Individuality and Spirituality in the Age of Institutional Rule

Contributing Writers for Wake Up World

Humanity has lost its way, but we were led astray. The very institutions we invented to secure us, failed. They have achieved the opposite, and we, the collective of humanity are forced to live in the tribal, vengeance-ruled war world from which institutions invariably profit. And even if you are not completely indoctrinated by this institutionalization, generations of the collective have been indoctrinated, and by reinforcing social “norms”, the steered diligently steer their peers further toward the cliff edge.

Throughout our society is a misguided, socially polarized perspective. Everywhere we look, the truth is deliberately conjured and obscured, leading to divergent oppositions; from the simplest to the most complex, from garden plants to nuclear power “plants”. No matter the subject, no matter the related tangential beliefs, the divergence can be summarized via one simple divider – institutionalization or individuation.

We have been collectively steered by oligarchical institutions toward institutional thinking, allowing unnatural mechanizations to be granted the rights of individuals, and enabling a culture of war, competition and separation. So where does this leave we natural, spiritual beings, who are inherently wired for peace, co-operation and oneness?

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This article is a discussion of various of modes of thinking, which compare and contrast institutionalization with individuation. Confusing the two, as in the latest trend of awarding the rights of men to machines, is the new shell humanity has wrapped itself in. And the divine right of institutions is now, dare we say, the essence of what the individuated around the world are rallying against, and what the institutionalized are fighting to protect.

Corruption of Our Food Supply

With this mindset embedded in the collective psyche, those institutionalized individuals figuratively or literally tout exposure to industrial excrement as nutrient, while the individuated among us warn that the industrial poison will kill and demand integrative conditions instead of those suitable only to oligarchical institutions. Some “scientists” have claimed that their “research” (read obfuscation) has found “conventional” food is the same as organic, with no negligible differences in nutrition content. But the facts tell a different story.

And therein is evidence of such social steering, through which pseudo-scientific “facts” are considered. Throughout recorded time, organic farming has been the convention, only recently have pesticides and fertilizers and herbicides been introduced into the food chain, along with factory farming and the genetic modification of plants to survive lethal doses of Monsanto’s Roundup (glyphosate) that kills everything it comes in contact with – including the global honey bee population. Never mind the epidemic levels of disease glyphosate exposure causes in humans. Yet it is organic (read unpoisoned) food that bears the burden of a prefix in our language.

Indoctrinated by misinformation, many people suggest that genetic modification is equivalent to traditional seed hybridization. But they are not equivalent. In the same way that a square is a rectangle, but a rectangle is not a square, seed hybridization is modification, but it is a modification that an individual can facilitate — with the aid of nature — and is not comparable, in either method or result, to the dangerous laboratory modifications touted by institutional leaders as the way to “feed the world”.

Undoubtedly, there are other ways.

The Nuclear Era

Just like the infiltration of GMOs into our food supply, when it comes to nuclear experimentation, our logic is flawed – but even more so, it is steered.

The complexity of nuclear experimentation is illustrative of the divergence away from manifest truth to total spiritual oligarchical collectivism.

One of the things that grew out the early days of the nuclear experiment was the idea of hormesis, convincing (emphasize con) many that external exposure to radiation is in fact beneficial! This con was originally touted in uranium mines, and now along the North Pacific Coast, etc. The concept of hormesis coincided with the flabbergasting idea, put forth by “scientists” who obviously failed chemistry, that all radiation is the same. Yet this is so far from the truth. In fact not all bequerels are created equal.

For example, the argument for hormesis is somewhat a corrupt conjuration that begins in some truth. The truth is that exposure to some radiation stimulates an immune response, because everything in your body is so heavily affected by radiation exposure that a physiological self-preservation response kicks in. But the “beneficial” result of that immune response is short lived. In the long/mid term, the human body does not benefit from radiation exposure and cannot maintain the full-tilt immune response required to deal with prolonged exposure. And the nuclear industry’s catastrophic history proves it.

