We are all amused by Zombie movies. The undead beings walking with their rotten bodies fill us repulsion and fear. There are some conspiracy theorists who believe that a zombie uprising will take place soon.

The funny thing about zombies is that though they have impeccable physical strength, they do not have brains or free will. Thus they live according to their instincts and even forget their loved ones.

The horrifying moment in any zombie movie is when the family-member-turned-zombie attacks the hero. It makes us hate zombies even more.

But what if we are already living in a zombie world?

A Story

One morning, Gurdjieff, a mystic, and his disciple went out for a walk. The street was buzzing with morning rush. The disciple noticed that his master was chuckling at all the commotion. He couldn’t contain his curiosity and asked the reason.

“I see the city from a different perspective son, it is funny”, Gurdjieff answered.

“Please show me too master”, the disciple pleaded.

Gurdjieff asked him to hold his hand and look at the crowd again. He did so and was stunned.

“It is a city of the dead!” he exclaimed. “Dead men driving cars and crossing roads, dead women getting their dead children ready for school. Everyone is dead!”

He prostrated before Gurdjieff and said, “In this zombie world you are the only one alive master.”

The story points its finger towards each of us. Most of us are living a mechanical and dead life. We are unaware of our surroundings and our own actions.

Hence, in a way we are zombies.

The Disease

Neuroscientists believe that on a bad day a normal human being is 98% zombie and on a good day it becomes 97%. That is, we are aware of just about 3% of the stuff that is happening around us.

This proves that we live mindlessly in a set routine and surrender our free will. This unawareness makes us zombies.

There are three types of zombienes that haunt us:

Physical zombienes

Imagine that you are eating an ice-cream. Till the moment you get it, you are craving it. Once you go beyond two bites, your mind reels to some other stuff and you eat mechanically without enjoying it.

This is our tendency with everything. We are so concerned about the future and the past that we find it difficult to live and enjoy the present. Thus, the present which gives immense possibilities slips away from us making us zombies.

The extensive use of social media has catalyzed this zombienes. Now people are completely absorbed by their mobile phones and are unaware of their surroundings.

Social zombienes

We are either unaware or do not care about the social situations around. Thus we become oblivious to our role in society. We fail to see the chain of events that we start off through our words and actions.

Supporting vile ideologies, blindly following malevolent leaders and adamantly clinging on to beliefs are all expressions of social zombieness.

Spiritual zombienes

We have become too materialistic that we forget the other facets of life. Our spirituality is confined to pleads and demands to some mythical superpower. Thus we have become spiritual zombies.

We fail to see that our eternal agony is due to the ignorance of real spirituality with in us.

The Symptom

As we are zombies, our life is monotonous. We act according to our instincts and find no purpose in our existence. Every day feels like a photocopy of the one before.

Even though we are involving in activities supposed to induce happiness, we fail to be happy. Our feelings become numb and we become more of a zombie every day.

In our social circles, we became dumb and hateful. Blindly following unethical political and religious ideologies, we have created a senseless and violent society.

The Cure

Dan Millman in his biographical novel The Way of the Peaceful Warrior explains how he was trained by his teacher to overcome zombieness.

His master urged him to maintain ‘laser-sharp focus’ on everything he does. He was taught to give full attention to all his activities including his thoughts. It led to him being aware of the social fabric and humanity as a whole. He claims he attained spiritual clarity eventually.

Spiritual gurus emphasis this ‘waking’ up from the zombie state and being more aware. Some term this as enlightenment.

Whether we believe it or not, it is worth a try. To be conscious of what we are doing and thinking each moment can surely improve awareness.

The What-ifs

The Matrix is a movie that caught my imagination in my childhood. The idea that the reality we see is a computer program designed to keep us under control is mind-boggling. I am happy that it is just a movie.

But what if we are programmed to be zombies to keep us from reality. The thought is scary but it makes sense in some way. A race without freewill is easy enough to manipulate.

If so, it is time to cure ourselves, wake up and be liberated. Won’t that be the best ending for the zombie movie we are living right now?

Thank you for reading. I would love to hear from you. Please post your opinions in the comment box below