"Culture is not your friend." - Terence McKenna
"Culture is not your friend." Those words sound.....well they sound rude really. However, they are true. Culture is the collective experience and ideology of whatever group you find yourself surrounded by. While adapting to your culture can make for a comfortable and sensible life, it certainly does not promote self growth. Culture seeks to rob us of our individuality and have us focus on indirect experiences. The news. Politics. The economy. The latest trends and hobbies. The latest war or aggression. Religion. Societal norms and expectations. All of these things detract from direct experience. The news on television is not the same as the news in YOUR life. The religious center down the street is not the religious center of YOUR life and if it is you need to do some heavy thinking. The politician in the magazine doesn't even know your name....are you sure that he/she is fighting for YOU? The economy could be doing great or doing terrible but how is YOUR bank account? Sure, experiencing different cultures is a great thing to do. It gives us new perspective, a new angle. However, getting consumed by a culture is never, never good. Here we will explore the effects of culture on our personal growth. We will examine the nature of culture and why it is not good to become wrapped up in ANY culture even if it is a peaceful, spiritual culture. The only good culture is a culture that focuses on direct experience and personal development. At that point, would it even be called a culture? Or would that simply be a person chasing their dreams and living their life?
Do not trust society to determine truth for you. Do not let society determine your worth for yourself. Trust yourself. Find out for yourself. Teach yourself.
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Does culture get to decide what is true? How do we define and quantify truth if not by our culture?
Click the link above to learn more about the nature of truth. Maybe your culture isn't telling you the truth after all?