's coming to the front, as described by Sri Aurobindo (1970a, Part 4, p. 1097):

The psychic ordinarily is deep within.… By coming forward is meant that it comes from behind the veil, its presence is felt already in the waking daily consciousness, its influence fills, dominates, transforms the mind and vital and their movements, even the physical. One is aware of one's soul, feels the psychic to be one's true being, the mind and the rest begin to be only instruments of the inmost within us.

The psychic being is the individualized soul developed by the psychic essence, in the process of evolution. When the psyche, a spark of the Divine which is present in all life and matter, begins to develop an individuality in the course of evolution, that psychic individuality is called the psychic being (Dalal, 1989, p. 205). Psychic essence is the divine essence in the individual. This persistent soul existence is the real individuality which stands behind the constant mutations of the structure we call personality (Dalal, 2001). It is the inmost soul being; a portion of the Divine within us, and it uses the mind, vital and the body as instruments for growth and experience. As the psychic being grows through sādhanā, it is no longer veiled by mind, vital and body, and instead comes forward and dominates the mind, life and body. In the words of Sri Aurobindo (1970a, Part 4, p. 1605):

As this experience grows it manifests a developing psychic personality which insisting always on the good, true and beautiful, finally becomes ready and strong enough to turn the nature towards the Divine.

The meaning and nature of psychic being can be elucidated, with the help of some excerpts from Sri Aurobindo's writings:

It is this secret psychic entity which is the true original Conscience in us deeper than the constructed and conventional conscience of the moralist, for it is this which points always towards Truth and Right and Beauty, towards Love and Harmony and all that is a divine possibility in us, and persists till these things become the major need of our nature (1970b, p. 226).

Always, when the soul is in front, one gets the right guidance from within as to what is to be done, what avoided, what is the wrong thing or the true thing in thought, feeling, action. But this inner intimation emerges in proportion as the consciousness grows more and more pure (1970a, Part 3, p. 903).

It is by the coming forward of this true monarch and his taking up of the reins of government that there can take place a real harmonisation of our being and our life (1970b, p. 900).

In psychic being (here being is used as a verb) is the complete authentic existence. We all have the potential for finding the psychic being and bringing it to the front of the consciousness where it can organize and harmonize all the parts of the being. The capability for this can be nurtured through the practice of yoga. Sri Aurobindo (1970a, Part 1, p. 288) says,

In its origin it [psychic] is the nucleus pregnant with divine possibilities that supports this lower triple manifestation of mind, life and body.

For an authentic person, mind, life (desires, energy) and body become pure instruments of true Self-expression. Thoughts, emotions and actions are in synchrony with one another, and in tune with the true Self. When the psychic being is at the front of the consciousness the individual is in a state of ‘flow’, without conflict or impediment in uniting with the Divine. He is natural and spontaneous, and without pretension. Treading the path of self-realization and seeking oneness with the Divine (brahman) brings with it experiences of joy, peace, compassion, love and liberation, all manifestations of the true Self.

Within this perspective, an authentic person does not consider his limited, mind-made self to be all, but only a wave of ‘becoming’ thrown up from the sea of its ‘being’. The authentic person perceives his true self to be one with the Transcendent, and no longer takes its constructed individuality as anything more than a formation for world experience (Dalal, 2001).

Thus the very first step towards authenticity is ‘…to accept the fact that this outer consciousness is not one's soul, not oneself, not the real person, but only a temporary formation on the surface for the purposes of the surface play. The soul, the person is within, not on the surface—the outer personality is the person only in the first sense of the Latin word persona which meant originally a mask.’ (Sri Aurobindo, 1970a, Part 1, pp. 304–305). Leading an authentic life requires us to retrieve our true selves, and be released from the bondage of ego.

Authenticity in Action: Exploring Through the Lives of Authentic People

To share insights from the Indian tradition we will focus on two modern Indian visionaries—Sri Aurobindo and Mahatma Gandhi. These remarkable men demonstrated the power of an authentic life in many ways. Sri Aurobindo was a spiritual master and Gandhi was a spiritual leader. Both succeeded in transforming themselves in order to achieve a greater, selfless purpose.

The psychic being is always evolving. One can only strive to understand its progressive growth and influence through the study of life stories as a whole. But it would be a very limited and partial attempt. Also the sādhanā of Sri Aurobindo had taken him far beyond the psychic realization, and his life reflects the attainment of the highest reaches of consciousness. To understand the nature of authenticity with this perspective, an analysis of the life stories of Sri Aurobindo and Mahatma Gandhi was carried out.

