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Section Epsilon
Lesson Three: Implications For Group Relationships
Why Groups?
The implications of spiritual reconnection have extreme impact upon how humans think about themselves as members of groups. Ultimately, humanity as a unified whole, is the highest group to which each individual belongs. The spiritual connection impressed upon the body as the powerful urge to commune and interact with brothers and sisters, moves humanity to discover themselves as members within this singular group.
It is obvious that through interaction and feedback we learn as much about ourselves as we do about others in our environment. This is why it is so essential to have social connections, be they with immediate family or people on the other side of the planet. The technology at use right now can bring the latter into being and, in doing so, make that "spiritual connection" an intrinsic part of our development.
Ultimately, the human hedonic design pushes and pulls humanity toward connected cooperation as an entire species, but such movement occurs whether or not the mind is engaged in the process. All purposeful movement is predicated upon following spiritual wisdom. Until full self-understanding is attained, there are predictable patterns and pitfalls which will emerge.
Some of these "patterns and pitfalls" have been life threatening in the fullest of human terms. Fortunately, there are other life forms beyond this sphere that have a vested interest in helping us to match our spiritual development to our technical development. But the ultimate responsibility lies with each and all of us.
The modern world revolves around the human group. There are many good reasons to form and belong to groups. People are not only pushed together by the pains of loneliness and isolation, they are pulled together in order to meet all their human needs in cooperative ways. There is power in numbers. There is loving connection, opportunities to earn esteem, find meaning, and a great deal of creative energy possible. The group can attain far more than any one of its members alone. There is a veritable magic that can happen in the cooperative sharing of resources, a synergy of energy wherein the whole becomes more than the sum of its parts. There is a divinely intended balance and vitality when all organisms freely interact to meet their needs. Indeed, the entire physical world is based upon cooperative interactions between and among individual spirits.
This is the family of humankind. It's separate parts reflect the collective whole. Just as each human cell contains the knowledge of its entire body, so each human being holds within his/her self the information necessary to sustain and progress the entire whole. It is through group communication that this information is interchanged and a progressive movement in all areas is sustained.
By offering need-meeting opportunities, each kind of group plays its own unique part in the cooperative purposeful whole. Family units are the core of society, greeting incoming spirits with open arms and orienting them along their destiny path. Membership in workgroups can provide basic survival resources, as employees toil and earn resources to provide for their families. Membership in support or friendship groups can satisfy needs for connection, meaning, and creative expression. Recreational, sporting or entertaining group activities can satisfy personal needs for power, fun, freedom and excitement.
We sometimes tend to fail to see when the above process is in place and working properly. The often disruptive nature of some urban environments (commonly referred to as slums) tend to distract from the small town environments where the above traditions are preserved and honored. Our electronic age has served as a distraction to many and the accelerated pace of work loads and the subsequent "acquisition mentality" has drawn many away from the ideal as expressed in the above paragraph.
Educational groupings, book clubs, and discussion groups can greatly assist in self-development. Health groups can offer connection and support, and motivate more healthful life choices. Religious groups can provide spiritual guidance and meaning. All groups that allow individuals to develop and express can help build self-esteem. Political groups, advocate groups, and workers' unions can help solve problems, and protect one another from unjust conditions.
The significant aspect of forming any group is the guidelines under which the members can exercise their free will and avoid the pressures of conformity. Along with focus, there must be tolerance and an appreciation of divergent opinions. Rigid rules and an overemphasis on conformity can not help but result in diminished creativity. Diversity of thought and membership should be celebrated when and wherever possible.
But there are also some predictable and avoidable traps of group memberships. When armed with the wisdom in these Lessons, one will be aware of the many pitfalls, and the painful prices one can potentially pay for group membership, and can take the necessary actions to ensure that they do not occur.
This material offers knowledge and experience from a far greater perspective than most of us could likely imagine in our lifetimes. Herein lies the value of what we are doing in reviewing this material. Also, the greater the diversity of those who review and comment on it, the richer the experience will be for all.
The Group Organism
At present, all of the maladies that haunt the unenlightened individual, also plague the groups they form. The resulting social symptoms have become so routinely accepted that they are never noticed to be symptoms of deficit states. Thus, the corrective signals are never received or acted upon.
Just as we are not encouraged to know our inner selves, we are also not prone to examine ourselves as a group. First, because peer pressure does not encourage that level of honesty, in fear that it might threaten the cohesion of the group. Secondly, it is foreign to our natural pattern of thought in a competitive environment.
When reclaiming the voice of spirit, individuals will begin to recognize that the groups to which they belong are also like individual organisms. Each group has unique features, like genetics of an individual, its own language, rules, and power hierarchy. It matters not if the group is a family, a sports team, a professional business, an artists union, a governmental agency, a gang, a church group, a local community, a country, or a planet---each group has its own developmental cycle, purposes, and pitfalls, likened to those of the human being.
With the exception of the latter, i.e. "pitfalls", the qualities of a group can be beneficial to spiritual development, in the sense that it can be a learning experience toward individual growth. It is also an environment in which to make needed friends.
