Krishnamurti once said that “it is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.” However, being born and brought up in such a society, most people can’t realize that it is sick, let alone that they are part of this sickness, just like fish, which, living in water, cannot realize that they are in water and part of the sea life.
What does it mean to live a normal life? In the modern world, especially in the West, it means to be brainwashed at a very young age for over a decade by what we call schooling, to later on work as a wage slave for almost the rest of your life competing with others so as to merely survive, to mindlessly consume products without end because manipulative advertising convinced you to do so, while at the same time you unconsciously harm the planet we inhabit, to slowly poison your physical organism by feeding it with disease causing foods, to obey to the rules and believe in the dogmas handed down to you by those in authority, to be passive and uncreative, suppressing yourself in countless of ways, living in suffering yet doing nothing to overcome it.
If you stop for a moment and think, you might realize that this kind of living is absolutely sick, yet it is accepted by almost everyone as healthy and is actually rewarded by society. In fact, those of us who are better at living this way are considered to be the most successful and respected, while those who are different, more sensitive and intelligent, desiring to create a different path in life, are ridiculed and looked down upon, being considered as stupid, weird, or even crazy.
But what is the point of living the way most people live? Life can be lived so much better — we can live playfully, filled with laughter and love, with a desire to be creative, at peace with ourselves and others, savoring the gifts of existence. Unfortunately, only a few people manage to think outside the mental box that society has provided us with and escape from the matrix they’ve been unconsciously living in since they were born. Those are the rebellious ones who at some point in their lives felt the need to break free from the chains of tradition and help create a more beautiful world for all beings on earth.
Rebelling against normalcy
To rebel against normalcy is the most difficult thing you can do because you need the guts to be honest with yourself and others. To voice the truth in a world where almost everyone is living in lies is quite a risky thing to do. Speaking the truth means going against the current of tradition, which in turn means confronting the herd mentality and having the strength to keep on going your way regardless the hardships you might face.
There have been many people who had the courage to rebel against the normalcy of our sick society, but most of them couldn’t deal with the negative consequences their actions had on themselves. When nobody embraces your uniqueness and is able to understand you, and when everybody is trying to suppress you and help you fit back into society, it is easy to lose courage, and not uncommon to experience immense psychological anguish. That’s why some of the greatest minds to have ever walked on earth were suffering from serious mental and emotional issues. And although now, after a long time since they passed away, they are recognized as geniuses, when they were alive they were seen by the majority as weirdos or lunatics.
Once you realize how sick the way you and most people are living is and openly go against it, trying to reclaim your freedom and create your own path in life, you are bound to get in trouble. People, including family members and friends will do everything to put obstacles on your path with the intention to “help” you become normal again, exactly like they are. Instead of helping you to grow your wings of consciousness and leave behind what is burdening your psyche, they do their best to cut them off and make you crawl by their side so that you can suffer together.
Dare to be crazy
Your inner voice has for a very long time been telling you that life could be lived much more beautifully, and you should trust it because it’s right. And although it might be the most difficult thing to achieve, it is the only thing worth working for, because what is the point of living otherwise? What is the point of wasting your entire life just because others told you that’s how you are supposed to live?
If you desire to live the way you want to live and not the way others expect you to live, you need to gather the courage in your heart to be a little crazy — crazy according to society’s standards. You need to distance yourself from the comfort of the herd and follow your calling, without caring what others think of you. You need to be willing to go through hardships and experience pain, without giving up trying to turn your dreams into reality.
Remember: no matter how much pain you might experience by walking the path of non-conformity, the rewards of doing so far outweigh the disadvantages. Just like a mother experiences tremendous pain while giving birth, you are experiencing immense pain birthing a new kind of life. A life of beauty, of joy, of celebration. Pain goes hand in hand with change, so embrace it, allow it to guide to you and let it be a catalyst for your inner metamorphosis.
The purpose of Life is to Live! But upon arrival on this Earth it quickly becomes apparent that this is not the agenda. Ninety nine percent of what’s going on here is not about enhancing human creative potential, but about suppressing it.
