John’s a bit of a hippy. Long dirty hair, old leather sandals, cloth clothing from a sheep on a mountain somewhere proclaimed to be organic. Washes once a week in cold water whilst eating hummus, peppers and other raw foods.
John’s a hippy but a good guy. I like him.
His philosophy is very simple. Peace, love and happiness.
Me and John talk a a lot. I find him intriguing.
John says he rejects religion. He was brought up as a Catholic. His Catholic schooling give him a life long fear of ‘religion’, not God.
John says …
"It’s not about God, it’s about the Universe, it’s about the new paradigm, it’s about being part of a community.
To some extent I agree. To another extent I don’t.
One thing I noticed about John is this (and he won’t mind me saying), he has a very fixed way of living his life and rarely shifts away from that way.
He dresses a certain way, mostly in something Mongolian a remote village somewhere. He only eats organic foods. He rarely cooks his foods. His actions look like ‘PACK’ actions. He loves his community that all claim to be unique yet at the same time all dress the same, all eat the same, all think almost the same and all read the same books. They watch the same movies, they go to the same training events, they are like a pod of Dolphins moving in unison.
Yet John tells me he hates organized religion.
So organized religion has a set of, lets call them rules. The followers of a faith are then expected to follow the rules. The followers will then live their life thinking about how do the rules affect their daily behavior.
Even the way some religions dress are expected. The food they eat is expected. The way they do almost everything – is expected.
Sound familiar?
I see this a lot on my global travels.
It really is the NewAgeOldPage Syndrome.
So here’s the thing.
People leave faiths to be free. They search for a freedom. They find that freedom in something else. That something else usually involves … more restrictions, more rules, more do this, do that if you want to be part of our community.
Can you see what takes place?
People leave a set of rules and boundaries and regulations only to reinstate a new set of rules and boundaries.
Most of the rules from before were set by men. Set by men to control the human. This new set of rules that John lives by … are they his rules or just another set of rules he feels more comfortable with?
So how could John be more of what he wants to be without getting involved in more of what he doesn’t want?
John like most people live in a life of fear. Fear of displeasing, fear of rejection, fear of something.
That fear when uncontrolled can be passed into anything in life. John has taken his early life fear and now lives by the same fears in his NewAgeOldPage faith. John says it isn’t a faith but of course it is.
For example when I ask John questions, he replies in the "WE don’t do things like that, we do it like this"
So who is the ‘WE’? It’s the reference back to the rules, the boundaries that are now controlling John’s life.
If John wants to be free, he has to discover himself. To discover himself he has to dig deep. Digging deep is hard, it’s tough, it can be painful. In John’s case, it is easier for him to re-attach to new beliefs that make his life easier.
But we don’t talk about religion in public. Religion and politics are NOT for public discussion right?
Who said that?
Was it you or those that created all of the rules in the first place in religion and politics so you and others would never question anything over a honest and open discussion?
So we have to talk about stuff like this, be open about it, create our rules for our lives.
Look around you; are you of the reaction of others, what they’ll think or say before making any kind of decision?
Clothes, food, words, actions … do you as you feel is best for YOU or are you restricted by the thinking of others?
John … he’s a good guy. I really like him but he has allowed his mind to be filled with the thoughts of others AGAIN.
How about you. Do you think for yourself? Have you added some spiritual twist and ideas into your life believing you are totally free when in reality you have now become a slave to a new set of thoughts?
Provoking right? Well life is provoking, it should be provoking, it’s your life. You’re here to live it not allow it to be lived by someone else.
So how about you? Are you living or experiencing a life that is restricted by ideas and thoughts of others?
It really doesn’t have to be that way. You have a person deep within you that can be released. That person is the real you. It’s been covered by years of endless conditioning of some kind but … can be released.
John is a hippy that surrendered his new found freedom to NewAgeOldPage syndrome.
Tell me what you think I’d love to hear. Or are you too scared to post because of what someone, anyone will think?
NewAgeOldPage … I’ve heard it all before!
Interesting post. I agree with what you say and it’s thought provoking. Don’t like the dismissive ending mind you.
