The Lust for Trust

"The most evil form of manipulation is the manipulation of the mind"



Whose quote is it?

Can anyone help me there?


Cause if no claimants come up, I shall take possession of it as being one of my own, so apt I am finding it at the moment!

The sentence sprang into mind so spontaneously as I watched certain events unfolding before my eyes.

A was an ex-freedom fighter. After Independance, A left to puruse the path of spirituality after being enlightened by a guru. A left for his heavenly abode after establishing a modest ashram in a small town which gained some local popularity. A was survived by seven sons.



B, C, D, E, F, G & H were different from each other, but shared a common trait - of being extremely good with words, extraordinarliy talented with the tongue.

B was honest, quiet and serene, and devoted to A.

C was interested in only one thing - cashing in on the popularity of A.

D was a mild family man.

E was as devoted to A as B was.

F was ostensibly as devoted to A as B was, was resident caretaker of the ashram while A was alive.

G was hot tempered and unstable.

H was a rebel but so far as 'sacrifices' went, had made the biggest one.



While A was on the verge of passing away for his heavenly abode, speculations flew about regarding the candidate who would receive the precious legacy of trust. B, E, F & H were serious contenders, though H was being touted as the blue-eyed boy.



Most were shocked when B, the eldest was chosen for the sacred seat. The dark horse winning the race caused the circlets of disturbance on the surface of a deceptively peaceful pond.



E was deeply hurt by this, and reacted by withdrawing himself from all activities. He gradually developed on his own a small following of people who loved and trusted him.



F had great hopes on being named the successor, and the dashing of these hopes, and his fall from the elevated position of yesteryears left him a bitter and vengeant man.



H being the rebel that he was and flabbergasted by the non-recognition of his sacrifices, left the place and found for himself a completely different school of thought - almost anti to that of his father.

Things developed along these lines for several years. Relationship between the seven brothers remained normal for onlookers but had sinister undercurrents for the observant members of the inner circle.

Events catapulted into action by a sudden ailment of B, which, incidentally, was not as serious as it appeared initially.

Needless to say, his speedy recovery was looked at askance by the others. Nasty comments were passed, double entendres were made and a few harsh words were spoken.

Thoroughly piqued by this strange reaction, I was forced to question around for reasons behind this transformation of normal men into vultures.
Was it money? It seemed not. Though for C & F, it could well be that, I personally knew that G & H were rolling in dough (sorry, was dying to use this dirty slang for them.. :D) F could also possess a second reason - revenge.

But money and revenge really did not gel as being strong enough motives for hatred. For one, there just wasn't enough money in the thing - nothing on the lines of Osho Ashram. And petty vengeance also seemed too insufficient.

I thought and thought, and finally came to the point - Manipulation! Manipulation of the mind. Manipulation of the thought process of another man. Manipulation of the ideas of another man. And this manipulation leading to the subversion of another human mind to yours. The heady feeling of power over another's cerebrum because of the cunning use of your tongue. In short, the lust for trust.

And predictably I was reminded of the evil of Elsworth Toohey from Ayn Rand's Fountainhead - and also of the quote with which I opened this write-up - "The most evil form of manipulation is the manipulation of the mind."

I am striving hard that at whatever small scale it may be, the miniature center of human mind manipulation that I talked about, can be stopped from victmizing other lambs.

Let's see if I succeed!