For just as cells come together in forming organs, and organs come together in forming systems, and systems come together in the whole that is a human body, human minds come together in creating new group organisms. This fact is the basis of all mass consciousness, and can be seen in the various groups that have arisen. Each group will have the same functions and the same purposes of the human being---the trinity of purpose---to self-preserve, to self-develop and to self-express. And each group will have the exact same pitfalls and challenges as a living, breathing human being.
The law of nature supports the formation of groups of like mind, it is in this "likeness" that groups find their natural weakness. For it is essential that in order to keep any group intellectually fresh, that there be room for introduction of new ideas and self examination. Without these qualities, groups become stale and rigid.
Fortunately, each group will also suffer the same painful emotional signals and can gather the wisdom and take immediate corrective actions. But this will necessarily change the face of many human groupings as they now exist. For many groups are alive due to their ability to manipulate and misuse the emotional system rather than align with it. Some groups take on a life of their own, outliving the original purposes and minimizing rather than enhancing humanity. Some prey upon human weakness and take power from their willing, but unaware, members. Others simply suffer conflict and dysfunction because there is not unity within.
It was Thomas Jefferson who suggested that all governments should be disbanded and reformed every seven years. This is an idea that might well be appropriate for all groups, whatever their purpose and make-up. In such a practice, a freshness and freedom would automatically spring up and likely reduce the tendency of excessive control from creeping into the nature of the group. It might also be a way whereby bureaucracies might be irrigated and revamped.
Conformity
The first of the pitfalls of group membership arises immediately upon entry. For once one joins a group, the group and what it stands for becomes part of the person's self-concept. And, as we know, anything that is taken into the mindscape and becomes "self", will then become subjected to the self-preservationary responses of the body. The group will then seek to preserve its unique identity in several ways.
The term "group mind" means exactly what it describes. In nature, we observe it as a flock of birds in flight, following the lead bird in whatever direction is elected. We accept certain mental guidelines incorporated into the group, whether they be professional or recreational. In doing so, we agree to surrender a part of ourselves.
Depending upon the levels of the self-needs that are satisfied within the group, there will be a corresponding emotional value of the membership. The value of the membership plays out in a group as the need for conformity. The ideals, rituals, and activities of the group all become rather sacred and in need of preservation in order for the group to survive as an entity. This means that certain rules will be followed, certain assumptions will be taken for granted, certain symbols have specific meanings, perhaps even certain clothing will be worn that distinguishes the group. There might be a special initiation, or a secret handshake, a unique language, or any other kind of distinguishing commonalty that one can imagine.
Again, we are speaking of a surrender of a part of ourselves to the will and practices of the group. The spirit was not intended to be subservient and when placed in an environment where such becomes the case, then the exercise of free will is traded for security and self-preservation.
The urge to conform springs from the connection need as well as the pressure from the group to match its expectations, and creates the force which continuously regenerates the group bond. It is often so powerful that it can override the thoughtful choices of the individual. Thus, the price one pays for the pleasures of group membership comes with a potentially steep cost of individual will and freedom of thought.
Life, it is said, is a trade-off. We give up some things in order to enjoy others. We give up our "individual will and freedom of thought" in order to enjoy the security that comes with group mind and support from fellowship. It would be a unique organization that could provide both freedom and security.
The urge to conform is quite intense due to the general human lack of self-understanding. Thus, in terms of individual purpose, conforming to a group can bring one either up or down depending upon its beliefs and values. The urge to conform can bring an individual into the rewarding embrace of those who can offer self-development, or refuge from an abusive or unenlightened previous group. Or it could be merely to serve a frustrated power need, and provide an allegiance to a gang which seizes power through drive-by shootings and random acts of violence. Either way, there are ongoing positive and negative forces that will bond members within their groups.
This suggests that as we progress spiritually and become more acquainted with inner self, the need to join conform-minded groups will decline and, as a consequence, groups will alter in nature and make-up. People will still work together toward a common end, but the nature of such groups will become more temporary and less binding. The latter portion of the above paragraph described the "cult" type of group with all its negative consequences.
This continuous emotional bond works in two directions. Conformity brings pleasurable positive reinforcement, tapping the inner pull of purposeful need-fulfillment, wherever a member behaves in characteristic ways of the group. When members display the correct values and actions, they will be rewarded by smiles, pats on the back, high fives, or some other sort of recognition for their conformity, and they will feel good.
Positive reinforcement from without is pleasurable in our current state of spiritual understanding. When we have succeeded in connecting with the spirit within, we will come to know the joy that follows complying with the urgings of that inner spirit.
The opposite force appears with nonconformity. Depending upon the value, there will be the corresponding threat of rejection, the ever-present possibility that the group will ask a member to leave. This will compound the positive desires to conform by adding the fear component. Different actions and beliefs are instantly trounced upon by negative reinforcement in order to preserve the group identity.
In this latter environment, the freedom to explore one's insights which refute or transcend the dogma that is firmly in place, is surrendered and not likely to be recaptured in one's lifetime, unless a concerted effort is made to break the programming which surrounds us.
Thus, any group will also be maintained by the force of negative emotions. There will be fearful feelings within each member to follow the path of the group, as well as an anger which ensures that other members do as well. This aspect can bring about some quite negative outcomes. For where there is emotional force, devoid of understanding of its purpose, there will be mindless self-preservationary responses.