The problem with hormesis related to industrial nuclear waste is that there are all kinds of accompanying elements, particulates and gasses that are certain to kill you – despite what the pro nuke kooks suggest; the same kooks, incidentally, who said everything at Fukushima 1 was fine after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, and who still say all is well, even after the triple meltdown and ongoing radioactive pollution spilling from the damaged reactor. [For more on the nuclear industry’s ongoing denial, please see: GE Spokesperson Defends Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster – Interview and Analysis)]

Hormesis is a load of nuclear industry jive. And while the nuclear experimentation industry is the most complex mechanization, it has a whole crew representing an equally complex system of manipulation to maneuvre it into social acceptance. Following the 2011 Fukushima meltdown, Dr. Peter Karamoskos, a nuclear radiologist and a public representative on the radiation health committee of the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency said in an article for the Sydney Morning Herald:

You have to hand it to the nuclear industry and its acolytes. In the middle of the second-worst nuclear power disaster in history at Fukushima, and with still no end in sight, you would think they would respond with contrition, humility and profuse mea culpas. Not on your life. The industry representatives and its acolytes came out swinging in full denial attire…

But more insidious and objectionable is the creeping misinformation that the nuclear industry has fed into the public sphere over the years. There seems to be a never-ending cabal of paid industry scientific ”consultants” who are more than willing to state the fringe view that low doses of ionising radiation do not cause cancer and, indeed, that low doses are actually good for you and lessen the incidence of cancer.

Despite the obvious risks, many people still see nuclear energy experimentation as an alternative to the ignition of petroleum fuels. However the petroleum and nuclear industries are basically the same institutional formation; they benefit those at the top of the oligarchy, and endanger the rest of us in the process.

Advocates of the nuclear position argue that nuclear energy is a ‘green’ energy with a zero or low carbon footprint. But nuclear energy is not green by any stretch of the imagination. To say nuclear power has a zero footprint is absurd, when this most lethal, toxic waste is virtually indestructible for millions of years. It is dangerous and destructive to all biological beings on this planet. There is no diluting radiation there is only dispersal. Scientifically speaking, the risk cycle of nuclear power generation cannot be validated as “safe” until waste can be permanently removed, stored or degraded, and the effects on human and environmental health entirely mitigated. And today, that is simply not the case.

Moreover, the nuclear energy and the nuclear arms industries are inextricably linked.

Nuclear Armament as a Means of Defense

The nuclear era began with a boom, and secrets, with the first atomic bombing of New Mexico and then Hiroshima and Nagasaki, etc. Soon after the industry’s first detonations, the atomic energy industry began. And it’s all just another day in the experiment that is the atomic precipice – one that has thousand-millennia long implications.

The scholars of the status quo insist that the nuclear armament of the opposing forces in the cold war, pitted against each other, prevented those nuclear nations from going to war. The theory was that our mutually assured destruction via weaponry of total annihilation would prevent us from using such weapons. And yet today we are faced with widening dispersal of weapons among many nations, with increasing numbers of nations as foes.

More importantly, the threat of radioactive pollution from nuclear detonations threatens the interconnected web of life, as no living being with cells can defend themselves from its toxicity. Thus, considering nuclear armament as a means of “defense”, not a threat, is an oxymoron, touted by morons.

Rise of the Police State

It is the same institutional thinking that has led our society to develop and deploy non-lethal weapons (ie. stun guns), and to accept increasingly militant police, who force individual compliance to institutional rule, while still using lethal weapons against those people considered to have “crossed a line” somehow.

Why is there now overwhelming and unnecessary aggression used by many police? Why are police forces deployed to control populations who protest against the actions of their institutions instead of defending their rights? Why, if there has been an increase in the development of “non-lethal weaponry” is there also an increase in deployment of lethal weaponry such as automatic rifles, alongside armored vehicles? Why, with an increase in the development of “non-lethal weaponry”, are police not trained to manage extreme situations accordingly, instead of routinely shooting dangerous armed offenders in the abdomen?

