We Live as 'one' lives

Martin Heidegger's Analysis of Das Man and Angst

Most of the time, we do not live as ourselves.

We live as 'one' lives.

We speak as people speak.

We think as people think.

We choose what is chosen.

We value what is valued.

We say:

'This is what one does.'

'This is how things are.'

'This is how life works.'

No one in particular decides.

Yet everyone follows.

In this way, no one is responsible.

And no one is free.

This way of living feels safe.

It feels normal.

It feels unquestionable.

But in this life, nothing is truly our own.

Our opinions are borrowed.

Our ambitions are borrowed.

Even our fears are borrowed.

We are busy.

We are occupied.

We are distracted.

And because we are always busy,

We never have to face ourselves.

Only rarely does something disturb this routine.

A sudden silence.

A failure.

A loss.

A moment of anxiety.

In such moments, the noise falls away.

And for the first time,

we sense that we have been living someone else's life.

That feeling is uncomfortable.

So we hurry back.

Back to routine.

Back to noise.

Back to 'what one does'.

Noted From Session —

Most of the time, we don’t live as ourselves; we live as “one” lives, without ever knowing who that “one” is or why he lives the way he does. We think as people think, we speak as people speak. We choose what has already been chosen for us by society, by circumstances, by time, by traditions. We value what is valued by others. We say, “This is what one does,” “This is how things are,” “This is how life works,” as if they were laws, and we follow them without ever asking who the lawmaker is, or whether any such law even actually exists at all.

Yet everyone follows. We choose as “one” chooses — more accurately, we accept what has already been chosen for us. Our choice is not truly our choice; it is merely our name, our stamp, our signature placed upon something already decided for us by somebody anonymous.

Is it not that many of us are constantly trying to be seen as normal, to feel safe, and to avoid being questioned or held accountable for our life decisions and choices? And this is exactly what the philosopher is critiquing. His area of interest is the human being itself.

Martin Heidegger said that we are the ones who have been accidentally thrown into this world. No one chose to be here, yet we find ourselves here. We do not fully know who we are, why we are here, or why these objects around us exist. Yet, we are already placed in a situation and are entangled within it.

“Live as one lives” — Martin Heidegger asks: who is that “one”? Nobody really knows, yet we keep following it. This is what he calls inauthenticity — living according to the expectations, values, and ways of others instead of our own.

The purpose, then, is to arrive at a point of inner clarity so that we can become truly alive. And this matters especially for young people, because you have a life to live, and the question is whether you will truly live it. Or do you want to live a borrowed, second-hand life? How would you choose to live? Is your life really your own?

Physically and psychologically, take away the objects around a person that were given meaning by others, and he may begin to collapse. Take away his thoughts, beliefs, fears, and hopes — most of which have been shaped by others — and he will feel empty and helpless. If you say you are respectable, that respect was given to you by others. If you say you are beautiful, that too is a certificate awarded by others. Remove the presence of “others,” and a person may no longer know who he truly is, finding himself in a deeply helpless and desperate situation.

You say you are rich because you have money. Tomorrow, if the world refuses to honour your currency, you will find yourself not only physically powerless but psychologically bankrupt as well. If the world stops recognizing your currency, you are suddenly reduced to poverty, both outwardly and inwardly, in one stroke.

And for youngsters, these are some of the thinkers you must not miss, because life is just opening up for you. It is good to keep the company of those who at least tried to figure out life. The rest is on you — it is your life, and you will have to sort it out yourself. But at least listen to those who tried to understand it on their own and shared their journey.

These notes and reflections were written during sessions conducted by Acharya Prashant.

If questions about life, conditioning, freedom, and understanding oneself genuinely interest you, then the Gita sessions may offer you many more such thought-provoking lessons and discussions.