Aurobindo Ghosh (1872–1950) is known both as a freedom fighter and a great thinker. A seer, poet, and Indian nationalist, Sri Aurobindo was born in Calcutta (Bengal) in an educated family. His father, a doctor, sent him to England to be educated when he was seven, and he spent fourteen years there. After returning to India in 1893, he participated in India's freedom struggle for a few years, and then went on to Pondicherry for pursuing his spiritual quest, where he spent the rest of his life doing yoga sādhanā, exploring the various levels of consciousness and trying to bring the supramental consciousness into earth consciousness. He developed a system of yoga that he called Integral Yoga, and wrote a number of books on Indian philosophy and thought.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869–1948), one of the most respected spiritual and political leaders of the 1900s, was born on October 2, 1869 in Porbandar (Gujarat), India. His father was a Prime Minister in Porbandar, and later in Rajkot. He went to London to study law. In 1893, he went to South Africa and stayed there for 21 years working to secure rights for Indian people. It was there that he developed his creed of passive resistance against injustice, satyāgraha (truth force), based on truth and non-violence. Before he returned to India in 1915, he had radically changed the lives of Indians living in South Africa. Gandhi helped free India from British rule through nonviolent resistance, and is honoured by his people as the father of the Indian Nation. Indians call Gandhi Mahatma, meaning Great Soul.

The focus of this section is to chart out certain psychological attributes and experiences associated with these authentic people who strived for unity with the Divine, mapping the experiential terrains of their lives. For this purpose texts from Sri Aurobindo's On Himself (OH) and his biography by Nirodbaran (1990) Sri Aurobindo for All Ages (SAFAA) and from Gandhiji's autobiography, The Story of my Experiments with Truth (1927) are used. Overall, it can be seen as an endeavour to identify the elements of authenticity in these lives.

The texts were analyzed with a qualitative orientation and themes were identified. These two individuals were contemporaries and remarkable representatives of Indian culture. Patterns emerge from these two stories unfolding during the same historical period. The analyses yielded six major themes as detailed below. Here onwards Sri Aurobindo and Mahatma Gandhi have been addressed through the initials SA and MG respectively.

Self-Transformation from Ordinariness to Extra-Ordinariness: A Journey from Aurobindo Ackroyd Ghose to Maharṣi Sri Aurobindo, from Mohan Das Gandhi to Mahātmā.

In this section we have analysed the journeys of these spiritual seekers, and explored the process of how they transformed their ordinary lives into the extraordinary. Sri Aurobindo was a strong seeker of truth since his initial years. Transcending human imperfections he transformed his life into an epitome of truth, peace and compassion.

In those days I was not particular about telling the truth always and I was a bit of a coward. Nobody could imagine that I could face the gallows or carry on a revolutionary movement. In my case it was all human imperfection with which I had to start … (SAFAA, p. 12).

SA's journey was more inner than outer. In his own words:

… neither you nor anyone else knows anything at all of my life; it has not been on the surface for men to see (OH, p. 378).

On the other hand, Gandhi lived quite an active social life. The ordinariness in Gandhi during his early years is reflected in his accounts of what he calls ‘his failings’, ‘tragedy’ and ‘shame’. These include his friendship with a person who instigates him into meat-eating (a taboo for Vaiṣnavas); his brothel visit; his suspicions about his wife; stealing, smoking, lying; failure to practise sexual restraint, and others. However what sets MG apart was his ‘awareness’ of these failings. As he mentions at different points in his biography:

Moreover, I was a coward (p. 17).

It took me long to get free from the shackles of lust, and I had to pass through many ordeals before I could overcome it (p. 26).

I knew I was lying…to my mother (p. 20).

There were many such moments of weakness in MG's life. However after each such experience he was engulfed by guilt, and absorbed in introspection, and the desire for atonement. This capacity—to realize his mistakes and reflect on his experiences—always helped him to reposition himself.

Extra-Ordinariness: Quest for truth, Self-Awakening, Transformation

Both SA and MG constantly sought self-growth and evolution. Their lives bear witness to the infinite possibilities within human beings for self-actualization and self-realization. Both these spiritual masters had the capacity for self-reflection and introspection, which aided them in following the path towards self-realization and seeking the Divine.

I must somehow see God … However arduous the way, I am determined to follow that path (SAFAA, p. 53).

I worship God as Truth only. I have not yet found Him, but I am seeking after Him. I am prepared to sacrifice the things dearest to me in pursuit of this quest (MG, p. xi).

Their extra-ordinariness was also manifested in questioning the status quo and trying to change the prevailing situation. They were guided by super-ordinate ideals, rather than being content with the mundane. In this context, SA's description of our mother-country India and his call to the people of India to work for her freedom is extremely relevant:

Other people look upon the country as an inert piece of matter … to me She is the Mother. I adore Her, worship Her (SAFAA, p. 53).

So rather than feeling settled with the status quo, SA never shied away from taking risks in life.

