The Neutral Mask

The second mask that one needs to shed to further the journey of finding one’s true self is the neutral mask. The neutral mask is neither bad nor good. A few examples can help us to understand what the neutral mask is: state or country, sect or religion, language, gender, race. These identities are merely attached to an individual because one is born in a particular place and time. In themselves, these identities do not make one superior or inferior to others. 

These and other forms of the neutral mask can be used to bring harm to people belonging to groups different from one’s own. When a person or group sees itself through the eyes of this mask, others belonging to different groups often become strangers and even enemies. Many tortures, discriminations, genocides, and wars are results of overidentification with the neutral mask, identities people acquired because they were born or reared in a particular group. What if one was born or reared in a culture one presently hates? 

 The neutral mask can be used to do good to people both within and without one’s group. For instance, one can use one’s language to spread noble ideas, respect different groups and enhance peace. Therefore one does not have to disown the identities that one is born or reared in but one does have to go beyond them and see oneself as a human being, more similar to others than different from others. 

Recognizing one’s true nature which is much deeper than the neutral mask, can help one to love and respect others. To become a universal person and have the ability to embrace the whole of humanity one must not look at others or oneself through the eyes of a neutral mask. 

Self-awareness can light up the process of recognizing and peeling off the various forms the neutral mask assumes in one’s life. 

Asking oneself hard questions can pave the way to remove the neutral mask:

1. Do I think of my country, religion, language, gender, or race as superior or inferior to others? 

2. Do I keep defending or criticizing the group I belong to? 

3. Can I recognize that people from other groups are deserving of equal dignity? 

4. Can I understand myself as much more than the identities I acquire due to my birth and rearing? 

5. Once I die, will my various identities matter? 

One must discover one’s pure self. 

The Bad Mask

 

           A true journey towards discovering the authentic self must involve shedding all duplicity and duality. The three masks which one needs to remove to find one’s pure self are the bad, the neutral and the good. 

Let us begin by reflecting on what the ‘bad mask’ is. The bad mask can include the use of arrogance, anger, rigidity, black-and-white thinking, pleasing others, other unethical behaviors and means of livelihood and many more such. The individuals who use the above tactics for personal gain, whether material or immaterial, are wearing the bad mask. The person who wears the bad mask might not even be aware that s/he is wearing one and how it causes pain and damage to others and to him/her. A person in authority might justify humiliating employees as necessary to get the task done or that one should get angry to prove to others that s/he is the boss or that one must give in to others’ demands to be accepted by them. The individuals using the bad mask may even try to convince others and also themselves that such tactics are required to be successful in life.

Using any of the above-mentioned unhealthy thinking or behavior for a long time makes even the individual believe that it is his/her real self. Putting on the bad mask leads to frustration and fractures in relationships not only with others but also with oneself.  

           Self-awareness can light up the process of recognizing and peeling off the various forms the bad mask assumes in one’s life.

One way to grow in self-awareness is to sit down with oneself daily and ask questions of oneself, such as

1. Why do I do what I do?

2. What are the consequences of my thought and behavior for others and me?

3. What do others feel about my behavior?

4. Do I tend to hide some things from others and project what I am not?

5. Who benefits and how by the way I appear in front of others?

Another effective way is to ask a friend or mentor, who you know would be honest, his/her feedback on your life aspects.

Gradually but certainly awareness can help one to find one’s pure self.

The Mask

To find meaning and contentment in life one must discover one’s true self. The best way to know oneself is to remove all masks (personas) which one wears, consciously or unconsciously, as part of one’s nurturing by family and society. 

‘Mask’ refers to the public image of one’s personality that one lives and projects. The mask is not one’s real self rather it is a role or expectation from others that one tries to live up to. The mask is also adopted by an individual in the attempt to appear a certain way to gain acceptance, love or even to gain control over others.  

There are three masks which one ought to become aware of and drop totally: the bad, the neutral and the good. The process of shedding one’s masks is not a sudden or easy one but that can be accomplished gradually and gracefully. To remove one’s masks layer by layer is to reach ultimately the true self, the pure self. 

We all wear masks. To refuse to acknowledge one’s masks is to close the door to self-awareness, which finds later expression in frustration, resentment, duplicity, depression, and paranoia. Any person who hopes to reach the heights of integrity and self-awareness needs to have the courage to identify and drop all masks. 

In future articles we will reflect upon the three masks. Meanwhile, you are welcome to ponder the forms these masks could take. 

 

Notes

1.     ‘Persona’ depending on the context, is the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional character. The word ‘persona’ derives from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatrical mask (Wikipedia).