In my need to understand this "authenticity" thing, I may be in the beginnings of understanding what it is, at least in terms of how I see people using it. The quote below helps. If being authentic is being a true reflection of what's in your heart, then I can honestly say I know very few authentic people.
"Don't underestimate the value people place on authenticity. Politicians listen to the focus groups and say the things they think people want to hear. But after 30 years of reading consumers, I know that they can smell phonies."
Interview with Ogilvy and Mather CEO Shelly Lazarus: http://money.cnn.tv/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/09/17/100258877/index.htm)
Finally, the wisdom of a swami (what's a swami exactly??) rings true:
"Become a principled human being. Become an authentic human being. When you say that you are going to do something, do it. Don’t say you will do something and then not do it. That’s not what a principled human being is like. Thought, word and deed must come together. These are actually the holy trinity within the human being: thought, word and deed. When thought, word and deed are in alignment at a very high level, then you are living a principled life. You are living an authentic life."
Swami Sai Premananda, Principles of Higher Living: The Western Experience Upon the Shores of Eastern Wisdom
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