3) SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

A good place to begin a journey to deepen our self-awareness would be to go back to the article and read through the list in Index B called "The Primitive Ego Thinking Process Is Reflected In:" and see if we can identify two or three primitive ego behaviors that we unconsciously use in our relationships with others. Once we have identified a few, simply begin to pay attention to them whenever we catch ourself using them and ask ourselves the following questions……...

• What is my inner child trying to protect me from?
  
• Is it helpful, or would I rather use a less emotional, more adult approach?
  
• What might that new more enlightened, adult approach look like?
• If I get angry easily, what is making the primitive ego of my inner-child fearful?

The majority of these statistics came from Rajendra Pachauri, head of the U.N.'S Nobel Prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.(Http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1839995,00.html)

4) QUOTES

All the world's a stage, and most of us are desperately unrehearsed.
By playwright Sean O'Casey

Being defeated is only a temporary condition;
giving up is what makes it permanent.
Marilyn vos Savant

The first step toward change is acceptance. 
Once you accept yourself, you open the door to change. 
That's all you have to do. 
Change is not something you do, it's something you allow.
Will Garcia

Before you begin a thing remind yourself that difficulties and delays quite impossible to foresee are ahead. You can only see one thing clearly, and that is your goal. Form a mental vision of that and cling to it through thick and thin.
Kathleen Norris

Index A): A List Of The Global Challenges And Changes I See Approaching On The Horizon
The following is a summary of what I believe will be some of the critical challenges that we will soon be facing as a human culture. I have no doubt that there are other challenges coming that I have not included so feel free to add to the list.

The important thing to remember is that none of these challenges can be effectively solved using only our primitive ego consciousness. They will require a far greater flexibility, a willingness to deal with "what is" rather than "what we would like things to be", and the courage to change despite the uncertainties that many of these challenges present.

1. The dangers of religious, political, and cultural tribalism (we are no longer defined in tribal language, we must quickly learn to let go of tribal ideologies(religious, political, and economic) and embrace the reality that we have become a global species)
   
2. Theism: the dangers inherent in mainline religions antiquated tribal definition of God (see Issue #31 of the Stonyhill Newsletter)
   
3. Master narratives and tribal ideologies (religious, political, and economic) that displace truth
   
4. Our blind acceptance of the myth called unlimited economic expansion (see article above)
   
5. Global over population (see article above)
   
6. Our blind dependence on fossil fuels
   
7. The danger of world poverty (many empires have fallen when its people faced hunger)
   
8. The depletion and redistribution of the earth's natural resources(our planetary life support system is showing signs of stress and malfunction)
   
9. Global warming ( many scientists are now warning that our previous models are no longer accurate and that the changes are coming more rapidly than previously predicted.)
   
10. Food shortages (billions of people are suffering with hunger and poverty…many are children) (see article above)
    
11. Lack of access to adequate health care (people living in poverty, roughly ¾ of the worlds population, do not have access to modern health care) (see article above) According to United Nations figures, the lack of effective family planning in poverty areas of the world result in population growth of 70 million to 80 million unwanted pregnancies annually, 19 million abortions and an estimate 150,000 maternal deaths. Women burdened with the care of these unwanted children are trapped in poverty. The men often abandon these women when faced with providing for all of their unwanted children. Population growth and poverty are mutually supportive and self-sustaining.
    
12. Global financial systems are currently driven by greed and the illusion of wealth
    
13. Availability to access fresh water for drinking and for irrigation.
    
14. Species extinction of land and ocean based life forms (we are currently in the middle of the greatest species extinction the planet has every seen….virtually all extinctions are the result of environmental changes created by human culture)
    
15. The rapidly growing digital information and collective intelligence that computers are beginning to compile regarding our personal lives (for example most automotive dealers can obtain bank financing for you, get the vehicle insured, close out your trade in vehicle with the bank that currently holds your mortgage and the insurance company that insured it, and issue a new title and a registration from the Department of Motor Vehicles at 9 p.m. on a Saturday night with nothing but your social security number!!)
    