It’s about stepping onto an invisible ladder whose rungs form the seemingly inviolable rules of a stagnant, pyramid posturing status quo. A status quo which has almost nothing to do with growing, but a lot to do with decaying. With becoming a well adapted slave in a world whose task masters are kings of a two-dimensional sub reality.
That reality consists of a monotonous fixation on the acquisition of power, money, prestige and preeminence. A world in which a quite deadly lack of awareness remains the prevailing condition; ruthlessly maintained by a small cabal in whose interests it is to keep things exactly as they are, lest some unguarded rebellion should dislodge them from their imperious, sterile thrones.
However the life force is strong. It cannot and will not tolerate eternal repression. Wherever fissures appear in the status quo, it bubbles up and declares itself to be the messenger of truth. “This is our World. We are breaking free and shining a light on the path to be manifest.”
So what is it that is still holding back so many from actually making that illumined path manifest?
Fear
Breaking through the cozy similitudes of a largely routine, safe existence, takes courage and conviction. There is no ‘easy way’ to truth. But the thought of venturing into a deeper side of one’s self – and of jumping into new paradigms of external involvement – often arouses a sense of fear.
Honest internal and external exploration bring things to the surface that many would rather leave buried and, as far as possible, forgotten.
Such embarkations into previously uncharted territories are, for many, an unsettling experience; one where our deeper intuition appears to be at odds with our mundane fixations. Where the inner call to be awake clashes with all too easily accepted patterns of day-to-day existence. Patterns whose ‘successful’ completion ironically, require that one remains largely asleep!
Fear can – and does – create the single largest block to the manifestation of our basic consciousness.
The manifestation of consciousness is not a passive affair, it demands taking action. ‘An action that speaks louder than words.’ And here’s where the next level of inner, fear based resistance kicks-in and tries to hold us back from making a stand. Tries to prevent our involvement in positive acts of resistance in response to the further erosion of the planet’s life support system. And to the further erosion of essential facets of daily life right in our own back yards.
Overcoming the hold which the fear factor exerts upon us is, I believe, the single greatest step we can make towards the emancipation of the true self and a rising consciousness. There are one hundred and one different ways of doing it, but recognition of the paralysis it causes in us is a major first step.
Low Self-Confidence
There are many amongst those longing for both internal and external change who fall at the first hurdle due to a seeming lack of self-confidence. A lack of self-esteem. But this need not be, for this sense of ‘lack’ is a trick played upon us by a wayward ‘second self’. A little devil who has acquired entry into our subconscious and is damned if he is going to quit without a fight!
He’s a cunning one alright, because he disguises himself as our actual thoughts; making us believe that ‘we’ can’t do such and such – because ‘we’ are not capable – ‘we’ are not good enough.. But it ain’t the real us speaking, it’s the little demon which Carlos Castaneda refers to as “a foreign installation”. And yes, it is a foreign installation. And a devilishly clever little trickster to boot!
Try putting a proposal (to yourself ) to do something for which you feel a great need, but have not as yet taken the step of actually putting into practice. Now, as soon as the foreign installation kicks in with “But I can’t .. it’s really not possible..” you know it’s that little Lucifer fellow. He’s tricking you into believing that ‘you’ arrived at this prognosis, when actually he did. “But I can’t..” Yep – that’s him!
Once you know this you’re on your way. Once you disentangle your real self from that foreign installation – you have one foot on the path to the promised land. No ‘but’s’ – unless you feel a positive urge to boot that little demon in the butt!
Laziness
Yes, well, let’s admit it, getting off one’s ‘butt’ and getting going isn’t the easiest for some people. But most forms of laziness stem from being unmotivated and unwilling to make the effort to become motivated.
There are certain days when we all feel it; days when the energy seems to be drained out of us and nothing really comes to our rescue to kick the mood. But that form of ‘enforced’ lack of motivation can be in our best interests, as it may well stem from too many days of over exertion without a break.