The Shakespearian line about not being able to see the trees for the forest comes to mind as the appropriate analogy here. The preservation of the group becomes more essential than the purpose of the group. Western religions have given in to this failing, in particular, with the elders turning on their own children when they do not maintain their allegiance to the core group beliefs and elect to expand their own spiritual understandings.
For with fear, it becomes an individual motive to stay within the group---at all costs, including doing things the mind would not direct. With this added force to conform can come a shift toward risky behavior to prove one's mettle as a worthy member of the group. Hazing and other dangerous initiations into the groups and acts of allegiance often end in tragic events as well.
The reference here, is to fraternities. However, such organizations are only reflections of the larger and more controlling institutions and serve as a prelude to those institutions which will eventually hold people to their various allegiances of the political, economic and religious world.
Such challenges of group membership which go against the spirit will also motivate anger. This will also spur all group members to ensure that their own sacrifices and risks are matched by all other members or retaliations might result. This can show up in either very subtle or dramatic ways. But there will be constant maintenance of the boundaries of the group, the prodding and cajoling by members for each to prove their allegiance, to measure up. And if any one dares to act differently than expected, they will be immediately cajoled back into compliance. Particularly if they imply in any way they might be thinking original thoughts which might go beyond the established guidelines or boundaries of the group.
Even in what is accepted as a so called "free" society, non-conformity is still regarded as a threat. This flies directly in the face of what one's "Spirit" nature truly stands for. The freedom to exercise one's creative impulse is essential to spiritual growth. The institution that does not recognize this, will also serve as an adversity to the spirit within.
For example, a gang member begins to be interested in a community youth dramatic program offered by his local library. The program offers brief classes in dramatic acting, and a loose and informal setting for its members to put together creative plays. It only takes one evening out of his week, and is on a night that his gang isn't together anyway. He finds many rewards in this new creative outlet, and wants to share his enthusiasm with his gang.
Here is a natural process taking place. An individual is looking beyond the parameters of his known environment. This is a process that is as deep seated as an infant's urge to walk.
But when he begins to describe his experiences, his fellow gang members will respond to this nonconformity as a threat to the group. Without even mindful awareness, they will automatically respond in defensive ways. They might interrupt, ridicule, and chide him for using new words, and tease him about becoming a sissy actor. As they do so, they will give each other high fives and be less interested in what the actor is saying. They are simply maintaining the unit of the group, for his new activities have threatened its "self-concept".
How many times have we turned away from the temptation to explore new concepts or interests because the reaction of those around us was less than enthusiastic or was even clearly discouraging? Like some unwritten rule, those who threaten to go into unfamiliar territory are most often met with whatever is necessary to revert them back to the status quo.
If any member actively pursues individual self-development, then he must either hide it, or somehow convince the entire group to develop along similar lines. For the self-preservationary impulse of the group organism is every bit as powerful---if not more---than that of the individual, and defensive responses will occur as predictably as the moon does rise. And where there are self-preservationary responses outside of emotional understanding, there will always be breakdowns in purposeful movement.
A perpetuation of the limited thinking of individuals or groups can only lead to an eventual deterioration of the spiritual qualities of each conforming member and the organization as a whole.
The Developmental Cycle Of A Group
To address where each of these breakdowns occur, one can look to the natural developmental cycle of any human grouping. The first group to which any individual will belong is that of the family. This group is unique because it is already established and does not go through the formative stages. But each spiritual principle and emotional dynamic has particular meaning within the family unit, for it is the vehicle for adequate emotional development and the climate that can make or break the spiritual connection.
The environment which two people create for the benefit of nurturing a new life being introduced into the world is critical to the formation of the individual on a spiritual level, in additional to a physical and mental/emotional level. Given this fact, no one should elect parenthood without understanding the full significance of this role.
For humans are born immediately into a specific group, within a specific community, within a specific cultural heritage, and within a specific accepted worldview. (Ultimately, the largest grouping is the current level of mass consciousness itself.) The family group will bear the responsibility for imparting the initial frames of reference, the first beliefs, for the entire reality of the incoming entity. These early beliefs affect the very brain structures, as they form the lens of the reality that is offered.
A safe and interesting environment, where information is imparted when not laden with fear and anxiety about the manner in which the world/universe operates, will surely free the potential adult from carrying an unnecessary supply of negative emotional baggage into what can and should be a productive lifetime.
Of course, in an enlightened world, the necessary flexibilities and self-understandings will be the first and primary offerings, but until then many pitfalls will continue to occur. These will involve the actual development of the emotional signals themselves. A child can be taught enlightened, connected, cooperative, life-giving habits which allow the natural feelings to flow, and a lifetime of pursuing the higher pleasures will be fostered. Or the child can learn that the world is a dog-eat-dog competition for survival, where fear and anger are one's only true friends.
Unfortunately, most of life's lessons are taught by example and there are far too many examples of the latter in place to hope to spare the newest generation from that type of influence. One can only wish that those more positive examples will end up being exercised by those in our society with the greatest influence on the younger generation. We desperately need shinning examples of spiritual maturity for younger generations to aspire to emulate.
Most of these other groupings can be changed through choice, but the family cannot. This is not to say that one cannot build a new family community to replace one that has been escaped for necessary reasons, not that one's birth family was not chosen through prior arrangement: it is simply to note that an incoming infant is fairly well stuck with the initial group. It has no say-so upon arrival, aside from departing the physical realm entirely.
