In my last post I described how many of us awaken to find ourselves in the middle of a life that is more a reflection of social mores than our own autonomous choices. We look at the reality of our lives and realize that the choices that we have made are expressions of the social status quo than any true individual preferences. We awaken to find ourselves ‘in the Matrix’ and along with this realization comes a tremendous sense of liberation as we sense the reality of a deeper Self that exists within us beyond the constraint of social habit.
Many at this point begin seriously to work on their own psychological or spiritual development. And through this effort they begin to grow dramatically and discover possibilities they never imagined before. Their struggle becomes how to live and act and think outside of the matrix. How do we avoid melting back into the status quo of social expectation and custom? Most of us, without realizing it, fall back into the anonymity of the crowd. In fact, we only realize this after the fact, when we have our next ‘awakening’ experience and pop out of the matrix again. Maybe it has been a few weeks, a few months or a few years since the moment of our last awakening. However long it has been, when we do reemerge into the possibility of deeper freedom, we immediately become aware of our last moment of true freedom. We often wonder how we could have fallen back to sleep. For many this cycle repeats over an over and over again.
I have come to the conclusion that the vast majority of us – and I include myself– might not have the inner strength and fortitude to remain open and free on our own in a sleeping world. We might last for a time, but the constant pressure from society to conform sooner or later causes us to fall back in line. Some conclude from this that they must devote themselves to building a degree of inner strength that will allow them to hold their awakening come what may. I believe there is a better solution.
If you wake up in the matrix and you are not strong enough to stay awake on your own then find others who have similarly awakened, and form an awakened sub-matrix within the matrix. When awakened individuals come together in the direct recognition of their own deeper freedom and autonomy they can recreate the world – or at least a local version of it. By coming together inspired by the deeper nature of who we are we can create a new culture and change the nature of our relationships and shared expectations.
In earlier posts I spoke about language – the sentences we habitually use in speaking and those that exist in our heads as thought. Our personal and shared expectations about life are contained in language. Change our language and we will change our lives. As an awakened sub-matrix we can change the way we speak, think, and act together. We can form relationships that do not pull each other back into unconsciousness but constantly reinforce awakening and spur each other to even higher awareness.
As the language we use together becomes a deeper expression of the truth of who we really are, that language begins to become internalized by everyone using it. It becomes not only the way we talk, but also the way we think. Now we start to make different decisions about how to live, and together we create new norms and social customs, and build a way of life that is a reflection of our highest realization.
This new way of life will be better than the one reflected in the wider society from which we have awoken. It will attract the attention of others. The language, thought patterns, and ways of being that we have created will be emulated. And eventually we might contribute to the evolution of society as a whole.
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