Poverty has never had any terror for me nor is it an incentive … I left my very safe and ‘handsome’ Baroda position without any need to do it and then I gave up also the Rupees 150 of National College Principalship leaving myself with nothing to live on … (OH, p. 357).

That starting and carrying on for ten years and more a revolutionary movement for independence without means and in a country wholly unprepared for it is … living dangerously (OH, p. 357).

Both SA and MG had within them sincere and strong aspiration to seek the Truth, and that is what made them move ahead with their quest.

But one thing took deep root in me—the conviction that morality is the basis of things and truth is the substance of all morality. Truth became my sole objective. It began to grow in magnitude everyday and my definition of it also has been ever widening (MG, p. 29).

At the tender age of seven, MG was deeply influenced by Śravaṇa and Hariśchandra, symbols of dutifulness and truth respectively in the Indian mythology.

The book (Shravana Pitribhakti Nataka) and the picture (of Sharavana, carrying by means of slings fitted for his shoulders, his blind parents on a pilgrimage) left an indelible impression on my mind.

To follow truth and to go through all the ordeals Harishchandra went through was the one ideal it inspired in me…. Still both Harishchandra and Shravana are living realities for me (p. 6).

Metamorphosis: The Process of Transformation

SA had unusual experiences since his childhood. Regarding an experience when he was twelve or thirteen he said:

I was extremely selfish and then something came upon me and I felt I ought to give up selfishness. I tried in my own way—of course imperfectly—to put it into practice. But that was a sort of turning point in my inner life (SAFAA, p. 10).

For SA it was his yoga sādhana that catalyzed the metamorphosis, which was completely internal.

I came away (from politics) because I did not want anything to interfere with my yoga and because I got a very distinct adesa in the matter (OH, p. 55).

Do you think that Buddha or Confucius or myself were born with a prevision that they or I would take to the spiritual life? So long as one is in the ordinary consciousness, one lives the ordinary life. When the awakening and the new consciousness come, one leaves it (OH, p. 75).

I have been so absorbed in my Sadhana that contact with the outside world has till lately been reduced to minimum (OH, p. 436).

In the life of MG, the quest for truth was manifested through various experiments that he carried out with non-violence, celibacy, vegetarianism and other principles of conduct, including Satyagraha. His decision to come back to South Africa and fight for the cause of Indians there, the Phoenix settlement, his water and earth treatment, experiments in dietetics, self-restraint, fasting etc.—all these activities and experiments are not beyond the purview of human capacity, but they are not something everyone can have the courage to do. MG had that courage and aspiration to seek truth and self-purification in whatever he did.

The experiences and experiments have sustained me and given me great joy (p. 420).

He who would go for novel experiments must begin with himself. That leads to quicker discovery of truth, and God always protects the honest experimenter (p. 257).

Acts of confession hold great significance in shaping MG's life. It can be seen throughout his life that he was peculiarly fond of making confessions, and did so at many critical points in his life. These may have been his way of accepting parts of himself by confessing things in public when he felt that he was not being true to himself or had in some way violated the two great values of ahiṁsā (non-violence) and satya (truth). The essence of any act of confession is ‘acceptance or owning’ one's mistakes or weaknesses, done with a sense of repentance. Through these confessions MG was able to overcome his initial failings and gradually develop a strong commitment for truth. For example, here is his disclosure of stealing to his father:

But I felt that the risk should be taken; that there could not be a cleansing without confession. I decided at last to write out the confession, to submit it to my father, and ask his forgiveness … I also pledged myself never to steal in future (p. 23).

A clear confession, combined with a promise never to commit the sin again, when offered before one who has the right to receive it, is the purest form of repentance (p. 24).

Other aspects of MG's life that contributed to his transformation from ordinariness to extra-ordinariness were his ability to learn from experience and his openness to new experience.

There was also the tempting opportunity of seeing a new country, and of having new experience (p. 85).

The transformation in MG was also marked by a change from an outer to inner orientation. Initially in India, MG chose to abstain from meat eating because of his parents who were staunch Vaiṣnavas and abhorred meat eating, and not because of his own preference. He said to himself:

In their lifetime, therefore, meat eating must be out of the question. When they are no more, and I have found my freedom, I will eat meat openly … I abjured meat out of the purity of my desire not to lie to my parents (p. 20).

However, later on after reading Salt's Plea for Vegetarianism, MG's stance regarding not eating meat changed:

From the date of reading this book, I may claim to have become a vegetarian by choice (p. 41).

In another episode of his life, during a short period of his stay in England he was smitten by the infatuation to become the English gentleman and he spent good amount of money on his clothes, hat, double watch chain of gold, lessons in dancing, French elocution and violin. But shortly afterwards, a realization came and he embarked upon simple and plain living. He thought, ‘If my character made a gentleman of me, so much the better. Otherwise I should forgo the ambition’ (p. 44). MG's reference to the word ‘character’ has an inward bearing.

