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Until They Develop an Enlightened Consciousness, Liberal Main Line Religions Will Be Unable to Take A Leadership Role in the Creation of A Global Spirituality. Part 1© Dick Rauscher - March, 2004 It is rapidly becoming clear that the world is critically in need of a transformative global spirituality; a spirituality capable of transforming our current level of human consciousness to the level of maturity required to create a cooperative, compassionate global community. This growth in consciousness is humanity’s most pressing and critical need as we move into the 21st century.Never before in human history have humans grown at a rate of change exponential in nature; a rate of change so overwhelming that it 1) threatens our very ability to embrace the burgeoning creativity of our own minds, and 2) threatens our ability to survive as a species. And the rate of change is continuing to grow. Many futurists are predicting that to those of us alive today, our human culture will be almost unrecognizable by the end of the 21st century. Our growing technology is bringing changes to the way we live our day to day lives so quickly, we are having trouble digesting one change before three more are on our doorstep. For example, it is predicted that both our communication systems and our computer access to the internet will be completely wireless within the next three to four years. This means that desktop computers will soon be going the way of VHS tapes, floppy disks, black and white TV, and automobiles the local mechanic is qualified to repair. To complicate matters even further, we are rapidly running out of oil reserves and freshwater, we are making dangerous changes to our global ecological systems, and the level of conflict around the world is growing; especially in the very area of the world where the major remaining oil reserves are located. It is predicted that within ten years both China and Europe will equal or exceed the energy requirements of the US. It is estimated that we will reach the half way point on the earth’s oil reserves within the next ten to twenty years. The cost of extracting the remaining reserves will continue to grow in complexity and cost. Cheap oil is quickly coming to an end. The potential for world conflict over access to the remaining reserves is growing at an alarming rate. The nations that comprise today’s political and economic world represent a wide diversity of ethnic, tribal, and religious roots. They represent many different levels of cultural, economic, and social development. Some are hardly out of primitive, spear carrying, tribal levels of emotional and psychological development, and some are creating global communication networks and reaching for the stars. These widely differing cultures simply represent the various developmental stages of our growing human community. To label any culture, including the more primitive tribal cultures, as evil, or “undeveloped”, is to ignore the fact that we too went through the same stages in our own development. A brief review of slavery in American, the brutal treatment of Native Americans, or the last 1500 years of European political and religious history will quickly illustrate this reality. These cultures are not unlike children; some are very young, some are entering adolescence, some are in the aggressive acquisition stage of young adulthood and middle age. We must find ways to honor and nurture the cultures that are moving through these earlier stages of human development, while at the same time not allowing them to threaten the world as they pass through some of the more aggressive stages. Their history and cultural heritage must be preserved for future generations, and their ability to grow and achieve the benefits of the modern world must be protected. Paradoxically and sadly, the very institutions that know the most about human transformation, the main line religions of the world, are themselves the least capable of our human institutions to embrace change and take a leadership role in this vitally needed transformation in human consciousness. In fact, the main line churches of the world are stuck at a level of human consciousness two thousand years behind the majority of our planets secular, political and economic institutions. These mainline religions were localized tribal religions originally founded on the wisdom teachings of an enlightened ego, but this wisdom was later interpreted and then institutionalized by primitive egos; ego’s that unfortunately were unable to understand the deeper wisdom of the enlightened teachers. Not only are the main line religions of the world stuck in the past using theologies and institutional structures constructed by primitive egos, the majority of those primitive egos died more than fifteen hundred years ago. To further compound the problem, many of the main line churches insist on literal interpretations of what was clearly meant to be metaphor by the writers of their sacred texts. It is a rare modern theologian or biblical scholar, including conservative theologians that insist on a literal interpretation of sacred texts in any of the major religions. There is an old adage that says “You can’t lead anyone any further into the desert than you have journeyed yourself”. Another way to say this is “You can’t teach someone, something you haven’t learned yourself”. Change is reality. Change is evolution. Change is creation. We