Deeply embedded in the human psyche is deference to external authority, whether that authority is religious, political, scientific, technological, is irrelevant. Religious systems, governments, and institutions of this world all have one teleological end: power, or control over your mind and soul. The means of attaining power is through lies and manipulation. The dark powers of this world may use coercion and violence as a tool, but ultimately rely on manipulating humanity into thinking that their authority is legitimate (spoiler: it is not). When their only tool remaining is violence, they have already lost: empires famously decline at the height of their military might.
The reason why highly conscious people must suffer, is that they threaten the beings of lower consciousness of the world. Their higher conscience is what drives them to rebel, to make themselves known by shining a light on darkness so that sides may be drawn. Since most people are at lower levels of consciousness (NPCs), they often side with evil unknowingly.
Naked manipulation
An esoteric law of this world is that evil must always reveal itself to us. Whether we are attuned to this revelation is up to each individual to see. Sometimes evil is obvious, hiding in plain sight, or obscured by other lies. Often it is a lie that everyone else believes, so if one ever finds oneself holding a majority opinion, that is precisely when one should be looking inward.
Why is it that the dark forces of the world have initiation rites, usually in the form of heinous crimes? I think that this may be for a few reasons:
- They are selecting for people of low consciousness, people who are totally comfortable in their own hypocrisy.
- The creation of blackmail material for the transgressor, so that they may never escape.
- The transgressor must accuse others of their own deeds. This parallels the story of the sacrificial lamb, that an animal or being of lesser consciousness may take their punishment.
The truth is obscured by power
If there is an emergent narrative that authorities are trying to suppress, chances are that narrative is closer to the truth. People with a conscience should be trying to read banned books, and other suppressed information, to uncover what threatens power.
It is socially normative to profess belief in official narratives for any current or historical event, no matter how unbelievable they may be. This extends all the way back to ancient history, which over time, are layered in more and more untruths. In every culture around the world, we can observe religion being adopted by the state, in a subservient position to power to justify their authority.
Often the lies are mirror reflections of the liars themselves: the repeated phrase "I am a jealous God" in the Old Testament. There is something all too human about a delusional tyrant who thinks he is omnipotent. If man is made in this deity's image, this deity is a reflection of the corruption of humanity. Yet within the exoteric is a trace of the esoteric, for those who are willing to see the message. The angry God of the Old Testament is within us, the bad guys are us.
Forgiveness without power
Why do spiritual teachings encourage us to forgive our enemies and practice non-violence? I think there are true and false reasons to do what is righteous and the hidden implications are obscured by religion. One can do the right thing for the wrong reasons, but that does not lead to any deeper understanding of truth.
There is a deep hypocrisy in how forgiveness is applied: it is only demanded from those who are powerless and meek. A perversion of truth is when the state persecutes anyone who may challenge their authority, and then demands total subservience from those who they try to disarm, slander, and terrorize. On a smaller scale, this could be narcissistic sociopaths in everyday life who continue to abuse people because they never face negative consequences for doing so, people continue to bless them. Misguided attempts to do the right thing often result in increased suffering in this world.
Forgiveness is only genuine when the victim has completely turned the tables on the oppressor, has the authority to strike back in vengeance without fear of retaliation, and chooses not to. Otherwise, forgiveness has no utility, it is immaterial if the other party is forgiven or not, it is utterly meaningless. What people do with such forgiveness is a true test of their character, whether they continue harming others due to facing no negative consequences, or coming to an inner realization of the error of their ways.
The underlying or esoteric message is that when we forgive another, we forgive ourselves, as we are parts of the same collective consciousness. Some people operate at a much lower level of consciousness, harm others unjustly and are rewarded for it, but their ultimate punishment is separation from the greater consciousness.
Living in truth
The lack of a unifying theory of all physical phenomena, or an all-encompassing set of axioms of mathematics, is downstream of the disunity of truth. There is a single truth that can't be known in its entirety, each person must discover their own truth. When a person actively denies seeking this truth, that's when they fall prey to dogma, try to justify poor decisions, and become a burden upon themselves and others.
In modern totalitarian states, one is allowed to have any belief and even speak their thoughts, but not act upon it, which is at least some progress from not being allowed to think in certain ways at all. How many people thought that the vaccines for the COVID-19 pandemic were harmful and ineffective, yet were forced to take it anyways? How many people think that taxes are not just theft, but that their taxpayer money is going towards malicious causes, yet continue to pay their taxes? How many people condone political violence, when it is the side they think they are on that benefits?
The highly conscious are dragged down by beings of lower consciousness, beings which may be barely human, but NPCs. People who are aware know when they are acting a certain way because they are being manipulated, but when they fall out of line, they get punished for not following arbitrary rules and regulations. In today's age, highly conscious beings are forced to live a lie, this is why there are so few living geniuses left. The disconnect between belief and action, or lack of agency in this world, is why we are regressing. We are either on the cusp of a spiritual revolution, or a dark age.