16. Energy storage: our batteries and hydrogen cell technology is not yet sophisticated enough or capable of storing power generated by solar, wind, and ocean waves to supply the power needed to operate an electric car or provide stored power adequate to run the average home
    
17. The myth of rugged individualism vs. the power of community: most new creative advances happen by teams of people not individuals alone, no one group or individual possess absolute truth….the world is gray and every issue is defined by shade of gray (middlepath thinking), and we will survive not as individuals, but through the evolution and spiritual growth of our species as a whole.
    
18. Humanities tendency to see earth as an object, rather than a living, evolving life support system for all life on the planet.
    
19. Lack of systemic thinking and our current throw away mentality ( see article above)
    
20. Radical sustainability and accepting the real cost of everything we manufacture and purchase must quickly become fundamental realities in every decision we make as individuals and as a species.

And finally here are some additional predictions of specific changes that are almost certainly coming:

1. The cost of fuel is going to reach $5 to $8 dollars a gallon within the next five to seven years (the era of inexpensive petroleum based energy is coming to an end (we are running out of cheap oil, India and China will begin to drive prices up as their economies come on line, Europe has been paying $5 to $8 dollars a gallon for years, and many of the exporting countries will need their oil production to power their own internal economies);
   
2. Property tax assessments are going to see significant increases in the next three to five years as local and state governments struggle to balance their budgets;
   
3. The price of food and other day to day household items are going to rise significantly due to probable double digit inflation in the next couple of years;
4. The costs of manufactured items are going to increase dramatically in the next ten to fifteen years as we begin to include the real costs of producing those manufactured item (increasingly costs for green manufacturing, the cost of recycling and green disposal, a carbon tax to deal with air pollution);
   
5. Given the amount of money that the governments of the world are throwing at the current economic crisis it is fairly certain that our financial markets will recover over the next few years as everyone goes back to business as usual, but when the expected inflation hits and the myth of unlimited economic expansion begins to unravel, stock market investors can be pretty certain to see the appreciation of their investments begin to slow down or even drop to reflect more realistic forward looking returns as the economy begin to reflect the new 21st century realities we are talking about;
   
6. The price and availability of commodities such as copper, zinc, antimony, steel, titanium, lead, gold, tin, silver, indium,potash, magnesium, and other natural resources are going to change dramatically as China, India, and other developing countries begin to consume ever increasing amounts of these natural resources. Prices are going to increase as the availability decreases. The demand for these commodities is already exceeding our global ability to provide them.
   

It is impossible to forecast exactly when any of the challenges and crises listed above are actually going to arrive, but they are coming, and when they do they are going to significantly impact life as we know it. It is reasonable to assume that the majority of these changes will begin to exert significant impact on our way of life within the next 10 to 15 years; some will arrive much sooner. In the Personal Thoughts section of the Newsletter I have included some ideas on how we might begin to prepare so as to minimize the impact these coming events will have on our lives.

####################################################

Index (B): A List Of The More Important Limitations Of Our Inner Child's Primitive Ego Thinking Process
Here is a partial list of some of the more critical limitations of our inner child's primitive ego thinking process that needs to be replaced by more psychologically intelligent, enlightened, and observing consciousness thinking. As we become more intentionally aware of our knee jerk tendency to use primitive ego thinking, we will find ourselves intuitively moving toward the manifestation of a more enlightened social behavior. Once you know that there is a primitive ego controlling the way you relate to the world, change will begin.

It is important to remember that the primitive ego of your inner child is not bad…..it is simply the ego of a child. It is not reasonable to ask a child of 6 or 7 years of age to run your adult life. No child of that age has the life experience or understanding of the adult world to make effective choices.

Almost always, our inner child is simply using childhood survival skills to try to keep us safe from such things as perceived danger, criticism, abandonment, being ignored, not heard, and shame. We need to thank them for attempting to take care of us, but we also need to encourage them to let our more adult consciousness find a more enlightened and mature way of handling things.