Dialectic (Negotiation) of the Inner and the Outer Worlds: Creating and Maintaining Balance and Harmony

We live in a culture and society, and have to constantly negotiate with external forces and constraints in order to honour and protect ourselves, and create a sense of harmony in our being. This does not always entail fighting with those external forces, but does involve taming them so that inner and the outer reach a state of harmonious equilibrium. Changes and adjustment are required on the part of both the actor and the context (others). Perhaps this is the reason that led MG to make a number of changes in his diet and ways of living. He decided to economize and embarked on a simple and plain living. He wrote:

The change harmonized my inward and outward life … my life was certainly more truthful and my soul knew no bounds of joy (p. 47).

SA drew a parallel between the spiritual conflict within and the world conflict without:

Everything internal is ripe or ripening, but there is a sort of locked struggle in which neither side can make a very appreciable advance, the spiritual force insisting against the resistance of the physical world, that resistance disputing every inch and making more or less effective counter attacks…. And if there were not the strength and Ananda within, it would be harassing and disgusting work; but the eye of knowledge looks beyond and sees that it is only a protracted episode (OH, p. 425).

SA always preferred to remain in the background while participating in the Revolutionary Movement. He did not want to come under the eyes of the British, who could disrupt his revolutionary activities and fiery writings criticizing both them and the Congress. To a disciple he once wrote:

I was never ardent about fame even in my political days; I preferred to remain behind the curtain, push people without their knowing it and get things done … (SAFAA, p. 71).

This shows how an authentic person might take appropriate actions under crucial circumstances.

An important event in the life of MG serves to illustrate how an authentic individual deals with situations demanding compromise. In South Africa, when he was admitted as an advocate in the Supreme Court he was asked to remove his turban and he complied:

Not that, if I had resisted the order, the resistance could not have been justified. But I wanted to reserve my strength for fighting bigger battles. I should not exhaust my skill as a fighter insisting on retaining my turban. It was worthy of a better cause…. But all my life through, the very insistence on truth has taught me to appreciate the beauty of compromise … this spirit was an essential part of Satyagraha (p. 123).

Another instance through which the ‘beauty of compromise’ can be understood is regarding MG's becoming a target of colour prejudice in South Africa while travelling. In his own words:

I knew it was sheer injustice and an insult, but I thought it better to pocket it. I could not have forced myself inside, and if I had raised a protest, the coach could have gone off without me. This would have meant the loss of another day,… so, much as I fretted within myself, I prudently sat next to the coachmen (p. 95).

Neither of these instances should be taken as evidence of yielding. Rather they clearly indicate how an authentic individual struggles with and resolves challenges in the external environment. SA rightly states,

Our actual enemy is not any force exterior to ourselves, but our own crying weaknesses, our cowardice, our selfishness, our hypocrisy, our purblind sentimentalism (SAFAA, p. 40).

Honouring the Self: Courage and Strength to Stand for One's Beliefs

Authenticity is a quality of self-experience wherein we value ourselves, and affirm and own all that belongs to our self. After rejecting the Indian Civil Service, SA joined the Baroda State Service under the Gaekwad of Baroda with more or less the same work as in the ICS. However, he saw a difference between the two:

Baroda was a native state under a native ruler. You did not have to be all attention to the superior English officer ruling your fate. There was much room for freedom and dignity (SAFAA, p. 23).

An authentic person is master of the self and enjoys the freedom of this mastery expressed in the form of self-determination and realized in everyday conduct through actions with clear intentions. This event in SA's life also illustrates the way an authentic person drives his life and gives it shape, negotiating with situations and circumstances. SA chose to serve a native Indian ruler rather than a British officer, and maintained an independent way of working.

Another beautiful description of authenticity can be found in SA's reply to a student who asked him how to improve his English:

Do not be anybody's slave, but be your own master. By reading Macaulay or any other writer you will never be like him … never an original. Therefore, you may read any good author carefully, but should think for yourself and form your own judgement … cultivate a habit of writing and in this way you will be the master of your style (SAFAA, p. 26).

SA never compromised on his belief that only one ideal should be followed in India's struggle for freedom—complete independence—and this was the primary reason for the split in Congress into Moderates and Nationalists.

We of the new school would not pitch our ideal one inch lower than absolute swaraj—self-government as it exists in the United Kingdom (SAFAA, p. 63).

SA was steadfast in exercising his political will and extremely clear in his position vis-à-vis India's freedom struggle and its goals:

Sri Aurobindo's first preoccupation was to declare openly for complete and absolute independence as the aim of political action in India and to insist on this persistently in the pages of the journal; he was the first politician in India who had the courage to do this in public and he was immediately successful (OH, p. 29).

