Humans are social learners. We influence and learn from each other.
This can be seen best in a newborn.
When it comes into the world, it has no idea as to what to do with the wiggling parts of its own body. Or how to use them.
It looks at our moving palms as if they were aliens dancing to a folk song.
It is intrigued by our body that looks similar, yet bigger than its own.
Slowly, It learns to move its fingers, palms, legs…
All just by imitation of its fellow beings. Because imitation is the foremost tool for learning.
The surrounding that it learns from, also sets the limitations and the direction of growth for the newborn in the initial stages.
Think about it:
If the humans around the baby walked on all fours, the newborn would believe that the maximum capacity of its body is walking on all fours.
As we grow up, we are not much different from an infant in how we learn.
Photo by JOHN TOWNER on Unsplash
We still learn a lot through imitation.
Imitation is the form of social learning that leads to the “development of traditions, and ultimately our culture”
We are influenced by our culture in how we think and behave. And this comes from imitating the others in our own culture.
We imitate the person that we like the most. It could be a family member, sports, or a movie star. We study them, analyze their behavior, and in this process inevitably imitate them. And this changes our outlook and behavior.
When a person near us or a friend has surpassed the obstacles that we are facing, we feel like our mental blocks are removed.
We now know the way to easily get past the obstacle in front of us; if it’s similar to what our friend had faced. Our friend could do it. That means we could do it too. We then look at our own obstacle with ease. This would have been difficult if we have not seen someone else solve such a problem for themselves in the first place.
Travel with a businessman and you might start to think that money need not be tough to make. And it becomes your reality. Our understanding of money changes. We change.
So If we learn from others by imitation, WHO could be the most ideal person to imitate?
Because the person we choose to imitate sets the ceiling for us as to what extent we can grow as a person.
We cannot grow beyond the ideal that we set for ourselves.
This is why we need to be careful of who we are a “fan” of.
We let them influence us subconsciously.
Our ancestors have foreseen this problem. They have known that we all need an unchanging, unaffected, pure entity that we all can idealize, learn, and celebrate – so that the characteristics of that ideal could seep into us. And this ideal cannot be another human being. Because a human is fragile and prone to changing with his surroundings.
Could this be why humans needed the idea of God in the first place?
Think about it. Humans are creative beings. To serve a purpose we could name the entity in different names. But ultimately this entity is the one worthy of our idealization and imitation.
This entity sets the infinite potential for our growth.
We are all derived from an underlying core of perfection. A pristine, incorruptible core that remains immaculate, no matter what we do or suffer. When we go astray, it is because we forget this core which is our true nature, which is effortlessly and genuinely moral, fair, unafraid, and immensely powerful – Nekesa Ouma Namulu
Different groups of people could have a different set of characteristics set for this perfect identity that they connect with. For some, It could be Jesus. For some, It could be Allah. For some others, it could be Krishna, Shiva, etc. Many cultures have many different ideals created according to their own culture/environment etc.
If we constantly study and observe the behavior/nature of this perfect entity, we are influenced by this perfect self.
This is called the Michelangelo effect in Psychology:
“When we envision a reality that seems a million miles away from a less than ideal present, we give the brain something to work with, triggering new trains of thought and beginning the magical process of transforming our lives” — Nekesa Ouma Namulu
The knowledge that we then gain would surpass the knowledge we gain from reading books or humans around us.
Our behavior would change.
And as we keep imitating and adopting the features of this entity, we slowly become that entity itself. And by studying the divine, you are closer to divine than before. So maybe in the process we become one with the divine!
By studying the divine, you become one with the divine.
Namaste!
P.S — I understand that divine is a personal experience and I have only tried to bring out my understanding of how we can all begin our journey towards the divine. What do you think? Share your thoughts here!
