Living Authentically

Living Authentically

When we are young and idealistic, we confidently believe that we will make the right decision when faced with an ethical dilemma. However, as we mature and the complexity of our engagement with the world increases, the line between right and wrong often becomes blurred. Nowhere is this truer than in a leadership position.

When faced with a conflict between the interest of your customers and your manager, who do you choose? If you choose your manager, it might benefit your career but could lead to legal consequences if discovered in an unlikely event. If you choose customers, your manager will find out and you will certainly lose your job that provides for your children and ailing parents. This is an extreme example with very high stakes, but we deal with such conundrums on a regular basis in our workplaces, families, and communities.

How do we navigate the choice between our personal values and the demands of the institutions we belong to? The gravity of the world is just too strong to resist. Before we realize it, we lose our originality and authenticity, one compromise at a time. This thought is well captured in Dhammapada -

Think not lightly of evil, saying, "It will not come to me." Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the immature, gathering it little by little, fills himself with evil.?

Arian Nazrani let the pull of the world dislocate him from his value system. He has gathered material success in life but inside he feels constant dissatisfaction. Events in his life force him to reflect on his life’s trajectory and he decides to live his life deliberately according to his value system. He finds out soon enough that what the world gives for compliance, it takes away for defiance. With his teacher’s guidance he becomes willing to pays the price to live his life authentically and attains the peace he has been searching for everywhere.

Despite where we are in our journey, like Arian, it is not too late for each of us to reflect and get on the right path for Buddha also said in Dhammapada –

Think not lightly of good, saying, "It will not come to me." Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the wise, gathering it little by little, fills himself with good.?

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