2.
Understanding the struggle for freedom
NOTE:
This is an excerpt from the book The
Least You Should Know About Life.
The history of humankind can be viewed as a struggle for freedom, freedom
from suffering, limitations, poverty, emptiness or whatever holds people
back. The central aspect of this struggle is to overcome ignorance.
The cave dwellers had very limited options for improving their circumstances
because they had a very limited knowledge of themselves and the material
universe. They did not know enough about the laws of nature to change
their outer circumstances, as modern people have done. Neither did they
know enough about their own psyches to change the way they responded
to life, as modern people have the option of doing.
The central aspect of improving both your inner and outer circumstances
is to expand your understanding of yourself and of life. Knowledge is
the key to any positive change seen in the history of humankind. This
is true both on the collective and the individual level. Thus, if you
want to improve your personal life experience, you must begin by seeking
greater understanding. You must study the knowledge that is available
in the modern world, knowledge that simply was not available in the
past.
Consider therefore how fortunate you are to be alive in a time when
more information is available and accessible than ever before in recorded
history. Indeed, you live in a time when anyone who is willing can find
sufficient information and practical tools to systematically change
his or her life experience to just about anything you want it to be.
This book is an attempt to provide this information in a very concise
form, but there are many other more voluminous sources of this information.
The logical question now becomes why you were not given this information
as you were growing up? Why were you not taught how to master your life
experience, if this is indeed possible? Why has humankind struggled
for millennia to escape human limitations, oppression and suffering?
Why has your life been a struggle to attain personal freedom from limiting
outer and inner circumstances? The logical answer is that there are
forces – both inside and outside yourself – that do not
want you to know.
A brief look at history demonstrates the existence of outer forces,
in the form of dictators and regimes – even political, religious
and scientific institutions – that have aggressively attempted
to suppress knowledge and keep it from the general population. As one
obvious example, consider how a particular religious institution held
the intellectual life of Europe in an iron grip during the so-called
dark ages. The motivation for withholding knowledge has always been
to control people, individually and collectively. Controlling people
through physical means is always messy and leads to rebellion. It is
far more efficient to control people’s minds. If people don’t
know better, they might not realize they are being oppressed or they
will not know how to attain freedom.
The conclusion is clear. If someone wants to control you, they must
prevent you from knowing how you can free yourself from their control.
What is the one piece of information that can help you overcome all
forms of mind control? It is the knowledge that your life experience
is NOT the automatic product of your outer circumstances. Indeed, by
gaining a greater understanding of who you are and where you came from,
you gain the power to take control over your life experience. You can
choose your life experience instead of letting outer circumstances and
your own psychology control your life experience.
If life is seen as a struggle for freedom, we now realize that the key
to freedom is understanding. It is the truth that will make you free
because when you know who you are and how the world works, you can make
better choices. This book is designed to help you take command over
your life experience. It will give you the full truth in a concentrated
form. However, this truth will be given gradually so as to avoid blowing
your mind. Thus, let us begin by looking at the importance of choice.
3.
Understanding the importance of choice
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Copyright
© 2007 by Kim Michaels |
