at birth we are “thrown” into a culture.
We do not choose the particular value system flooding our senses from the moment we are born. Most of us do not choose to be Christians or Muslims, Jews or Buddhists. We do not choose to be Americans or Iraqis, Hottentots or Chinese. We are simply tossed in a pre-existing mix and are expected to fit into the stew of beliefs and values of our particular families and nations.
To extricate oneself from the brew of our heritage is a most difficult enterprise. Most of us simply accept existing traditions and adopt them as our own. We hardly ever question the melee of our belief systems even though they are responsible for constants wars, upheavals, social injustice, religious intolerance, economic inequity and political manipulations.
Embracing our structure, we perpetuate its evils. More than that, most of us continue the claim that somehow our particular system is etched in stone and superior to any and all other systems. Many religious sects swear that only its adherents will pass St. Peter’s litmus test. Nations embracing quite dissimilar political systems nevertheless avow that they are God’s chosen people. Economic plans with totally divergent ideologies claim their choice is preferable over all other choices.
All of these postulates are made while a handful of rulers continue with their self-serving, bloody agendas. Jared Diamond in his magnificent book “The Third Chimpanzee” states that the only consistent signature of our species is genocide. He provides ample data substantiating his claim. Yet, the vast majority never question their supposed superiority over all other religions, political affiliations, and economic assumptions.
To be an authentic person requires the willingness to evaluate the structures into which one was thrown at birth. One has to become suspicious of the claims made by the rulers. One has to call into question the belief of the absolute superiority of the stew that happens to be our mix.
That basic requirement takes more guts than most people possess. The reason for this difficulty is that each system has built-in self-perpetuating clauses. In America the slogan is, “America, love it or leave it.” In the Christian tradition it is, “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone add to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.”
(Revelation 22:18,19)
The dominant alphas of America’s economic system have been able to attach a totally destructive 30 second slogan to all efforts seeking to improve the system. With sneering, scoffing, mocking curling of the lips the single word “Socialism” puts an end to the quest for justice and an inquiry into the chicanery of what so glibly is called capitalism.
To be accused of being unpatriotic, to take a chance with our assumed eternal life, to be an economic heretic requires more courage than most of us can muster. So, we become unwitting participants in the bloodbath of the innocents. But should one have the temerity to be suspicious, how does one acquire the guts for self-authenticating behavior?
The potion I offer is stout medicine. It centers on Nietzsche’s “Metamorphoses.” I am not claiming that this is the only way to authenticity. However, it happens to have been the roadmap of my journey. The transformation takes place in three steps. First one has to become a camel, then a lion, and, at last, a child. Let me explain.
Life is full of trials, tribulations, disappointments and disasters.
We seek to escape the full weight of the turbulence by imploring God to protect us from the arrows of outrageous fortunes. Or we blame others for our misfortunes, seek refuge in drugs and alcohol, engage in sexual escapades or become religious zealots. Each of these mechanisms is a flight from reality and a barrier to self-authenticity.
Nietzsche suggests that the first step toward maturity is to become a camel. Like a camel, we too are to kneel down and without protest accept the burdens, the trials, and tribulations of life. When you have problems, tell them to a deaf man! When you meet the phantom seeking to destroy you, extend your hands to it. When you are asked to cross murky, foul waters, do not disclaim cold frogs and hot toads.
Nothing in Nietzsche’s suggestions offers relief from your trials!
You will not find a healing balm in Gilead that makes the wounded whole. In your loneliness, you may not find companionship. In your pain, you may not find relief. In your agony, you may not find the peace that passes understanding.
However, as you act the camel and assume your burden, you will become strong. No rewards are offered except the boon of internal authenticity. No benefits will be conferred upon you except the benediction of becoming your own person.
Then, when the whining, the self-pitying, the escape from reality has ceased, you are ready for the second step of the journey. You become the lion. What is the strength of the lion? It is the courage to say “Nay” to the beast with a thousand golden scales. What is this glittering beast? It is the self-appointed authorities who decree what you shall do. It is the eternal imposition saying “You must,” claiming that all truth has already been
revealed.
The lion has the strength to say, “I will!” rather than
“I must.” All truth has not been revealed. As a matter of
fact, we know very little. For a certainty, we don’t know how to live in peace with our fellows, how to tame the beasts within our own being, how to fit into the natural order of the universe. The might of the lion is needed to break new trails in the wilderness of the human experience, to forge new ideas in the chaos of our existence.
With the strength of the lion, we are then ready for the final step of the process. There might be the temptation that with the power and the fierceness of the lion, one can then dominate and lord it over others. Not so, says Nietzsche. The self-authentic power confers strength to again become a child. “Innocence is the child, and forgetfulness, a new beginning, a game, a self-rolling wheel, a first movement, a holy Yea.” A holy “Yea” to life, to experiences, to enemies, to phantoms, to joys, to laughter and to tears.
Now, we can dance the dance of life. We can hear the music of the spheres. We are not afraid. In the midst of the maelstrom we have an inner serenity. In the midst of the foreboding waters, the cold frogs and hot toads we touched become the insights for a responsible life.
One caveat must be added.
Demand that each person become authentic thus placing no limit on this newly found independence.
That ethical admonition prevents the authentic person from becoming a tyrant.
Self-realization now is raised to a high level of ethical behavior. It is a state achieved by only a few persons. But if the blood bath is to stop, that must be our goal.
“It is never right to do wrong or to requite wrong with wrong,
or when we suffer evil to defend ourselves by doing evil in
return.” : Socrates 469 – 399 BC
