Tag Archives: Cultural

Cultural

Aggression: How to DEAL With It

Aggression – a physical or verbal behavior intended to cause harm – is a part of every culture and society. It would not be wrong to say that aggression has its roots in the primal ages. If one looks around to observe aggression in our cultural context, one can identify multiple examples of both hostile and instrumental aggression. While hostile aggression is ‘driven by anger and performed as an end in itself’, instrumental aggression is more about getting a desired end result.

In our cultural context when people are extremely agitated by load shedding of electricity, and gas, they come out on the roads protesting. The violent protest when people damage public properties, shout, and fight the forces stopping them, is an example of instrumental aggression. The reason being that people want some resolution on the issues they are annoyed and angry about.

An example that takes place in almost every household is when the earning male of the household comes home and becomes aggressive over dinner which he does not like. After shouting or scolding the aggression normally vanishes. This is an example of hostile aggression, as after letting out the anger the person reverts to the normal behavior.

Be it road aggression, office, political, religious or authoritative aggression, it always has a cause. Aggression can be a result of frustration. Usually when one sets high goals and is unable to achieve them, causes the person a feeling of defeat and frustration. This frustration further leads towards aggression, either hostile or instrumental.

Aggression in our cultural context can be related to the genes or genetics. If one surveys the ancestors of this land, we can notice that many of them were involved in wars, fights, dominance and power issues. The names of Halaku Khan and Bulbin are evident exemplifications of aggression. So it can be stated that people in our culture are genetically more aggressive.

Aggression is also said to be learned behavior, as children and people in general imitate their surrounding people. It is a usual observation in our culture that children who play fighting games tend to be more restless, hyper and usually involved in fights with fellows.

Another issue prominent in our culture is encouraging male domination. Boys from a very young age are seen to be confident, brave, given guns to play with and allowed to use bad language even. This increases aggression among the males as they keep up with their dominating behavior. Heat, pain, mental pressures and socioeconomic pressures are also a few leading reasons that influence aggression among individuals in our culture.

When one considers the question of how to control aggression, the simple answer would be to eliminate the causes. Encourage people to keep attainable goals, so as to increase the chances of getting the desired results. This will reduce frustration, and will not produce any aggression.

Another way to deal with an aggressive person is to not to give in for aggressive behavior. Reward non-aggressive behavior, as it will be reinforcing it and so lowering aggression. Provide children with a healthier environment, in which physical activity is an important part. Conclusively, aggression can be controlled by removing all the causing factors.

Cultural

The Emerging Culture of Light: Anthropology for the Golden Age

Intro: The Evolution of Anthropology

The technological revolution has produced a number of noticeable shifts in the way humans operate on the planet today. One of the most subtle shifts, yet potentially most profound, is the self-awareness that has been created through the complete accessibility of all information via the internet and various media devices. Today people everywhere can instantly find out everything they want to know about “other”, which creates the automatic feedback loop of one re-examining their own sense of self. Who am I really? Who are all these people around me? Why am I here? What is my true purpose?

While 20th century Anthropology was essentially founded through Western academics studying global indigenous cultures, the Anthropological discipline has reached a climax of what it can accomplish in the field of knowledge, as there are truly only a handful of native cultures on the planet that haven’t been heavily westernized or completely categorized and studied by industrious, adventuring intellectuals. For these reason, 21st century Anthropology has been more focused on activism and application rather than the assimilation of information on indigenous cultures or the human experience in general.

The Cutting-Edge of Emergent Culture

There is, however, one last bastion of culture to be fully documented, understood, and experienced: The Emerging Culture of Light. This Culture goes beyond religious dogma and national borders. It transcends attachment to specific rites and rituals, or the need to completely identify with a specific family, tribe, or ethnic background. It is a made up of young and old, as well as people of all colors, genders, and Socioeconomic backgrounds.

