The Universe Within by Gwen Randall-Young

An infallible sign of enlightenment: one no longer cares what other people think and say.
- Anthony De Mello

Just as no two snowflakes are alike, no two humans are exactly alike. Yet, consciously or unconsciously, we have a tendency to align with cultural norms or the expectations of others. However, fulfillment comes more often when we align with our inner essence, expressing our individuality whatever form that expression may take.

It is when we do something unique, different from the norm, that we feel excitement stirring within. It is when others see our uniqueness what differentiates us from others - that we feel most understood. It is the expressions of individuality in art, music and literature that fascinate us the most. It is clear that human progress has occurred because of the willingness of certain individuals in the species to go beyond the norm. In other words, it seems natural for humans to distinguish themselves from others.

It seems appropriate that we should each blossom into a ‘flower’ distinct and different from all of the others. Yet, in our culture, from a very early age there is pressure to conform. Joseph Chilton Pearce, in The Biology of Transcendence, suggests infants instinctively resist this pressure due to their intuitive sense in it of a denial of life that robs us of our spirit.

It may not be that they sense a denial of life (though it may well be that), but that the drive towards individual exploration and expression is stronger than any fear or hesitation the infant may have. This soon changes as the child begins to sense the pain of consequences due to non-compliance.

Early on, we learn it is safer and more comfortable to stay within the lines. As we get older, it is not judgment and rejection that keep us in line, but rather the fear of these. So intense is this fear that people can even be afraid to say what they think. Just think of it: ideas, a marvel of the human intellect, shut down, out of fear. Can minds become muzzled in this way? Moreover, if one is afraid to voice one’s own perceptions, after a while does one not even bother thinking them simply defaulting to the cultural programming?

Whatever is on television, in the media, the consensus in the lunchroom becomes the silenced individual’s reality. Sounds a little like a culturally circumscribed frontal lobotomy. The problem with this is that every member of the species is like a cell in the body of the entire human population, and we need the intelligence of every cell for a healthy, optimally functioning organism.

In the physical body, we know that viruses can co-opt a cell, so that it no longer has its old function, but instead produces more viruses. A ‘cell’ (person) in the human population that has lost its intelligence function, is liable to simply be outputting whatever is programmed into it. This is unnatural. It is definitely unenlightened.

I loved the little boy in the story, The Emperor’s New Clothes, and I admire the two-year old who stands up on his chubby little legs and loudly proclaims, "NO!" I also have great respect for adolescents who (respectfully please) challenge their teachers and parents. These young people are all exercising their natural intelligence. They have not been ‘dumbed down’ by fear of what others think of them.

My concern is for independent adults who have lost the ability to think their own thoughts, or are afraid to express them. The problem is not irreversible. We can wake up to a recognition of how we have been silenced, or how we have silenced ourselves. We can begin to take the risk of speaking our truth. We can allow our natural intelligence its expression, and thereby enhance the wisdom of the whole.

Gwen Randall-Young is a psychotherapist and author of Dancing Soul: The Voice of Spirit Evolving. She has also written Echoes Through Time: A Message of Healing for Men, Baby Soul: A Blessing of Spirit, and produced audiocassettes entitled, After Recess: A Calming Meditation for the Elementary School Classroom, Healing the Past: A Meditation for Wholeness, and A World of Kindness: Experiencing Personal and Global Harmony gwendall@shaw.ca



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