My goal is to try to get people into a state of generalized agnosticism, not agnosticism about God alone, but agnosticism about everything.
An Enlightened Master is ideal only if your goal is to become a Benighted Slave.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that following a master blindly may lead to a loss of personal freedom and enlightenment.
Robert Anton Wilson's quote highlights the irony that an enlightened master is only beneficial if one desires to relinquish their own agency and independence. It implies that true enlightenment comes from within and that relying on external authorities can lead to intellectual and spiritual enslavement. It warns against the dangers of surrendering one's critical thinking and personal power to another person, emphasizing that autonomy is essential for growth and understanding.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion on independence and personal growth at a self-improvement workshop.
More from Robert Anton Wilson
All quotes βThere is no governor anywhere. You are all absolutely free. There is no restraint that cannot be escaped. If anybody could go into dhyana at will, nobody could be controlled - by fear of prison, by fear of whips or electroshock, by fear of death, even. All existing society is based on keeping those fears alive, to control the masses. Ten people who know would be more dangerous than a million armed anarchists.
I see anarchism as the theoretical ideal to which we are all gradually evolving to a point where everybody can tell the truth to everybody else and nobody can get punished for it. That can only happen without hierarchy and without people having the authority to punish other people.
To work for libertarianism - to oppose the growth of government and aid the liberation of the individual - used to be an idealistic choice taken for purely idealistic reasons. Now it is an act of intelligent and almost desperate self-defense.
The abandoned infant's cry is rage, not fear.
The only way to stave off boredom, in a complex domesticated primate like humankind, is to increase one's intelligence. This is not appealing to the average primate, who instead invents emotional games (soap opera and grand opera dramatics).
Similar quotes
I will follow my logic, no matter where it goes, after it has consulted with my heart. If you ever come to a conclusion without calling the heart in, you will come to a bad conclusion.
People often confuse a growth mindset with being flexible or open-minded or with having a positive outlook - qualities they believe they've simply always had. My colleagues and I call this a false growth mindset.
The feeling of being valuable is a cornerstone of self-discipline because when you consider yourself valuable you will take care of yourself- including things like using your time well. In this way, self-discipline is self-caring.
Abstracted hatred is incredibly potent. There's never the risk of having it challenged by the reality of living human beings.
Never risk your reputation on a single shot, for if you miss the loss is irreparable.
In books I have traveled, not only to other worlds, but into my own.