ON INTEGRITY

Integrity is a shared process.

Integrity is interrelational.

Integrity is contextual.

Integrity is integrating.

Integrity is unscripted.

Integrity is a kind of super-attention.

Integrity is watching for the cracks in what you thought you knew.

Integrity is willingness to learn together.

~ Nora Bateson

Integrity is an important word and concept. It is critically important in spiritual and religious circles. Without integrity there can be no real spiritual growth in an individual or group. You can say that integrity is integral to attaining true fulfillment as a spiritual student.

The revelation that spiritual guru Deepak Chopra is mentioned multiple times in the email files linked to the Jeffrey Epstein case is, at a minimum, disturbing (LINK). A deeper dive into the situation, including how often so-called spiritual celebrities have difficulty maintaining integrity is here (LINK).

“My intent is to be generous of spirit and live with total integrity every day of my life.”
~ Deepak Chopra

“There is no such thing as a minor lapse of integrity.”
~ Tom Peters

I have often considered some spiritual celebrities as conduits to New Thought for many people. Author Wayne Dyer was such a way shower for me, leading me to being open enough to explore the Science of Mind in the 1980’s. I am grateful for that, and for much of the wisdom that Dyer shared over the years, even though he had his own lapses of integrity, including this (LINK).

One of the most disturbing factors of the crimes associated with Jeffrey Epstein and his wide circle of influential friends and clients is the extent to which such horrific behavior went on and was widely known (and therefore condoned). The victims numbered in the hundreds, and almost all were children at the time. The perpetrators number in the dozens, perhaps even the hundreds, and include world and business leaders. What all of this says about our society is worthy of deep reflection.

But our own house in spirituality and religion is far from perfect. The victims of failures of integrity by religious leaders number in the millions. This has been compounded by the repeated failure of those responsible to demand accountability by transgressors. And even when accountability has occurred, the results are often kept confidential allowing the perpetrators to relocate and offend again. Such violations of trust drive people from spiritual communities.

“As long as you have certain desires about how it ought to be you can’t see how it is.”
~ Ram Dass

We in spiritual communities and organizations have an interest in thinking of ourselves as good people, and we have an interest in being spiritual, which often means to be “nice,” no matter what. I have seen spiritual leaders who were toxic (LINK) protected by congregants, boards, and organizations. This was done for reasons including personal loyalty, a desire not to have a scandal revealed, or a sense that accusations must be proven beyond a doubt.

We in New Thought are nice people as a rule. We tend to think that we live in a friendly, even moral, universe and that people are basically good. We often pay a severe price for these beliefs.

“The opposite of reflexive niceness is integrity.”
~ James Hollis, Jungian analyst

Let’s look at these beliefs:

Our universe is not friendly or moral. It is evolutionary and amoral. We exist in our current forms because of violent collisions of planets, stars, and galaxies which allowed more complex elements to be formed and spread over wide distances. We exist in our current forms because of biological evolution, whose processes toward greater complexity and adaptation have resulted in the extinction of over 99% of all the species which have existed on earth. And we know that we are a transitional species, just as all others are; we will either evolve to more complex and well-adapted beings or become extinct as an evolutionary dead-end. Evolution is careless of the individual and of the species by nature.

Morality does not appear in our universe except as a human invention. Other species may and do cooperate, but they do so as a survival mechanism. Humans are capable of moral thought and actions, but it is something which must be learned and reinforced in the social structures around us. It too, is an evolutionary adaptation.

People have the capacity to be good and moral, but any number of things can limit that capacity, sometimes severely. We know scientifically that psychopaths have little or no ability for moral action or regret due to brain injuries, often occurring when in childhood. Research has shown that most psychopaths and sociopaths are incapable of regaining a sense of morality through any known treatments.

Of course, everyone who commits a violation of integrity does not have a physical condition limiting their capacity. In most cases, people simply decide to act out of integrity, usually by using rationalization. Everyone has done something out of integrity; most of us just about every day in some minor or significant way. It is important to remember that such actions are the result of a divided self, a self which is not integral.

Spiritual study and practices are in large part about realizing one’s wholeness, one’s integrity. To be in integrity means to be in your deepest truth. As that truth is realized more and more, it means to refuse to participate in behaviors which are out of integrity. It also means to speak out for integrity and justice and love in every community to which one belongs.

The Beloved Community does not tolerate behaviors which are out of integrity. Therefore, it requires people who are compassionate to fulfill their potential. We cannot be truly compassionate if we are out of integrity in our own lives; our communities cannot be compassionate if members are silent or complicit in behaviors which are out of integrity.

