It’s easy to “fit in”… to merely accept what the crowd (i.e., what the masses) say is the truth. It’s easy to comfortably “fit in” and lazily go along with what special groups say. That is where many find security and that is where they are all too willing to absorb what others maintain. Nazi Germany — and the way its people would blindly follow — was an example of this. But to intelligently question everything, to stand alone, to deviate (psychologically and profoundly) from the norm is not easy; it is very arduous and it is where one puts security aside. Many will not at all care for this; they will maintain that their special group has the answers; however, this (true independence and standing alone) may be the only way to come upon actual truth; otherwise one is stuck with old, secondhand, stagnant, and primitive values and traditions (which hamper real, legitimate discovery). Most are too conditioned, too rigidly formulated from the mold that society utilized to fabricate their structure; they will — one way or another — dismiss any real invitation to independently probe deeply.
Most will not ever realize that the very way we observe things is heavily conditioned. It is ironic that some, in the past — like the historic Christ (as can be seen in The Gospel of Thomas, Q, and the pre-narrative Mark) — transcended beyond normality and invited others to look within and find out for themselves… and that, after they died, others (over time) intentionally distorted and twisted their message in order to maintain power, authority, position, money, security, and control.
No one but you can discover the uncontaminated truth. However, if that “you” is a product of what was learned… then it will likely only find by way of limitation, contamination, and “secondhandedness.” (One’s very concept of self, for most, is a learned image/symbol, or a set of learned symbols.) When distortion looks… what it perceives is of distortion. The masses and the patterns of their world are full of distortion. Very few independently and sagaciously go beyond that, but (to be truly wise and not deceived) going beyond is absolutely necessary.
Clustered and apart. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Tom's Nature-up-close Photography and Mindfulness Blog 
Excellent prose for pondering this morning, Tom. I often find myself reading your words several times throughout the day. 🙂
That is great, Lori. Most people are too immersed in the superficial to even begin to care about going deep. They are satisfied with the details and are not concerned about the whole.
Very fitting image for those wise words.
Thanks, Bee! We, in Iroquois County received way more that our share of rain this summer; it continued to rain like crazy. Also, it seemed that I met more than my share of people who had poured down from the dark cloud of mediocrity, orthodoxy, craziness, and “sameness.” 😉
Insightful, Tom! Beautiful macro water drop capture!
Thank you! Right from the backyard… so no filthy fossil fuels were used to get there!
Lovely picture and thoughts. It’s liberating to break away from the masses.
Yes! We were at a funeral recently… and I had tears in my eyes… not just for the rather young fellow who died, but also for the many who continued to embrace a popular cult that – in reality – really hinders them from deep truth, enlightenment, individual inquiry, and the truly sacred.
Probably the historical Christ went through the same kind of sorrow when he stated that the Pharisees were like a dog lying in the feeding trough in the cattle barn… neither eating nor allowing the cattle to eat. The Pharisees were the strict, orthodox religious people at that time.
Wow what beautiful photographs & wise words indeed. Thank you so much for stopping by our blog. Su x