PERSONALISM & AUTHENTICITY
Michael Tsarion
To know oneself is the beginning of wisdom - Socrates
We’ve heard it said by psychologists that human existence is based on the craving for pleasure and avoidance of pain. This is accepted as axiomatic by almost everyone, including most Materialists and atheists. It’s not easy to contradict. Only sadomasochistic types fall outside this standard categorization of normality, but they’re such a relatively small demographic that they really don’t count, at least not in this regard. Their source of pleasure comes by receiving pain, an odd quirk inherited from very dodgy parenting.
Obviously, we derive pleasure from pleasure itself, as well as from food, drink, sex and having basic needs quickly met. Any delay causes bouts of frustration, longing, pain and aggression. But we also gain pleasure by desiring and receiving wealth, power and worldly recognition. Sometimes, at the end of the line - after mundane needs are satiated - we might seek a higher order of pleasure from learning and attaining “wisdom.”
We may believe we’re satisfied after joining some religious or mystical sect, by becoming Born-Again Christians, Buddhist monks or Theosophists. However, few of these paths provide us with insight into how to overcome the pleasure-drive. They take it for granted that, at the journey’s end - and even before that point - we’re ultimately eager to pleasure ourselves. If it’s not via worldly luxuries, it’s by way of more rarefied dishes. Discomfort along the way is endured by novices because, once again, there’s a pay-off at the end - often called "bliss."
In short, most attempts at life-improvement, whether external or internal, are based on our underlying desire to experience more pleasure. Bodily gratification soon transmutes into mental need.
A great many people allegedly on a “spiritual” quest are, unknown to themselves, driven exclusively by the pleasure-drive. Some with more awareness try covering this up by concocting sob-stories about the pain and suffering they’ve endured (a very common practice in New Age circles). In fact, they’re simply tired of glutting their senses on the world’s banalities. They “suffer” only because the hedonic carnival ride came to an end, and they find themselves left in a heap of childish dismay. Yes, it's all so tragic.
It rarely dawns upon us that the reason we seek new pleasures is largely due to hedonic exhaustion. We exhaust ourselves in the pursuit of one pleasure after another. Jaded after one exploit, we eagerly move on to something apparently more exciting and captivating.
For a great many people, the "spiritual search" amounts to little more than flitting like a butterfly from one sensation to another. First, I got a kick out of a big house and swimming pool. Now it's about sitting in front of my guru in the ashram, reading books on the "law of attraction" and seeking contact with God. Same tea, different cups.
It’s often no different when, at a given point, we find ourselves craving deeper knowledge and wisdom. All too often we take that path after becoming exhausted with more mundane pastimes. Naturally, it’s not a very authentic process. Which brings us to an important question:
What is authenticity?