- The 'Shills' -
(The Grand Distractors)
This Distractor is the mode in which 'Who? Little Ole Me?' manifests itself at its most intimately personal level, and which leads most directly to the Personal 'Sting' of the Swindle.
It is this fallacious mode of thinking that causes one's Sense of Self to work against one's own personal being, rather than to enhance the quality of one's life.
It is the Conceit of Self telling us that we are more different and isolated from our fellow beings, in a negative way, than we truly are.
It is this Distractor which creates the sea of self pity in which we all, at times, enwrapped in a self-created pout, wallow and writhe, whether in quiet solitude or noisily and in public.
And, if it is not working hard to create a gaudy ocean of self pity, it is turning inward to produce the more silent suffering of the 'inferiority' complex that afflicts all of us, to one degree or another.
(It is also the major cause of what so often appears to be the arrogant and offensive 'superiority' complex in some people. But, in the vast majority of instances, what appears to be a 'superiority' complex, actually is not. Scratch the surface of a 'superiority' complex and, most often, you will find an 'inferiority' complex directly beneath it. The 'superiority' complex is nothing more than an attempt to cover over, and to compensate for, an 'inferiority' complex. Even in the minority of instances when a 'superiority' complex isn't simply a cover over an 'inferiority' complex, it is nothing more than the 'inferiority' complex of 'Who? Little Ole Me?' stood on its head. And, being an inverted result does not make it any better. Indeed, it is difficult to tell which result is more pernicious. They are both Swindlous).
'I Am An Island' tells us that we are basically and essentially different from everyone else, and, in that 'difference', we are not as 'good' or as 'worthwhile' as others. It is the intellectual underpinning by which we become, and remain, encumbered by the chains of low self esteem. It tells us that others don't love us to the same depth, or in the same way, as we love others, and, therefore, our love is more of a 'weakness' within us than a strength.
It tells us that our hurts and fears are of a different quality than the hurts and fears of others, and, therefore, our hurts and fears are basically more "real" and debilitating than those of others.
It causes us to BELIEVE that the reason we can't find love and inner fulfillment in our personal lives, as others seem to be able to do, is that we are somehow put together so differently from others, as to make us genetically unable to genuinely generate within ourselves a sense of inner fulfullment or to receive the love and understanding of others.
For a FACT, we all sometimes feel isolated, alone and even alien to our surroundings.
But, 'I Am An Island' causes us to think and BELIEVE that such feelings of isolation and alienation indicate more "truth" about the "reality" of our being than they actually do.
Those feelings of isolation and alienation are really just the result of our inner born Sense of Self manifesting the wondrous and beautiful uniqueness that we each possess at the "self" level within us, as the individuals beings we are.
They are not an indication that we are actually isolated or alien to our surroundings in any total or even negative way. The TRUTH is, we are all far more exactly alike and a part of our surroundings than we are unique or separated.
Our Sense of Self is a powerful factor within us. It can (and should?) be a powerful force for the enhancement of the quality of our personal lives, and for our ability to contribute to the enhancement of the quality of life in the world around us.
It does not have to work against us. The false mode of thinking which underlies 'I Am An Island' (and 'Who? Little Ole Me?' in general) is the result of the Sense of Self, acting in Conceit, misperceiving, and, thereby, miscommunicating, its proper role in life.
And to compound the problem, the 'Who? Little Ole Me?' and 'I Am An Island' modes of thinking reinforce the Conceit of Self by providing a thought structure which agrees with it. 'Who?-Me?' and 'Island' tell the already Conceited Self that it is absolutely correct in its Conceited view of "reality".
This is a clear cut example of how a fallacious mode of thought ('I Am An Island') can distract us away from the TRUTH, and thereby allow the Great Swindle to take place. By way of the deceptive decoy of this Grand Distractor, we are robbed of the positive benefits available to us within the POWER of our own Sense of Self, and, indeed, have that very power turned against us. And this grand travesty is worked right under our unsuspecting noses.