Conversation with a newborn, Part 2
NEWBORN: You mentioned that as I grow up, I should ignore "the indoctrination of society, culture and, above all, the educational system." I feel confident I can stay true to myself, but I sense that you have concerns about newborns like me.
PETER: All newborns have great confidence in their ability to stay true to their Source. However, as the newborn grows up and mingles with other humans, he will also grow an "ego" or image of self. Initially, the baby is all "soul" and no "ego." Slowly but surely, the ego will take over and will seek to assert itself. This happens during the teenage years, where the soul must "negotiate" with the ego. The soul creates while the ego competes. The soul is inner directed whereas the ego is outer directed and cares a great deal about what other people think. This is where peer pressure comes in and can disturb the sane, rational thinking of a teenage youth.
NEWBORN: Have many people been successful at resisting indoctrination?
PETER: Unfortunately, the vast majority of people succumb to the educational system and the societal system which, according to Buckminster Fuller, "degeniuses" children. Not surprisingly, many great entrepreneurs, artists and scientists did not fit in very well within the educational system: Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Albert Einstein, etc.
NEWBORN: In your case, how did you escape "indoctrination"?
PETER: I spent years meditating in a library on important questions like, "How can I create massive wealth? How can I achieve ultimate happiness? Where can I meet young, beautiful women?" Just kidding. Wealth is not that important. :-)
NEWBORN: What's wrong with the educational system?
PETER: The educational system is based on a mass industrialization model which treats students like raw materials in a factory to be "assembled" into a finished "product" for sale to "customers."
NEWBORN: What is the finished "product" and who is the "customer"?
PETER: The finished product is a docile, conforming and obedient employee and the customer is the corporate employer.
NEWBORN: How does this world define "success"?
PETER: External signs such as money, material possessions, status symbols, etc. are usually used as markers of success.
NEWBORN: How would you define "success"?
PETER: I define it as "having the freedom to create the amazing, joyful, exhilarating life experience that you want!" In other words, success for me has more to do with "experiencing" and less with "owning."
NEWBORN: What do you mean?
PETER: Many people view success as accumulating material things at the expense of experiencing life. For example, you can buy a house for $200,000 or $300,000. If you buy the bigger house at $300,000, then you might be sacrificing $100,000 worth of life experience, such as traveling. Many people ask me whether they should go for a job they love or a job that pays more money.
NEWBORN: And your response?
PETER: ... is actually a question. I ask them, "What do you want? A life or a piece of colored paper?" Sometimes, people interpret this as meaning that they should choose either happiness at work but being paid a low salary vs. being miserable at work but being paid a lot of money. Quite the contrary. You can have BOTH professional happiness AND money.
NEWBORN: How so?
PETER: Money always follows people who follow their bliss. So if you follow your bliss -- that is, you choose a profession that you're really passionate about -- then money will flow to you. But if you follow money, you will end up chasing money for the rest of your life -- and you will also have sacrificed your bliss, which is the same as saying that you will have lost your life.
(to be continued)
PETER: All newborns have great confidence in their ability to stay true to their Source. However, as the newborn grows up and mingles with other humans, he will also grow an "ego" or image of self. Initially, the baby is all "soul" and no "ego." Slowly but surely, the ego will take over and will seek to assert itself. This happens during the teenage years, where the soul must "negotiate" with the ego. The soul creates while the ego competes. The soul is inner directed whereas the ego is outer directed and cares a great deal about what other people think. This is where peer pressure comes in and can disturb the sane, rational thinking of a teenage youth.
NEWBORN: Have many people been successful at resisting indoctrination?
PETER: Unfortunately, the vast majority of people succumb to the educational system and the societal system which, according to Buckminster Fuller, "degeniuses" children. Not surprisingly, many great entrepreneurs, artists and scientists did not fit in very well within the educational system: Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Albert Einstein, etc.
NEWBORN: In your case, how did you escape "indoctrination"?
PETER: I spent years meditating in a library on important questions like, "How can I create massive wealth? How can I achieve ultimate happiness? Where can I meet young, beautiful women?" Just kidding. Wealth is not that important. :-)
NEWBORN: What's wrong with the educational system?
PETER: The educational system is based on a mass industrialization model which treats students like raw materials in a factory to be "assembled" into a finished "product" for sale to "customers."
NEWBORN: What is the finished "product" and who is the "customer"?
PETER: The finished product is a docile, conforming and obedient employee and the customer is the corporate employer.
NEWBORN: How does this world define "success"?
PETER: External signs such as money, material possessions, status symbols, etc. are usually used as markers of success.
NEWBORN: How would you define "success"?
PETER: I define it as "having the freedom to create the amazing, joyful, exhilarating life experience that you want!" In other words, success for me has more to do with "experiencing" and less with "owning."
NEWBORN: What do you mean?
PETER: Many people view success as accumulating material things at the expense of experiencing life. For example, you can buy a house for $200,000 or $300,000. If you buy the bigger house at $300,000, then you might be sacrificing $100,000 worth of life experience, such as traveling. Many people ask me whether they should go for a job they love or a job that pays more money.
NEWBORN: And your response?
PETER: ... is actually a question. I ask them, "What do you want? A life or a piece of colored paper?" Sometimes, people interpret this as meaning that they should choose either happiness at work but being paid a low salary vs. being miserable at work but being paid a lot of money. Quite the contrary. You can have BOTH professional happiness AND money.
NEWBORN: How so?
PETER: Money always follows people who follow their bliss. So if you follow your bliss -- that is, you choose a profession that you're really passionate about -- then money will flow to you. But if you follow money, you will end up chasing money for the rest of your life -- and you will also have sacrificed your bliss, which is the same as saying that you will have lost your life.
(to be continued)
posted by Super Peter at 10:18 AM
<< Home