Our spiritual gurus know this yet often fail. We know this yet often fail. Our compassion is the only thing that can lead us to the realization of our true spiritual potential.

“Contradictions, whether personal or social, that could once remain hidden are coming unstoppably to light. It is getting harder to uphold a divided self….The trend toward transparency that is happening on the systems level is also happening in our personal relationships and within ourselves. Invisible inconsistencies, hiding, pretense, and self-deception show themselves as the light of attention turns inward….The exposure and clearing of hidden contradictions brings us to a higher degree of integrity, and frees up prodigious amounts of energy that had been consumed in the maintenance of illusions. What will our society be capable of, when we are no longer wallowing in pretense?”
~ Charles Eisenstein

Copyright 2025 – Jim Lockard

STAYING IN TRUTH: EMBODYING NEW THOUGHT PRINCIPLES AT TIMES LIKE THESE

“I am unmoved by appearances, therefore appearances move.”
~ Florence Shovel Shin

“Who you gonna believe, me – or your Lyin’ Eyes?”
~ Groucho Marx

We are in an age where two major developments are occurring and becoming intertwined. One is the capacity to make false information look very real; the other is a concerted movement to stop social progress and regress to a time where the world seemed more controllable.

Using artificial intelligence to create “deep fake” images and videos (LINK) (images and videos which appear real but are not – like the image of the Pope in the Balenciaga coat above) and show people saying and doing things that they did not is one tactic. Others are creating masses of automated online accounts (bots) on social media to make it appear that some issues have more or less support or to mislead people by exposing them to false information which appears to be accurate. All of this is happening as the United States is one year away from a critical national election, and while wars rage in eastern Europe and the Middle East.

It’s a good time to start sharpening your critical thinking skills. Simplistic perspectives are inadequate for these times. Those of us on a spiritual path must come to terms with the world in which we live and take practical, spiritually-based approaches to the challenges of our time.

An example:

“Most of the things you’re going to see about the election over the next 12 months….that scare you the most…have a very high likelihood of being the result of Russian influence. Watch the peripheral events even more closely. While the war with Israel-Hamas might not seem like ‘election interference,’ I would argue it is some of the most potentially potent election interference there is. How? It induces fear and anger about the very kinds of issues that studies have shown to trigger people turn to domineering, powerhouse candidates in an election year. In short, rather than try to shape the man to what they know you want, they seek to shape the world events…that shape you….so that you’ll want…. the man.

Look at EVERYTHING that scares you, angers you or motivates you in directions that are different than usual…and ask yourself, ‘Who benefits most from me being scared of this, mad at that, or motivated to do this?’”

~ Jack Hopkins, @thejackhopkins

It is also important to discern the intention behind the information we receive. Is this information intentionally designed to make be believe something that is not true, or is the information unintentionally garbled or misrepresented? Who is the source, who are the intermediaries, what are their intentions? (LINK to info about misinformation)

“Consider that misinformation is information that merely happens to be false, whereas disinformation is false information purposely spread. Similarly, mispronunciation is people trying too feebly and in vain to say our names — and dispronunciation is people saying our names incorrectly on purpose, as if to remind us whose country this really is. Mispronunciation is a matter of limited tongues. Dispronunciation is a matter of limited hearts. ”
~ Anand Giridharadas 

The key is not to mistrust all sources of information, but to learn to discern from a basic place of trust when that trust is not appropriate. In order to do that, I have to do my spiritual practices to build my sense confidence in my ability to discern AND I have to stay informed and learn to recognize false information. Mistrust, cynicism, and avoiding the news or media are not the answers, although it is fine to take a “newsbreak” from time to time. It concerns me that so many of my friends on social media reliably fall for Facebook hoaxes or unethical advertisers or believe sources who have been proven time and again to be dishonest or biased.

‎”Somewhat counterintuitively, it’s the more trusting people that actually emerge as less gullible. They obviously get fooled, as we all do… but they tend to be very good at learning from those experiences where they have been duped, they tend not to generalize it over everybody and then to start being cynical about everything, which then makes them more effective socially.”
~ Derren Brown, Professional Illusionist

The work to be done is to build up my ability to discern, learn to notice what AI-generated images tend to look like, to pick up subtle differences in messaging from sources I know (would she really post that?), to identify trustworthy places to get information (while realizing that no source will be perfectly accurate), and to resist passing along information or links that I have not researched.

