From the day we stood on our back legs, energy rose to our brains giving humans expanded cognitive capacity and symbolic intelligence over other animals. From this day on human survival took to next level. When other animals were content with stomach full of food, sleep and reproduction, humans wanted more. The land these early humans lived, availability of resources and safety from environment profoundly shaped the way they saw life (Ref), survived and used their intelligence.

The Land Shaped Different Inner Foundations

One major civilization was in Mesopotamia. Which was a harsh environment with vast deserts, scarcity of food, water and safety. Safety from nature (droughts) and raiders. When life around was harsh, fragile and unforgiving – certainty and control was the only safety. (Ref) The margin for error was very low. One small deviation from agreed ways meant death. No room for ambiguity and disobedience was dangerous. External order and discipline was vital for survival.

Out of this ecological setting rose: strong rules, clear authority, obedience over exploration, and right vs wrong thinking. It is adaptive psychology, simply to survive in a harsh climate.

To the east of this, was the Harappan/ Indus valley civilization. Rich with rivers, forests, monsoons, and cyclical abundance. (Ref) Humans lived here, saw nature as a collaborator instead of an enemy. In this abundance setting, pressure to survive eased up giving time and space for play, inquiry and exploration. They had the capacity to sit and contemplate about life instead of scanning the horizon for raiders.

Out of this rhythmic environment rose: Curiosity, experiments, meditative practices, and inward exploration.

Trust The Given Answers

From the broader Near Eastern worldview (Authority, Rules, Rewards & punishments, Good & Bad) — shaped by Mesopotamian, Hebrew, and Mediterranean influences — the Roman Empire emerged. Which was militaristic, law-obsessed, discipline drive and expansionist by default.

Greek rationalism helped formalize theology and abstract truth replaced lived experience which further enabled doctrine and hierarchy.

In this region when others cling to outside control for safety, some dissolve inwardly for refuge. Ideas from trade crossroads and Silk road, influenced Jesus – who showed people inward refuge instead of rigidity from harsh world. (Ref) He didn’t create hierarchy or successors or gave a system of belief or a theology. It was just parables, contradictions, stories and invitations – ways to trigger awakening, not enforce belief.

Once the teacher is erased, the experiences could not be transmitted directly. Mystical realizations are not scalable. So Inner experience became remembered stories, which become fixed teachings, which became beliefs that turned into doctrines. (Ref) Why? Because belief can be taught and scaled without an awakening. In the desert, belief was a shortcut that didn’t need time to verify and offered certainty fast. At the same time, an Inward awakening would have destabilize hierarchy, which was not inline with authority’s goal.

Roman empire with it’s structure, rankings and authority found easy compatibility with Christianity. (Ref) Truth shifted to one, salvation was an exclusive club, God was an external authority that was gate-kept by Church with disobedience resulted in eternal punishment in hell. This created disciplined population, with hierarchy and moral enforcement that is loyal to a central structure. This was perfect fit for empire-building, which was an organizationally genius for Rome.

Answers Will Show Up When You Are Ready

Contrast that to the Indus valley; from early inward explorations, contemplations without worrying survival, support from nature, and safety without needing control of outside — rose a different kind of psychology. This gave emphasize to practices and tools (Yoga, Dhyana, Tao, Zen and Vedanta) that helped inner awakening and verification. Truth was not forced, it was noticed when one was ready. Life was intelligent, order emerged, reality revealed itself and humans listened. This created awareness.

In this part of the world there also were big powerful empires with vast resources. Ashoka didn’t force Buddhism (Ref), China absorbed religions (Ref), and India held contradictions without collapse. Because inner authority was already normalized. Realization was personal experience. Another having a different belief did not effect inner realizations. Empires stays administrative instead of existential. Truth was experienced with many paths where authority was internal and liberation was always personal. The teacher was a pointer not a gatekeeper.

In this kind of setting, realization could not be forced and there was a wide acceptance and understanding, that personal realization happens when one is ready. Individual realization could not be standardized, which resisted mass institutionalization. A belief without experience was meaningless and converting someone gave nothing for individual realization. So there was no need to spread one’s answers to others.