It’s not the same as the kind of in-built lack of get up and go which afflicts millions, sometimes for long periods of their lives. This disease, and it is such, is more often than not associated with being ‘too comfortable’. Too wrapped up in one’s own self-interested state of material well-being to ever consider doing something for the good of the greater whole.
This affliction is particularly prevalent amongst those who feel safest when operating in a club-like atmosphere where maintaining a public face of cheery conviviality acts as an insurance policy to protect against ever having to think and act ‘outside the box’. To ever get truly serious about the dire nature of the predicaments faced by mankind and mankind’s planet – and indeed one’s own neglected soul.
For these beings, the only thing to jolt them out of their lethargy, is a disaster. And so it is that millions will in fact face just such a disaster, as a form of karmic retribution for failing to make use of the gifts bestowed upon them.
This form of ‘waking up as a last resort’ is clearly to be avoided. Our World needs action in the here and now – and not years of inaction in never-never land.
Being Different
Here’s another barnacle encrusted old anchor chain that’s been holding back the evolution of large segments of often thoughtful individuals .. for far too long.
So it starts with worrying about what other people might think about one, especially if one is intending to embark upon something which fails to conform to the politically correct menu of the day. It’s a form of paralysis which blocks any instinct to move away from ‘herd mentality syndrome’ with its rigid confirmation to what are considered ‘acceptable’ parameters of behavior.
So powerful, for many, is the pull of trying to appear normal, that few openings exist for the true individual to ever emerge. What a tragic waste of human potential!
The prevalence of this condition is particularly well suited to the goals of the centralized control system. The one which sets the agenda of daily life on our planet. It plays into the hands of the top-down politics of persuasion through ensuring basic conformity with whatever the majority might be up to. Not daring to ever speak-out against even the most fool hardy propositions and practices, lest one should appear ‘different’, is a disaster area of global proportions, especially in the face of ill-conceived and often abject acts of destruction which we witness almost every day of our lives.
I’ve got news for those who suffer this affliction: you’re not going to be your own best friend in later life if you fail to make the effort to overcome your shyness now. Because either the frustration will build up to the point where sickness intervenes, or you accept becoming just another number amongst the robotic crowd. A crowd that operates without any true emotions ever breaking the surface.
That’s an ugly choice to have in front of one. So why not break free today? Stop hiding your light under a bushel; step out and let it shine!
You’ll be amazed at how much brighter everything becomes once one ceases trying to be like Mr, Mrs or Ms Normal..
Stuck in the Wrong Job
This one’s a major energy sucker, as anyone in this position surely realizes. The inventor of the 9 to 5 work day sure came up with a clever control mechanism for keeping mankind terminally preoccupied. Preoccupied with ‘earning a living’ – pretty much 24/7.
What the hell is this? Shackled to a desk in a neon lit air-conditioned sterile office building with only a computer as work mate? Or maybe not quite as dull as that, but nevertheless, enforced and usually slavish routine day after day. A routine that ultimately only succeeds in bringing in more dosh to a business or corporation whose end product is just one of millions steadily destroying the health and welfare of planet Earth and most of her occupants. Get the hell out of there – and fast!
Better to be on the street than in this kind of prison. Better (by far) to be working for yourself, not for someone who is only out to use you, prior to installing a robot a year or two down the road. The kind of robots that don’t ask for wages. You know. They’re even better than the one’s that do, like you.
The typical 9 to 5 job leaves no time for the type of deep reflection required to move forward into a state of conscious awareness. How could it – when 90% of one’s energy is used-up fighting to survive in the job market jungle. The rat race.
Our survival as human beings demands more than the monthly pay cheque. It demands that we are able to hear the voice of our true selves, and then turn its message to good effect in helping to shift the tide of history in a positive direction. Away from the neo-liberal capitalist money-making machine and into something which calls forth a true power of awakening, sharing and social responsibility.