I must cultivate my connection with my deeper self, my intuitive knowing more thoroughly so that I have my best faculties primed and ready to call upon when I need them. I can learn from my experiences every time I fall for fake information and emerge from the experience more capable of discernment. I must strengthen my inner resolve and build my capacity for resilience in times such as these.

“The need for approval, the need to control things, and the need for external power are needs that are based on fear. This kind of power is not the power of pure potentiality . . . or REAL power. When we experience the power of the Self, there is an absence of fear, there is no compulsion to control, and no struggle for approval or external power.”
~ Deepak Chopra

Since I desire to live life fully, I want to know the truth, even the parts which I find disturbing. I also want to develop myself to be able to face the truth, all of it, with courage, love, and compassion. If I find myself in a world where harm is intended and pursued, I want to be able to confront that with a higher vision and be present to it more powerfully. To do that, I need to see myself as capable (I already am), as strong (I already am), and as connected to an unlimited Divine Source (I already am).

“Stark honesty, however painful, is needed on this journey toward the Self; the unconscious will not tolerate anything less. One must be willing to face many cruel truths, those we keep hidden from the light of day, and those we keep hidden from ourselves.”
~ Marion Woodman

With my spiritual practices, I focus on developing a deep acceptance of myself as having enough of everything I need to express my best self in my life. New Thought principles teach me that everything has already been given to me as potential. What is mine to do is to actualize those potentials as inner qualities which lead to the outer expression of assertiveness, love, and compassion while engaging the world around me from a spiritually realized perspective. Through my spiritual work, I develop my ability to discern what is of value and what is not, what is real and what is imagined, what is accurate and what is mis- or dis-information.

One might paraphrase the quote from Florence Shovel Shin above to affirm:

I am not fooled by appearances, therefore,

I see the Truth!

I will close with something I wrote some time ago:

“The essence of the matter is that when we live only in our mind and do not engage with the world to bring our (New Thought) principles to light, we are, essentially, acting in opposition to our spiritual principles. We are keeping our principles hidden at great cost to those who would benefit by their expression, and possibly, at the cost of a more just society overall.”
~ Jim Lockard

As always, your comments are encouraged. Please share this post with others who may be interested.Copyright 2023 – Jim Lockard

“A WORLD THAT WORKS FOR EVERYONE” – WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

“Another world is possible! Another world is also necessary, for this one is unjust, unsustainable, and unsafe. It’s up to us to envision, fight for, and create that world, a world of freedom, real justice, balance, and shared abundance, a world woven in a new design.”
~ Starhawk

Recently, the Centers for Spiritual Living visionary phrase #AWorldThatWorksForEveryone has come up in several conversations I have participated in with some spiritual leaders. As I have noted in previous posts (LINK), the concept of “A World That Works for Everyone” has been a part of the vision of Centers for Spiritual Living since its inception in 2012. Here is how the language appears:

OUR GLOBAL VISION FOR the Centers for Spiritual Living:

• We envision humanity awakening to its spiritual magnificence and discovering the creative power of thought; a world where each and every person discovers his/her own personal power and ability to create an individual life that works within a world that works for everyone.
• We envision a world that works for everyone and for all of creation. (Emphasis added)

Who would not support such an idea in principle?

The problem with such a statement is how it is to be interpreted.

• What does it really mean?
• Is it meant to be seen as a metaphysical concept or a concrete objective, or both?
• How do we set about creating such a world?
• Is it achievable now or in the near future? Does that matter?

The hidden idea in such a statement is that it implies the realization of a universal consciousness – or like mindedness – among all people. At present, that seems unlikely to occur any time soon. Those in CSL cannot even agree on what such a world would look like. In fact, social research shows that current trends in cultural evolution are leading to greater disparity and diversity in values and beliefs.

A World that Works for Everyone is similar to the concept of The Beloved Community. Both assume that things like poverty, homelessness, war, racism, etc. would end if people simply agreed to end them. The fact that very little in human history suggests that such a thing could or would happen is usually no deterrent to that assumption. After all, aspirational thinking is a key to New Thought teachings. And to think aspirationally is a necessary component of transformation.

But aspiration is not manifestation.

Let’s take a couple of concrete examples. Does a world that works for Vladimir Putin work for Volodymyr Zelenskyy? Does a world that works for Senator Bernie Sanders work for Senator Mitch McConnell? Is there a reasonable way to see a future where these divergent worldviews can agree on a world that would work for all?