As is known to all, MG never compromised on the core values of truth and non-violence, no matter how difficult the circumstances. At the age of 18, before leaving for England, he had to appear before his caste people (modh baniā) who were agitated over his going abroad since it was against their religion. At the meeting he showed tremendous courage, and nothing could change his decision to go abroad. In MG's own words:

How I suddenly managed to muster up courage I do not know. Nothing daunted, and without the slightest hesitation, I came before the meeting (p. 34).

The depth of his courage can very well be deciphered, for his weapon for procuring justice and truth was satyāgraha (satya-truth, āgraha-firmness). An important aspect of honouring the self is to ‘be yourself’. Both SA and MG had lived in England. SA had spent fourteen of his most formative years there. But both men always remained what they were—simple seekers of Truth, without being affected by the attractions of Western society. Dinendra Kumar Roy, in Aurobindo Prasanga, writes:

But what struck me as amazing was that his noble heart had suffered not the least contamination from the luxury and dissipation, the glitter and glamour, the diverse impressions and influences, and the strange spell of western society (SAFAA, p. 33).

MG always sought to be transparent in his deeds and thoughts. In his words, ‘It went against the grain with me to do a thing in secret that I would not do in public’ (p. 76). MG speaks about being ‘pained’ on seeing the pretensions and artificiality of Indian princes who were invited to Lord Curzon's darbār in India and dressed in Western attire—

On the Darbar day they put on trousers befitting Khansamas and shining boots. I was pained and inquired one of them the reason for the change (p. 192).

Serenity, Stability and Composure Amidst Chaos and Difficulties

Neither SA nor MG were swayed by difficulties. SA always practiced equanimity and was never afraid to move away from security and stability to undertake a higher quest. In SA's own words about his stay in the Alipore Jail:

I have spoken of a year's imprisonment. It would have been more appropriate to speak of an year's living in an Ashram or a hermitage…. The only result of the wrath of the British Government was that I found God (SAFAA, p. 92).

Despite the attempts on the part of the British Government to arrest SA and thwart his yoga-sādhanā, he remained unscathed and detached and sailed through the precarious situations. In SA's words,

I have borne every attack which human beings have borne, otherwise I would be unable to assure anybody ‘This too can be conquered’ (OH, p. 154).

In MG's words, ‘I have found by experience that man makes his plans to be often upset by God, but, at the same time where the ultimate goal is the search of truth, no matter how a man's plans are frustrated, the issue is never injurious and often better than anticipated’ (p. 254).

And this is the reason why he could devotionally offer his service to the plague patients without in the least being bothered by the danger of his own infection. He would always see problems as tests of honesty and sincerity. In one very trying situation he said, ‘No use shedding tears. Let us do whatever else is humanly possible…’ (p. 253).

SA's remarks regarding the ‘Shiva temperament’ convey the strong sense of stability he graciously possessed:

I have no special liking for the ideal of Shiva, though something of the Shiva temperament must necessarily be present. I never had any turn for rejection of the money power nor any attachment to it. One has to rise above these things; but it is precisely when one has risen above that one can more easily command them (OH, p. 356).

The stability, serenity and strength of both these spiritual seekers can also be gauged from the way they responded to the death of their loved ones. On getting the news of his mother's death, MG was deeply pained. However, he was in full control of himself.

But I remember that I did not give myself up to any wild expression of grief. I could even check the tears, and took to life just as though nothing had happened (p. 73).

SA also had a very composed way of responding to the sudden death of his wife. Despite experiencing profound pain, he maintained spiritual poise and equanimity. In a letter to his father-in-law, SA writes:

God has seen good to lay upon me the one sorrow that could still touch me to the centre. He knows better than ourselves what is best for each of us, and now that the first sense of the irreparable has passed, I can bow with submission to His divine purpose … where I have once loved, I do not cease from loving. Besides she who was the cause of it, still is near though not visible to our physical vision (SAFAA, p. 167).

Meaning in Life: A Sense of Purpose and Mission and the Conviction to Follow it.

An authentic person assumes responsibility for choosing his values, principles, and goals. He has the awareness that he must create a meaningful life, one that will result in the experience of inner fulfillment. These themes are echoed in the lives of both SA and MG. SA was clear about his initial mission to ‘help uplift the Nation’ (SAFAA, p. 107). In a letter to his wife Mrinalini, he wrote:

I know I have the strength to redeem this fallen race. It is not physical strength. It is the strength of knowledge…. God has sent me to this world to accomplish this great mission. When I was fourteen the seed began to sprout, at eighteen the foundation became firm and unshakable (SAFAA, p. 53).

MG from a very young age became rooted in his belief that truth is the sovereign principle governing all aspects of life. For him:

Truth became my sole objective (p. xi).