The rebellious stage of life comes upon the young as they reach the brink of adulthood. It is at this point that the person begins to sense the information that he/she instinctively should reject. However, some of this information being spiritually valid, is thrown out with the less-spiritual bath water, so to speak. Often it appears that the child is headed toward personal destruction. Here is where the element of unconditional love is called upon, along with the patience and faith to allow the powerful ingredient of inner spiritual guidance to kick in.
The developmental task of any group is to establish the conditions for true, connected cooperation within and between its members, in order for any group goal to have and enjoy the synergy of the combined energy of its members. This means that there cannot be competition within and between members, or certain predicable patterns will arise.
Some parents incorrectly believe that the best preparation for the adult life is to place the young in an environment where they are competing amongst themselves while still in childhood. Usually they end up competing for their parents' love. But, if the family environment is one in which love and cooperation are nurtured, and I believe it is, then trying to mix the former (competition) and the latter (cooperation) is the equivalent of mixing fire with water.
Power Dynamics
The first will have to do with the one's relative power in a group. If this is not stated upon entry, then it will emerge through struggle. Entities are not always consciously aware of the struggles, but they participate in them constantly. This is particularly apparent when a group is forming.
The evolution of leadership should be a natural process, when possible. It happens in the formation of a jury, for example. It can happen in other aspects of society, but it should be remembered that the so called "leaders" in a group are not necessarily the most valuable people. Often it is the more unobtrusive but wiser person who can make a significant contribution.
Groups form when people come together for some common purpose. They each will be drawn to the group by inner knowledge that they have something unique to offer, and something to purposefully receive. If they feel frustrated in any way while trying to make this exchange, they will experience some mild form of anger. This anger will move them to express themselves to remove whatever obstacle is in the way. These expressions will be how a group develops its language, negotiates its rules, and power hierarchy. It will not be until each person has found their place of necessary fulfillment within the group, that cooperation can begin.
The early stage of group formation, while appearing to be the most discontent, is of great value in that the comfort level of each member is being established. Once done, the collective process can move forward.
Many existing groups have never truly reached this cooperative state of being. If any member is not adequately fulfilled within their place within the group design, they will be motivated to find alternative ways to meet their needs. This sets the goals of an individual against, and in competition with, those of the group. This is likened unto the disconnection between mind and body in an individual, or even dysfunction between the heart and lungs of a human body. Competition ensures that only some of the needs will win and others will lose.
We, in western society, are constantly exposed to the competitive nature of relationships. Because it is held as always being a virtue, we often forget that success through cooperation requires that it (competition) be put aside for the benefit of progress through harmony.
Yet, the competitive mindset that is the accepted norm within mass consciousness does not recognize that embracing win-lose competition is like allowing a cancer to grow within the organism. This limited belief often accepts and promotes an adversarial position between individual and group needs, which is spiritually and biologically unsound. For the needs of one are the needs of all, without exception.
If, for example, freedom were to be considered to be the right of only elected or appointed government officials, placing them above the law of the land, it would soon become evident that such a government would have a limited future. So it is with other "groups", be they social clubs or businesses. A truly successful group or organization must feel comfortable and satisfying to most of those in it or morale will suffer and the success of same will be diminished.
The need for sufficient power to control one's destiny in a group is just as powerful as everywhere else. Likewise are the needs for freedom, connection, creativity, self-esteem and meaning. The task of the group is to design a structure in which each member can actively meet adequate levels of these needs to ensure the maximum contribution from each member, and to facilitate the maximum progress toward the group goal. If not, the negative impact will be seen in direct relationship to the level of frustrated need fulfillment.
Two qualities should be foremost in the minds of all group members. 1) The goal of the group should be clarified and able to be envisioned by all those in the group. 2) The complete democratization of the group should be emphasized again and again, so that each individual knows that his/her opinion or vote is equal to (but not more important than) all others in the group. One the other hand, the majority are not always the final determinant. Abraham Lincoln once had to remind his cabinet, when they overwhelmingly disapproved of a policy he was about to implement, that in the case of that group, he was the majority.
When breakdown occurs, the emotional forces leave the members torn between the need for power and the need for connection. We know now that the power need will always win out. Freedom and power ensure survival, and if the group does not allow them, the member can simply leave the group. But more often than not, particularly in work groups, the primary economic power of membership itself forces employees to stay. This leaves the individual divided within himself and against the group, stranded in a deficit state, lingering in painful unanswered corrective signals, and doomed only to hardwired self-preservationary responses. For as we know, the body will overtake the mind when necessary.
As we move toward a more enlightened economic paradigm, groups who operate in this environment will come to realize that the mental and spiritual state of its members will be reflected first in the state of morale and, consequently, in the level of the groups rate of success. This realization will be necessary at all levels of the group.
For example, perhaps the group endeavor is a business and the individual is an employee who belongs to this group in order to make his living. He will be given the free authority and the resources to perform his job. He will be told of the requirements and expectations, given the equipment, supplies, training, and he will agree to a specific salary package. These will cover his first basic needs for freedom and power, particularly if there is room for promotion and advancement.