“We are in a struggle for the presence of genuine imagination in the face of the hardening of ideas and the narrowing of hearts that ensues when people make god one-sided and consider their own beliefs to be literally true and universal.”
~ Michael Meade, The Water of Life

There is a metaphysical interpretation which says that the world already works for everyone – here we all are and this is our world, created out of our individual and collective consciousness. The laws relating to creation work here, so the world works for everyone – at least in potential. The problem with this view, in my opinion, is that it lacks aspiration, or a vision for making things better. Potential not actualized is useless in the present moment. In that sense, a world that works for everyone would still have problems to solve, beliefs to transform, imperfections to master.

If what our philosophy is leads only to a desire for a utopia where there is no suffering, and perhaps no discomfort, what a sad outcome that would be. It would be like the pablum of the “heaven” that I was taught as a child in Catholic school – where heaven would involve sitting on a cloud and looking at God. Can you imagine how boring that sounded to a 6- or 7-year-old? As humans we are born with potential, but that potential must be actualized, nurtured, developed.

As humans, we grow by stretching beyond our comfort zone, being challenged, being made uncomfortable, even being in pain. Paradoxically, the kinds of aspirational outcomes that we desire, and which have been realized to some extent in our societies, emerge through us as struggle. The struggles for civil rights, marriage equality, voting rights, religious tolerance, and for greater human compassion – all continue because there is an innate resistance in every human culture to progress. It must be earned; it is not given.

“Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable… Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals”
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Perhaps the best use of our wonderful New Thought philosophy is to welcome the struggles of life and to apply our practiced to bring ourselves through the discomfort to a level of mastery – not OVER the struggles, but TO the struggles. We use our struggles to grow. We invite them when we are bored or complacent. We grow as warriors toward mastery.

“The warrior’s approach is to say ‘yes’ to life: ‘yea’ to it all. Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world. We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy.”
~ Joseph Campbell, A Joseph Campbell Companion

What if the first thing to release in order for you to be a spiritual warrior is all of you “pet peeves?” Is there room in A World that Works for Everyone for complaining and irritation at the behaviors or beliefs of others? How do we arrive at a stage of development which allows true compassion to emerge? And if enough of us do arrive there, how are we to be with those who do not, or who have not yet developed?

True compassion can only come from the warrior consciousness – the willingness to related to life as it is, to confront its challenges, and enjoy its goodness. True compassion arises from our ability to accept imperfection in ourselves and the world around us and the willingness to defend what is good and wise. To battle the parts of ourselves that want to hide from this reality is the role of the healthy inner warrior. Nothing less will help to create A World that Works for Everyone.

“I adore the struggle you carry in yourself. I adore your terrifying sincerity.”
~ Anaïs Nin 

There will be more to come on this topic. As always, your comments are welcome and please share this post with others who may be interested.

Copyright 2022 – Jim Lockard

NOTE: I’ll be speaking at the Global Truth Center in Westlake Village, CA on November 13th at 10:00 am PST. Join us live or via the livestream at GlobalTruthCenter.org

YOU CAN’T BULLSHIT THE CREATIVE POWER OF THE UNIVERSE

“I’ve never seen any life transformation that didn’t begin with the person in question finally getting tired of their own bullshit.”

~ Elizabeth Gilbert

“Signs of big change are everywhere; our only choice is whether the changes will come through wisdom or through pain.”

~ Marianne Williamson

TRIGGER WARNING: The word “bullshit” is used in this post.

One of the problems with seeing the Creative Power, or God, as a being is that we think we can fool beings. We subconsciously project our own human limitations onto this idea of a being, including our ability to be tricked or fooled. This leads to all kinds of problems, from self-delusion to procrastination to spiritual bypassing. Trying to bullshit the Creative Power of the Universe by thinking your thoughts have no power is like trying to BS the air around you by holding your breath. Trying to bullshit the Creative Power of the Universe by saying “it’s all good” when you feel the opposite is a wasted effort.

Ernest Holmes said the biggest obstacle to using the Science of Mind™ successfully was a lack of self-honesty. We may be able to fool others, and even fool ourselves, but we cannot fool the Creative Power of the Universe. I think we realize this on some level, but we still too often try to bullshit our way out of problems or ignore what we should be facing. We succumb to our fears and give ourselves the false security of ignoring the truth.

We live in a universe of unlimited potential, but our ability to actualize that potential is limited by our own consciousness – what we can come to accept and believe as true. When we use prayer-treatment we are not pleading with God to change, but we are treating our own consciousness to accept a greater truth. When we do this, we become capable of actualizing more potential for good. This process requires that we be radically self-honest or we restrict our willingness to accept our good. The path to our good is often through our own darkness, our fears and false beliefs. We do not turn away from the darkness within, we work our way through it repeatedly until we come to accept that greater truth.

