What The 60s Should Have Taught Us About Activism

The 1960’s were an interesting time, I remember it because I wasn’t there. The things I remember about the 1960’s are different to what people might expect. I remember Timothy Leary and the esoteric teachings which seem to be lost on us today. I specifically remember Tim telling us:

Turn on, tune in, drop out.

This infamous phrase could do us a lot of good. The phrase has been connected to the use of psychedelics but it was much more than this; it was a formula we had been given in how to affect change by doing nothing.

Today we have such funny things as organised atheism, which to me seem to be lacking in thought. Unfortunately, people seem to think that by involving themselves in a movement they will cause a change to society on their terms and this attitude alone creates an opposition that needs to be subdued and new definitions of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ thinking, this crystallises opinion and causes further conflict.

After reading The Kybalion and studying Freudian dynamics, active participation looks very self-defeating to me. The separate communes of the days passed existed because they chose to abandon society, rather than change it. Sadly, these communes became infected with the very same politics from which they had tried to escape. The one-upmanship and competition which runs rife amongst groups of people  only serves to hinder a true ‘drop-out’ lifestyle. Put simply, he that believes himself to be enlightened may just be arrogant or delusional (if we are to follow Freudian dynamics) and this can destroy the possibility of ever finding true ‘peace’.

Dropping out doesn’t necessarily involve joining a cult or commune, as they have their own issues. The same dynamics apply in many other relationships. The only person we can improve and live harmoniously with honesty may be ourselves to a certain extent. The ‘Turn on, tune in and drop out’ seems to say ‘become aware of what seems to be wrong, learn how it affects you and remove yourself from its influence’.

The self seems to be the only thing a person can be certain on improving and nobody appears to be on the exact same level of consciousness as another, especially the larger the group becomes. Today, we see factions warring over their dogmas.  Instead of recognising the potential merits from the ‘opposition’ we attack anything associated with them. Quantum Psychology tells us that something can be several things at once, dependent on the individual. This shows that dogma affects independent thought, that it stifles progress in exchange for artificial progress or knowledge and continues the cycle of inadequate conditions.

The concepts I have used here rely on the fact that Freudian dynamics can be interrupted, that there is a possibility of living without being influenced by humanity’s ‘games’ and that by doing so we could see things that were not apparent before that will help us continue to improve ourselves.

Timothy Leary could certainly be considered a game player of grand proportions, but what kept him smiling to the end was his ability to see it all as façade and to not get too invested in it all, to see it all as a cosmic drama of sorts. Getting carried away by the pleasures and distresses of life only leads to more of the same and a lowering of consciousness, dragging you down to the place where you will only be used and abused by the people and systems, whether they are oblivious or intentional in their exploitation of these games.

We’re all a part of this cosmic joke. Personally, I find that the moment I feel as though I’m at a higher awareness, I am soon dragged back down by my own misconceptions. If I too wasn’t a part of the big drama, I doubt that I would have felt the motivation to write this article.

My esoteric message would be that it may be better to be a conscious cause or even a conscious lack of cause rather than a subconscious set of causes and effects, but your results may vary.

Think for yourself and question authority.

Quantum.