"The 6 Grand Illusions That Keep Us Enslaved"

[Veilex]

6. The Illusion of Separateness

On a strategic level, the tactic of divide and conquer is standard operating procedure for authoritarians and invading armies, but the illusion of separateness runs even deeper than this.

We are programmed to believe that as individuals we are in competition with everyone and everything around us, including our neighbors and even Mother Nature. Us vs. them to the extreme. This flatly denies the truth that life on this planet is infinitely inter-connected. Without clean air, clean water, healthy soil, and a vibrant global sense of community we cannot survive here.

While the illusion of separateness comforts us by gratifying the ego and and offering a sense of control, in reality it only serves to enslave and isolate us.

*snip*
More at the link:

http://wariscrime.com/new/6-grand-illusions-keep-us-enslaved/

[silverweb]

1. Interesting article.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]Certainly worthy of contemplation even by those who disagree.

[msongs]

2. thanks for the article. posted it on facebook for consideration as well nt

[DeSwiss]

3. K&R

"Consciousness shines in various external and internal forms. There is no existence of objects apart from consciousness. Therefore the world is simply a form of consciousness."

~Kalikakrama, as quoted in the Shiva Sutras translated by Jaideva Singh

[Hestia]

4. Here is a site that has been around for quite awhile that goes deeper into the illusions

http://thegreatillusion.com/introduction.html

The artist has changed the artwork through the years and has rewritten parts of it but it is still great.

[Octafish]

5. War IS a crime.

Money trumps peace, though, when traitors reign.

[quaker bill]

6. Perhaps the largest, the illusion of control, gets little mention

It meanders through everything and is the cause of much of the sickness,

[Nuclear Unicorn]

7. Not very internally consistent.

The excerpt bemoans "separateness" but does so by blaming a group it calls out as distinct from its own and unceasingly paints that group as untrustworthy and adversarial.

[Veilex]

8. "The excerpt bemoans "separateness" but does so by blaming a group"

I would argue the excerpt calls out the actions of the group rather than the group itself,
but that is largely up to personal interpretation.

[jtuck004]

9. For all his powers, the one thing the Great and Powerful Oz couldn't do was take down the illusion.

It took Dorothy, the Scarecrow and Lion and Toto and The Witches ...et al, working with each other, and sometimes against their opponents, but toward a goal.

Because the people are the only ones who have ever had that power. Whether they know to use it or not.