Alternative beliefs and outlooks, alternative business and politics, alternative lifestyles and health care, alternative foods and fabrics, alternative child rearing and schooling, alternative fuels and energies - alternative everything, basically, but not very alternative. These are the alternatives within the established paradigm, not alternatives to it- a subherd running in parallel to the main body. Rather than detaching from their ego structures, alternative people merely reshape them along more heart-felt and self-centric lines, their multivarious goals and ideals reducing to personal happiness via the removal, avoidance, and denial of unhappiness. In short, they make a minor course adjustment from orthodox to somewhat less orthodox beliefs, and the reason underlying the many apparent reasons for this change is always the same, survival of ego. A chameleon-like adaptability is one of Maya's most effective maneuvers. Paint some trees on the walls of your cell and some clouds on the ceiling and you're free as a bird.
