Authority
There are multiple levels of authority in the sense that some authorities you like, some authorities you don’t like. Some authorities are friendly, some authorities are not friendly. But they’re all situational occurrences that are created by you on some level to put you in a position to make the decision or to do that which you cannot bring yourself to consciously choose to do. And in most cases, people dislike the authorities that are more forceful or more that are seen as directly forcing you. But, nice authorities that talk you into it; call you along with them, encourage you, all these are authorities, you know.
So all this pat on the back, all this scratching your back, all this complimenting you, all this is different types of authorities. People love to feel good about themselves – outside world confirmation. People love when people compliment them or flatter them; outside confirmation, not an inner confirmation. And those outside sources complimenting you or making you feel good are another form of authority. Except that they’re authorities that you want to have because you want to be made to feel good, so that authority is okay. But authority that says, “Go sweep the floor,” is not a good authority because sweeping the floor doesn’t make you feel inflated or feel good about yourself. So that’s a bad authority.
But any circumstance outside of yourself that you use to reflect on your worth or lack of worth is an authority. So, basically, the outside world has become an authority. And people tend to see the outside world as an authority. It is the thing that makes them do things against their will or makes them do things that they can feel good about. There is no internal feeling good about self just because you exist, no matter what occurs outside.
Theoretically, you should be able to be as joyfully happy in the middle of a hurricane as you are on a sunny day at the beach, or in the mountains. You should be just as happy internally with a screaming maniac boss, wife, or husband as you are with a loving pet.
When your inner life is your governor, then the outer world doesn’t affect your state. Your internal state always remains the same.
When your internal life becomes your governor or your source, the authority in life disappears and there is no authority. Authority is simply something that is perceived outside of you that makes you do something that you either like to do or do not like to do when you do not want to make your own choices and believe you have none.