Authority
"The only law the Heart teaches is Unconditional Love."
Introduction
Defining Authority
Some people can experience fear and discomfort when faced with figures resembling the powers of authority i.e. a policeman, a teacher, boss, and so forth.
On the surface, it may appear that the fear is there because authoritative figures have the power to prosecute us.
But to explore the deeper cause of the fear, one must look within to explore the answers to the following question:
"Why am I scared of being punished if I have done nothing wrong?"
In this article, we will explore the fear of authority in depth to see where the fear is really coming from.
Authority In Depth
Cause of Fear Of Authority
As one dives into the consciousness to understand what the ideas of authority mean to the deeper mind, one will arrive at the ideas of Right and Wrong and discover that it is the attachment to these kind of ideas that creates the fear of authoritative figures.
When we become attached to the ideas of Right and Wrong, i.e. believing that certain things must be absolutely right and some things absolutely wrong, it can create fears within for doing the wrong things, thus experiencing the fears for being punished for it.
Since the beginning of our experiences here, we would have come across many Ideas of Right and Wrong, some of which have become part of our core belief. From a psychological point of view, the Ideas of right and wrong can be said to have stemmed from the lecturing of our parents, who would have been the earliest authority figures in our life.
More ideas would have later been introduced into our life by others in our social circles such as our friends, our teachers, our bosses and so forth. Through them, we would have enforced and refined the Ideas of right and wrong.
Thus, the fear of authority can be deeper in those who have been judged heavily in life—whether it is from this life or previous lives. As one uncovers the workings of the mind, one will realize is that the fears of authoritative figures had already been there before birth, and life experiences work upon the mind to bring these fears out into light.
Let us explore the possible causes of attachments to these Ideas so that one can properly understand and address the fears.
Importance
Importance Of Addressing Authority
Importance Of Addressing Authority
Let us look at the negative impacts the Fear of authority can have in our life so that we can develop the natural desire to address it.
Negative Impacts
The Fear of authority can make one feel guilty when they don’t follow rules or when they accidently go out of line.
The state of regret can also be experienced when one has done something to produce an "incorrect" result.
Are you often overly critical of yourself so that you can do things exactly right?
Do you often fear doing things wrong?
The Fear of authority can also affect the relationships we have with others. It can make one feel inferior or imperfect in the presence of another Self who is more “authoritative” or "powerful".
In terms of Creativity, the fears can also create impediments in one's Creative potential as the fears can hold one back from trying new and unique things that stray away from the norm.
Also, it can produce great fears of expressing one’s own opinions or disagreeing with others especially when one is in the presence of an authoritative figure i.e. one's own parents, one's own boss and so forth.
The fear of authority can also drive one to enforce what is “right and wrong” onto others, i.e. controlling Other Selves.
See Catalyst - Control.
Do you often feel angered when someone is not following the rules?
When one is so focused on following the ideas of right and wrong all the time, i.e. on the laws and regulations, one can also forget to listen to their “heart” and become stuck in the analytical / intellectual realms of the mind.
Path Of Creator
Authority In Relation To The Path Of Creator
The Path Of Creator is about creating greater happiness in our lives.
And to create greater happiness, all forms of fears must be addressed.
So let us look at the various ways we can address the fear of authority.
At The Idea Level
The Seed Cause to all forms of Sufferings, including our fears, will always recede to Negative Ideas—Ideas which promote the rejection of The Self.
The reason why one is experiencing the fear of prosecution is often because one has become attached to the Negative Ideas within the mind, especially those concerning with theme:
“It is not ok to be wrong.”
i.e.
“"It is not ok to love oneself more than others."
"It is not ok to not fulfil the dream of our parents."
"It is not ok to disobey any orders given by authorities."
"It is not ok to do things differently."
etc.
When one becomes attached to Negative Ideas, one will begin to judge others when they do things that are "not ok." The judging of others in turn creates the fear of being judged by others in the same way.
So the fear is of being judged by others is simply the reflection of how we judge The Self.
