The Real Person of 21st-century - Essay Example

Sur The Real Person of 21st Century Introduction: Human beings have been created to have their presence both inthe spiritual as well as in the material world. It is said that “the spiritual world is where angels live, and the material world is where people live” (Woofenden). The way the human beings or the persons of the 21st century behave and functions largely depend on their environment and the manner in which the surroundings and the society condition the mannerisms and behavior of the human beings. With defining their behaviors every now and then, persons tend to justify their activities and actions and hence in many cases reject their responsibilities for their own actions (Farahani). The present study focuses on an understanding of the real person of the 21st century focusing on their inner and outer selves and how the actions of the outer self get justified by the inner self and how with age, the inner self gets surrendered to the outer self. Existence of Human Beings as Two Selves: The Inner Self and the Outer Self: As Woofenden mentioned in his studies, “Everyone has an inner and an outer part, but these are different in a good person than in a harmful person” (Woofenden). The difference between the good and the harmful persons lie in the fact that in case of a good person, the inner part is found to exist in the heaven along with parts of light, and the outer part exists in the world along with the light. On the other hand, in case of a harmful person, both the inner and the outer selves exist in the world with the light and there is no existence of his self in the heaven. It can also be said that in harmful people, the inner self does not exist at all (Woofenden). By inner self of a human being is meant the “subtle core present within every being without which the existence of the body itself gets negated. The body is there for our Inner self is there. The Inner self can live without the body but the body cannot sustain on its own” (Kumar). When a person is born, even in the 21st century, the inner self is also born along with the person. If the inner self had not been present, the body of the human being would not have lived. The presence of the inner self can be realized with the implementation of “only the power of discrimination and logistics that makes a man arrive at the right conclusions” (Kumar). There are several researchers who have conducted their studies on the existence of the two selves of human beings. Considering the persons of the 21st century, views from researchers reflect that the subconscious mind of the people represents their inner selves. While on the other hand, the outer self is represented by the conscious mind of the human being. The outer self is vulnerable and subjected to different external influences including education, persuasion, intimidation, pressure from the peers and close ones, propaganda, as well as illusions and delusions prevalent in the surroundings. For the outer self of a human being, it is essential to understand the evolution of mankind, and hence accept the intellectuality depending on which they need to carry themselves and their behavior in the society. When there is a separation between the inner and outer self of a human being, it is referred to as neurosis. Neurosis generally represents emotional or psychological disturbances within the human being (Hughes 57). With the outer self of the human being present and living in the world, there is a constant development of self awareness that happens within a human being, particularly in the conscious mind of the human being. The outer self constantly develops the nature and behavior of the persons for their thoughts and feelings enabling them to make the correct decisions for their living in the society. On the other hand, most of the time, human beings are not aware of their inner selves as they are unconscious about it. However for the 21st century real person, it is essential that the evolution of the mankind and the direction of the mankind towards development as well as suitable living in the society, there is a continuous need to understand the existence of both the inner and outer selves and the manner in which they differ and dictate the lives of the human beings in the 21st century (Dougherty). Outer Self Justifying the Inner Self: Considering the real persons of the 21st century, studies have obtained that “to be fully human in the 21st century is to welcome an awareness that we didn’t come into this world, we grew out from it—in the same way an apple grows out from an apple tree” (Dowd). A real person in the 21st century is reflected by a creation that has been an ongoing process ever since mankind came into existence. With research and understanding over the years, in the present century it has become possible to relate the outer and the inner selves of the human beings, thereby relating the actions of the outer self with the justification of the inner self. Human beings have transformed over the years, with an overview on both the inner and outer nature of the persons (Dowd). In the words of Dowd, “To be fully human in the 21st century is to welcome an awareness that we didn’t come into this world, we grew out from it—in the same way an apple grows out from an apple tree. This move, from seeing ourselves as separate beings placed on Earth (“the world was made for us”) to seeing ourselves as a self-reflective expression of Earth (“we were made for the world”), is an immense transformation in human identity” (Dowd). With several evolutionary studies, it has in the present times become possible to understand human instincts and encounter the challenges of the word, and hence explain the actions of the outer self of the persons. In many cases, the inner self might not match with the actions of the outer self. However, with an understanding of the justification of the actions, the compassions and feelings towards the self as well as others have been developed along with gratitude and generosity (Dowd). Surrender of the Inner Self to the Outer Self, With Age: A real person of the 21st century has a constant urge to do something good and wonderful with his life. This is possible through expressing the inner potential and talents of the person out to the world and trying to achieve something that would make his life worth living. The existence of the inner self can be felt whenever a person fails to achieve what he desires to become. The inner self tells the outer self about the lack of his power or concentration in fulfilling the objectives of his life. It is from the inner self that the message comes to rise and achieve the goals. As Ferguson mentioned, “Our lack of fulfillment creates an internal yearning to want to do more with our lives, although we may not be exactly sure what we should be doing. Our failure to live out our divine potential can result in deep frustration and inner turbulence, thus generating a state of unhappiness even when we are surrounded by an abundance of the material things of life” (Ferguson). There are two choices that a human being has – either to surrender to the outer being or to the inner reality (Ferguson). Eventually with age, human beings tend to surrender to their inner selves. When a human being surrenders to the inner self it actually means that the person is listening to his heart. With an age, the behavior of human beings can be realized to change since they do not find it necessary any more to impress the world and hence listen to their hearts. This leads to the surrender of the person to the inner self. This however requires a will power that can be understood to be present more in a person having higher experience of the world and life. Such a surrender has to occur from the heart and mere surrender from the mind does not prove to be successful as far as the human beings of the 21st century is concerned (Arora 156-157). Conclusion: From the above study it could be concluded that the real person of the 21st century has been developed through the process of evolution that mankind has undergone since the time it first came into its existence. The two selves of the human being – the inner and the outer are evident from the behavior and manners of the human beings that often differ with the actual desire of the persons. Moreover, from the studies it could be seen that in the present times, the outer self and its activities can be related with the inner self and thus there is a justification of the outer activities. Also, with age there is a surrender of the human beings to the inner self that leads a person to listen to his or her heart. Works Cited Arora, Brigitte. Transformation of the Human-Animal: Evolving to Our Divine Potential. Indiana: AuthorHouse, 2012. Print. Dougherty, Sarah Belle. Self-Directed Evolution. Theosophy-nw. 1997. Web. 15 Jun. 2013 from: http://www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/evol/ev-sbd.htm Dowd, Michael. Honoring Our Inner and Outer Nature. Humansandnature. 2013. Web. 15 Jun. 2013 from: http://www.humansandnature.org/to-be-human---michael-dowd-response 24.php Farahani, Razi Ghaemmagham. Behaviour and Environment. Gestaltottawa. 2007. Web. 15 Jun. 2013 from: http://swedenborg.newearth.org/hcsg/chap_03.html Ferguson, Theo. Surrendering to Our Reality. Guardian. 2012. Web. 15 Jun. 2013 from: http://m.guardian.co.tt/columnist/2012-03-22/surrendering-our-inner-reality Hughes, Paul. Christ in Us: The Exalted Christ and the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit. North Carolina: Lulu.com, 2007. Print. Kumar, Vijay. Inner self meaning definition innerself. Godrealized. 1993. Web. 15 Jun. 2013 from: http://www.godrealized.com/inner_self.html Woofenden, Lee. Our Inner and Outer Selves. Newearth. 1993. Web. 15 Jun. 2013 from: http://swedenborg.newearth.org/hcsg/chap_03.html Read More