The Culture of Light can be found and recognized all over the planet, and their identity, message, and mission in the World is very simple: Love. They are normal people allowing Love into themselves, their families, their communities, and the whole World. They are working everyday towards the healing of People and Planet, and their tools are many:

Yoga, meditation, prayer, medicinal movement, and various self-awareness practices; Permaculture, Ancient & Modern nutrition, Sound Healing, and an endless list of appropriate technologies for optimal elegance and well-being in our inner and outer environments; dozens of modalities for communicating in a loving way (NVC, RC, etc), or for understanding how one is programmed (NLP, Landmark, Theta healing, etc.); and of course the many innovations being made in our understanding and application of media, commerce, and social and political organization, from compassionate documentaries, to gift economies, to Spiritual communities.

One could really list for thousands of pages the innovations that are occurring on every level. The purpose of this article is more focused on presenting the phenomenon of the emergent Culture of Light within an Anthropological context, as well as the impetus for understanding, experiencing, and becoming a part of this inevitable, unstoppable movement of beautiful beings committed to bringing Heaven on Earth.

Characteristics of the Culture of Light

You can find them in urban and suburban yoga studios; on farms and in Eco-Spiritual communities. They are available to give you loving attention as they run down the beach, hitchhike to their day job, or sip a smoothie in a live-food restaurant. You see them riding hand-built bicycles, wearing clothes covered in Sacred Geometry, and holding potlucks and ceremonies to bring about thriving community. They are devotional singers, festival organizers, and technology wizards constructing free-energy devices in their garages.

The emerging Culture of Light, though it can often be seen far outside the mainstream, is much more about how things are done rather than what things are done. These beings act from love, with a calm, present demeanor and steady nervous system. Whether it be a dance Goddess leading a contact improvisation class, or a web-designer absorbing himself in the love of his work–It’s not the what but the how. Everything becomes an exercise in self-mastery. You can see these light-beings living in monasteries, working for telephone companies and billion-dollar businesses, or practicing simple trades like plumbing and carpentry! They are everywhere, living and breathing in every imaginable circumstance.

Some call members of this emergent culture “hippies, cultural creatives, rainbow beings, or just green.” They have also been known through soul-group, astrological lingo as “crystal” or “indigo children”, “star-beings”, or simply star-seeds: beings that have incarnated on Earth from advanced galactic consciousness in order to bring about a Golden Age–a time akin to our Edenic origins, where all walk in perfection and loving connection.

There are many cultural traditions that foretell of the army of God that will arise during the height of the dark times. The Hopi people tell of the Rainbow Warrior of Light that would come to heal all people and planet. And the Tibetans spoke in their Shambhala prophesy of a group of beings that would magnetize all negative forces and re-unite all people on the path of loving kindness. A truly staggering number of saints and visionaries have also spoken of this time on Earth now, and the people who would guide and lead the world towards peace. Paramahansa Yogananda, Baba Sawan Singh, and Edgar Cayce (just to name a few generally well received and respected Super-Beings) all spoke of the unification of East and West, rising Cities of Light, as well as World Brotherhood communities that would lead humanity to an era of greater consciousness.

Though there are many obvious characteristics to note about the Culture of Light externally, there is again only One unifying principle, One State of Being that brings them all together: Love. That place in their Hearts, in our Hearts, in the Heart of the Earth that is emerging today. It is a place at the core of all things that longs again to be One, to share, to have deep compassion, and to be of Service whether things are chaotic or flowing perfectly.

Answering the Call of the Hero

To join this Emerging Culture of Light, it takes courage, humility, equanimity, and surrender. It may ask us to relax our beliefs, be vulnerable, or quit the job that is sucking the life out of us. To join this Culture of Light, it may require cleansing, fasting, and persistent, vigilant attention to our physical, and emotional, or mental health. Everyone’s medicine will be suited to their needs.

One thing is certain, however: The Time to join is Now! The state of the World and all its passengers asks that we take a leap of faith and do whatever it takes to find that unshakable place of Loving kindness within each and every one us. And when we do find it, and it becomes strong, we reach out and touch the lives of those in need, of those in deep distress. And in this way, the whole planet will be safe for One and All to express their deepest Love, and the Culture of Light will bring health and wellness to All beings.

Blessings!