no longer have the luxury of taking centuries to incorporate change in our religious institutions. Unless the main line religions can quickly learn to shake off the two thousand years of dust that has settled over their theologies and sacred texts, they will continue their march into the forgotten history of institutions created by human consciousness. But there is hope. There is a growth in human consciousness that is currently emerging in a growing number of people from countries, cultures, and secular institutions all over the planet. More and more people are listening to their own deeper wisdom; a wisdom that is calling for a new global spirituality and a new global political, ecological, and economic consciousness. This as yet unorganized but growing 21st century global consciousness is rapidly marginalizing the once powerful voice of the primitive main line religions. So what is this “primitive ego” that is so powerless to enable or sustain humanity’s evolutionary growth into the 21st century consciousness? How do we know if we, or other individuals, or the various institutions of the world are using a primitive ego consciousness? What values, behaviors, characteristics, and beliefs should we look for to determine if a primitive ego consciousness is present? Briefly, the primitive ego is the ego of the inner child. It is called old brain, or the unconscious. The term “primitive” is not pejorative, it simply describes the “not-yet-matured” ego structure of a young child; an ego structure that was then overlaid with all the learning’s and experiences the child was exposed to in the first seven to eight years of his or her life. In other words, the primitive ego is essentially the not-yet-matured brain of a second grader. The primitive ego is easily recognized by nine basic beliefs and behaviors:
It is easy to spot a primitive ego; even a primitive ego that is pretending to be a mature ego. Anyone can pretend to be mature and loving until squeezed or stressed. Then, like a wet sponge, the true beliefs and values of the hiding primitive ego will quickly become evident in the behaviors that emerge. Unfortunately, our human institutions, including our main line religious institutions, and the overwhelming majority of human adults that hold power in these institutions, are still primitive ego’s walking around in adult bodies pretending to be grown up. They are using the thinking principles listed above and the result is the judgment and never ending conflict we see in the world today. Our human consciousness must learn quickly how to embrace a more mature middlepath consciousness; a global consciousness that is capable of spiritually embracing the infinite diversity and complexity of all reality without the need to create the primitive and dangerous categories of “otherness” called you vs. me; us vs. them. A matured middlepath consciousness is comfortable with not knowing and intentionally searches for the truth on both sides of any issue; it is fully awake and lives in the present moment. To summarize, the primitive ego can only manifest itself. It is unable to cognitively or emotionally understand, or live with, the diversity and complexity of a global culture. A primitive ego, or any institution created by primitive egos is not psychologically prepared to understand or manifest the openness or unconditional love of a matured or enlightened ego; the essential energy required to create and sustain a global human culture. The world’s main line churches are struggling to bring love and compassion into the world, but until they grow, and mature to a higher level of consciousness in their theologies and institutional structures, they will not be capable of taking a leadership role in facilitating the transformation of human consciousness. As I stated above, you cannot teach what you don’t know. Until this growth and maturing of our human consciousness is achieved, our world will continue teetering on a very dangerous fence; and we are rapidly running out of time. In the next issue of the Stonyhill Newsletter, I will
explore in greater detail and depth, the twelve manifestations of an enlightened
individual or institution, and the essential teachings of an enlightened
global spirituality. See you in March. PERSONAL COMMENTS: I am sitting here this morning very grateful for the opportunity to sit quietly in front of the computer and spend the day writing. Learning how to dance to zydeco music for several hours last evening was great fun, but I’m finding it difficult to walk this morning. Last weekend Melinda and I learned how to dance the balboa, so when friends invited us to join them in a lesson to learn zydeco dancing I assumed it would be a similar experience. How wrong I was! The band played for almost two hours before taking a break. I discovered that zydeco dancers are hard wired to the music. When the music plays, the dancers dance. Like I said, it feels good to just sit today. Planning the feature article for this sixth issue of the newsletter came together for me yesterday following a conversation with a small group of people over the Martin Luther King national holiday we will celebrate next Monday. During the discussion, one woman stated she thought kids should be in school on Monday, not home playing with friends. She was quite serious. After several days of school closings because of the bitter cold weather we’ve been having here in the north east this week, several of the parents