The more freedom and responsibility an individual is given to carry out assigned tasks, the greater the creative energy that will be unleashed. Recognition of positive efforts and results is only the natural way of acknowledging an individual's highest spiritual qualities. In this way, inspiration to evolve toward such defined ends, is spread throughout the group in a natural fashion.
Suppose that our worker was unhappy with the amount of pay that his job provides. (As is the case with most workers, in an unenlightened world with imbalanced worldly conditions and limited opportunities). But since there were no other available jobs, the worker agreed to the salary. In the world that exists today, money has become synonymous with freedom in many ways. Economic freedom is tantamount to the freedom of movement as well as providing the resources to meet other needs.
Also, "money" has become the yardstick by which we measure the worth of an individual, even more than beauty, intelligence or mental agility. Things have become so tilted in this area that senior company executives end up being grossly over-rewarded for successes that really belong to nearly all the others in a company who make valuable contributions.
If the arrangement was not considered fair and just, this worker will experience anger and might be motivated to cheat or steal to get what he feels is rightful, or it might move him to do little things to get even with the group and sabotage the group goals. These kinds of self preservationary responses, of course, show that true cooperation has been overridden by survival competition. When this happens, the lower needs of body win out over the higher ones of mind, and both the employee and the company will suffer.
Systems too often play a determining role in corrupting individuals. Nowhere is this more prevalent than in an organization that is strictly profit oriented. Those who surrender to their "anger" are motivated to regain some semblance of freedom by reeking revenge in subtle but significant ways. When the level of this activity reaches critical mass, the organization is existing on borrowed time.
Other symptoms and informal power hierarchies will also arise. If there is inflexibility and inadequate freedom to communicate, negotiate and control one's destiny, then underground grapevine lines of communications and gossip, fear and mistrust begin to breed. If contributions are not recognized or valued, then anger, envy and hostility can arise. Sneaky acts of retaliation and sabotage against group goals will occur. There can be thefts, embezzlements, the designing of destructive computer viruses, even territorial urination in the corporate water-cooler.
Where open lines of expression exist, trust is nourished and morale is kept high. No one in an organization should be used or encouraged to spy upon anyone else. Concern about the dissatisfactions of everyone in the group should be of importance to all its members. Only then can free expression thrive.
The Group Structure
These painful symptoms are exactly like the corrective emotional signals experienced in an individual. Any group must have the enlightened leadership to ensure that a structure evolves which accommodates the needs of each of its members. Each and every such symptom should be acted upon immediately to restore frustrated need-meeting opportunities. Each group should ensure its continuous purpose of self-development and expression. The leadership of any group should respond exactly like an enlightened mind, to adapt itself to each and every incoming piece of information and design the organizational structure and rules to best allocate resources and eliminate internal competition.
The most popular and admired leaders of any group are those who respect the spiritual dignity of the members and reflect that respect in what they do to enhance it. But the responsibility for group enhancement lies as much with the group, itself, as with its leadership. The secondary role of leadership is to stimulate organization and cooperation.
Failing to respond to such symptoms is like closing the door of the mind in a flight response to denial, and all the problems inherent in that choice will befall the group. Such dysfunctional groups can be identified for their dependence upon ideological, emotionally manipulative, psychological or physical walls to contain their members. Such walls are erected to keep individuals from escaping into more rewarding and spiritually fulfilling groupings. In an enlightened group or world, no such walls need ever exist. All such walls, of course, are spiritually unsound, for they will eventually be broken down by the safeguard angers of those frustrated spirits imprisoned within.
In business structures, where the entrenchment of leadership is too often dependent on the profit line, leadership may elect to ignore the warning signs of discontent until it is too late to successfully correct them. In political and religious groups, other controlling factors can keep the body contained through fear and intimidation. The Berlin wall was a metaphor for the crumbling of all organizations that control people to the detriment of their spiritual development.
Dysfunctional groups are far less likely when the structure facilitates the most natural and purposeful contributions from its members. Any group desires, of course, that each of its incoming members to be as capable, resourceful, and functional as possible; but some qualities are far less important when the environment is fertile. For the group can bring out the best, or worst, in any member, depending upon its structure.
Nature, itself, offers many lessons of enlightened organization. But these lessons are often subtle and need to be studied and appreciated. For this to happen, nature must be appreciated. As for a group that is bringing out the "worst" qualities in any of its members, serious reflection is in order.
The inevitable struggles occur in order to eventually bring about the just and spiritually desirable structural conditions. The more the structure accommodates human nature, and allows each individual to fulfill the trinity of purposes, the more successful it will be in its group endeavors. First and foremost, the structure must accommodate the basic individual needs for freedom and power or there will be the corrective feelings of fear and anger in its members, and retaliatory self-preservationary acts against the group.
It is a cycle. When fear is introduced into a structural environment, anger is an eventual consequence. When anger surfaces, fear is enhanced. Many school systems are evolving into such a cycle and, unless reversed, will suffer serious consequences.
Fear and anger are not to be accepted or tolerated over long periods of time. Yet, they are often embraced and even manipulated by group doctrine and leaders. Many human groupings do not understand that leading through fear and intimidation will never work well. For these are deficit states indicative of an arena where justice does not dwell. External justice is the social counterpart of individual purpose. Until humans embrace this natural truth, all group organizations will have to deal with continuous anger and fear. Justice is simply the external condition in which each individual has the rightful freedom of movement, and the opportunities for empowerment to meet the needs.
