Friday, December 29, 2006

THE REAL REASON THAT PERSONS VALUE TRADITIONS, Part Three

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From a site visitor: I read your postings about Christmas traditions and most of it made sense. I’ve also been going thru your archives and last summer you said the Dark Ages was when ignorant people valued traditions. I agree with your argument that doing things a certain way because they have always been done that way is not smart, but isn’t there some value to observing some traditions?

F.: The traditions that generate extremely high levels of emotional intoxication are the ones which are believed to be “holy” or “sacred” traditions. Of course, all traditions inspire unnatural conduct since they are based in false beliefs and supernatural (magical) thinking. Studied closely and objectively, they are usually downright insane, rooted as they are in myths and lies. The observance of traditions inspires unnatural and sheep-like behavior among humans, requiring them to wear matching hats or clothes, to chant the same words in unison, to genuflect in unison, and to repeat creeds that have been verbalized so often that they move persons into a near-hypnotic state as the creeds are chanted. Whereas the indicated treatment for the sleepwalking masses is an awakening, little puts persons to sleep so much as their unconscious actions that are associated with their “honoring of traditions.” Little creates more sense of duality and differentiation than practices which reinforce the notion that certain days are more important than others, that certain nations are better than others, and that one’s cultural or religious practices make sense while those of other cultures or religions do not.

Celebrate a child’s “date of birth” for a few years in a row and the child is soon convinced that he was born and that he is his body, even without being told that he was born or that he is his body. Celebrate the birth of a child that was reported to have been born of a virgin often enough and billions of persons will eventually be convinced not only that impregnation by an angel is possible but also that a virgin birth is an actual possibility. Traditions celebrated often enough will foster widespread belief in insane concepts that are being pushed onto the masses by those seeking to gain power and control over the masses. Objective study would reveal that all traditions are just inventions of imagination or practices that have evolved from myths or perverted values, inventions usually dreamed up by men with ulterior motives who would control behavior and who would influence beliefs and who would use cutural practices to solidify and justify and perpetuate their agendas.

Further, all traditions (including family traditions, community traditions, national traditions, military traditions, religious traditions, etc.) are tools of the ego. Ego always prefers to escape reality, being non-real itself. By redirecting the focus onto “the past” and onto “traditions from the past,” ego can try to abide in the past and escape its miserable present. Because the ego is never satisfied and is therefore always miserable, it uses its “mind”-games and its “mind”-tricks to delude self into focusing on the unreal (on “the past” and/or on “the future”) in an effort to escape NOW.

Ego also loves the reinforcement that ego-states receive via the “honoring of traditions”: “The Family Man” or “The Family Woman” are reinforced by doing the same “family things” repeatedly; “The Proud American,” “The Proud Brit,” “The Proud German,” etc. are ego-states that are reinforced by honoring patriotic national traditions; “the Great Religious Person” or “the Spiritual Giant” are reinforced by practicing regularly their daily or weekly or monthly or annual traditional practices.

Ego loves the tradition of chanting with others a pledge each day, loves the tradition of reciting statements of devotion to their country each day, loves the tradition of singing “holy” songs and citing creeds in unison each week, loves the tradition of honoring certain groups each year, and loves the tradition of doing spiritual and religious things together at the same time every day, every week, every month and every year. They believe themselves to be so much “better” for participating in all those traditional doings. Are you beginning to see how the “honoring of traditions” and the formation of habits that are practiced blindly actually inspire persons to believe in the concept of separation, actually promote dualistic thinking, and actually result in persons assuming multiple ego-states as false identities? Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]

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