2017-11-01
545
As a young man, Rousseau came from Switzerland to Paris. At first he was enchanted by the Parisian high society, but soon he came to regard it as a fake social game, an external mask. He observed that society makes the individual alienated from his natural, real self.
Just as a seed of a tree contains original tendencies to grow and realize its potentials, every person carries within himself the potential to grow, enjoy life, and realize himself. These original inner energies are what Rousseau calls the natural self, or what can be called the true self, or the authentic self. It is basically good. It likes simplicity and independence, it is self-sufficient, self-motivated, spontaneous, creative and productive.
But society often distorts those inner energies, especially when the young ‘tree’ is still young and tender. Society tends to have negative external influences: social pressure, power-struggles and manipulation, comparison with others (“My clothes are nicer than yours!”). Consequently, the individual may lose touch with his natural (real) self. He then starts playing games, pretending, manipulating, acting according to expectations. Soon he starts identifying with the ‘mask’. He is no longer in touch with his real self.
Rousseau’s picture is therefore dualistic: my inner nature versus external influences. To be authentic is to behave and think and feel from my natural self. To be inauthentic is to live in accordance with external influences.
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Every morning Matt spends some 20 minutes contemplating a chosen paragraph from Rousseau. He first sits down in a quiet corner, calms his mind, sometimes with the help of a short meditation. Then, when he feels quieter, he contemplates the passage. He doesn’t try to analyze, only to “listen” inwardly to what the text says to him. Later, during the day, he remembers the text every once in a while and thinks about it.
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Sometimes a new thought or understanding appears in Matt’s mind, like a bubble rising from the depth of a lake. New words, which are not always in Rousseau’s text, suddenly enter his thoughts. For example, the words ‘fountains of life’ appear inside him, and he starts thinking about them. He says to himself that Rousseau’s ‘natural self’ and ‘social self’ are two different fountains of life. They are two sources of feelings and thoughts and behavior. And maybe there are more such fountains in us.
Matt feels that this new idea is significant. “I now understand,” he says to himself, “that the crucial question is this: Where am I coming from? What is my root, my fountain?”
When Matt meets Linda again, she listens to these new ideas with interest. After a short conversation, she gives him a new text.
