To be a Rasta is to live as a natural being. Each human being is in fact a mighty Being, an authority and power in their own right. Very few human beings know this. They have forgotten. Yes, people can believe it and say it aloud but who truly KNOWS this? So from that point of view, each individual has the right to live and die as they please. Nobody can know from the outside what is right for another individual.
This is where the struggle comes from living the Rasta way. Society is always going to be against you one way or another because it is set-up to make the individual feel small. People can only judge you and what you do using the reference points society has taught them and these reference points conveniently and unconsciously imprison the individual. People have no other way of determining whether you are living 'right' or 'wrong', whether you are 'happy' or 'sad' other than by the definitions given by the society. Our natural state is happiness but the society is set-up to do everything to disturb this.
As you come into the Rasta way you may change externally. You may appear to others as more serious and intense, perhaps not smiling or laughing as much, and they will often try and convince you there is something wrong. Those inside the pen don't like to see anyone escape because it upsets their sleep. As long as everyone else is asleep they can feel comfort in their sleep.
Awakening is as much a physical thing as it is mental. It relaxes the body in a way you have never known. Memory/conditioning is stored in the cells all over the body. The process of awakening releases this grip. As the grip releases what is left behind is the natural peace of the body. Inner peace requires no outer conditions. When your true nature is revealed to you that is joy in itself and it will display itself however it pleases. Most joking around and smiling in society is actually masking insecurity - take a look at all the stupid Facebook photos. Who are these people trying to kid? Pulling silly faces, big smiles... trying to show the world how happy and great a time they are having. Only those who are unhappy try to convince others of their happiness.
People use what they call humour to avoid meeting life directly head on. When you discover your Rasta nature, this type of thing becomes irritating. True humour has a liberating quality to it. As a Rasta you will find yourself not wishing to participate in any kind of false situations and may have to remove yourself if those around you are unable to meet you - or at least show sincerity - to that Highest State.
That is the strength and courage that comes with being a Rasta. You know yourself and will not back down for anything. It is not stubborness, it is unwillingness to lower yourself from your true nature. Once that place has been discovered and established it is put ahead of all else. If you have to walk this life alone so be it. You will do so because you know what you are and you can't be fooled again. You will only wish to associate yourself with those who also live with these qualities or at least recognise and respect them.
You might find yourself not interested in many of the things your family and friends enjoy. Again you may face struggle in this area. What they don't understand is you are not denying yourself of anything but because the inner peace and joy is there you just don't require those things anymore. It is too much effort, too much strain to go 'looking for a good time' when you already feel content as you are. You can do anything the Rasta way, enjoy everything there is to enjoy, but you don't NEED it the way other people do for any kind of fulfilment.
You can't fake being a Rasta. It is what you are. It is not a belief, an ideology, a philosophy, something you pick up today and then try something else tomorrow. It may take a bit of time to recognise what you are and for it to establish itself but once it has been recognised it can't be forgotten. You will not settle for second-best ever again.
Your work, play, daily living all become one with you. There is no separation. That is why you rarely will find a Rasta who can live in the standard mode of society. There are many wolves in sheeps clothing. They talk a good game but it does not operate as a living fact in their own life. It has to operate in your daily life otherwise you are just spouting philosophy. When your Being no longer resonates with the society you live in - your job, your relationships, your hobbies, activities, leisure time, all of that, then you have NO CHOICE but to walk away. That can't be faked. In today's spiritual culture it's very convenient for people to believe they can have both but they are simply fooling themselves. Many teachers and gurus will tell you it is possible to have both but they are making a living out of that so of course they are going to say that otherwise no-one would buy their books or come to hear them speak! If you look at their own lives you will see the contradictions - often they themselves walked out of a job or left their family yet they tell others not to.
If this thing really hits you it will shatter your life and yourself as you know it. It is not an act of rebellion, a phase you'll grow out of, it is rebellion by your very nature which you can't deny. If that wasn't the case, then the society as it is would be free, and if it was free, why would anybody be attracted to spirituality in the first place?
As a Rasta you no longer divide your life up into parts. Your work and play are one in the same thing because you enjoy what you do deeply. If work in society's terms is natural for us why then do we need holidays? Why do you need a drink every weekend at the end of a working week?
Daily living is all there is, whatever that entails moment to moment, and living without security is part of that. The System promises security and that is one of the ways it imprisons the individual. It promises future - a place to stay tomorrow, money tomorrow, savings, pensions, investments. But no-one knows what tomorrow will bring. No security is a fact of life which can be masked by the System but not denied. You may save and invest for 20 years down the line but you don't know if you will even be here tomorrow. So as a Rasta this is not denied but encouraged and brought out into the open. Don't be afraid of lack of security, get used to it.
There is a power there which the System is all the time trying to distract you from. When you touch that power you become it and there is a voice in you which opens up and guides you. Jah becomes your boss not Joe Bloggs. Life is your richness not money and possessions and anything else society promises.
Jah Live!