The Primitive Ego Thinking Process Is Reflected In:

1. Our tendency toward splitting; using lack and white, all or nothing thinking
2. Belief that happiness comes from the world, not internally
3. Lack of introspection and self-awareness
4. Often very emotionally reactive in relationships with others
5. Tendency to take things personally
6. Survival of the fittest, vertical power, power over others, the need to be in control
7. Temper tantrum when needs are not met
8. Sense of entitlement
9. Perfectionism
   
10. Perceives others as objects
    
11. Is only able to offer conditional love to others
    
12. Sees world through the eyes of one's inner-child, emotionally stuck in the past
    
13. Unintegrated split off parts of self
    
14. Our tendency to blame others for our feelings; the inability to own our own feelings
    
15. Our high level of self-focused narcissism; our lack of empathy, mutuality, and compassion
    
16. Our "me first" mentality, our tendency to use vertical power, survival of the fittest thinking
    
17. The belief that happiness and evil comes from the world; inability to see that both evil and love come from our own hearts
    
18. Our inability to delay satisfaction; to look beyond immediate needs and pleasures
    
19. Our belief that all of our beliefs represent absolute truth; our need to be right and in control
    
20. Our aggressive behavior when any of the above are challenged by others
    
21. Our inability to be self-reflective; to intentionally work on becoming more self-aware
    
22. Our tribal belief that "others" should not be trusted; us vs. them judgmentalism of others
    
23. Our inability to let go of the past and live in the moment with the reality of "what is"
    
24. Our inability to listen to others; especially when we disagree with them
    
25. Blind obedience to authority figures; eg. the belief that the bible is the literal word of God and should be obeyed without question; the belief that autonomy is unsafe and leads to punishment
    
26. Use denial to avoid uncomfortable realities unless we are being directly and personally impacted in the here and now.
    
27. Our tendency to deny reality or "what is", and embrace the hopeful illusion that the world will somehow actually function the way we would "like it to function".
    
28. The inability to recognize that no one can make us feel anything that isn't already inside of us.
    
29. Our impatience; our insistence on "getting what we want, when we want it"
    
30. Our need to aggressively protect us and keep us safe from perceived threats to our well-being. Our primitive ego continually scans the world for threats. It sees "others" as potentially dangerous. It easily become very suspicious and fearful of anyone who is different. Given the reality that we see what we expect to see, it means that our primitive ego often sees the world as very threatening and very easily becomes frightened. When a child is frightened it often becomes aggressive and combative. Our primitive ego believes that the best way to remain safe is to reject those who are different, and to isolate ourselves from outside threats. ( Fearful, aggressive, right wing extremists are driven by primitive ego fears. They aggressively fear terrorists, homosexuals, blacks, orientals, immigrants, and those who have different tribal beliefs such as religious, economic, or political beliefs)
    

Index C: How Each of Us, As Reflexive Co-Creators of Form, Can Begin To Consciously Prepare Ourselves For The Changes That Are Coming

1. Learn to become more self-aware of the energy and behaviors we are manifesting. Especially those unconscious behaviors that are on auto-pilot or what I refer to as "knee jerk responses". Almost always these unconscious automatic behaviors are simply childhood survival skills unconsciously driven by our primitive ego. Unfortunately they often get in the way of our ability to create compassionate communities and friendships with other people; a serious problem when we realize that the changes that are coming are going to require us to work cooperatively in community with others. Teamwork and systemic thinking will make the changes and problems that are coming much easier to solve. They were created by human culture, and they will best be solved by human culture. If we try to isolate ourselves or attempt to work alone to cope with the challenges that are coming, our potential for success will be significantly reduced. The Marlboro man will quickly find himself isolated, alone, unhappy, powerless, and struggling simply to survive.
   
2. Eat less meat. Much of the methane and carbon based gases that cause global warming come the global production of beef. Experts suggest we begin by eating vegetarian one or two days a week. The reduction in global warming CO2 and methane would be significant.
   
