Think For Yourself
The lazy pursuit of answers obscures the real truth
If one thing has stayed the same throughout recorded history, it is that the world is constantly changing. The story of civilization is one of constant rebirth and growth, contributing to the overall entropy of reality. If we look back, however, it becomes apparent that many of the modern luxuries we enjoy are relatively new concepts. Instead of hunting for our next meal, we can simply know it will be there. This simple fact is what makes it possible to expand our consciousness. Instead of frequently facing fight-or-flight decisions, we can instead breathe deeply and have time alone with our thoughts, exploring what it truly means to be.
Great thinkers throughout history have all reached the same conclusion: dedicate time to think, pursue wisdom, and never stop learning. Humans have a preconditioned laziness urging us to accept what is generally regarded as “true”, such as gender norms, time, the afterlife, and the pursuit for material wealth as the ultimate form of happiness. Instead, thinkers like the Buddha and Socrates would suggest discarding these preconceived notions in favor of one’s own path to discovery. Many times, other humans take advantage of our innate, yet lazy desire for answers. The answers they provide are clearly wrong, because everyone has to reach their own conclusions. That’s not to say they aren’t appealing, however. It’s much easier to believe in a compassionate God, for instance, when you are told that not believing could result in eternal damnation. Yet, a person on their own path of discovery would know that a truly compassionate God would always forgive people of their sins.
From this perspective, we realize that there are two realities in which people live: the obscured reality, and the true reality. In the obscured reality, the past reigns supreme. Ancient traditions and texts are seen as infallible, and the mere act of questioning these sources is seen as an unforgivable heresy. God made his revelations to us, and now nothing changes. In the true reality, we live in the present, for the future and past are figments of our imaginations. God is the ever-present life force with whom we can communicate openly and freely. Energy is neither created nor destroyed. It is a blessing that it has manifested in the present moment through my consciousness, and it will continue vibrating for the rest of eternity.
When we lazily accept the answers given to us imaginary barriers of obscurity are constructed. We remove ourselves from the true reality in favor of a comforting lie. More frequently, however, we are born into the comforting lie, and it then becomes our life journey attempting to escape. This is a modern interpretation of Samsara — humanity’s endless cycle of suffering, death, and rebirth. In fact, the majority of the human race is bound to this cycle, and it takes considerable effort to remove oneself (e.g the Buddha’s path to enlightenment). By constraining ourselves to the rules of the obscured reality — time, gender, wealth, and sin — we are making it impossible to escape. According to Socrates, the unexamined life is not worth living. This applies not just to knowledge of thy self, but to knowledge of the reality in which we exist. It is not enough to merely accept the harmony of nature — we must examine it and understand it as well. Socrates was executed for the simple crime of telling people to think for themselves, for such an action was incompatible with the perpetual obscured reality.
