Thanks for the advice, Alex. It sounds very "wise," indeed. Allow me to play devil's advocate for a moment, however ...
It seems like we're just substituting one trance for another here. I mean, let's suppose I have a life which in the tribal mentality sucks big time ... terrible job, terrible health, terrible social life, terrible prospects ... everything is "terrible" from the pre-enlightened view. You call this a trance. And to break through, I have to break the trance. Ok, but by that, you mean I have to come to a point where I view all the terrible things in my life as "wonderful" things, blessings, things which will propel me into a wonderful future. Hmm ... on one level, that sounds very deep and cosmically revolutionary ... I can live my sucky life in bliss, rather than in pain - it's my choice, and the sooner I break out of my trance, the better.
But then I step back and realize ... isn't THAT a bigger trance? After all, those who undergo surgery without anasthesia are in a very deep hypnotic trance. They block out reality (pain, suffering) with the trance that these things don't "hurt" , and so they can endure suffering which most cannot. But it is they who are in the trance. The vast majority of the population are firmly rooted in reality.
It would seem like taken to an extreme, an evil dictator can use your "trance-breaking" philosophy to ultimately control a population to do whatever they desire, since there would be no condition under which his population would not be happy. "Break free from your trance," the dictator soothes ... with which he means: "Be happy under my tyranny."
Who's under the real trance?
