Authenticity is a central thought in all mind, body practices. Living in line with your authentic self and nature is the key to happiness, longevity having more vitality, inner peace and success in life.
Ask yourself how close are you to living your authentic self?
Everyone has a special place in the universe. You are important, not your ego but the real you and the universe is waiting for you to fulfill your destiny.
Confucianism says that authenticity is the fundamental question of humans. Who you are, where you come from and where you are going. It gives you a direction to follow. Without authenticity, our other values and beliefs become meaningless and you have no direction.
We get best at what we practice most.
If you have practiced being inauthentic your whole life, if you have been conforming to someone else’s truth, that is what will get rewarded. We practice least what we resist the most. To live your authentic self, you need to discover why you are resisting and overcome those obstacles.
Important Daoist concepts in the Daoist philosophy
‘Ziran’ is translated from Chinese to mean ‘self’ or ‘of its own self’. It is considered that your soul is your true nature. ‘Ziran’ is therefore equated with the natural self and the soul.
The term ‘PU’ is translated to the uncarved block. This how you came into the world, it is the purest version of yourself. Then society has us conform to its culture and norms which begins our deviation from ‘PU’. We become cultured and we measure our worth via external confirmations verses adherence to something more internally sourced which is your pure soul.
Your true north compass is your authentic self. You develop authenticity through your contact with the world. Look at how the society is trying to get you to deviate from this sense of self. On the one hand society is there to get you to conform and change but on the other hand only through social engagement with society can you find out who you are and where your true authentic place is within the world and your community.
‘Fang Song’ is something my coach would repeat to me often. 'Fang' means to ‘let go’ or ‘release’. If you want to find your authentic self, then you must let go of the person you have been trying to be.
‘Song’ means to relax, let your hair down and allow your life to get messy if that is what it takes to get back to your true nature.
The difference between authenticity and honesty.
Through Honesty you can express what you are experiencing now but if your honest belief about yourself in not your ‘PU’ then you aren’t living your authentic self.
When you return to your original state of ‘PU’ it is then that you can find true happiness. Without authenticity, you are living a self-lie and in that way, you will struggle to be happy and fulfilled with your life.