One has to ask the obvious, if the freedoms spelled out in our constitution are sufficient to guide our government, would not these same principles be worthy of emulation in our economic and religious institutions as well? Should they be accepted and put into practice, all such institutions would compliment and spiritually enhance each other, to the general benefit of all involved.
It is quite easy to see how most groups, be they families, communities, religions, political groups, businesses, governmental organizations, schools---any type of grouping finds its own way of utilizing rather than eliminating fear and anger. These feelings are used not to give the necessary power, but to take away even more. Indeed, emotional manipulation is a major strategy in an unjust world.
The only true protection against "emotional manipulation" and a firm determination is to free oneself from it. The first step in doing so it recognizing it. The second step is in accepting that the only person entitled to manipulate one is oneself. The final step is caring enough about yourself to take control of your own destiny, once and for all.
This is a subhuman state of living but has been accepted as the norm among humans. Religions used fearsome fire and brimstone to force moral actions; businesses use threats and power-wielding to get the most effort out of workers; governments pass laws restricting freedoms and threatening fines and imprisonment, but nothing will work except a structure that provides natural justice. For the human spiritual system is designed to pull individuals forward along the naturally moral purposeful destiny path. The push of painful feelings only ensures that there will be no backward movement allowed.
Is it possible to imagine a world in which the above described tactics (fear and threats) would not be in place? If it can be imagined, it can be achieved. This millennium is, in effect, a crossroads for the future of humanity. New possibilities are dependent upon which destiny we elect to create. It will take our physical, mental and spiritual determination to take that road better traveled.
The ideal structure instead assures each group member the necessary freedom to move about, to do what is necessary to meet needs and challenges of the environment. There must also be an adequate balance of resource allocations such that each member can both draw from and give to, the group unit. These are the only two required conditions of justice, and when they exist, the inner positive feelings drive purposeful movement.
Whether it be in a unit as small as a family or as large as a government, the giving and receiving process must be apparent in the minds of all the participants in order to give purpose to one's existence. There will always be some who give less than seems appropriate and others who give more than their share, but if we can get beyond judgment and accept the built-in variances in humans, overall happiness will take an important step forward.
An enlightened leadership, aware of the pitfalls, would build a structure which would assure that the positive feelings always remain stronger than the negative ones. Although money might be tight for salaries all around, there can be allocations of projects which can offer added empowerment and creativity, special incentive and recognition programs which build self-esteem, informal business activities that allow connection, and group missions which offer meaning. The structure can provide for all the needs and salary itself becomes far less important.
The above should stand as an inspiring guideline to be used in the creation of any organization, regardless of size or complexity. In fact, there are probably successful groups in place right now that can serve as living examples of what can be.
Any group organization can dramatically improve its internal relations and its external successes, by structurally tending to the emotional needs of its members. This is the only way to foster trust, connection, and true cooperation. Soliciting constant communicative feedback and attending to the emotional information is essential. There are many deadly habits routinely undertaken by both leaders and members when fear and anger are allowed upon the premises.
A gentleman by the name of W. Edwards Deming did wonders for the Japanese auto industry and established a list of fourteen guiding principles which eventually became an American business program called Total Quality Management. Among these principles was #8 which stated: Drive out fear. People often fear reprisal if they "make wages" at work. Managers need to create an environment where workers can express concerns with confidence.
The enlightened leaders that have discovered these patterns, have found that the resources invested in attaining such enlightened structures, have been far surpassed by the values of the positive changes within the workforce. The employees of such organizations find true joy and pleasure in going to work each day, and are more aligned within themselves as individuals, simply due to the structure of their working world. They bring home enhancements, as well as bacon, to their families.
Unfortunately, in a business climate where competition gains too prominent a position in the practices of an organization, or where spiritual qualities are overridden for the sake of maintaining power through fear, no tweaked management program can ever be truly successful.
The opposite is also true. To the degree that fear and anger are simply incorporated into the system, there will be an eventual downfall, for it does not jive with the spiritual nature of humanity. Even if members are forced to remain within religions, workforces, political parties, countries, or even families that deny them basic freedom and power, there will be symptoms within the group which point to the necessary corrections. Thus, there will be systems which arise to handle the steady discontent rather than to effect repair. The only long term solutions are those which follow the guidance of spirit and engage the inner natural morality.
Depending whether one sees the glass as half full or half empty, we are observing the definite evidence of trends happening in our society today. Of course, the news media is focusing on mostly negative happenings. Yet, in not so noticed but significant ways, a certain positive anticipation of this next one thousand years is beginning to seep into the collective consciousness. Since we have managed to survive the Y2K phobia mostly intact, there is now a new wave of optimism heading toward our troubled beaches.
Every such grouping can benefit profoundly from this same principle. Heeding the wisdom within each of the negative feelings that arise individually and en masse, and correcting its source immediately can allow every type of group to evolve as dynamically as can individuals themselves.
We can also be assured that with the evolvement of each individual comes progress toward the evolution of all groups.
The Isolated Group
Regardless of the level of inner harmony of the group, it will still behave like an individual entity---complete with a version of each of the same pitfalls. Another error that commonly occurs among human groupings is that they can try to isolate themselves from incoming ideas. This is the counterpart of the individual who seeks to avoid incoming information, and preserve the mind in its existing state, rather than adapt and develop purposefully.
