Plato’s Republic (in Greek ΠΟΛΙΤΕΙΑ=Politia) includes the famous allegory of the cave.

Modern life; the media and all the systems bestowed on us which limit our perception of life can be described through the allegory of the cave.The allegory’s central message is that we live in an illusion as we are not able to know the truth because our perceptions and senses are controlled by those that control the information (i.e. media propaganda), by the few that control the world. However, there is personal responsibility here. In actual fact we let our thoughts and emotions take charge.It is up to the individual to escape from these situations and experience life as it really is.

According to the allegory, some people are chained in an underground cave; restrained in such a way that they are only able to see the cave wall in front of them. Behind them, a fire burns. Anything happening behind them is manifested in the form of shadows on the only wall they can look at. For them, since they have lived all their life restrained in the cave they have only experienced the shadows and perceive them as the absolute reality and only source of information and knowledge.

When one of the prisoners achieves to escape from the cave and experiences the world above he will realise the fallacy in which he has lived in while in the cave. He will realise that everything that he was taught to believe in is a lie and that all of his peers still in the cave continue to live in a lie without knowing about other possibilities since all that they experience as truth are the shadows in the cave.

The modern mas as a prisoner in Plato’s cave believes that the shadows (tv, news, media, belief and educational systems, dogmas, daily routines, modern life, politician, perceptions imposed by fear, etc) is all there is. If we succeed to escape from the shadows we will be blinded by the sun (knowledge; other possibilities; boundless life; experiencing all as one) and may be tempted to return to the familiar shadows. If we insist and work hard to look straight in to the light we will see the sun and access the knowledge that will support our transformation and earning.The rise to the surface symbolises the deliverance from the world of the five senses. Fears, ego, materialism, obsessive instant gratification, belief in dogmas the mainstream will gradually subside. Attempting to go back to the cave you will not be able to tolerate the ignorance and may experience rejection and aggression of those still in the cave. It will be your duty to spread the word to as many as possible.