BY SOFO ARCHON
This is the transcript of a spontaneous talk.
According to the great German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, there are three stages of spiritual transformation or awakening.
The first one is what Nietzsche calls the Camel. The camel represents someone who is willing to carry the burdens of others for the sake of satisfying their wishes and expectations.
Is this not how most people live? They do whatever they’re being told from a very young age in order to satisfy the expectations of others, in order to make their parents happy, their teachers happy, to live as society expects them to live, while sacrificing their own well-being in the process. They’re carrying so many burdens which accumulate more and more, year by year, and they are about to break their spine because of how heavy they are. They follow orders, they follow rules — they live a life not as they want it to be, but as how others want it to be. It is not their own lives, but they feel a duty to do as they’re being told. And they find egoistic gratification from pleasing others because they have been brainwashed to do things so that they are considered good people. They are constantly seeking external validation and their life’s purpose is to make others happy, not themselves.
The second stage of spiritual awakening is the Lion.
When the camel understands that its life is pointless, that its life is not really serving it in any way, that its life is only serving its masters, and it is fed up with it… and this happens to many people in their life’s journey; for many people, a point comes when they say, “I’ve had enough.” That moment is when they start to rebel. That moment is when they want to take back control over their lives, when they don’t want to be puppets anymore. At that moment is when the camel transforms into a lion.
The lion does not take any shit from others. The lion symbolizes disillusionment, but also anger as well as courage. The lion has broken free from the desire to conform and to obey. But having realized what has happened to it, having realized that it has been oppressed, controlled, manipulated, deceived, having realized that it has been exploited, and its well-being has been harmed so that others can benefit, the lion feels very angry, and it wants to fight against anyone who is oppressing it. It wants to fight against the systems that have been preying on its insecurities and fears, that have been manipulating it through giving it small rewards in order to continue being a camel. And the lion has courage. It is ready to fight, is not afraid.
But despite that, the lion has not found out a way to create a better life for itself. The lion is focusing on fighting against people, fighting against oppressive systems, but it cannot create, it cannot contribute to peace. It only knows how to destroy. And although rebelling and fighting is a very important part in its evolutionary process, it still finds itself imprisoned in its anger and violence. Its mind is still disturbed and confused and frustrated, and the lion does not seem to be able to break free from it. And it will never find freedom unless it becomes what Nietzsche calls the Child.
The child is the third and the last stage of spiritual awakening. The Child represents our blissful nature, the source of our being. It represents joy, peace, contentment. Spiritual teachers and traditions from all around the world have been talking about the importance of reconnecting with our inner child. Jesus said that only when people become children again will they be able to enter the kingdom of heaven. Just look at children before they are turned into camels by our society. Children are so genuine and blissful and happy and authentic. They are radiating joy from their hearts and everyone who is in their presence can feel it.
When we rediscover our inner child, we are also able to become more creative. The child wants to create, wants to build. And it does that while enjoying the process of building, of creating. It does not do it to satisfy the expectations of others. It does it because that’s what it really wants, it is passionate for it. And only when we rediscover the child within will we be able to create better systems. Systems that are in alignment with our blissful nature. Systems that help us to live in harmony with ourselves and our fellow humans. Systems that don’t suppress our nature, but let it express itself in the myriad ways that it can. Systems that allow people to be themselves.
So, in other words, as we are all born as children in our physical body, we also at some point in our lives need to be reborn as children, but spiritually speaking. And our inner child is always there deep within us, and is speaking to us. But we have lost touch with it, so we don’t listen to it. And when we turn our attention inwards, we can reconnect with it. And then we at last find fulfillment. And then at last we can create peace. Then at last we can learn to live again in harmony with the rest of existence.