Non-Conformity...

When I think of conformity I think of the ancient Sufis who talked about learning to wear the garment of the law without and the Mystic's garment within. I think that means knowing that living in a society is all falsehood in its ultimate expression but playing the game in the spirit of sportsmanship; like a tennis match, it wouldn't be very fun if both players weren't sincerely trying their best to win, but that doesn't mean you have to take it so seriously, it is only a game after all. It is like what Ryujin said, there are masks we take on and off to achieve various ends but it is only when we identify our self with the mask that conformity can threaten us. Rules and routines and other tools of conformity are only as useful as you are willing to break them.

I also remember the Bodhisattvas when I think about conformity, who achieve enlightenment and have the right to all the glories of Heaven but choose to come back to teach and lead by example so that others may attain that same liberating experience, even they know that means placing themselves back into the illusion of duality, the world of fear and desire and suffering.

No one is totally their self 100%, our minds won't let our bodies have that much control over us, and vice versa.

Lol, hipsters :laugh:

RyuJin wrote: I know a part of me dies each time I'm forced to follow...

Part of me would die if I could never follow.

Habitual non-conformity is no better than habitual conformity, either way it's allowing the prevailing attitude to dictate your behaviour, for or against.

The free mind does what it thinks best on-the-fly. It conforms to that which conforms to it, and deviates from that which does not. Anything else is unreasoning and passive, "sheep-mode" whether conforming or otherwise.

RyuJin wrote: A thought came to mind...

To be, or not to be...that, IS the question...whether 'tis nobler to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to go quietly...

Conformity or non conformity, which will it be? Is it better to not conform and suffer the effects of social ostracism, or to conform peacefully...

It depends whether society has something to offer you (that you want/need or that you are made to want/need).

I think we'd all have a tendency to be non-conformist if we found ourselves on a Jedi path :ohmy:

Is it harder for extrovert's to be non-conformist? As an introvert I wonder, because introvert's might perhaps tend to feel excess, or prefer to avoid the, influence of others. It might not be related directly, as a group's alpha would not be constrained by that I guess, but the other members of the extrovert group perhaps?

RyuJin wrote: I know a part of me dies each time I'm forced to follow....

tzb wrote: Part of me would die if I could never follow.

...two very profound and meaningful statements that bring refreshing clarity to the conversation. That we all, perhaps, in some way or another, experience great sacrifice or sense of belonging when faced with choices to conform...that require something more of us in order to fully inhabit the present moment.

A struggle of compromise, of balance.

ren wrote: To be honest I'm thinking some people may be in fact genuine by being conformist... It would seem some simply are incapable of thought without a social influence to conform to.

Truth.

ren wrote: To go back to conformism and esssence, I think it may be that some people cannot have their own essence and simply have a "share " of "group essence".

I feel this may be what tzb was referring to?

Nothing should resonate more loudly than our own intuitions, but maybe a fraction of "group essence" is a small part of our intuitions.

Hear's another angle..is being in tune and harmony with the living force conformaty?

Rickie The Grey wrote: Hear's another angle..is being in tune and harmony with the living force conformaty?

It is my opinion that in order to achieve this you have to move beyond any concept like conformity and just be.

Psyddhattha wrote:

Rickie The Grey wrote: Hear's another angle..is being in tune and harmony with the living force conformaty?

It is my opinion that in order to achieve this you have to move beyond any concept like conformity and just be.

I agree. In a very real sense when we are in harmony the Force conforms to us as much as we to it, because at the deepest level of reality there is no separation between us and it.

Rickie The Grey wrote: Hear's another angle..is being in tune and harmony with the living force conformaty?

The real question is whether it is possible for anything NOT to be in tune and harmony with the Force. It seems obvious however that everything within the Force would have to conform to the ways of the Force. Those things that do not conform are those things that do not exist (within it).

I have not been following the thread as much as I would like...

I heard conformity is wrong, mainly and simply because followers typically follow other followers and around and around they go, never questioning the one who leads....

“The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it’s conformity.” — Rollo May



At least on an intellectual basis of social, economic, and political thought.

On the sub atomic quantum level of all, I can agree, that impersonally everything is grounded in the harmony and balance being in tune with of the Force...