The false self is the name often given to an individual’s survival strategy which is developed from birth. As the name implies it is necessary for the very survival of each person. Awakening involves letting go of or transcending the survival strategy behaviors or dismantling that conditioning either in an instant insight or over time through a process of decreasing or eliminating reactive behavior and increasing the behavior we can call response. Another way to say it is that we are awakening when we spend less time in P-B and more in P-A or when we live in the present moment.
In the West, we have little or no inkling of the possibility of awakening. Since we are not likely to disturb the survival conditioning there is not much chance of our entering the process involving that shift in consciousness or shift in paradigm. Self-destructive behaviors demonstrate that an individual’s survival strategy has failed to insulate them from the harsher aspects of P-B. Staying asleep within the delusional dream of the false self in the context of P-B helps to keep the protective illusion of our survival strategy conditioning intact.
In the East, the possibility of awakening is built into the culture where Hinduism and Buddhism define the predominant context or paradigm. Those individuals seeking to awaken are therefore supported by the culture’s collective consciousness but also by their relationship with a guru. They often don’t become self-reliant or assume the responsibility of self-transformation before they are “ready.” However, by giving away the “power” they could have attained by self-reliance, to the guru, they risk not developing the confidence and insight that comes from entering fully into the present moment by virtue of their own inner resources.
However, the Eastern version of P-B is a relatively healthy one as evidenced by fewer neuroses in those cultures. Hindus and Buddhists contained in that religious context do not need therapists or valium, prozac or priests. Existential anxiety and ennui common in the West are less common in the East but are becoming more-so as globalization “Westernizes” the East.
Paradoxically, in the West the rare person who has an experience of P-A has a chance to live in the present moment or “enlightenment” than the Eastern practitioner. However, the risk is greater since he or she may not be ready for the “free-fall” without the protective parachute of the survival strategy. With no guru or collective community support there is no soft landing if the seeker is not ready to spread his own wings and fly. Being grounded in a community relatively free from neurotic dependence on the false self is an invaluable support for the person on the verge of awakening.
There is a reason that the Eastern teachers warn against awakening without the support of the community and the guru. The West will have to develop its own approach to shifting paradigms and humanity needs something that works better than what is being tried today. Sadly, neither the Eastern nor Western approach has proved effective enough for humanity to live on this planet in a sustainable way. We could try Simple Reality. What have we got to lose?
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For a much more in-depth discussion on Simple Reality, read Simple Reality: The Key to Serenity and Survival, by Roy Charles Henry, published in 2011.