I never resorted to untruth in my profession … my principle was put to test many a time in South Africa … I always wished that I should win only if my client's case was right … and I was confirmed in my conviction that it was not impossible to practice law without compromising truth (MG, p. 302).

An authentic person listens carefully to the voice of his deepest inclinations and learns to make choices and act according to what makes inner sense. This gives us insight into our intentions and clarity about goals. Listening to that inner voice, believing in our prayers and having faith in our sādhanā can be seen as what Parameshwar (2005) refers to as ‘invoking transcendental epistemologies’ which act almost as guides in helping actualize our higher purpose. The following excerpts from the life of MG and SA show how they went beyond conventional ways of making sense of reality and invoked epistemologies that access divine information. Gandhi routinely uses the epistemology of prayer; he begins his autobiography stating that he has come to the decision that in his life he will run the boldest risks which he arrived at as a result of deep and prayerful thinking.

I had long since taught myself to follow the inner voice. I delighted in submitting to it. To act against it would be difficult and painful to me (MG, p. 113).

SA's experiences in the jail led him to rely increasingly on the inner voice—the ‘adesh’ or the divine command from within—to regulate his actions. His decision to go to Pondicherry and his mission to help uplift the nation were all a part of the Divine command he got from within. In the Uttarpara speech he mentions:

A day passed and a second day and a third, when a voice came to me from within, ‘Wait and see.’ Then I grew calm and waited … for the voice of God within me, to know what He had to say to me, to learn what I had to do (SAFAA, p. 99).

Two final excerpts illustrate the clarity of purpose these great men possessed:

… I am content to work still on the spiritual and psychic plane, preparing there the ideas and forces which may afterwards at the right moment and under the right conditions precipitate themselves into the vital and material field, and I have been careful not to make any public pronouncement as that might prejudice my possibilities of future action (OH, p. 439).

What I want to achieve—what I have been striving and pining to achieve these thirty years—is self realization, to see God face to face…. I live and move and have my being in pursuit of this goal. All that I do by way of speaking and writing, and all my ventures in the political field, are directed to the same end (MG, p. x).

Service for Mankind: Compassion and Love for All

The narratives also show how these extraordinary men transcended their own life situation and compassionately noticed the suffering of others. In a profound way they could connect their own suffering to that which manifested universally. SA was never interested in attaining his personal salvation. In a prayer he said:

If you do exist, you know my mind. You know I don’t care for liberation; what others want has no attraction for me. I want power so that I may raise this country and serve my dear countrymen (SAFAA, p. 48).

It did not seem anything like a supreme aim or worth being pursued for its sake; a solitary salvation leaving the world to its fate was felt as almost distasteful (OH, p. 12).

I am developing the necessary powers for bringing down the spiritual on the material plane, and I am now able to put myself into men, and change them, removing the darkness and bringing light, giving them a new heart and a new mind…. (OH, p. 423).

MG was always motivated by the spirit of service:

My profession progressed satisfactorily, but that was far from satisfying me. The question of further simplifying my life and of doing some concrete act of service to my fellowmen had been constantly agitating me…. I longed for some humanitarian work of permanent nature (p. 169).

The heart's earnest and pure desire is always fulfilled. Service of the poor has been my heart's desire, and it has always thrown me amongst the poor and enabled me to identify myself with them (p. 127).

When Gandhi was pushed out of a train because he was a coloured person in South Africa despite having a first class ticket, rather than focusing on his personal humiliation he saw his suffering as merely a symptom of the larger disease of colour prejudice.

I began to think of my duty…. It would be cowardice to run back to India without fulfilling my obligation. The hardship to which I was subjected was only superficial — only a symptom of the deep disease of color prejudice. I should try, if possible, to root out the disease.…The incident deepened my feeling for the Indian settlers (MG, p. 94).

MG also had a deeper love for people, was compassionate towards one and all, be it the indentured labourers of South Africa, the Harijans of India or the poor indigo farmers. He always forgave others who had wronged him in any way.

I hope God will give me the courage and the sense to forgive them…. I have no anger against them. I am only sorry for their ignorance and their narrowness (p. 159).

… the doer of the deed, whether good or wicked, always deserves respect or pity as the case may be. ‘Hate the sin not the sinner’ (p. 230).

Thus we see how these six themes run parallel in the lives of SA and MG, yet unfolded in different ways. Their lives were in a rhythmic and harmonious flow, with their self ever growing and ever flowering. They were at peace with themselves and experienced joy in whatever they did. They had a clear vision of the purpose and meaning of their lives and had compassion for others. Their entire being was under the psychic influence, organized by and identified with it. When thoughts, feelings and actions are in tune with each other, and are aligned in unity with the core of self, there is no place for inner conflicts and blocks. Life flows freely and smoothly and one feels unshackled, uninhibited and natural, without the need for any façade or mask. The self is owned and valued, free to grow and evolve. And with the authentic growth of the self, others may be inspired to grow along with it. Because of their unity with the psychic being, authentic selves are always in a state of receptivity, inner joy, energy, progress, strength, and freedom, and everything has meaning.