The Skeptical Intellectual
“I can see that it won’t work.” Yes, sure you can! Because you made-up your mind years ago that there’s really no point in getting involved in any remotely idealistic initiative, since such initiatives are all doomed to failure at the hands of Mr Realism and his “I know best” crew.
There’s something more than faintly fatalistic about our skeptical intellectual. Strange really, to build a pedestal for one’s self and then set it in a concrete plinth, so as to be impervious to the swirling current of a life force which is capable of bringing ‘a mountain to Mohamed’ if that’s what’s really needed.
“Prove it”. And when he says that, you know that everything which follows is something ‘you’ have to do – never him. For him, proof is actually never good enough anyway, because the mind which demands answers without ever trying to find them itself, is a sad and polluted vessel; badly in need of a full immersion detox.
Yet many of these sorts of people are just the one’s to become bankers, army corporals, political strategists, bureaucrats, professors and civil servants. They are the glue that holds together the status quo. Very reliable at carrying out their duties and ensuring that nothing too imaginative or spontaneous ever gets in amongst the automated cogs and wheels of the sanitized status quo.
The best cure for such individuals is to suffer an insufferable shock .. like falling in love. Is it possible? Something that shakes them to their roots and causes a little volcano to erupt deep within. That which is capable of blowing away the densely packed layers which have caused a crust of cynicism to form over buried benign feelings of compassion, joy, creativity and yes, love. Something which turns on its head all the false pride of an over indulged, obese ego.
Lack of Passion
This is very bad news. Nothing, but nothing, truly meaningful comes into being without someone, somewhere, having a strong desire to bring to life their deepest needs. The manifestation of our inner powers is all about following through on that which inspires us. Inspires us to take action, to create meaningful change.
That should be the very definition of ‘living’ of ‘being alive’. All the rest is shadow boxing with phantoms. And happy are these phantoms to be given so much unearned attention.
It is passion which created life in the first place. Passion is the precondition for all genuinely creative acts. It is the motor of universal movement. It is the dance of life!
Yet, for tens of millions of human souls it remains an almost entirely missing ingredient. And if, God forbid, it should ever rear its beautiful head, it is greeted with as much indifference as its recipient can possibly muster!
Come on! Sustained intent, fueled as it is by passion, poses a massively intrusive threat on the control system’s determination to keep the lid on human emancipation. It is the key without which we cannot unlock the door behind which we have for so long been imprisoned.
Look, I’m not talking about ‘having a blast’, going to a rave, or even getting worked-up about something nasty going on in the neighbourhood. The architects of control have arranged all the outlets you will ever need to ‘let off steam’; such sporadic outbursts of passion are well catered for.
No, I’m talking about a deeply sustained burning intent which simply will not die; once you’ve given it your recognition and grasped the implications of its transformative powers.
It’s the reason I write these essays. A deep need to share a vision of something. Something out of the ordinary. Sharing my thoughts and aspirations with you, dear reader. That’s all part and parcel of this passion – which catches fire in those who are ready to burn.
That’s it! And it all bubbles up from a place which is inseparable from Source. It is Source. Passion is ‘the original energy’.
So how could one hope to Live Life without this primary force playing its fundamental role in everything one does. I can barely imagine. It’s not possible. For whatever that thing is which happens between the time when we are born (on Earth) and the time we depart (from Earth) – it is not Life unless it is inspired by passion. It is a fake.
And, due to the fact that so many feel the need to fake their way through life, our World is starved of direction. There are too few helmsmen. It is largely direction-less. The only forces to bring direction into this vacuum are the masters of control. The architects of fear. The instigators of war, oppression and violence.
Quite simply, it is the lack of ‘we the people’s’ ability to sustain a passionate commitment to taking forward the callings of our destinies which is responsible for a global take-over by the preeminent despotic masters of oppression and control.
If we want to ensure their days are numbered, and we surely do, we must dig deep. Yes, dig deep, always keeping victory firmly in our sights. The despots cannot endure a sustained barrage of many awakened souls. They fall away, exposed as the hollow cardboard shells which they really are.