Why is it that we have surveillance technology used on all of us before the fact, instead of being used to track criminals after a crime has been committed? Does the emerging surveillance culture imply that we are all criminals-in-waiting? Couldn’t we eliminate most need for confrontational force and dangerous police car chases by using such advanced surveillance technology instead of resorting to violent forceful knee-jerk capture tactics in the first instance, which – as another example of dangerous institutional thinking – often end in the death or injury of the innocent and guilty alike?

Individual or Institutional Empowerment?

Today people look for religious, corporate and state institutions to tell us their answers to our questions instead of becoming and realizing our own selves. It seems people today would rather die for an institution than go through the process of individuation. As an institutionalize being, instead of saying “I am Ethan Indigo Smith” or “I am Andy”, one would identify themselves as a cog of some religious machine or so on. “I am catholic”, or “I am American”.

In contrast, there are so many different forms of, and names for, tai chi chuan or shadow-boxing because individuals learned forms of these practices and then made them their own, to suit their own character and intent. Tai chi is a martial art and specifically a form of kung fu. The meaning of kung fu is “stop war”, from what we understand as westerners interpreting summations of an ancient language. There are two symbols involved in kung fu: “stop” or “halt”, as in the gesture with open hand, and “power/war”. So one way, essentially the basic way, to interpret the symbols is as hand power, or “might makes right”. The correct or higher way to interpret kung fu is “stop war”; that being strong makes it such that one does not have to fight, and then secondarily pursues anything but fighting.

Yoga has been steered the same. It is now, for the majority of practitioners, just a workout and not a work-in; a way to coordinate the body with mind. But the ultimate fight is within, with your ego, your shadow.

Why do so many people attend college to earn and so few to learn? Why is it that so few individuals and institutions consider helping others, but are ever quick to hinder others? Why are we steered to be selfish in our obtaining and experiencing, instead of being unselfish? Why are we trained to be passionate instead of being compassionate? For as many gyms as there are, for as many people who do train in some manner, there are fewer people who meditate and even fewer outlets for meditation.

How often do you meditate? When did you last take pause to genuinely reflect? Do you afford your spiritual being the same time and energy as your institutional obligations?

Holy Wars are a War Within

Everything is spiritual, ethereal in the first primal order. Spirit does need physical assistance, rather the physical realm acts in accordance to, and reflects, the spiritual being.

The manifestation of a war, in particular wars those of religious foundation, is a reflection of the collective war within. Disconnected from our true spiritual essence, humanity is engaged in a war with itself, where institutions rally individuals to fight over the “one true faith”, against those who we are taught do not share our spirituality, or our humanity. It is such institutional thinking that has led nationalistic and religious individuals to believe they can fight their way to redemption, heaven, or nirvana.

Considering your physical being as a tool, and becoming anything but a compassionate meditative conduit to Spirit, makes you a tool for such institutions – not a vessel for spirit or god. To survive, we must let go of institutional attachments, and go within. Deep within. And to do that, we must focus on the meaning, and not just the mantra.

The repetition of mantra is a mechanical operation that leads to magical experience. But the repetition of mantra is meaningless if the mind is focused on the method, not the meaning. Institutionalized religion is a form of external worship, which draws our attention to the method – the structure – and not the meaning. Yet true spirituality and spiritual awareness necessitates a responsibility to self and to others, not to religious structure or expectation, and it is there for all of us, without the need for religious and institutional alignment.

[To those who have not experienced the magic of mantra or connection to source, and who seek proof, simply ask them if they ever had a dream and then, ask them to prove it.]

Life and Death

Life itself is sustainable, but each individual expression of life is not; that is, no one gets out of here alive. There is no reason that we should create an environment, or necessary social structures, that are not sustainable beyond our own life span. To do so reflects dedication to the short term aspirations of corporate and government institutions, not the long term aspirations of humanity itself. Such aspirations reflect our conditioned belief that our life span, of say 80 years, is a long time – when it is in fact a blink of a Universal eye.