When someone is destined for the Path, all circumstances through all the deviations of mind and life help in one way or another to lead him to it. It is his own psychic being within him and Divine Power above that use to that end the vicissitudes both of mind and outward circumstance (Sri Aurobindo, 1970a, Part 2, p. 550).

Rethinking/Revisiting Authenticity

The study of these life stories indicates that in authentic living there is emphasis on knowing and accepting the true self and acting with determination and conviction, rather than getting shaped by superficial conventions and whims. It also recognizes the power of the cultural and social dimensions of our existence, and the necessity of a continuous negotiation between the inner world and the outer becomes integral to the very process of living. And striking a balance between the personal and socio-cultural remains at the very heart of authenticity. An authentic person can never negate or disown his true self, and has the courage, strength, belief and conviction to stand up for what he believes to be true. Therefore with respect to the locus of authenticity (in the person or social space) one can say that authenticity appears in the dialectic between the inner and outer. In existentialist thought a person is construed as ‘Dasein’, which indicates the concretely existing human being who is there as part of a world (being-in-the-world). The person and the world are co-constituted, and not separate entities. Hence personal authenticity operates in relation to others. It entails responsibility not only toward one's self, but also toward others, so that a sense of balance is created between self and society, between the inner and outer world.

Living authentically, therefore, does not imply going against society or violating the social norms, values or beliefs. An authentic self carries the social along with it, and strives not for personal goods or gains, but for the good of all—sarvodaya. Believing in one's true self can never be antagonistic to the social good or welfare, since one's true self is the seat of the Divine. A true rebel (non-conformist) has always been an agent of change for a stagnant, unproductive society. To progress, to change, to grow is the universal law of life and authentic living is in perfect alignment with that. An authentic life style can never involve a sheer emulation of the ‘givens’ and a blind adherence to what is ‘done’ or ‘not done’ in the society.

Authenticity should not be pictured as the ‘stance of a rugged individualist who … creates his or her own world through leaps of radical freedom’ (Guignon, 1993). It doesn’t imply complete freedom to promote personal wishes and desires. To be authentic means to be responsible and to be accountable for the choices made. What is needed is a balance between freedom and responsibility. May claimed that modern society is suffering from an unhealthy division of love and will, the former focuses on others, while the latter on the self. Unity of love and will is required since both involve care, both necessitate choice, both imply action and both require responsibility (1969).

Furthermore, authentic living does not entail either uncensored or blind expression of one's instincts, desires, and wishes, for this would imply servitude and slavery to our instincts and desires, and curbing of our freedom under the arbitrary rule of needs. But an authentic person is a master of the self and not its slave. Authenticity is a deeper experience. To be what one is, to live out in action one's true nature and one's potentialities, requires self-awareness, self-knowledge and self-control. ‘If there is a constant use of the will the rest of the being learns however slowly to obey the will and then the actions become in conformity with the will and not with the vital impulses and desires. As for the rest (the feelings and desires etc. themselves) if they are not indulged in action or imagination and not supported by the will, if they are merely looked at and rejected when they come, then after some struggle they begin to lose their force and dwindle away’ (Sri Aurobindo, 1970a, Part 4, pp. 1719–1720).

The issue of choice or agency is central to the understanding of authenticity. As an existential concept, a major element defining authenticity is choice and responsibility. To be authentic is to be autonomous, to consciously make choices and to be responsible. There can be an external, moral order guiding one's actions, or it can be self-created morality, with internalized social values. Whatever be the location of the guideposts or the values that give direction to one's life, the emphasis of authentic living is on the location of the agency within the individual, who chooses what to make of his life and how to author it. An authentic person stands for himself, affirms and owns whatever he feels belongs to him or her. Even when the authentic individual is practicing self-denial or is subjugating his ‘voice’, it cannot be taken as an incidence of unauthentic behaviour, for he is choosing to make a compromise. Thus there is both awareness and acceptance in any authentic position.

