PROPHETS COMPLEX

"Before the Beginning, after the great war between Heaven and Hell, God created the Earth and gave dominion over it to the crafty ape he called Man. And to each generation was born a Creature of Light and a Creature of Darkness... and great armies clashed by night in the ancient war between good and evil. There was magic then, nobility and unimaginable cruelty. So it was until that day when a false sun exploded over Trinity, and Man forever traded away wonder for reason." -  Samson in "Milfay."

A very learned friend of mine used the word “Prophets Complex” to describe someone we mutually know. That prompted me to ponder further on the phenomenon.

We are living in a highly fragile, high strung existentialist world. But society at different periods of time would have said the same thing at various times of social upheaval. Whether it was Greece during the philosophical revolution or Rome during the transition from Republican to Empire, or the end of the iron age Vedic civilization or the European Renaissance or post WW2, or the age of Digital Society, at every point in time, the world has witnessed the rise of eccentric individuals with strong convictions about their beliefs. These individuals in turn tried to exert their ideologue on the environment where they were located. Antiochus IV Epiphanes, Caligula, Shah Jehan, Hitler, Idi Amin etc. etc. are amongst some of the most famous/infamous people representing all walks of life.

Interestingly with the beginning of the industrial revolution, a new breed of corporate messiahs have emerged, propagating their own messianic vision on their sundries. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates could be an occasional exception but the host of people from Henry Frick, Jay Gould, John Patterson, Carly Fiorina, Stan O’Neil, Ken Lay, Angelo Mozilo, Gerald Levin (and the list is not exhaustive) all have one thing in common At the prime of their careers, they became God- like individuals who feared none but instead were feared by employees.

These corporate magnates achieved the highest level of success from their own humble beginnings but at their pinnacle of success they became obsessed with “sure success” that they couldn’t go wrong. Merton theorizes this as the concept of the self-fulfilling prophecy, only that in the case of the above mentioned corporate leaders, the prophecy was proven a myth.

Although the irrational actions of these corporate leaders are known, it would be a case of  “The Emperor’s new clothes” dilemma. Nobody dared to challenge the pompousness of the emperor, for if one does he/she would be ridiculed and humiliated or worse, would have faced a more severe wrath.

Whether Corporate, Religious, Social or even Political, we see an even larger emergence of such behavior with what is coined as the “Prophets’ Complex.”

Yisrayl “Buffalo Bill” Hawkins, Marshall Applewhite, Sun Myung Moon, David Koresh, Jim Jones, George Baker, Ron Hubbard and the list of endless so called GOD - Man  have thousands of followers who believe in their prophecy.

Whether it is consummation by choice or coercion in any one of these circumstances as what the Bible says, “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth”(Isaiah 53:7), the ignorant man falls prey.

From the mass suicide of Jim Jones and his followers to the scandal- tainted Ken Lay’s actions on Enron employees, the commonality is that the victims knew the irrationality but either they were too afraid to speak or did not want to jeopardize their comfort zones.

The self-perception theory developed by Daryl Bem states that people develop their own attitude based on their behavior and summing the attitudes that has caused it. In his work, “The Will to Believe”, William James asserts that the acceptance of a belief (be it religious or otherwise) unconditionally leads to the beholder’s confidence on his/her assertions. By and large an assumed socio-psychological mindset coupled with compliant stakeholders reinforces the beholder’s convictions.

So where does this leave the affected stakeholders?   “Accept and you shall perish slowly, reject and you shall be banished immediately.”  The choice is yours.

Perhaps the conversation between Rama and Ravana below from the great Hindu epic, “The Ramayana” best captures the essence of being a good leader sans EGO and displaying humility thus void of the Prophets Complex.

Ravana lies mortally wounded in the battleground, and Rama tells his brother Lakshmana to seek Ravana’s wisdom before Ravana dies. As much as Ravana was a brute King, he was a great scholar himself. Lakshmana came back to Rama dejected, saying that Ravana refused to even look at him. Then Rama asked Lakhsmana, “Where did you position yourself when seeking Ravana’s blessings?”  Lakshmana said, “I was near his head hoping to keep my ears near to his mouth to listen what he has to say.”

Rama smiled, laying his bow on the ground. He then moved towards Ravana, bows down at Ravana’s feet and says, “Lord of Lanka, you abducted my wife, a terrible crime for which I have been forced to punish you. Now, you are no more my enemy. I see you now as you are known across the world, as the wise son of Rishi Vishrava.   I bow to you and request you to share your wisdom with me. Please do that for if you die without doing so, all your wisdom will be lost forever to the world.”

To Lakshmana’s surprise, Ravana opens his eyes and raises his arms to salute Rama, “If only I had more time as your teacher than as your enemy. Standing at my feet as a student should, you are a worthy recipient of my knowledge. I have very little time so I cannot share much but let me tell you one important lesson I have learnt in my life. Things that are bad for you, seduce you easily; you run towards them impatiently. But things that are good for you, fail to attract you. You shun them creatively, finding excuses to justify your procrastination. That is why I was impatient to abduct Sita but procrastinated in meeting you. This is the wisdom of my life, dear Rama. My last words I give to you.” With these words, Ravana dies. (excerpt from Ramayana-courtesy of Bharat Janani).

OM TAT SAT.