To release oneself from the attachment to the Negative Ideas will require one to understand that the Fears will continue to be sustained the more one continues to judge oneself or others whenever someone does something wrong.
Thus to transform and release such Idea will require one to develop Self-Acceptance. And this means to develop compassion/forgiveness towards oneself and others when one has done something wrong.
This of course will be a difficult concept for the intellectual mind to grasp. That is why the practice of meditation can help one to put the intellectual mind aside so the wisdom of the heart can be heard.
Often, it can take The Self many years of life experiences to realize that right and wrong are just Ideas which are unique to each mind.
Once The Self reaches the realization that the ideas of right and wrong are never absolute and ever changing, one can then begin to release their attachment towards such ideas.
Eventually, as one releases its attachment from the bounds of the intellectual mind, one will become aware of the subtler messages from the heart. This is when one will embark on a new journey of Knowing what is right and wrong from one's heart, and begin to grasp the spiritual laws concerning Unconditional Love.
Whether to Punish or to Forgive The Self will be the challenging dark questions that one will have to face in one's journey of releasing their fears of authority.
And again, the key to illumination will be to develop Self-Acceptance.
The Path to release the fears thus can be a challenging and confusing. Because to make progress, one will have to learn to let go of one’s attachment to the Ideas of Right and Wrong and this can create a sense of losing The Self. But that is the journey forward, which is to refine the Past Self, to learn that it is ok to express a wrong opinion, that it is ok to be confident in one's own beliefs, that it is ok to let go of self-criticism when one has done something wrong, and so forth
Thus, the confusions that one will face on their journey of releasing their fears are inevitable because one's belief system will begin to evolve and take a different shape. For example, as one releases the attachment towards the Ideas of Right and Wrong, one will begin to have opportunities to finally question one’s own beliefs of what is right and wrong from the heart rather than just from the mind, and because one has never asked the question in this way, it will take some time for one to develop Self-Knowing.
So the confusion that one faces on such a journey can be signs of progress because if one is not confused, one's old beliefs will most likely have been left unchallenged, and thus, no change, no Self-Transformation.
The Heart will always help one to question The Self with "Who Am I?" rather than "Who I Should Be?" So the more one can connect with their hearts the easier it will be to make progress on refining The Self-Knowing and dispelling the confusion from within.
It is important to remember that in order to properly address the fear of authority, the focus needs to be placed on addressing the "State" rather than the "Action."
Thus to address the fear is not about breaking all rules in life or to see that all laws are wrong; rather, it is about transforming the state of mind, i.e. one's perception towards ideas revolving around authority. One's belief system thus must be challenged.
Idea Level
Let us look at one of the possible Negative Ideas that are deeply connected with the Fear of Authority to see the various ways we can direct Acceptance to release our attachment towards the Negative Ideas.
"It is not ok to not follow rules"
The following is the positive declaration.
"It is ok to not follow rules"
The transition towards the positive declaration can begin through the greater acceptance of other "law-breakers" at the level of the mind and this will help The Self release their grip on the ideas of what is right and wrong.
Acceptance here is described as a State, thus it is about accepting others for who they are on the level at the level of the state of mind. What one chooses to do at the “Action” level will always be based on one’s own choice.
Remember, we are trying to develop Happiness within, rather than to develop a "Perfect Action." Here you are simply given an example of what you can do to catalyze Self-Acceptance.
So releasing the fear of prosecution is not about becoming a “law breaker.” Realize that every action we make will always have a consequence whether it is at the level of the action or at the level of the state of mind.
The focus here is on addressing the negative judgments we have towards ourselves and others. The focus here is about developing unconditional love.
The journey of unconditional love can be enlightening. On the journey, one may become enlightened to the fact that if other people can have their own ideas of right and wrong, then why can we not accept that it's ok for us to have our own as well.
Know and Transform The Self!
Reading articles helps with understanding, but to transform the mind, one realizes the truth from experience.
For such an enlightening journey, the Self-Transformation Course has everything you will ever need!
