Originally posted April 21, 2016
The brainwashing discussed in the article about the Dalai Lama, below, also applies to other areas, such as our thinking about schooling/education, the nature of our world, how we view others, relationships, life in contemporary societies, and much much more. We need to question all of the assumptions that underlie everything we do. It’s difficult, but essential. I’ve tried to get my students to do this about teaching and schooling, but most students just don’t want to think about it. They just want to move through their lives as zombies (of course, they don’t think they’re zombies). They don’t want to think about the issues that can shake their nicely packaged worlds (or worldviews). They just want to be told what to do, so they can jump through the hoops with minimal effort.
This same situation seems to characterize much of society. We just want to live our lives and not have to shake the foundations of our little fortresses. It must be too frightening to think about lose the ground upon which we think we’re standing. But, if we do shake up and challenge our worldview and the assumptions we make, we may find the result to be exciting and refreshing…. like waking up on the shore of a mountain lake at dawn in early spring or like taking the red pill in the Matrix. We need to take the red pill…
If you're interested, here are links to two articles about the Dalai Lama's reaction to the Mass Brainwashing of Society.
More Hard-Hitting Words From The Dalai Lama About The Mass Brainwashing Of Society
Dalai Lama Talks About the Mass Brainwashing of Society