Towards a Model of Authenticity

Keeping all these various issues in mind, and drawing on Indian thought, a model is proposed which we can call the ‘growth model of authenticity’. Authenticity is a process of evolution and growth, not an unattainable ideal. It is something to be experienced, in different degrees, at different levels, in various forms. Understanding authenticity as ‘the coming forward of the psychic being’ might also serve as the movement of synthesis between the essentially opposing movements of Eastern and Western systems. Viewing it in this way allows a fresh perspective on the experience of being-in-the-world beyond realm of personality. Humans are inherently evolutionary beings, participating in the constant process of becoming. The psychic in them continues growing. One of the ways of conceptualizing authenticity is to view it as varying with levels and across domains/spheres of life. Authenticity would be contingent on one's ‘identity consciousness’, the way the real self is defined. That level of identification could be based on Sri Aurobindo's concentric system of organization of the being and its parts. It consists of a series of sheaths comprising the outer being, the inner being and the inmost being, each of which has three corresponding parts—physical (body), vital (life nature) and mental (mind). At the very core of the inmost being is the psychic being that supports the outer and the inner beings. The meaning of authenticity for a person identifying the self with the body (as is normally the case) would be different from the person who identifies with intellect/mind. There is a scope for upward movement, from an outer/lower/micro level of identification to an inner/higher/macro level. Harmonization and unification of all the disparate parts of the being can be brought about by discovering our psychic being, which then organizes and governs body, life, and mind. This can be achieved through the sādhanā or through the Divine Grace. Thus, making persistent and sincere efforts to have conscious contact with the psychic being and bringing it forward to govern our life is the foundation of authenticity.

The ‘identity consciousness’ shifts in intensity in the course of one's life, as well as in everyday experience. Depending on the cognitive, emotional and spiritual maturity and personal or dispositional factors and situational factors such as immediate environment, relational context, temporal and spatial context, the level at which the person would identify self, that is, the identity consciousness, would vary. Thus the way we act, or to which part of the self we are being true to, would depend on our identity consciousness, which in turn depends on a host of other factors. Therefore we can say that authenticity is not about consistency in behaviour, but about congruence and correspondence between the inner (self) and outer (behaviour).

Conclusion

What is authenticity, and what does it mean to be an authentic person? These are perennial questions that every generation has to address. The question of authenticity existentially calls for a response (Mills, 1997), and the present effort is an attempt to add detail to the map of this crucial feature of human experience. We began by examining the concept of authenticity in the psychological literature, and then we explored the construct from the Indian perspective. The literature demonstrates that authenticity is a quality of self-experience, wherein one feels true to one's being. From the qualitative analyses of the biographies of Sri Aurobindo and Mahatma Gandhi, the notion of authenticity emerges as a life process. It is a journey, not a destination. On the one hand, authenticity lies in knowing one's self, one's thoughts, feelings and beliefs, one's potentialities and purpose; on the other, it is the manifestation of these inner aspects in terms of actions and behaviours, captured by the adages, ‘Be yourself’ and ‘To thine own self be true’. Authentic individuals are integral persons because what they do outwardly matches with who they are inside.

From the preceding discussion authenticity emerges as multifaceted, consisting of: (a) self-awareness/self-knowledge, (b) self-acceptance, (c) self-regulation, (d) responsibility (towards self and others), (e) being in tune with oneself (congruence), (f) growth/learning orientation, (g) conviction, strength and courage.

Life today is characterized by a sense of alienation from self and society. People escape responsibility and hide behind social and conditioned roles. They follow a very calculative approach to life characterized by giving in order to get. Everything is done with some selfish end in mind. It can make us calculating, fearful and egocentric. Our conditioning has separated us from our true nature (see Krishnamurty, 1972). All this calls for authentic living. We need to get rid of the narrowness of the egoic self, which is separative and isolating. Authenticity is not the manifestation of ego, it is the manifestation of the true encompassing self. Leading an authentic life, therefore, means moving beyond the boundaries of the ego. This cannot happen in a day, but demands concerted effort and life-long investment. That's one reason why authenticity is a process and not a product; a journey, not a destination. The lives of SA and MG substantiate this. Authentic existence involves a clear-sighted recognition that, at the deepest level, being human does not consist of self-encapsulated individuals in unavoidable conflict with others (Guignon, 1993, p. 235), but of a broader existence.

Humans have a quality of being that goes beyond the level of animal existence. Our genetic makeup and our extensive potential for modifiability communicates unmistakably that we are meant for something higher and more inclusive. The authentic self, living as a situated being in the world, is one that embodies dharma and svadharma. It is within our ability to attain our natural greatness and fulfill our potential. That is what defines the purpose of human existence. Thus the focus of social and clinical practices including future research should be on the inculcation and maintenance of authenticity across the life span, whether in educational institutions, psychotherapeutic settings, the workplace or the family. We will close with the words of Sri Aurobindo, who has articulated this beautifully:

Every one has in him something divine, something his own, a chance of perfection and strength in however small a sphere which God offers him to take or refuse. The task is to find it, develop it and use it. The chief aim of education should be to help the growing soul to draw out that in itself which is best and make it perfect for a noble use…. It is he himself who must be induced to expand according to his own nature (SAFAA, p. 72).

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