3. Limit the use of fish being used as food for pets. This one change would go a long ways toward protecting our critically stressed global fisheries.
   
4. Start a community or coop vegetable garden. A garden coop can supply a significant amount of your annual consumption of fruits and vegetables…..and significantly reduce your exposure to harmful pesticides and herbicides.
   
5. Start a compost pile to supply your garden with fertilizer. Petroleum based fertilizers are going to become very expensive as the price of oil resumes it climb.
   
6. Grow fruit trees in your yard. Barter for vegetables that others are growing.
   
7. Live closer to work. The cost of fuel is going to continue to climb significantly over the next three to five years. The shorter your commute, the less you will be spending on car expenses and fuel. Consider riding a bike to work…..or walking. Some experts predict that fuel will undoubtedly increase to $5 to $8 per gallon in the coming years.
   
8. Eliminate Debt. The money you pay on interest to carry your debt load is a waste of valuable financial resource for you and your family. Adopt a pay as you go philosophy. Save ahead for those larger ticket items that you know are coming….car, home repair, etc.
   
9. Reduce your overhead. Down size. Most people are living in homes far larger than they need. A home requires fuel to heat, electricity to run, maintenance and repairs, property taxes, lawns to mow and maintain, etc. The larger your home, the larger your overhead. Reducing the number of cars, televisions, computers, stereos, clothes, etc can help to reduce overhead costs too. Most of us are drowning in "stuff". The larger your home, the more likely you are to have rooms full of "stuff".
   
10. Simplify your life. When you slow down you will find yourself reading more, spending more time with people you care about, eating better, exercising more, and surprisingly, needing less "stuff" in your life.
    
11. Purchase smaller, more fuel efficient cars. Many people own cars that are larger than they need. The larger they are, the more fuel they require to operate.
    
12. Begin now to replace old windows with modern insulated windows. Most of the heat energy in a home is lost through doors and windows. Increasing the R value of insulation in the walls of your home and upgrading the insulating factor in your windows and doors could save you significant money as the cost of home heating fuels and energy begin to increase. Spreading the cost of these improvements over the next five to ten years will ease the financial impact on your household budget. It is important to remember that increases in home heating fuel costs are going to keep pace with automotive fuel costs.
    
13. Reduce wants and focus on needs. This is part of simplifying. As you shift from primitive ego "wants" and begin to focus more on "needs", your life will automatically begin to slow down and simplify. Remember, the cost of "stuff" is going to continue increasing. Experts predict inflation could reach high double digit numbers in the next few years. Your financial resources are going to be under significant pressure. Saving money where you can will become very important.
    
14. Recycle. Remember the real cost of the "stuff" we purchase needs to include the cost of green manufacturing, green disposal, and green recycling…..especially the hazardous materials contained in the "stuff" we purchase. These real green costs are going to be increasingly included in the over all cost of manufactured goods in the coming years. When added to inflation, the pressure on your financial resources is going to be significant.
    
15. Fight the primitive ego tendency of using denial to avoid those things we would rather ignore. Become more conscious, self-aware, and learn to live in the real world. Learn to become more "psychologically intelligent". Our primitive egos always want "more", not less.
    
16. Replace expensive habits like going out to dinner, going to concerts, golf, skiing, music collection, etc with less expensive hobbies such as reading, hiking, learning a musical instrument, learning another language, digital photography, volunteering at your local hospital or a local non-profit agency, etc.
    
17. Limit the size of your family. Global overpopulation is a major cause of poverty and malnutrition….especially among children. Children in larger families often are denied the opportunities available to children from smaller families.
    