in the group laughingly agreed that sending the kids back to school on Monday sounded like a great idea. It struck me later, that celebrating Martin Luther King’s life is probably one of the most important days of reflection for our children that we recognize each year in this country. His life was a powerful reflection of the unconditional love that can be manifested by a maturing ego; the subject I write about in my articles for the Stonyhill web site and this monthly newsletter. His life was about embracing complexity and diversity with equality and justice; the middlepath principles on which this country was founded. But I was troubled by one of the articles written about King’s life this week that inferred that King was fighting against racism because he was a loving Christian pastor. The implication was that Christians are by nature loving and thus interested in issues of equality and justice. I’m certain there are many individuals who are, but the fact remains that not one of the main line religions, including and especially Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, are structured or equipped to bring a critically needed global consciousness or global spirituality into the 21st century. My feature article this month is the first of a two part discussion on;
I hope you enjoy the new format in this newsletter. We are now using a commercial newsletter service. Trying to keep the email subscriber list up to date and comply with the new junk mail legislation required the change. If you have any comments on the format or content of the newsletter, be sure to contact me. I encourage and appreciate the feedback from all of you. Be well. Spiritual Practice of the Month: Choose To Be Compassionate, Not Right. The primitive ego of the inner child keeps the world safe by keeping it simple; either/or, right/wrong, and good/bad. These simple black and white beliefs of the primitive ego keep the world manageable. Unfortunately, reality is infinitely complex. If we insist in working out of the second grade mind of the primitive ego, we will find it very unhelpful in trying to live an adult life in a complex world. Letting other people be right is a very effective spiritual practice to help us pay attention and stay self-aware of what we are manifesting into the world. It cost’s us nothing to be compassionate and gentle; to let others feel good about themselves. It is important to remember that the primitive ego of our inner child will want to argue over who is “right”, but the mature ego knows that beliefs and opinions are only illusions; creations of the mind. They are only the ego’s way of understanding reality; they are not reality itself. So why argue about it. The truth is that all our cherished beliefs are at best a relative truth, and only a tiny snippet of reality itself. The only way to mature the primitive ego of childhood and move toward enlightenment is to stay awake and pay attention in each moment to what part of our consciousness we are using. The primitive ego can manifest only when we are “asleep” or “not paying attention”. Letting others be right is an effective spiritual practice that will help you stay awake and self-aware. Your compassion for others will increase the compassion of the universe. 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. QUOTES None of the main line religions, including and especially Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, are structured or equipped to bring a critically needed global spirituality into the 21st century. The mainline religions of the world were tribal religions originally founded on the wisdom teachings of an enlightened ego, but this wisdom was later interpreted and then institutionalized by primitive egos; ego’s that unfortunately were unable to understand the deeper wisdom of the enlightened teachers. Dick Rauscher, 2004, www.stonyhill.com “…once one has started on the path to enlightenment, to salvation, to genuine liberation from fear, endless self-concern, and the modern epidemic of pathological narcissism, there can be no rest until it is really over, until one has finally won the battle for one's own soul. To win that battle means that one has entered a new dimension and is literally giving birth to a new world, a different way of being, because of the extraordinary transformation that has occurred.” Andrew Cohen, Weekly Quote, 2004, www.wie.com. The primitive ego can only manifest itself. Until it grows and matures, the primitive ego is unable to understand or manifest the unconditional love of an enlightened ego. Dick Rauscher, 2004, www.stonyhill.com Seminaries teach their ministers-to-be with attention to the past and not with what is emerging now and taking us into the future. Driving by the rearview mirror, they will not get to where we need to go. Spiritual formation is not producing the bodhisattvas we need at this time. Denominations, busy to protect their power and turf, are obsolete at this juncture. Rabbi Salman Schachter-Shalomi Your privacy is important to us. We will NEVER sell or share our mailing list with anyone.
The Stonyhill Newsletter / Blog and the videos related to each Newsletter are designed to teach the insights and everyday wisdom contained in Primitive Ego Psychology. For more technical, in-depth articles on Primitive Ego Psychology and Primitive Ego Theory go to the Stonyhill website at www.stonyhill.com/articles.htm |
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