Living in Europe for the past 7+ years, it is often difficult for me to "get" the levels of paranoia and fear expressed by Americans in their writings, whether in the media or on forums like this one.
Having pursued a spiritual path for over 40 years, it is even more difficult for me to "get" similar levels of paranoia and fear when expressed by spiritual seekers who have been on similar paths for as long as I have. I mean, there are people on this forum -- 30- and 40-year meditators who seem to believe that any man sitting at a cafe or bar is a "predator" secretly there to stalk poor defenseless women. There are people on this forum who seem to believe that people who express different opinions than their own are doing so with malicious intent...intent to *harm* them. And they react as if they *have* been harmed, by nothing more than someone expressing an *idea* that they don't like, or that is different than theirs. I find myself wondering two things. First, what the hell *happened* to these paranoid, fearful people to make them think this way and live their lives this way? Second, what must it be like *to* live like this, thinking that people around you are actively seeking to do you harm? It makes no sense to me, even though I have seen it in many different spiritual organizations over the years. In some, there was a calculated cultist appeal to the "them vs. us" mentality, and that cannot help but foster both elitism and paranoia. But I've sometimes seen this in people who are *not* heavily involved in organizations I would describe as cults, or not involved deeply. For example, look at the ongoing fascination on this forum with "doomsday scenarios" and "conspiracy theories." What *is* that if not an expression of fear or paranoia? And yet it appears in people who are not part of any organized group that one would characterize as a cult. On this forum we sometimes see the *effects* of having lived in a state of fear and paranoia like this for years. The people who think like this tend to stand out. But what *made* them like this, when it didn't make others -- who have shared the same spiritual path that they have, and for just as long -- paranoid and fearful the way they are? The Rama fellow I studied with had a theory about this, one that I'm not sure is correct, but which I will pass along. His theory was based on "predilections." Some of us are inspired by -- and inspire ourselves by focusing on -- things that are positive and that generate positive emotions. For example, we might inspire ourselves to study a subject harder because we can envision the good we can do once we learn enough to teach or practice what we're studying. I would term that "positive imaging." But other spiritual seekers really don't think like this. Imagining a positive outcome does *not* serve to inspire them. Instead, they keep on keepin' on by imagining and focusing on the worst that could happen to them if they *don't* keep on keepin' on. Examples of this might include people who are literally *afraid* to stop meditating reg- ularly out of fear of "the Bad Things that will happen to them if they do." It includes people who seem to thrive more on guilt and fear -- for example someone who "toes the line" and "follows the rules" because again they keep imagining the Bad Things that will happen to them if they don't. I would tend to term this "negative imaging." My suspicion is that people who fall into the latter category might be more likely to become the kinds of people who view the world around them as constantly threatening, and themselves as constant victims or potential victims. What you focus on you become, and all that. Imagine yourself a victim, and voila...you are. All I can say is that there is simply no question about which type of person -- which predilection -- I'd rather be around. Give me the person who views the world around them without fear every time.
