Matter of Personality - Philosophy, Sociology & Psychology

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SkorpivoMusterion
Livin in theTwilight Zone...

Registered: 01/30/03
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Matter of Personality

#4278722 - 06/10/05 03:12 AM (18 years, 10 months ago)

In his autobiography, philosopher and Zen writer Alan Watts wrote that ?no one can succeed as an independent author, or as a teacher or minister, [let alone a businesswoman or man] without a flair for drama and for coming on strongly as a personality, and by success I mean, not only financial reward, but also effective communication. It?s not true that nice guys always finish last ? but it?s certainly true that weak personalities do.

On the other hand, as Watts points out, ?strength of personality ? even though you know very well that is a big act ? is always taken for an ?ego-trip??.? Many of us, certainly most from the middle and lower classes, were taught to downplay ourselves and our strengths. Those of us who do project ourselves in a strong and dynamic way risk being labeled ?ego-maniacs? or worse. Part of the reaction comes from the violation of the norm itself, a kind of ?shame on you.? Part of it is jealousy. After all, it is easy to se that those who project themselves well are having fun doing it. Those who feel constrained by the norm from getting in on the fun often resent those who enjoy expressing themselves. The more repressed project an attitude of ?Who do you think you are?? onto the less inhibited. The implication is that if you were someone else ? say someone rich, famous, or powerful ? this behavior would be acceptable.

Everyone on this earth is wearing an ego or persona mask of some kind and, in some way or another, projecting through it. Watts points out that the ?enlightened ones? he knew all projected strong personalities. Look at the images of the Zen masters scattered throughout history ? strong personalities comes through every one. Modern-day saints like Ghandi, Schweitzer, and Mother Teresa all had strong personalities. Incidentally, these three were extremely effective promoters [or marketers] of their beliefs. All wrote books and toured the world speaking on behalf of their causes.

Where, then, do we get the idea that projecting a strong personality is ?unspiritual?? Much of the popular religion in the West teaches false humility, a sort of psychological self-flagellation. We have been taught that a weak, self-deprecating personality is good [acceptable] and a strong personality is bad [threatening]. Putting oneself down or hiding in the crowd is not humility. Humility comes of itself when we have no desire to be better than anyone else. When we let go of this craving, we simultaneously let go of the shame of being worse than anyone.
We realize that at the deepest levels, we are no better, no worse and no different.

The only difference between a
wise man and a fool is that the
wise man knows he?s playing.
~Fritz Perls

We are all on an ?ego trip?, journeying through time and space, projecting to one another through personality masks ? egos. The so-called ?enlightened ones? realize that this ?ego-trip? is going nowhere, has of itself no particular point or purpose, but is rather more like theater-in-the-round. They put on their masks, play in the theater, go on the ego trip ? remaining all the while at home ? perfectly at rest within themselves. The point of the drama is the drama, the expression of Infinite Compassion and Bliss in a seemingly endless variety of forms. As Shakespeare said, ?The play?s the thing.?

Projecting a strong personality ? essential to success in any arena ? is no more or less egotistical than projecting a weak one. Whatever the image portrayed on it, a mask is a mask. The kid wearing the Alfred E. Neuman mask on Halloween night is in a costume as much as the kid wearing the Clark Gable mask.

Zen would say that both a strong persona and a weak persona are masks ? both are equally fictitious. Neither is any better or worse than the other. Buddhism, however, does give the notion of upaya or ?skillful means.? If you want to succeed at whatever it is you want to do in life, the adoption of a strong, dynamic personality is a more skillful choice. Any other choice would make for added struggle, tension, and frustration and would therefore be a less skillful, more clumsy choice. One does not use a cross-country ski for water skiing, or a weak personality for marketing. Whether we are taking a job interview or advocating a particular cause, promoting a business or book, as strong personality helps.

If you don?t already have a strong personality, work on developing one ? or more accurately, as Dr. Abraham Maslow would say ? letting it out [See thread: Narrowness].
Everyone has a little ham in him or her. Ham it up, toot your own horn.
Just remember that it is all, as Alan Watts says, a ?big act.?

--------------------
Coffee should be black as hell, strong as death, and sweet as love.

Extras:

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