RIGHT #04: the Right to BE (your Self)

“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted in a profoundly sick society.” ~ J. Krishnamurti

When we hear others speak of tyranny & oppression, most of us naturally think of history’s more flagrant examples —

*the psuedo-genocidal destruction of dozens of American Indian nations by the United States in the 1800’s …
*the imprisonment & attempted extermination of the Jews by Hitler’s Germany in World War II …
*the tens of thousands of innocent men & women in Chile who “disappeared” (i.e. were absconded, tortured and murdered) under the regime of Pinochet (who was put in power by our own CIA, no less) in the 1980’s …
*the millions of lives that were lost in the Rwandan genocide of 1994 …
*the imprisonment & torture of thousands & thousands of Tibetan citizens (monks more than militants) by the Chinese government …
*and the ongoing enslavement, torture and murder of billions of innocent sentient animals every year by the global meat & milk industries.

AND YET, as revolting & evil as these travesties remain, there is a far more malicious form of tyranny that is steadily seeping into our lives even as we speak — the imposition of apathetic conformity.

You see, more than anything else, governments desire to remain intact, and to remain intact they must remain powerful, and to remain powerful they require the help of the masses; they need their citizens to behave “appropriately” and even actively support the policies that are most beneficial — not to those citizens, but rather to their political, religious & economic “leaders”.

And so governments enlist the aid of various subtle-yet-extremely potent devices to help “keep us in line”.

*They sell the lie that we have some say in how we are governed — that we have a choice as to who controls our lives; providing us with a handful of political parties and a gaggle of political candidates that APPEAR to champion differing values & harbor differing beliefs, and yet in actuality who are all cut from the same cloth — who are all minions of the same Master …

*They use mass media to keep us rabidly cheering our own flags and spewing hatred for all “enemies of the state”, justifying atrocities unspeakable in the name of “national security” — when in reality it is these aggressive policies that pose the only real threat to our personal safety.

*They use our innate fear of poverty & the silky words of their “nutrition experts” to persuade us buy cheap foods that are poisoning the bodies of ourselves, our friends and our children … (Milk & meat are not only murder — they are suicide!)

*They team up with fashion guru’s & make-up distributors & clothing manufacturers to tell us what we need to buy and wear — how we need to appear to others for them to consider us “pretty” or “handsome” or “sexy” …

*They bombard us with advertisements that repeatedly remind us of the things we do not yet have; and thereby convince us that we will never be truly happy until we have enough money & own enough “stuff” …

*And they pump us full of endless opportunities for “entertainment” — movies that pander to sexual exploitation & violence, gladiator sporting events that pit man against man & city against city, alcoholic beverages & cigarettes that enhance our fears of pain by satisfying our desires for pleasure, mind-numbing television programs that keep us unaware of opportunities to serve our communities & that keep us passively avoiding doing anything about the same …

In essence, they will do anything to keep us distracted; anything to keep us from waking up to the uniquely Kind & Caring individuals we ALL truly Are … anything to keep us from being truly Free.

Well, despite these ongoing tragedies, there is some GOOD NEWS that remains: all of the aforementioned imprisonments are essentially of our own making, and therefore all of them can be dismantled by us as well … Even though you may have passively agreed to be locked up in the dungeons of nationalism & anger & fear & greed & fun, the keys to your liberation are already in your hands — YOU CAN BE FREE … and you can be free TODAY!
*They want you to energetically support the farces that are their political parties & their political platforms, and yet you can free your True Self of these inane charades — by ignoring their idle ramblings and becoming an active & vocal champion for Harmony in your immediate community instead.

*They want you to ideologically support their wars & their espionage & their drone strikes, and yet you can  free your True Self of these dark ethics — by becoming an active & vocal champion for Peace instead.

*They want you to morally support their needless-for-you-yet-profitable-for-them enslavement & murder of millions of animals for meat & milk, and yet you can free your True Self of these evil practices — by becoming an active & vocal champion for animal rights instead.

*They want you to financially support their corrupt & deluded visions what makes you “beautiful” and “wealthy” and “successful”, and yet you can free your True Self of these vapid myths — by becoming an active & vocal champion of Kindness & Generosity instead.

*They want you to intellectually support their efforts to dumb-you-down and keep you droningly “satisfied” with their deluge of superficial pleasures & hollow entertainments, and yet you can free your True Self of these constricting shackles — by becoming an active & vocal champion of Intimacy & selfless Service instead.

In conclusion, my Friends, though the physical pains of hunger & thirst & imprisonment & torture are nasty challenges indeed, the greatest threat to our lives is actually a mental one — it is the temptation to selfish pettiness; it is the call to look away in apathy; it is the zealous demand to judge & condemn those who are not like us … In essence, it is the bland conformity to what is comfortable that manacles & muffles who we truly Are.

At the very least the one who hungers knows that he is alive … At the very least the one who thirsts remembers that she can quench the thirst of another … AT the very least the one who is imprisoned knows that he was once free … And at the very least the one who is being tortured remembers who she truly IS.
These are not the ones suffering the most.  It is the individual tempted by advertisement who has lost all sense of True Self … It is the person deluded by dogma who is no longer truly living … It is the citizen being persuaded by propaganda who has already long since died.

These are the ones who have already given away the only possession we have that is truly priceless: the freedom to choose who we Become … the Freedom to BE who we truly ARE.

And yet the solution to this dark & moldy confinement is ready-made and right in front of you. All it takes is for you to first remember that your True Self is not the angry, fearful, selfish person they want you to be — but rather the Good person you truly Are … And then thereafter, all that remains is to walk out into the light — by acting accordingly.

In essence, your liberty is not something that must be demanded or voted on or fought for.  Rather, your Freedom is already waiting for you … There is not need to break down the walls of your cage, for your cage door is already wide-open.

It’s a sunny day and your wings are ready to soar. So “take the leap” and come on outside … Remember how it feels to be Free.

“Be your Self, your ego is already taken … literally.” ~ inspired by Oscar Wilde

Filed under: The Inalienable Eleven by Scaughdt