The thing with "rules" and "laws" and "codes" is that yes, they are there so as to survive in society. But looking around at 'society' one asks whether one wants to 'survive' in that society.
There are "universal" (or spiritual) 'laws/rules/codes' and there are man-made ones. Some of the latter are required for peaceful co-existence, but that is really because the knowledge of universal laws has been denied to many for a long time, and perverted by many too. Knowing those, we would not need to 'survive' in society, as 'survival' would not be an issue. The knowledge and practice of the universal laws is what Toltec (amongst others) tradition offer.
Knowledge is the tool that effects the transformation and the practice that which enables the transformation.