What follows is an abridged version of the linked blog post with a few worthy supporting quotes and elaborations removed in order to fit under the cap for this submission. Beau encourages your review at this site of the original 1200 word version, especially for the elucidating images:
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“All through the day – I me mine, I me mine, I me mine.
All through the night – I me mine, I me mine, I me mine.”(1)
Nothing has intrinsic value – we assign value. And so it is with wetiko. Wetiko is typically characterized as a virus, demon seed, or inherently evil poacher of spirit. An image of outside invader is a consistent consensus throughout wetiko scripture. However, a big step back might reveal another perspective. Some say, “money is the root of all evil” rather than “the love of money is the root of all evil”. Money itself is neither one way nor another. Its value lies in what we do with it. In this context, what love is to money – wetiko is to ego. Ego roots our sense of individuality. Without it, All is One and One is All, devoid of individual experience. Ego itself is neither one way nor another. Wetiko is what humankind has done with ego…..to date – as one possible construct. Life as individual experience has already known integration with our environment (e.g.: indigenous cultures). Humankind has drifted to the current global norm where we – from within isolated egocentric capsules – experience phenomena outside our respective ‘pods’ as entirely separate. Egocentricity is the ‘demon seed’ that we inflict upon ourselves.
Our identification of wetiko as an evil to eradicate, establishes a polarizing duality that ultimately perpetuates wetiko’s existence. We, the ‘good guys’, aspire to rid ourselves of the ‘bad’ wetiko. But wetiko is simply one way we wannabe ‘good guys’ have unwittingly manifested our being. Such is the nature of the insidiously cyclic ‘wetiko reboot’, of which there are infinite forms, from conspicuous hubris to camouflaged convolutions, that all guarantee wetiko’s survival. A simple example:
Generosity is fundamental to all great faiths and spiritual practice. Giving fully of oneself is widely regarded as the most rewarding experience available. Yet philanthropy or any act of giving with the criteria of garnering recognition for it is a wetiko reboot. You get the idea – pure experience gets twisted into forms of ‘I me mine’ on which wetiko feeds – a phenomenon noted in many ways, from all ages:
— “Self-importance is our greatest enemy. Every effort should be made to eradicate self-importance from [our] lives. Without self-importance we are invulnerable. Self-importance is not something simple and naive. To get rid of self-importance requires a masterpiece of strategy.”(2)
— “Biological, technological, and social progress, so the [Darwinian] argument goes, is brought forth by the sum of individual egos striving to out-compete each other. This metaphysics of economics and nature, however, is far more revealing about our society’s opinion about itself than it is an objective account of the biological world.”(3)
Perhaps the quintessential wetiko reboot was captured in a nutshell by Tibetan Buddhist master, Chogyam Trungpa:
“No matter what the practice or teaching, ego loves to wait in ambush to appropriate spirituality for its own survival and gain”(4)
So what are we to do about it? Certainly the current trend toward mindfulness is an encouraging positive development. Adopting Ubuntu – universal bonding through sharing – would encourage collective mindfulness. Yet the larger question remains whether any or all efforts will manifest as far and as fast as needed with sufficient magnitude to stave off the catastrophes that loom. No one can dispute we all share the same air – but will we all comprehend the imperative to take care of our air together before it is too late?
Self-importance, egocentricity, or wetiko by whatever moniker – manifests in us singularly and collectively from individual & family to nation & species. More than any other single factor here in the 21st c. (Imemyocene?), it slowly and steadily destroys us. The USA in particular – now with its shadow wetiko self exposed and personified as Donald Trump – epitomizes this expression of humanity and has nowhere to go. Such oligarchic regimes can only accelerate humankind’s devouring of itself. The silver lining is the powerful expanding awareness in response. What happens from here is as large and blank a sheet of paper to approach as there ever was. In filling it, we must push beyond what we believe is possible with each and every stroke.
“The egocentricity experiment with human design has run its course. Its climax is our confluence of crises. Virtually all system solutions and ascension paths proposed by even the most enlightened among us, fail to breach egocentricity’s fortress. The forecast for our imminent extinction is well founded and arguably certain unless we become something new. Metamorphosis is appropriate terminology here. At this Moment in history, ages of humanity can be metaphorically distilled into a litter of newborn kittens, blind from birth, and poised to open their eyes onto their world for the very first time. Are we ready? This is our evolution.”(5)
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1. “I Me, Mine”, George Harrison
2. Don Juan in “The Fire From Within”, Carlos Castaneda
3. “Enlivenment”, Andreas Weber
4. “Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism”, Chogyam Trungpa
5. “Care to Evolve?”, Boho Beau