Why Do Some People See the Light of Truth Clearly, But Many Do Not? By Brian Simpson

The quote shared by John Leake (link below) — often rendered as: "Fortunately, some are born with a spiritual immune system that sooner or later rejects the illusory worldview that was grafted onto them from birth through social conditioning…"—is widely attributed to Henri Bergson (1859–1941), the French philosopher best known for his concepts of durée (pure duration), élan vital (vital impetus), and intuition as a mode of knowing superior to intellect.

This particular phrasing appears across countless online sources: Goodreads, Pinterest, Facebook spiritual groups, Substack essays, Instagram reels, and even philosophical discussion forums. It resonates deeply in contemporary awakening, New Age, and consciousness-expansion communities, where it's shared as an inspiring encapsulation of why some people "wake up" while most remain asleep to deeper realities.

Yet, a closer internet search reveals a complication: despite the universal attribution to Bergson, no verifiable trace of this exact wording appears in his published works (Time and Free Will, Matter and Memory, Creative Evolution, The Two Sources of Morality and Religion, or his essays and lectures). Searches through academic databases, Bergson archives, and quote-verification threads (including Reddit's r/askphilosophy) turn up no primary source — no page number, no French original, no contemporary translation. Instead, the quote seems to have proliferated virally in the 2010s–2020s digital era, often paired with images of mystical art or awakening memes.

This doesn't necessarily make it inauthentic in spirit. Bergson's philosophy aligns strikingly with the quote's core ideas:

Rejection of mechanistic, materialist worldviews: Bergson critiqued the "spatialised" intellect that reduces reality to static, quantifiable mechanisms (the "illusory worldview" of positivism and determinism). He argued that true reality is fluid, creative duration — experienced through intuition rather than analytical reason.

Intuition as inner knowledge: In An Introduction to Metaphysics and elsewhere, Bergson describes intuition as a sympathetic entering into the object, grasping its inner movement directly. This mirrors the quote's "inner knowledge" that reveals hidden aspects of reality.

Élan vital and creative evolution: Life itself is an upward thrust against entropy, breaking through material constraints. Those attuned to this vital force might naturally resist the deadening conditioning of society.

Following the heart over the crowd: Bergson's emphasis on freedom, creativity, and moral intuition (especially in his later work on open vs. closed societies) echoes choosing "knowledge over the veils of ignorance" and heart-led steps away from conformity.

The "spiritual immune system" metaphor is modern and immunological — fitting for a post-20th-century audience familiar with concepts of psychological or energetic defences — but it poetically captures Bergson's sense of an innate drive toward truth that can overcome habitual, socially imposed illusions. If it's not verbatim Bergson, it may be a distillation or inspired paraphrase, much like how Emerson or Thoreau are credited with sayings that blend their ideas with later interpretations.

Regardless of provenance, the quote captures a timeless archetype of spiritual awakening. In Bergsonian terms, awakening isn't intellectual assent to new facts; it's a qualitative shift in consciousness, a plunge into durée where the self experiences its continuity with creative evolution. The "anomalous external experiences" (synchronicities, mystical states, psi phenomena) act as catalysts, disrupting the intellectual veil and prompting intuition to take the lead.

This journey is solitary yet universal: the awakened individual doesn't convert the crowd but lives as evidence that another mode of being is possible. Bergson himself, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1927, embodied this — he moved from academic rigour to a more mystical openness in his later years, influenced by his encounters with spiritual realities.

In our era of information overload, algorithmic echo chambers, and cultural conditioning, the quote's appeal is obvious. It affirms that awakening isn't a flaw or rebellion for its own sake — it's a healthy response, like an immune system expelling a virus. Those who feel "something is not right" aren't defective; they're responding to an authentic call from within.

Whether Bergson wrote these exact words or not, they channel his spirit: reality is richer, more alive, and more mysterious than the conditioned mind allows. The path forward lies not in rejecting society wholesale but in following intuition — heart-first — toward a fuller participation in life's creative flow.

https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/why-do-some-see-clearly-when-so-many