The “bucket list” mentality, which essentially tells us, “I’m only here once, so I’m going to get mine and go big”, is an expression of that short term thinking. So too is the rise of the industrial era, which was built on the false premise that perpetual economic growth is possible on a finite planet, and which ultimately served the interests of the “baby boom” generation to the detriment of all else. It has resulted in a polluted and bereft environment, and a twisted unsustainable concept of consumption and commerce – a legacy that is now left to younger generations to reverse.

If humanity is to survive, instead of living for now, the Rule of The Seven Generations must apply. Instead of adhering to the methods of self-preserving institutions, and focussing on what we ourselves can gain from such compliance, we need to consider entirety in equanimity. We must recognize our Oneness, our true nature, and act as Universal and Spiritual beings.

The Power of Love

True love has the power to change the world. What is worse is that when too few people find love, the world is also changed. Many find themselves in disarray and are tricked into lending their energy to other ideas – to institutionalized operations rather than individuals. This can take the form of anything from religious fanaticism to professions of war. True love can empower, but truly misdirected passion perceived as love can cause destruction and abuse of all sorts.

Typically, people who meditate more do less harm, by increasing their universal understating and allowing this perspective to influence their surroundings. Yet most people would rather dig a mine then dig into their own mind, where the rewards are truly greater. Instead of digging into the ground to look for minerals we need to practice grounding and meditation, to activate our compassion and find pure consciousness. Instead of practicing meditation (akin to The Secret) where we proactively work to activate our passions into being, we must mediate on the four aspects of love as posited by Buddha; love of self, love off others, love of the happiness of others, love for all in equanimity.

While institutional thinking reigns, individual ascension – the precursor to that of the collective – cannot exist. Only by rejecting the authority of institutions and embracing the sovereign authority to which we as Spiritual beings are entitled, will each of us find what we are yearning for. Peace.

“When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace” ~ Jimi Hendrix

The Complete Patriot’s Guide

Ethan Indigo Smith’s book The Complete Patriot’s Guide to Oligarchical Collectivism: Its Theory and Practice is an insightful exploration of history, philosophy and contemporary politics of today’s heavily institutionalized society.

An inspiration for positive, peaceful individual action, The Complete Patriot’s Guide is pro-individual in its perspective and, although political, discusses our society and its institutions from neither left-wing nor right-wing perspectives, exploring metaphors and symbolism relative to the fictional work of George Orwell through real history, philosophy and contemporary politics. Layered with insight, it is in part a literary exploration of the themes raised in Orwell’s 1984, and provides theories for individual and collective empowerment.

The Complete Patriot’s Guide to Oligarchical Collectivism is available now on Amazon.

Previous articles by Ethan Indigo Smith:

About Ethan Indigo Smith:

Activist, author and Tai Chi teacher Ethan Indigo Smith was born on a farm in Maine and lived in Manhattan for a number of years before migrating west to Mendocino, California. Guided by a keen sense of integrity and humanity, Ethan’s work is both deeply connected and extremely insightful, blending philosophy, politics, activism, spirituality, meditation and a unique sense of humour.

The events of September 11, 2001 inspired him to write his first book, The Complete Patriot’s Guide to Oligarchical Collectivism, an insightful exploration of history, philosophy and contemporary politics. His more recent publications include:

Tibetan Fusion a book of simple meditative practices and movements that can help you access and balance your energy
The Little Green Book of Revolution an inspirational book based on ideas of peaceful revolution, historical activism and caring for the Earth like Native Americans
The Matrix of Four, The Philosophy of the Duality of Polarity on the subject of the development of individual consciousness
108 Steps to Be in The Zone a set of 108 meditative practices and steps toward self discovery and individual betterment, including techniques to develop balance, transmute sexual energy and better the self
and the controversial book, Terra-ist Letters, a work that humorously contrasts the very serious issues of global nuclear experimentation promotion and global marijuana prohibition

For more information, visit Ethan on Facebook and check out Ethan’s author page on Amazon.

About the author:

Andy Whiteley an average 40-something from Melbourne Australia who, like many people, “woke up” and realized everything isn’t what it seems. Since then, he feels blessed to be a part of Wake Up World and its amazing community of readers.

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