After a certain period of time, the habit of excluding outside information becomes self-perpetuating. At this point, it takes a traumatic experience to shake lose the ingrained thought patterns and open a wedge through which new information can flow.
If a group functions reasonably well as a unit, then it becomes likened unto a separate mind. It quite literally does take on a mind and a life of its own. But with the choice of isolation, it attempts to disconnect itself from the grander cooperative whole of humanity. It closes its doors through walls of rules and codes that are intended to keep members in, and the rest of the world out. Such isolation, of course, denies the spiritual interconnection between all humans and automatically sets the stage for a whole new series of painful symptoms. (For the grand cooperative spiritual interaction is the only Way).
When an individual or a group elects to set it/him/herself apart from the outside world, then it does so either with the intent of plugging into its spiritual/higher self or with the intent of sparing it/him/her self from outside information that might contradict a belief system. Through isolation comes an absence of evolution, which is in contradiction to the very nature of spirit.
The first symptom is known as "groupthink" wherein the minds of all begin to meld together and form a unique view of reality. And although this is not necessarily a bad thing, in the isolated form, it breeds profound emotional boundaries and a warped sense of reality. What happens is that as the members embrace the rules of the group, their emotional systems become entangled with the ideas, values and cultural knowledge held therein. They learn to feel good about certain ideas and feel bad about others---but based only upon the rules of that particular isolated environment---without the input from their experience and interactions with the rest of the world. This can spur a cult-like mentality, detached from its larger family of humanity, lost within its own delusions.
The cult mentality that we are conditioned to believe is not only inappropriate but possibly even threatening, and is one which has been around as long as their have been religious, economic, political and social institutions. They serve to provide security at the expense of freedom. In fact, they discourage the latter and strive to maintain a certain degree of control, usually through fear. They encourage and ultimately deteriorate into division, among themselves and between their respective groups and others of like kind, if not like mind.
Membership in this type of distorted reality is often taken on by personal choice, and is later perpetuated by naive belief that free will still actually exists. Power mongering violation can then occur. But the spiritual feeling system is alive and well. Its frustration will signal fear---an inherent quality in all such groups. The fear will then become part of the driving force of the group and nearly always at some point, the group will begin to take action within the larger community. They can turn to actions which follow this contrived worldview and act out upon that fear against the others in their world community, in a warped sense of self-preservation.
"Lord, I am truly sorry for having offended Thee...because I fear the loss of heaven and the pain of hell'. This should strike a certain chord of familiarity with some. Just a the crusades dominated the middle ages, so in modern times, governments lead military actions against other governments for the remotest of fears. Such actions can and do become prolonged and costly not only in economic terms, but most certainly in human terms as well.
This error is apparent in hate groups that hold ideas about racial or ethnic superiority, terrorist groups that hold ideas about right and just political conditions, and whose members have no logical qualms about unjustly violating others to attain them. It is apparent in jingoistic propaganda of communities which persuade their members to view their ideas as superior, and worthy enough for which to fight and perhaps to die. It is apparent in religious groups that shun members for individual thought or non-compliance and close the door to incoming perspectives and legitimate, spiritually directed questions. It is apparent within cults who take up arms in the name of their faith. This kind of damage is the strongest in those groupings which deliberately manipulate the emotional system of its members, to take for themselves their power of choice.
Moreover , it is apparent among governments and established religions and should be recognized as such. While the media may make a definitive story from the bizarre actions of a particular person, it will veer away from any evidence that this is being practiced on a broader scale, if doing such a story would be considered a clear threat to large and established institutions.
For the emotional system is the only safeguard system that saves humans from faulty choices of the free mind. If the mind is filled with ideas that exploit the defenses of the emotional system, that take power through instilling fear, guilt, anger, and hate, they can effectively turn the system against its master. Although the concept of "brainwashing" is a physical impossibility, the exploration of the emotional system in this way happens quite regularly. But those who become victimized will know by the level of fear and other negative emotion that the spirit is suffering under oppression. Entities are encouraged to heed the feeling signals, the true voice of spirit, above and beyond faithful adherence to any group doctrine.
The comfort level of any group is conditional upon what feelings exist in each member. If one feels good about the purpose of the group, the way its members relate to the individual, and feels free to leave and return to the surroundings of the group whenever it seems appropriate, it is likely that "fear" is not prevalent in the group makeup.
Indeed, isolation is no longer possible in the global community. Enlightened ideas must spread from individuals and flow freely throughout all human groupings for true civilization to emerge. No mind can be any more isolated than can a person, a country, or a spirit---for all are connected at the most essential levels of being. There is to be no turning back from the emerging global marketplace, but the spiritual guide must take its rightful place.
So we have a dichotomy of the individual mind with its personal guidance system and collective consciousness as it interrelates within itself. What each mind brings to the collective is that which either enhances or detracts from its spiritual evolution. What is described in the above paragraph could fit with the system we call the "internet." As below, so above.
The root source, as well as the most damaging of group pitfalls, are these powerful emotional boundaries that are erected between groupings. Emotional boundaries unchecked within the individuals will inevitably lead to emotional boundaries with groups. These are the walls of shared belief that keep members in and new ideas out.
