In a world dominated by illusion and control, we find ourselves trapped in a system that distorts reality, while the true freedom of an awakened individual remains beyond our grasp. Hidden in the chaos and complexity we must navigate each day, we struggle to find meaning, peace, and a way to cope with the absurdity of it all.
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I would wager that none of us know anyone who has been born and raised outside the system — the matrix, the control grid — that quietly governs all aspects of our day-to-day lives. One reason might be that those who are so fortunate wisely keep their distance, maintaining a healthy dissociation from the violent, controlled chaos that is civilization. We would immediately presume them to be savages — uneducated, ignorant, and dangerous — when it’s far more likely that we would be the savages, the brutal, covetous predators they’d be best to keep well away from.
What is the single greatest threat on this earth? In my view, it would seem to be an awake, pristine, pure, free human being — one who hasn’t been injected with petrochemical poisons since birth, ingested industrial food products their whole life, and hasn’t been deluded by abstractions and distortions of reality propagated through mind-numbing religious dogma, society-controlling propaganda, and pervasive institutional indoctrination.
No, it’s not likely any one of us knows such a person. They’d be unrecognizable — unimpeded by socialization, protocol, or ritual. Their unbridled energy, clarity of thought, absolute perception, and unimpaired comprehension would be intimidating, bewildering, and unsettling. Nothing of our desperate-to-matter, progressive-yet-backward world would be of interest to them.
I don’t believe they would pity us, either. They know better, because we know better. While many elements of our lives seem out of our control, the vast majority of us know very well when we are being deceived — or when we are deceiving ourselves. We make a regular practice of lying and gain mastery in rationalization at an early age, affording us the uncanny ability to excuse all manner of self-destructive behavior. We go through life unbalanced, bordering on insanity, exhausted and exasperated by early adulthood, and nearly desperate for a sweet, quiet death by middle age — perhaps surprised we even lasted that long.
What’s wrong with the world? We have many theories, endless rabbit holes to explore, and conspiracies aplenty. Earth has been called a soul school, a soul trap, a playground, a test tube, a petri dish, a prison planet, literal hell, and a simulacrum, among others. One may invest decades of their life in prolific study only to discover that fulfilling answers are rarely found, only unsettling questions. Others swear by their out-of-body or near-death experiences, claiming that real answers can only be found therein. Perhaps. But that is unsatisfactory, leaning into escapism, given that we live here, in the physical, material realm for at least sixteen hours of the average day. Having to escape it — even if it’s merely one floor higher, no doubt another aspect of the same fabricated construct — to find answers seems ridiculous and absurd. Perhaps my opinion would change if I had more direct experience, but based on what I’ve seen and studied of those who report back from their astral adventures, the video game framework is never too far from their expositions. I’d be happy to be proven wrong.
It’s all a grand farce, a complete and total illusion — owned by parasites, operated by morons, and abided by the sleeping, grumbling, discontented masses. And yet, we will — we must — find a way to cope, to assuage our uneasiness, and perhaps most sadly, to pretend it makes sense, day after day. What’s the secret? Is there any solution?
It depends. How far along are you in your learned helplessness? To be sure, less is more in this life, for we waste much of our creative resources chasing phantasms and socioculturally manufactured aspirations. Attachment, we will learn — and usually the hard way — leads only to suffering. Yet, struggle and pain are endemic to this realm, so it behooves us to embrace them and embed them into our armor. Since, unlike our free-born cousin, we did not make arrangements to be born unto a mother decidedly free from the organized chaos that we consider to be normal, our lot in life is uneven, unpredictable, unnerving, and frequently unsettling. It is what it is, so resisting it by means of misplaced entitlement or idealism is rather self-defeating.
We must learn to discern the entrapments, pitfalls, and manifold delusions. Having a keen eye, uncommon intelligence, a sensing heart, strength of character, and a resilient body aren’t without their costs. For most, these qualities will be priced out of range. When you’ve been conditioned your whole life into emotional, psychological, spiritual, fiscal, and ideological slavery, breaking the pattern isn’t even likely to be on the menu. And yet, this is the life you’ve been given. If it’s a school, learn from it. If it’s a trap, or a prison, dig your way out and don’t ever come back. If it’s a simulation, you’ll have a good laugh when you wake up. But you have absolutely no control whatsoever over the nature of what it is. Test it, learn the rules and use them to your favor. Be willing to be wrong, and move along.
And so we walk on, each of us in our own unique way, bound by unseen threads, struggling to make sense of a world that defies logic and reason. We grasp for meaning in the chaos, for solace in the suffering, and for a glimpse of truth behind the veil. But perhaps there is no grand, tidy resolution awaiting us — no final epiphany that will unlock the door to enlightenment. Maybe the small increments and occasional breakthroughs are all we get. The only thing we can truly control is how we face the absurdity of it all. Do we crumble and cower, or do we stand tall, with eyes open, venturing forth with reckless abandon, acknowledging the madness and finding some measure of peace?
The world may be a farce, but the way we navigate it — the choices we make, the way we carry ourselves — still matters. And in that, perhaps, lies the only freedom we can claim.
Solvitur ambulando