Spreading The Answer

Once Christianity merged with state power, loyalty to Empire meant conversion. Non-believers were seen as threats that needed defending. Expansion of belief was a moral duty to authority. Colonization became justified as saving souls who did not believe the same. It removed guilt, justified violence and created moral superiority. If your truth is the only truth, expansion is inevitable.

Because of the nature of the foundation, the psychology became: Outside control for inner safety, regulations over resilience, moral certainty over inner capacity, and authority over trust in self.

Modern Expression of Early Foundations

Today, vast majority of affluence societies do not live in desert. They live in considerably safe, comfortable, and abundant environments. Yet, intergenerational psychological patterns carried through culture, institutions and conditioning, connecting back to the Mesopotamian age still linger on.

This shows up as, obsession over labels and rules as means of safety, control, and peace. With so much material comfort, convenience and safety, societies live in anxiety and fear over uncertainty and differences. Messages spread by institutions and systems still have huge influence on people’s behavior.

Schools, hospitals etc. still run on the same external control, authoritative figure, rewards & punishments, good & bad, discipline, and obedience. With little to none, reference for inner wisdom, intelligence and trust in our capabilities to meet life as it is or showing up when we are ready instead of compliance. Because an ambiguity or diversions make it very difficult to craft and run machine like systems, that benefits few. Just as in the Roman Empire, tools are not taught for individual awakening, which would cost a huge lost of profits for many systems and organizations. E.g., people capable of managing their own health through herbal knowledge reduce dependance on centralized medical authority, just as divergent thinkers challenge classrooms and workplaces designed for standardization and compliance.

The authority, strict discipline and obedience is fading away, but what still remains is the justified obsession to control the outside world for inner safety, which was the underlying impulse that created it all.

From an individual level it may show up as getting upset or angry when things go unexpected and undesired ways, hoarding, or curating various things to reduce uncertainty and ambiguity or discomfort with unknown. On a Social level, it shows up as, over-regulations and standardization – Education prioritizing compliance and measured outcome over curiosity and inner intelligence or Healthcare focusing on managing symptoms. (Where efficiency is scalable compared to wisdom) These insecurities scaled up to a societal or national level, can shows up as fear-based politics, national security fears, difference as threat, uncertainty as failure, and resource extraction for future safety.

Cost of External Safety

Just like in the Desert, the Roman Empire, and the British; external control for safety did not last forever. What gave away was the inner turmoil. Because that was never addressed. Instead fixing outside temporarily mitigated that. Control does not create strength, it create fragility. Once the certainty fell, systems and the Empires collapsed. This left people without capability in their ability to meet the unknown, because those tools were never taught.

Capacity Is Closer Than You Think

This is not a moral judgement that one is good and one is bad. It is recognizing the impact they have on our lives and the next generation. The control vs capacity, belief vs seeing, and safety through domination vs inner trust. Despite seriously engrained memories pass down from generation to generation there is a growing disillusionment with belief system. People lived with controlling are realizing the power in Yoga, meditation and other inner work modalities to cultivate inward capacities. With technology and literacy rising, there is greater desire to reclaim direct knowing and rejections of outsourced inner authority.

As discovered in contemplative societies, the timeless wisdoms still hold up true than ever before today — that true safety does not come from controlling life, it is accessed from within by trusting our ability to meet life as it is. Trust, in our capability to handle whatever that is unexpected and undesired to the best of our capability. An inner trust and clarity to heal insecurities instead of outside arrangements. That always-available realization and awareness is far more powerful than outsourcing it. Inner awakening is not a rebellion, it is maturity.

Trust in inner capabilities, wisdom and intelligence is only a one dimension, it must be handled with clarity and a cosmic identity that is inclusive.

Until we prioritize awakening individual capabilities and wisdom, to handle life as it is, we will continue to rip this planet apart trying to control and manage the world around to feel safe and happy inside. True happiness is not pursued, it is accessed from within. The access to inner capability and clarity is just right here inside of us, it just need looked inward instead of outside.