Sunday, August 7, 2016

Tribalism

Humans are pack animals.
We feel lost and bewildered without a group and a leader.
We've been put together in this way by the biological and social evolution.

Someone has to tell us how to think and what to do.
Someone has to tell us what is right and what is wrong.

A strong political leader can lead his troop straight to hell if he feels like it
and the troop is so grateful that someone shows them the way.
Soldiers follow orders.
Spiritual seekers love to sit at the feet of a guru and listen devoutly at drivel.
The great majority, those with a more formal religious orientation,
goes to a Church, a mosque or a synagogue to listen to their particular truths.
A famous pop star can make a large audience hysterical.
A skilful hypnotist can make you think you are Napoleon.

We need good role models, they say.
But who is a good role model?
Bill Cosby? Mother Teresa?
How can we know beforehand that we're not hoodwinked?

However, free will, pioneering, wakefulness and questioning
are also in our being
but these traits are heavily suppressed by the majority rule.

It is possible to break the spell of biological and social conditioning
if you put your back into it
but you will not gain anything from this effort.
On the contrary, you will become outcast and despised.