Aren't I a big fish?

Before getting started with being the big fish it would seem best to clarify on another concept first; ethnocentric.   The Encarta Dictionary gives the following definition: a belief in or assumption of the superiority of the social or cultural group that a person belongs to.  For example, being racist or sexist is being ethnocentric.  Whenever people come together in groups because of a common ideal or feature it is best to realize they are being ethnocentric.  All things in degrees though, for instance boy scouts vs. KKK, they are not equal in many respects but will still have ethnocentricity running through the groups.  It is not fair to say that because the boy scouts are not being racist that they are not being ethnocentric. 

Racists are more like a chimp though than a human; they are just an animal at that point.  Chimps are not really thinking about what they are doing, they are not thinking about the affects of their actions on others, they are simply reacting in an instinctual way.   Being instinctual causes humans to act more like animals than conscious beings.  A racist does not have much consciousness, else the person wouldn't be racist.  The far extremes would be to compare the modern concept of a cave person with Buddha or Christ.  The cave person has a very low consciousness where great spiritual people have a very high level of consciousness.  Overcoming this phenomenon of ethnocentricity then, is simply a matter of awareness and a matter of growing up.  Realizing that all life is sacred is part of the spiritual journey. 

From an anthropologic view, this concept makes sense because one has a much greater chance of survival if one is being ethnocentric.  It is quite possible that it is more complicated than just laying its roots on survival, but it really doesn't matter because awareness of it, removes the behavior.   When one realizes they are being ethnocentric, one can stop doing it immediately.  If one continues to see it in themselves it will go away completely.  This same thing holds true for the Big Fish, Little Pond phenomenon. 

Everywhere we look we see humans in ethnocentric groups.  We call many of them by stereotypical names.  Athletes, gays, intellectuals, politicians, lawyers, moms, dads, gangs, the list is almost endless.   Recently being at a college gave me a lot of opportunity to see a wide spectrum of ethnocentric groups.  The academic elites are definitely an ethnocentric group, and in the college scene they sit at the top of the pecking order.  They have their ideals and one must have them too to fit in with the group.  If one strays from their idea of the norm then that person is simply removed from the group.  Pecking order is established in these groups and it is also used among the different groups themselves.  The academic elites are higher on the pecking order than those of the community college academic group.  You see, I can't even use the word elite for the community college professors because they work at a community college.  This happens even though they have the same level of education as those at the "real" colleges.  Ethnocentricity is freaking everywhere.  Oh how us humans love our ego. 

Yesterday I wrote about this Big Fish, Little Pond concept found in the book Connected by Nicholas A. Christakis, MD, PhD and James H. Fowler, Ph D.   If you missed it make sure to read it. 

Aren't I a big fish?  Well, I caught myself thinking I was a big fish.  The other day I was riding my bike over to my girl friend’s parent’s house where I have a garden going.  Call it what you will, I think I live a better life than most because I ride a bike instead of paying for gas when I only have to travel here in town.  I don't like buying gas because it ultimately makes someone really rich, and those people getting really rich off of selling gas are not what I think of as good people.  I don't like giving my money to bad people.  If you really think about it this issue causes a lot of harm in the world.  Those rich oil people are not thinking of the consequences of their actions.  I am also burning calories when I ride my bike; I am literally working out as I travel across town trying to keep up with cars.  When I look around in the community in which I live, I think this makes me a big fish because hardly anyone else is doing this.  Everyone drives their car even if they are only traveling a quarter of a mile.   People around here really make a big deal out of someone walking, almost like it is suffering to walk.  Greedy people are getting extremely rich because people don't want to take care of themselves.

Aren't I an even bigger fish?  While riding my bike to go water my garden my ego appeared right before my eyes.  I was thinking to myself, "I am doing so much better than so many other people in this community simply because I am growing my own food."  I was patting myself on the back for having a garden.  Every day I find out more and more information about all the harmful things like chemicals, pesticides, and genetic modifications in the food; it is crazy what has happened to the food chain.  In the community that I live in I am literally surrounded by farm land but cannot purchase anything at the store that is actually good for me because it has been grown right.  Upon acquiring this information I immediately went to work getting a garden going.  Hardly anyone else is doing this and it bothers me a great deal. 

I laughed at myself though.  How foolish am I?  I should be able to run to that house and not need a bike, with ease at that.  Human beings are the only land mammal capable of endurance.  We humans can run down all other mammals, even the big ones, if we are in a group.  We can run down horses, deer, whatever; I am not a big fish; I am in a little pond.  It might not even be a pond, it could be a puddle for all I know.  Oh the ego.  Personal illusion is tricky business since it is belief that drives everything we do. 

I should have been gardening all my adult life.  I should already know just about all there is to know about gardening.  I am 37 years old.  Here I am, in my head thinking I am a big fish because I doing something different than almost everyone else, and really I am little more than a noob at gardening.  I am not a big fish at all, I really am just swimming in a small pond; I hope.  I felt like a big fish simply because there are so many small fish in proximity.  The ego is amazing at creating illusion.

Maybe for you, it is not gardening or riding a bike.  Maybe for you it is the way you raise your children, or the job you have, or the way you do your job, that engages your ego.  The trick is to see it in one’s Self.

Because my ego creates this illusion, it keeps me from being in a state of love.  My illusion is that I am a bigger fish, but reality is, "how am I going to get everyone else growing their own food too?"   When my ego is engaged I am basically being ethnocentric.  My ego is dividing people into categories of good and bad.  "Those people there don't grow their food, something must wrong with them."  There is no love in this statement.  From this ego state my whole perception is negative.  It is a subtle realization that changes everything; literally.   When one realizes this phenomenon, and then multiplies it out through the masses, it suddenly becomes an overwhelming problem.  The human ego, by creating illusions, is destroying the planet. 

To be fair to myself I do spread the knowledge.  I do work at and think about helping other people take better care of themselves.  Who can make a solid argument that a person isn't much better off eating real food and exercising every day?  If a person chooses to do otherwise that is their choice.  It is not hard to go find someone else to help.  But damn, in comparison to how I should be living, as an evolved human being, I must also be aware that I have a lot of growing up to do.  Projecting negativity only gets back more negativity, regardless of how subtle it is.  The way to live the good life has been known for thousands of years, they just don't teach it in schools or churches.  We must learn it on our own. 

The ego is hard to see, it is slippery so to speak, and it sucks at seeing reality.  Reality though is always right before our eyes.  It is a matter of seeing through the self created illusions and the lies taught by society and culture.  Overcoming ones ego is maturing.  In early life the ego dominates all of us, and it conquers some people all of their lives.  All of the great spiritual teachers were really just mature adults who understood reality.  They are the Big Fish.  The person being ethnocentric, or the person thinking they are a big fish when really they are not, is simply on a different level of the maturity process; a small fish.  We are in a struggle with our selves to unlock the unconscious mind.  This is why some mystics, scientists, and spiritual teachers call the spiritual process a matter of raising ones consciousness.  That is what spirituality is.  I personally look at it like I need to mature, I need to become more aware, and most importantly I need to be me.  We all do.  We all must do it all our lives.  To know the Way is to know one's Self.