“When we must deal with problems, we instinctively resist trying the way that leads through obscurity and darkness. We . . . completely forget that these results can only be brought about when we have ventured into and emerged again from the darkness.”

~ C.G. Jung

Getting out of our own way is the essence of using The Science of Mind or any other philosophy of life. This means overcoming the inertia of negative thinking and belief. It means listening within to Source and not without where we are too often led to negativity. It means overcoming our own bullshit every day. When we resist self-honesty, we co-create a society based on less than the full truth.

“One of the greatest threats we face is, simply put, bullshit. We are drowning it. We are drowning in partisan rhetoric that is just true enough not to be a lie; in industry-sponsored research; in social media’s imitation of human connection; in legalese and corporate double-speak. It infects every facet of public life, corrupting our discourse, wrecking our trust in major institutions, lowering our standards for the truth, making it harder to achieve anything.”

~ Jon Lovett’s commencement address to Pitzer College

How often do we withhold the truth, or even resist seeking the truth, if it seems that doing so will not be to our advantage? How often do we deny the failings of our leaders because they are on our side of an issue? How often do we let ourselves off the hook to avoid doing something unpleasant or frightening?

All of this had led to a culture based on deception. Politicians hide the truth (or deny it) if it means the threat of political defeat. Marketers make billions of dollars convincing people to buy things they do not need or really want by creating a sense of false fear in consumers. Too many members of the clergy try to control people by threatening hell and damnation, leading to religious cultures based on the avoidance of sin rather than on the pursuit of truth, beauty, and justice.

When we wait for others to act for justice, we are seeking to trick the Universe in order to avoid confronting our own fear. We fool ourselves by thinking that maybe someone else will stand up while I make myself harder to see. We are reaping the results of such thinking today, particularly in the United States, where we are seeing the results of too much negativity, confusion, and bullshitting ourselves and one another. Lies lead to hatred and hatred can be a powerful force.

“Far more people love than hate but those who hate, hate with conviction. Conviction is a force multiplier. When haters are so convicted (sic) they’ll go to extremes to perpetrate acts of hate, it’s not enough for those of us who love to be kind-sorta-sometimes dedicated to acts of love.”

~ Marianne Williamson

When I try to bullshit the Creative Power of the Universe, whether because of my own fear or a sense that I am somehow going to trick Nature, I do nothing to that Power. I only harm myself, and perhaps others who are affected negatively by my resulting action or inaction. The Creative Power is untouched by my failings. That idea alone can give me strength.

We are called to be our best selves, to actualize as much of our infinite potential as possible in this lifetime. The Science of Mind can be a powerful tool to use in that process of self-development. Whether we use it or not is up to each of us. But let’s stop pretending that we can expect our lives to work while being anything but radically self-honest with ourselves and others.

“In the Science of Mind we do not say everything is all right when it is all wrong. We do not say peace when there is no peace, but rather we try to discover what is wrong and why we do not have peace. We do not say that people are not poor, sick, or unhappy. We ask why these things should be if the Original Cause of all things is Harmonious, Perfect, Radiant, and Happy.”

~ Ernest Holmes, Living the Science of Mind

“In the Science of Mind, we learn that persistent, constructive thought is the greatest power known and the most effective. If the visible effect in our lives is not what it should be, if we are unhappy, sick and poverty stricken, we know the remedy. The Truth is always the remedy, and the Truth is that the law of liberty is the only real law. When we reverse the process of thought, the effect will be reversed.”

~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind (1938), p. 483

Copyright 2022 – Jim Lockard

WANT UNITY? HOW DO WE GET PAST PSYCHOSCLEROSIS?

“But unity grows, and we will affirm this again, only if it is supported by an increase of consciousness, of vision.”

~ Pierre Teilhard des Chardin

“We can be deceived by believing what is untrue, but we certainly are also deceived by not believing what is true. What is more difficult—to awaken someone who is sleeping or to awaken someone who, awake, is dreaming that he is awake?”

~  Søren Kierkegaard

Oneness is the ultimate reality out of which multiplicity arises. Unity can be defined as when aspects of multiplicity come into alignment. This is a basic principle of New Thought teachings, our North Star, if you will, showing us the way forward. But we forget, or we get too fearful to realize this Truth, or we wait for the other person to change their behavior or apologize. Or we simply retreat to the apparent safety of groupthink. Or we confuse Unity with agreement.

