Evading the Matrix

“I believe that as soon as people want
peace in the world they can have it.
The only trouble is they are not aware
they can get it.” John Lennon, 1969

The Creative Block:

This is not the popular type of creative block I am referring to – the one in which an artist or writer is mentally and creatively blocked. This is the systematic and cultural creative block imposed by social control structures.

We are brought up and educated to follow a reality which is socially constructed, shared and inter-subjective. We are grown in an environment in which the value of things is given to us through peer consensus or disapproval. You can say that this is an artificially built reality very much like in the blockbuster movie The Matrix.

Authenticity and individualization:

Individualization means, amongst other things, to break free from the social mold and discovering your true purpose. Very often this runs counter to the pressures imposed by our social environment and hence individualization is very often revolutionary and crisis-laden.

People go through all sorts of rebellious phases, capsize their lives or revolutionize their lifestyle in order to walk through the journey of inner discovery and authenticity.

Taking the red pill:

“You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.” Morpheus in the Matrix

Taking Morpheus’s red pill needs not be life shattering or full of drama. Soul searching is nothing but the shift of outer awareness into inner awareness. It all starts from being more aware of your inner calling.

Here are some points I always try to live by in my quest for freedom and authenticity:

1. Listen to your heart and bravely follow where it is pointing at.

2. Have more time for inner reflection.

3. Free yourself from useless clutter such as dreams which are not authentically yours.

4. Ask yourself which is the thing you love doing with enthusiasm, drives you, fires your imagination or make you feel complete and happy.

5. Forget practical and social constraints – the ‘you can’t make a living out of it’ or ‘you are daydreaming’. These are just thought barriers imposed by others. It need not apply to you.

6. There are no limits. There are only barriers of thought but not of practice. Many people have achieved the unimaginable because they believed so.

7. Be aware of the mental echoes that go around your head. Those repetitive self-defeating thoughts which hang around in our head. Very often these come from associations to past failures or rather perceptions of past failures. The past is past and is no guarantee of the future as certain disclaimers go.

8. Be aware that these mental limits are only mental or social constructions. They are tiny programs of the matrix to keep you under moderation and equalization.

9. Awareness of these ‘memes’ or ‘social programs’ means that they will eventually dissolve right before your eyes and you will start seeing outside the synthetic reality.

10. Once you starts seeing clearly beyond the socially built barriers you see that your dreams and goals are not only possible but concretely attainable.

11. Through awareness, your reality shifts – you escape the matrix and you start seeing a clearer reality in which you can achieve whatever you want if you set your heart and mind to it.

1. 

   Srinivas Rao says:

   January 26, 2010 at 6:48 am

   Gilbert,

   The Matrix is one of my favorite movies and favorite metaphors for personal development. Every time I watch it I realize how important it is. Without a doubt, take the red pill . Don’t be a battery. See how far the rabbit hole goes. It’s awesome
2. 

   Archan Mehta says:

   January 26, 2010 at 9:18 am

   Gilbert,

   Wow. May I please borrow some of your “little grey cells?” in the immortal words of Agatha Christie’s pet detective, Hercule Poirot.

   So many ideas and actions are imposed on us by the society we live in that pretty soon we believe, well, that’s just the way it is.

   And then, unfortunately, that’s just the way it is becomes, well, that’s just the way it’s gonna be forever and we live that lie.

   And this hypnosis of socio-cultural conditioning is not limited only to the unschooled. Millions of people with advanced degrees from Oxbridge and the Ivy Leagues are also victims of this mindset. This mindset takes no prisoners and we all succumb.

   Like soldiers marching in a straight line, we join the crowd. If we step out of line, we run the risk of being shot at or hurt. People who have bucked that trend have had to face social ostracism or worse. Read about the lives of those who had a pioneering spirit in any walk or life–across all sectors–and you will know what I mean. This is a thinking person’s post.

   One more thing: Instead of shooting people down, let’s try to honor those with a pioneering spirit. These are the adventurers and explorers who made the discoveries we use today in our daily lives. Sometimes, you need to be perceived as a weirdo in order to do your own thing no matter what people say about you behind your back. It needs tremendous self-belief and a faith in your own experiments. Critics seldom achieve creative breakthroughs.
3. 

   Gilbert Ross says:

   January 26, 2010 at 9:58 pm

   Hi Archan,

   Awesome comment! I totally agree – Let’s honor those pioneering spirits who had the courage and strength to break through the social matrix and walk their way!