The intersection of landscapes can be dangerous. It is natural for us to be wary of letting others guide us into their landscapes – or inviting them into our own (“Will you walk in to my parlor?” said the spider to the fly). The two-thousand-year-old command to “Love thy neighbor!” runs counter to millions of years of evolution.
Even in the twenty-thousand years or so that we have been cultivating our inner landscapes, we have had to mask our individuality or run the risk of being ostracized. Exposing the uniqueness of our personal landscapes runs the risk of offending (scaring) our families, our tribes, our churches, and even our “enlightened” scientific and educational communities. Too much individuality is dangerous. We are either part of the group or we are not; we are either insiders or outcasts.
And so, there seem to be two different kinds of people: on one extreme, there are those who put their faith wholly in the traditions which they have inherited, and on the other there are those who keep their own faith. One kind of person looks outside of his or her self for happiness, while the other seeks happiness within. There are those who avoid attachments and there are those who depend upon them. The vast majority of people lie in-between these extremes; they follow the common landmarks and pathways, but they have enough confidence to strike out on their own if necessary.