Hostile to the outside world if growth is not experienced, so groups become withdrawn and defensive if its members are not allowed to experience their own growth. Isolation eventually leads to hostility and alienation.
We have seen how, when the mind follows the body's urge to self-preserve, it will interpret each negative feeling as one to close the mind and defend its presents contents. This is exactly the opposite of its purposeful message to mind. We have termed these emotional boundaries, since the feelings always point them out, but they are actually boundaries of the mind and its beliefs.
If we are taught at an early age that we are not to go beyond the mental boundaries of an instilled belief system, then it would follow that comfort would be sought within the confines of group structure we are most familiar with and distrust would be held toward those outside of the group mindset.
The worst effects come from groups who have decided through their own distorted lens that other specific groups are the dogs to be beaten. This is how hate is learned. This is how intolerance, social judgment, racial discrimination, and holy wars are born. Since the dawn of humanity, the reality of emotional boundaries has been continuously overlooked, and powerfully exploited. Most humans know intuitively that hating others is wrong, for the spirit desires no boundaries between individuals, let alone groups of them. But we don't think twice about seeing others as different than ourselves because of their free choices.
So the solution to the flaw of group hate is a greater emphasis on the virtue of "free choice." With the enhancement of this quality comes a natural respect and appreciation of those who are, by chance or by choice, celebrating their differences, as should we all.
Social Stratification
Just as conformity urges boundaries from the inside, there is an opposite effect which also maintains the boundaries from the outside. Just as members cajole each other to stay the same, there is also a tendency to compare themselves to outsiders, and feign a certain superiority. This also strengthens the perceived value of the group.
When members of a group are taught to think of themselves as superior to those not in the group, a predictable attitude is incorporated into the thinking of group members, which prevents them from having an objective view of the world around them.
When the group survives over a long period of time, its need begins to take on a life of its own. Individual members come and go with time, but the values become institutionalized, and rarely questioned. This can be likened to the Frankenstein monster that can aggress against its members, the first of which were its master designers. Some groups have become so unquestioned, that their original purpose no long exists, and its values have mutated into those that divide and drain humanity at large. Certain government and religious bodies have fallen into this category.
When we begin to question whether a known religious body is still intent on encouraging its members to evolve spiritually or when we begin to wonder if the democratic form of government we live under is truly "democratic" in its values, then we are moving to a greater awareness that turns away from participation in the rituals of such organizations. Church attendance may wane, voting participation may decline, and this may strike a familiar chord.
Yet, these groups are still preserved through the emotional forces effected upon their members. Lines are then drawn and institutionalized insiders and outsiders arise. The group remains strong through belittling outsiders, who are not group members. Weakening the outsiders then strengthens the unity of the self within the group. These lines establish long-term competition instead of enlisting connection and cooperation within humanity. It is simply a grand scale deadly habit which is the motivational force behind all sorts of social stratification.
Unable to find the needed strength from within these groups, those who then become the "outsiders" begin to seek their guidance from within themselves.. Eventually, that guiding spirit supersedes and transcends that which the group was failing to provide. In other words, those outside a religious group might begin to experience more spiritual growth than those within it.
This is how nearly permanent lines get drawn---and maintained---between groups of people, whether they are based upon race, culture, family, socio-economics, geography or any other arbitrary sort of classification. This is the emotional root of all prejudice. This is how the family of humanity became fragmented, disconnected, and relegated to a state of spiritual frustration. For such classifications also come with their own limitations, particularly in the areas of freedom and opportunity for empowerment. Whole subcultures thus arise that in some way push against the whole, just as cancers are allowed to grow and fester within individuals.
There is beginning to come into existence a system that has the capability of breaking down these prejudicial barriers, a system that invites difference in mind rather than body or even belief systems. In this environment, ideas can be exchanged and examined objectively on their merits. In this environment, the identity of the "proposer" of any idea is less important than the merits of the idea itself. The system I speak of is, of course, the median through which this material is now being passed along.
Any cultural ideology, system or law that is based upon a required division of peoples is spiritually and biologically unsound. For the individual spirit will continuously rail against any constraint upon its spirit, creating the predictable social symptoms too prevalent in the world today.
What can best accelerate the breaking up of the divisive cultural ideologies indicated above? It would have to be the individual determination to trust one's own Spirit to act as his/her final guide.
Enlightened Group Affiliation
The solution to each of these pitfalls, lies within each and every individual spirit. For at the heart of all groups is the individual, and at the heart of the individual lies its innate feeling guidance system. Each and every interaction, when guided by the spiritual evaluative information can ensure maximum individual purposeful progress, as well as that of any group to which that individual might belong. Once bad feelings are recognized for the corrections they suggest, the deficit states that have long been accepted as necessary evils will begin to naturally disappear.
So long as there is the freedom of exchange, the spirit will be enhanced. We are but chapters in the book of all life and we evolve by our interchange of perception. This is the true gift of Spirit.
Indeed, group efforts can move mountains when each member is moved from within by the pulls of spiritual pleasures rather than pushes of its pains.
Spirit leads. Mind and body can but follow.
With these fundamental understandings in place, we can now discuss the enlightened changes necessary to the specific human social structures.
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