It feels that having sucked your readers in and created some trust, you spit them out as if you couldn’t care
Maybe I’ll read your next post, maybe not
All religions are fear based, that is how they try and hold onto the control of people. Perhaps all John has done is found a ‘better same’ Thanks Doug
I AM LUCKILY FREE….FREE FROM THE SEL HELP RELIGION THAT DESTROYS GULLIBLE INNOCENT PEOPLE WHO SHOULD KNOW BETTER…SURELY …ALAN YOU ARE JOHN TOO, IN YOUR SELF HELP NEW SPIRITUAL RELIGION….AND OF COURSE AS ALL RELIGIONS YOU WANT THE MONEY? HA HA….GOOD POST, BUT MAYBE TOO IRONIC?
Hi Alan,
I eventually get around to reading your posts and this one prompted me share my thoughts. I enjoy your posts and respect your frankness (if there is such a word:) I was also brought up Catholic and I am also the daughter of an ex Catholic priest. Of course, being somewhat forced to accept that methodology as a child tends to repel you in a difference direction.
I have done some self work and I now realise that I have to still be myself, which is most important. I do not want to become the drastic opposite of what I was brought up as. However, it is good to learn to have balance in one’s life.
I have realised that we never stop learning and that is an important element to hold on to. I also have realised that it’s ok for me to have other beliefs and to have differences of opinion, as long as they are not forced upon others. I try to listen to people instead of talking over the top of them. (although I’m far from perfect!) “The Art of Listening”. This also comes with much practise of course and sometimes I go back to my old ways. I just need to make sure I’m not rewinding the tape and replaying the “old story”.
At the moment, my partner is listening a lot to Jello Biafra (the lead singer of political band, the Dead Kennedys). I can understand and I am open to listening to all the undermining and disensitisation that TV/Media and Multinational Companies do with blanket coverage and I try to not get lulled in to a state of sleep walking through my life.
At the same time, I can see that my partner is
going through a current Jello Biafra thought process of, “the whole system is screwed up”. I know how corrupt certain systems are and it’s easy to jump on the band wagon and start telling everyone that they need to be “informed” about how bad it all is underneath. I can understand this point of view and I have been there myself. However, I am also learning that you need to have a balance of thought process and people also need to have a positive spin on things.
If one person is preaching to expose certain nasty underlying covert operations of how our daily systems are run, that is fine. However, to become obsessed with the “dark side” almost defeats the purpose of trying to create a more harmonious system for oneself. It concerns me that many people do not have the capacity to be objective about things and be able to see both good and bad.
I can see that people, who consider themselves to be conscious beings and wanting a better world, would get into what a person like Jello Biafra would be saying. I admire the man for his passion. However, the danger is in searching for the “truth”, sometimes people get caught up in the negative spin and as much as they want to be internally happy, suddenly the truth agenda ends up all encompassing them and they forget about focusing on how to create the happy and balanced life they were initially looking for in the first place.
A friend once told about some of his life adventures. He moved from the Gold Coast (QLD/Australia) to Byron Bay looking for self enlightenment. He got to the point where he became so disillusioned with the modern world that he decided to become the extreme version of being a hippy in what he called a “feral”. Living in the forest out the back of Byron and living off the land, with no material possessions and living with people of a similar belief system.
He then came to a self realisation that this wasn’t the ideal life he’d sought after all. In his own opinion, he’d decided, that when you go completely against an organised system were some of us struggle to integrate, you then lose all sense of support. He mused that his life had become a double edged sword.
He realised that by going against the “system” he become vulnerable to his own physical and mental wellbeing. This meant that he no longer had access to things he had taken so much for granted, things that he thought he no longer needed at the time. Therefore, he still needed “life support”, in the sense of social,family and work. He is now running a successful business and is living a balanced life, with a lovely wife and baby boy. He still implements some of his beliefs from before, however, with a much more balanced, open minded and practical approach to living his life.
I thought I would share these thoughts and stories with you.
Have a great day. I look forward to more posts..
Kindest regards,
Marisa
PS> I’m training to be a singing instructor..pushing through the comfort zone and working on creating a residual income..cheerio!
John doesn’t need another religion, he needs the right relationship. When someone you greatly respect accepts you, walts ‘n’ all, loves you unconditionally; forgives you; rescues you from yourself and receives and responds to your love, you’re free to be all you can be… oh hang on a minute, that IS God, isn’t it?
Love the article as always Alan.
SUPER response Marisa, great point extremely well put… so therefore all I can say is ‘DITTO TO MARISA’
)
xxx