NewAgeOldPage

John's a bit of a hippy. Long dirty hair, old leather sandals, cloth clothing from a sheep on a mountain somewhere proclaimed to be organic. Washes once a week in cold water whilst eating hummus, peppers and other raw foods. John's a hippy but a good guy. I like him. His philosophy is very simple. Peace, love and happiness. Me and John talk a a lot. I find him intriguing. John says he rejects religion. He was brought up as a Catholic. His Catholic schooling give him a life long fear of 'religion', not God. John says ... "It's not about God, it's about the Universe, it's about the new paradigm, it's about being part of a community. To some extent I agree. To another extent I don't. One thing I noticed about John is this (and he won't mind me saying), he has a very fixed way of living his life and rarely shifts away from that way. He dresses a certain way, mostly in something Mongolian a remote village somewhere. He only eats organic foods. He rarely cooks his foods. His actions look like 'PACK' actions. He loves his community that all claim to be unique yet at the same time all dress the same, all eat the same, all think almost the same and all read the same books. They watch the same movies, they go to the same training events, they are like a pod of Dolphins moving in unison. Yet John tells me he hates organized religion. So organized religion has a set of, lets call them rules. The followers of a faith are then expected to follow the rules. The followers will then live their life thinking about how do the rules affect their daily behavior. Even the way some religions dress are expected. The food they eat is expected. The way they do almost everything - is expected. Sound familiar? I see this a lot on my global travels. It really is the NewAgeOldPage Syndrome. So here's the thing. People leave faiths to be free. They search for a freedom. They find that freedom in something else. That something else usually involves ... more restrictions, more rules, more do this, do that if you want to be part of our community. Can you see what takes place? People leave a set of rules and boundaries and regulations only to reinstate a new set of rules and boundaries. Most of the rules from before were set by men. Set by men to control the human. This new set of rules that John lives by ... are they his rules or just another set of rules he feels more comfortable with? So how could John be more of what he wants to be without getting involved in more of what he doesn't want? John like most people live in a life of fear. Fear of displeasing, fear of rejection, fear of something. That fear when uncontrolled can be passed into anything in life. John has taken his early life fear and now lives by the same fears in his NewAgeOldPage faith. John says it isn't a faith but of course it is. For example when I ask John questions, he replies in the "WE don't do things like that, we do it like this" So who is the 'WE'? It's the reference back to the rules, the boundaries that are now controlling John's life. If John wants to be free, he has to discover himself. To discover himself  he has to dig deep. Digging deep is hard, it's tough, it can be painful. In John's case, it is easier for him to re-attach to new beliefs that make his life easier. But we don't talk about religion in public. Religion and politics are NOT for public discussion right? Who said that? Was it you or those that created all of the rules in the first place in religion and politics so you and others would never question anything over a honest and open discussion? So we have to talk about stuff like this, be open about it, create our rules for our lives. Look around you; are you of the reaction of others, what they'll think or say before making any kind of decision? Clothes, food, words, actions ... do you as you feel is best for YOU or are you restricted by the thinking of others? John ... he's a good guy. I really like him but he has allowed his mind to be filled with the thoughts of others AGAIN. How about you. Do you think for yourself? Have you added some spiritual twist and ideas into your life believing you are totally free when in reality you have now become a slave to a new set of thoughts? Provoking right? Well life is provoking, it should be provoking, it's your life. You're here to live it not allow it to be lived by someone else. So how about you? Are you living or experiencing a life that is restricted by ideas and thoughts of others? It really doesn't have to be that way. You have a person deep within you that can be released. That person is the real you. It's been covered by years of endless conditioning of some kind but ... can be released. John is a hippy that surrendered his new found freedom to NewAgeOldPage syndrome. Tell me what you think I'd love to hear. Or are you too scared to post because of what someone, anyone will think? NewAgeOldPage ... I've heard it all before!