Transcending the Old Tribal Wounds and Building a more Tolerant Society –A Challenge to the Youths

The powerful influence of traditional beliefs and tribal systems is a major concern in the contemporary society, and a trending topic among many authors and psychologists. The individual grows up in a certain environment with pre-set traditions/rules for living. This is the reason for speaking on the topic: “transcending the old tribal wounds….” . These tribal wounds stem from faulty systems.

As much as these help the individual in the socialization process and formation of different aspects of himself, there are stereotypes adapted there in, which remain detrimental to the individual–sometimes even without his knowledge.

These unhealthy stereotypes soon determine how the individual runs his affairs and manages emotions. He looks at those who don’t have the same rules as himself (or his tribe) as ‘different’, ‘unlearned’, ‘inferior’, ‘superior’ etc.

These tribal trifles range from the culture we find ourselves, the environment in which we grow up, the religion we are born into, the society we interact with and so many other things.

Without disregard to the good aspects of culture and tradition which guide us into living better and becoming better human beings, we must speak so passionately about the negative impact of these ‘brules’[1], as Vishen Lakhiani calls them in his book “The Code of the Extraordinary Mind”.

These are the ‘tribal wounds’, which we must transcend in order to become more productive as human beings. Transcending the tribal wounds implies saying NO to existing standards.

Identifying the Tribal Wounds

In order to understand the very fact that we all bear tribal wounds, we need a re-think of life, a re-evaluation of our evaluation machine (the mind), basically, a mind-shift and an acceptance of reality as it is and not what we think it is or what we define it to be (based on our pre-set rules).

Almost every day, we make claims that our beliefs are more superior to those of others. We claim to be in the true religion, to have the best methods of raising children, gaining knowledge, etc. However, when we come to think of it, we find out that we did not choose any of these, rather we were born into them.

Research shows that most people remain in the religion they were born into till death. This is clear evidence that being in that religion, they have felt safe and finally thought it to be the true religion. The Christian considers his as the true religion, and so does the Muslim, the Hindu, the Buddhist etc.

An objective point of view–which is necessary to identify the tribal wounds–becomes possible when we question everything we know and every tradition we grew up believing. The ‘why’ question brings us into reality as it is and helps us to understand the way the world works and how to live in it.

As soon as we have started the process of ‘questioning’, we then try to find out emotions we repress, demands we refuse to make, actions we do not take, intuitions we toss aside and dreams we kill because we have been told that things should be “this” or “that” way. These are the tribal deep wounds, which are daily eating us up, calling for attention but we do not pay heed.

Transcendence and Victory Over Our Tribal Wounds

Traditions are so strong that they hold so firm for us and affect us too. Taking a tour around the world, you see different people who don’t eat meat from a particular animal. If they believe that it is an abomination and can cause death, it may work just as they have thought because their minds make it so for them.

However, if a person from the same tradition (perhaps raised somewhere else), eats this same meat; it will not affect him because he does not have the same mindset as the rest. If someone from the same tribe also goes on an outing and eats the same meat without being aware that is what he ate, he will be just fine and normal too. The point is this: we are what we think–as affirmed by psychologists in recent research.

The mind plays a very important role in defining our personality. Whatever we train our minds into believing, it does and holds firm for us. The tribal wounds are in our minds, they have altered our state of reason, such that we see things in particular ways that harmful to us.

However, the good news is that we can alter our mode of thinking and fill our minds with the true reality. We must identify different belief systems, values, thought patterns etc. that are detrimental to us and heal them by making our minds know that there can be a change.

Conclusion

All these may sound too simple or odd to be true, but a look at what the psychotherapists and psychologists do during sessions that create massive changes in the life of clients will make you embrace its truth. They alter the minds of clients, helping them achieve a mind-shift, example, making an individual who considers suicide to re-think and live a happier life and so on.

The world has thrown this challenge to us all, especially, the youths because reconstruction of the mind at an early age will pay the entire society so much good. The aim of transcending the tribal wounds is none other than ‘letting go’ of certain traditions that harm us more than they help us. This will enable us to achieve greater heights and create a more tolerant society where everyone is welcome, not minding one’s religion and background.

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[1] Lakhiani, Vishen The Code of the Extraordinary Mind, Rodale Publishing:2017, 54.