has no authority. It has never known authority. It is not the rejection of authority, but the non-existence of it. Both authority and law, outer and inner, are put together by thought. The outer authority, sometimes rational, sometimes irrational, has its place and its responsibility; one cannot brush it aside, and the intelligence of freedom knows its limitation and its necessity. The inner authority, which is subtler and deeper, is much more complex. Guidelines, which seem to give certainty and assurance, become a pattern, the norm, which becomes the authority. This authority may be traditional, a person, a symbol or an idea. The mind, being aware consciously or unconsciously of its own disturbance and disorder, brings about both the outer and the inner authority. A disorderly group soon finds a leader, who then directs and controls it. The reaction to this is not freedom. The understanding of the nature of this disorder and the disturbance, and the going beyond them, is freedom. The acceptance of authority is caused by disturbance and disorder. The effect is authority, and the reaction to that is to conform or to deny. This very denial assumes another form of authority. Where there is no freedom, there must be authority.
From The Whole Movement of Life Is Learning






