Our will is what binds us

Much of my childhood education was devoted to providing me with data to commit to memory and I was strongly encouraged to question and to think about what I was being taught in a conservative way. Over the course of the last decade especially, I have contemplated the many hours that I had spent in class preparing for exams. I have wondered about the purpose and value of all that I have been taught, particularly in light of how I proceeded to encounter challenges and to perceive opportunities to grow as a human being and to experience joy and a sense of fulfillment.

I remember reading a comment made on a website discussing spiritual matters some years ago, which was that for the most part, in our early education 'we are taught what to think and not how to think'. Thinking is no differing from exercising a muscle in many respects. If we neglect to reflect upon and to question what others may tell us or to or to think deeply enough about issues and come up with our own insights and increased awareness, then our faculty for observation and reasoning begins to diminish. Apathy and an unwillingness to take any degree of responsibility for what we are co-creating in the world may be why so many people lose touch with their authentic nature; their personality is literally manufactured to fit into an established norm which has concepts and answers about everything from the nature of life to purpose to experience of personal success. 

Most people are no doubt going to be familiar with having followed guidance along the lines of "think this way to be right-minded" and "do things this way to be successful" and this advice has generally been well-meant, has provided for order and stability and has historically proven to be successful for others in some setting. There is no calling in what I am writing about here for people to 'throw the baby out with the bathwater'. We are immersed in opportunities to grow through our ability to gather data about the world, to validate these concepts through our personal experience and feedback loops and to expand our awareness of reality.

My concern rests with the nature of consequences should this natural cycle of learning become hijacked, i.e. if not only should it be that a story or propaganda is purposefully drip-fed to an unguarded or unsuspecting mind, but that mind also discouraged from childhood to think critically about the content of what they were told. How would such a human being be able to discern authenticity, virtue and to establish a series of personal values which would enable them to reach their highest and most fulfilling potential in a lifetime? 

Would it mean that human consciousness is capable of being lulled into a state of sleep through being encouraged 'to turn off all the lights' and perhaps quite literally, through the mechanism of a lack of will? How often do we see images of psychopaths or even world leaders for that matter and make a remark such as 'they seem dead behind the eyes', almost as if we can sense that circuits somewhere have been corroded? Hopefully such a phenomenon would provide us with encouragement to explore what is generally considered as intelligence and to ensure that it allows for an ability to reflect, to empathize, to reason and to allow for a greater good. In any civil measure of society, wouldn't such a capacity of intelligence be a requisite that is routinely measured in our would-be and world leaders?

In any darkest hour, there is always a seed of enlightenment. An era of materialism and rampant consumerism has generated its fair share of problems throughout the world, as well as contributed to a shifting of perception for many, about purpose and of what really matters and has lasting value in life. This is especially valid, in that in an increasingly secular society, there are many voices and views as to what constitutes as a virtue, generates a sense of fulfillment, motivates human behaviour or inspires towards self-actualization.

Humanity has always been given to divergence, in that there are those who primarily focus upon being active and of the nature of their 'doing' in order to experience a sense of their value and of success through the fruits of their labors, whilst others are more focused upon contemplation and of an inner experience of life or spiritual quest. This is not to say that once a person embarks on a particular course of thought, they are set on that path for life. It may be more likely that a person explores different aspects of their being and expression for a while, as they shuttle back and forth through polarity of proactive vs receptive. 

What would be troubling is for such a natural freedom of movement to become determined by any governing ideology, i.e. for any power of authority to determine what is right or wrong, the greater good or what is best for all of humanity. What is valid to engage with and to reflect upon is to what degree any religious, spiritual or political authority is bestowed upon any body of humanity, within any apparatus of democracy, given the power of the will and the nature of consent.