beyond the natural mind – a 21 day manifesto
Day Sixteen
“Today I will start to realise, that the only way to free my mind is to stand alone, free from the limitations of group thought, free from fixed ideas and national identity”
I am a muslim, I am a buddhist, I am black, I am scottish, I am chinese, I am a catholic, I am a manager, I am a worker, I am a conservative, I am a socialist, I am a communist, I am working class, I am middle class, I am a thinker, I am a drinker, I am an indian, I am a drug addict, I am a football supporter, I am a rugby supporter…
Let me ask you a quick question, what do all these people have in common? Well, the “I am” should give you a clue!
Is the answer that they are all speaking in the first person; that they are all members of different groups; that they are all individuals describing their place in society; that they are speaking english? How about that they are all members of the group homo sapiens, humans!
But that’s not enough for us is it? We all want to subdivide ourselves into smaller groups, no matter how many people live on the planet!
“Right, there’s ten of us on Earth, who wants to be in the hunting group and who wants to be in the gathering group?”
We have a strong sense of needing to belong, and whilst family ties can remain strong throughout our lives, individuals sharing the same religion, colour, class, interest, or job, army, bond quickly, through some shared “heritage” or purpose, or but only when it suits them.
Let’s have a quick look at how groups work shall we?
In the news today, there is fighting in an african country called mali. Mali was formed first as the mali federation after the sudanese republic and senegal gained independence from france in 1960, and renamed mali from what remained of the sudanese republic after the withdrawal of senegal.
As of 14th January 2012, france is in the middle of a military intervention as an attempt to halt the advance of islamist rebels towards Bamako (the capital) from bases in the north and east!
So what happened? Well, needless to say, groups are involved!
I have used mali as an example because the fighting there is current, but it could be any country we are talking about.
According to the CIA world factbook, the ethnic groups are mande 50% (bambara, malinke, soninke), peul 17%, voltaic 12%, songhai 6%, tuareg and moor 10%, other 5%. The religions followed are muslim 90%, christian 1%, indigenous beliefs 9%.
Currently one of the groups above is marching on the capital with some intention or other. Which group is it? Why are they doing what they are doing? It doesn’t really matter.
What is important is that this would never occur if people did not group together under any banner. And whatever people tell you about shared ethnicity, religion, political beliefs, every human being is able to stand alone. And when people stand alone things start to change!
There’s an old expression which says “it takes two to tango” which is fairly self explanatory. If one person tried to tango, it wouldn’t be tango!
Muslim vs. christian. Communist vs. fascist. Black vs. white. Government vs. rebel. Whenever one thing exists its counterpart exists. As soon as we fix an opinion everyone who holds an opposing opinion must be our enemy.
Of course not everyone who holds an opposing opinion will be killed by us! We may be happy just to hold these opinions, and that’s at least a step in the right direction, but what would it take for us to take up arms?
If you strongly feel that “your” country is being overrun with immigrants and “your” government is not listening to you, what will you do? Will you just complain bitterly to your friends or will you start or join a group? What will your aims be?
What if you strongly feel that your religion is the only religion that should be followed around the world and its laws should be applied globally, what will you do? How far will you go to ensure your opinions are listened to, respected, and ultimately enforced?
What if you feel that no one should have the right to enforce their religious beliefs on anyone else? What will you do?
Remember, every group thinks that it is in the “right” which means the opposing group must be “wrong”, but you don’t really believe that do you?
Do you think holding/ sharing/ enforcing an opinion makes you the standard bearer of truth? I would say that anything which instantly could have an opposing view must be headed in a direction away from, not towards, truth.
But we feel powerful in a group don’t we? We can do or say what we like when we’re grouped together. We can take on the world!
Unfortunately we also take on something else: Group thought. We begin to think and act as one, and carry out actions which may be abhorrent to us as individuals.
“Go on, do it, go on stab the black bastard. Go on.”
Who could refuse such a direct order from the group;; the group whose opinions you share? Not many? Suddenly you are in there with the others kicking and punching him, you reach for your blade – “Do it! Do it!! DO IT! they scream, and you plunge your blade into his chest, once, twice, thrusting it inwards and twisting it until his body goes lifeless and everyone cheers you.
You feel elated, happy to have completed the group task, no matter that this task was murder; the murder of another human being.
“Go on shoot him, shoot the white bastard..Do it. Go on.”
Do you think there has ever been such a thing as “group enlightenment?” No? Why do you think that is? Why is it that groups of people who believe in the same thing cannot be enlightened together?
Let me ask you this question. Where does enlightenment come from? What is it? What does it feel like? What does it smell like? What does it look like?”
I’ll tell you. It comes from a profound connection to everything that can exist, has existed or ever will exist.
You can see the structure of everything, you can feel the connection to everything. It smells pure like the air, earth, water, and fire combined. It is the most incredible understanding of how this world pieces together.
How do I know? Because I have found it.
You believe me that I have found it don’t you? It makes sense to you. It fits your belief system perfectly. You believe you are enlightened too. You want me to share in it with you, and you want to join me in creating a group called “the enlightened ones”.
Whenever we come across someone who is enlightened, we will get them to join us, and together we will take our enlightenment across every ocean to every corner of the globe. We will fight stupidity, blind belief, dogma, injustice, everywhere…
Sound familiar?
“We are “the enlightened ones” and we come to you in peace. We come to bring you knowledge and our wisdom of the universe.”
But what happens if you do not want our knowledge and wisdom? What if you do not like the way we think, what will we do with you? Will we leave you alone and say “that’s fine you can believe anything you want,” or will we start to become more dogmatic, will we try and enforce our knowledge on you for your own good, for the greater good, for the benefit of all mankind?
What will we do with all those who oppose us? For there will be an opposition.
How will we protect those who want to stay in our group when people from the opposing group “the unenlightened ones” want to try to bring their knowledge and wisdom to our people..
There is only one thing for it. We must be prepared to fight for what we believe in. We must be prepared to take up arms, albeit unwillingly, to protect the enlightened ones. We must fight to overcome those who do not wish to live in peace and enlightenment. We have truth. We have right on our side. (sound of people cheering and clapping).
We have seen this before, we have seen what happens when people group together under a common idea and purpose, however noble and “right” it seems to us. We know through the experience of our forefathers that humans bonded in groups of any kind cannot see farther than the group.
They cannot have individual thought, lest it come into conflict with the group idea, so we embrace the group, even if our higher self is telling us to stand apart. But stand apart we must.
We must challenge our own minds not the minds of others, challenge our belief systems, challenge our ideas of who we are, and what we stand for; not to create new ideas for people to follow, but to free ourselves from the shackles of primitive Modern Man, and embrace our true nature, whatever we find it to be.
This is a journey you can only take alone so think carefully before you embark on it. Are you ready to uncover the secrets of the human mind and beyond? Are you ready to let go of the past and create a new beginning right now and every moment henceforth? You choose to stand alone but know that you are always connected to everything and everyone. There is nothing to fear.
I wish you well on your journey.
by alan macmillan orr
2012
