How to develop outside the will of dictatorship?

[Dtris]

I'd like to use the analogy of the individual mind/body/spirit complex again, which can always be extrapolated to any societal groups or collective consciousness. Certain meditation teachings work with the concept of directing (rather than forcing) the attention towards the object of meditation. A beginner meditator is going to find that parts of their mind and body resist the notion of meditating. They will create conflict within the self. Many of these sub-parts of the self will continue for a very long time. In a very literal way, parts of the self want to meditate, whereas other parts of the self refuse to meditate. Hence the distractions, the mind wandering, the unpleasant body sensations, and sometimes even the appearance of involuntary body movements. The process is based on the notion that, by getting in touch with one's divine essence and beingness, these different parts of the self end up being "convinced" of the pleasantness and value of meditation, until eventually the entirety of the self becomes single-pointed, and meditation becomes blissful and effortless. It's never about forcing these "rebellious" parts of the self to meditate, as that will only lead to more violence from their part (if we suppress an avenue for them to express their dislike, they will simply find another). It's about allowing them to find, on their own, the value of that which we want to do, until they willingly start wishing to cooperate.

I am borrowing this analogy for future use. I hope you don't mind. I think it is brilliant.

Back on topic. The issue I see is that people believe they are being forced in situations where they are actually making a choice. When I was a kid I never wanted to do my homework. I hated it in fact. So I didn't do it. I got in trouble, and got bad grades, and couldn't go outside for recess.

I eventually realized that I could do whatever I wanted, however I also had to accept the consequences of those actions. The same is true in society and work. I can goof off and not work all day when I am supposed to, and I will have to accept the consequence of not working, which is my employer replacing me with someone who will.

What happens is people think they should be able to do whatever they want, and not have any consequence. The consequence can be imposed by an authority like a boss, parent or teacher, or it can be a change in behavior of the people around you, such as becoming unaffiliated with you, or it can be natural. A natural consequence is best understood and the principle applies everywhere.

Behavior, jumping off a cliff, natural consequence, breaking your leg. When your leg gets broken you won't like it but you can't rationally blame the cliff, ground, or gravity. The same is true of the consequences of your other behaviors when interacting in groups or with individuals. I can cuss like a sailor and spit, and never wear deodorant, and when people decide they would rather not be in my company I would not have any real basis for complaint. Same goes for the workplace. I recently had to let a guy go because he was using drugs at work (construction). This put himself and others in danger. He refused help which we offer as part of the job as well. He might think that it was unfair but he chose to put himself and others in danger, and knew the outcome if it was discovered.

What is difficult to separate is when does imposed consequences from free will choices become dictatorship, and when does it become slavery? We accept the use of force for certain circumstances. If someone makes the free will decision to harm others, we accept that force can be used to stop them. In general an employer can never use force on an employee that is not doing as instructed. The worst they can do is end the relationship. IMO for something to be a dictatorship the use of force has to be present as a consequence for not doing whatever action is imposed. We accept a certain level of dictatorship then when it comes to enforcing laws which are supposed to be chosen by our representatives.