18. Begin aggressively saving for your retirement. Most people are poorly prepared to finance a comfortable retirement. Be sure to keep your retirement funds well diversified. It's a rare retiree that doesn't wish they had saved more for their retirement. Downsizing, simplifying your lifestyle, and eliminating debt can be very helpful tools when saving for retirement.
19. Develop streams of income. Many people reject small hobbies or business ventures because they can not "live" off of them. Financial planners today are emphasizing the concept called "streams of income". When you have enough streams coming together, you could eventually end up with a good sized river! A river that could take a lot of stress and pressure off of finding or maintaining a "job". This concept can be very helpful for retirees.

These are not suggestions that need to be made immediately, but the sooner you begin intentionally making these changes, the more you will find yourself prepared when the challenges and crises we talked about in the article actually arrive. Empower yourself so you are not "shocked" when the totally expected actually arrives.

GOALS OF THE STONYHILL NEWSLETTER

We live in a world filled with conflict and violence. Almost everyone agrees that something has to change. There is an urgent need to develop a more compassionate global spirituality.

At Stonyhill, we believe it makes no sense to profess the values and morality of peace and compassion while continuing to manifest the primitive ego's paradigm of vertical power called survival of the fittest; a paradigm of power, control, and violence.

We must learn how the unconscious judgments of the primitive ego bring the seeds of conflict, and a sense of "otherness" into the world. If our personal goal is to do no harm to others or the world, then our thinking must consciously evolve and become more conscious or self-aware.

We will become what we think about and authentic spiritual growth is achieved only when we grow in self-awareness.

Traditional mainline religions are based on primitive pre-modern and violent tribal metaphors written during a time when our human consciousness was still very primitive. Until our mainline religions remove the violence contained in their scriptures and come to understand that most of the wisdom in their scriptures is metaphoric and should not be interpreted literally, they will be unable to offer the moral and ethical framework needed to create effective global solutions to the challenges facing us in the 21st century.

We will evolve as humans only as we become more self-aware and intentionally increase our ability to love unconditionally. A compassionate global spirituality is no longer just an interesting philosophic idea; the future of the human species may very well depend upon our ability to create it. The danger that we could destroy ourselves as a species has never been greater. The creation of a compassionate global community is the most important goal of human consciousness in the 21st century.

The Stonyhill Newsletter explores the insights and spiritual practices required to achieve the authentic spiritual growth that comes from deep self-awareness, understanding the primitive ego that resides in each of us, and the intentional evolution of our species consciousness.

The Stonyhill newsletter is written each month for counselors, therapists, clergy, and individuals interested in authentic spiritual growth, intentional growth in our human consciousness, and the formation of a compassionate, non-violent global community that openly embraces radical inclusiveness and diversity.

Namaste
Dick Rauscher

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

The Stonyhill Newsletter is written and published by Dick Rauscher, M.Div., Fellow AAPC. For past issues of the Stonyhill Newsletter and other in depth articles on authentic spiritual growth and the Primitive Ego Theory of Human Development written by Dick Rauscher go to www.stonyhill.com
All rights reserved.
Copyright 2007

There are many article on spiritual growth, the middlepath and the primitive ego on the Stonyhill web site at www.stonyhill.com. If you would like to read an in-depth article on The Primitive Ego Theory of Human Development and the relationship between authentic spiritual growth and the growth in self-awareness that comes as we better understand the primitive ego that dwells inside each of us, you can go to the Awakening article #26 on the web site or just click on this link: http://www.stonyhill.com/articles.htm - awakening

Visit the STONYHILL INSTITUTE website at http://www.stonyhill.com/articles.htm for additional articles on the integration of spirituality and psychotherapy.

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QUOTES

There are two primary choices in life;
to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.
Denis Waitley

Over the two decades that I've been teaching, I have not met one person who found the will and the emotional strength and conviction to evolve at the deepest level until they had really awakened to the enormity of our collective evolutionary predicament. It is only when the individual begins to authentically experience nothing less than a cosmic sense of responsibility for the evolutionary process-not just intellectually and philosophically, but emotionally-that he or she finds the strength and the wherewithal to do whatever is necessary to transform and become a worthy evolutionary pioneer. Andrew Cohen, the editor of EnlightenNext magazine.

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