“Feeling in consensus with one’s group, regardless of what it is, I read a decade or so, also provides a reliable dopamine buzz. One of the most important things to know about human beings.”

~ William Gibson

Right now, in the US, the political divisions have reached a crisis point, with violence occurring as a result of clashing worldviews and versions of reality. Cries for unity are rising up, which is a good sign, however, most seem attached to others changing. Given the chasm of differences on display, true unity may not be possible for some time. Just as you do not apply a bandage before cleaning a wound, you cannot declare “unity” without a truth and reconciliation process (LINK). And you cannot have a truth and reconciliation process until the stakeholders agree to participate and live by the outcome.

Unity can come from seeking that sweet spot that includes truth, accountability, justice, and reconciliation, while also realizing there will be differing worldviews in the mix. There is no real unity without these components. The United States has never been united in the sense that everyone agreed on the same version of reality. Its strength has been in political compromise, the ability to work out often imperfect agreements so that the nation could progress. For any number of reasons, that style of governance has largely passed away. We are in a period where the two major parties each seek enough power to force capitulation by their opposites, while many citizens have abandoned party affiliation altogether.

Social and traditional media have been sources of information and disinformation, accelerating a process of creating separate camps, each with their own dopamine buzz, which do not communicate, much less seek true unity. When they say they want unity, they mean capitulation of the opposition, not compromise.

There are too many cases of what I call psychosclerosis – a hardening of the attitudes, of the heart – for us to pursue unity directly in the present moment. If our beliefs are not open to question, by ourselves most of all, then we are not opened to exploring other possibilities. Usually, this is a result of fear – we are afraid because at some subconscious level, we believe that our beliefs are connected to our survival. When this occurs, others can take advantage to amplify our fears and get us to believe things which are not true. This is how conspiracy theories (LINK) take root. The deep connection to the belief being necessary for survival makes us put emotion over reason (LINK).

“I know that the experiences of unity in human relations are more compelling than the concepts, the fears, and the prejudices, which divide.  Despite the tendency to feel my race superior, my nation the greatest nation, my faith the true faith, I must break down the boundaries of my exclusiveness until my sense of separateness is completely enveloped in a sense of fellowship.”

~ Dr. Howard Thurman

The hopeful messages of Dr. Thurman and others provide a needed context in which to process our current situation. Do we continue to battle on every issue or do we find ways to engage those with different agendas in ways which humanize rather than demonize? Are we willing to be self-reflective at a deep enough level to shift our beliefs when that serves us and the greater good? And what do we do when those with different worldviews and beliefs refuse to engage productively or to be open to questioning their own beliefs?

If I am willing to do my inner exploration and questioning and you are not, what then am I to do? Does that make my possibility for peace of mind and joy dependent upon you? We know this is not so, but how to understand this principle deeply enough to release ourselves from the false hope of outer dependence? I think that Joseph Campbell has an answer.

“Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world. …The field of time is the field of sorrow. ‘All life is sorrowful.’ And it is. If you try to correct the sorrows, all you do is shift them somewhere else. Life is sorrowful. How do you live with that? You realize the eternal within yourself. You disengage, and yet, reengage. You—and here’s the beautiful formula—’participate with joy in the sorrows of the world.’ You play the game. It hurts, but you know that you have found the place that is transcendent of injury and fulfillments. You are there, and that’s it.”

~ Joseph Campbell

I can live in joy whatever is going on in the world around me. This does not mean that I do not care, nor does it mean that I do not seek to contribute to a better world. What is does mean is that I can practice nonattachment to that which I cannot control. This is a basic idea of Buddhism – and it is also a basic idea of New Thought. My good is not dependent upon any person, place, or thing. My good is only realized from within.

When we forget this important principle, we may use spirituality as an excuse to deny or turn away from our fears. We say that if something or someone isn’t truly “spiritual” we will have nothing to do with it. This bypassing leads us away from personal growth and into a false sense of self-protection. Our refusal to speak out is itself a statement.

What we are called to do is to say “YES” to whatever is in front of us – to own what comes into our lives by right of consciousness. But we are not tied to the outcome in the sense that it in any way defines us. We learn our teaching, practice it diligently, do our best, practice nonattachment, and live with joy in the knowledge that we are in alignment with our inner Power. To expect the outer world to conform to our own intentions in the form of others accepting our view of things is both hopeless and a form of spiritual arrogance. And that arrogance arises because we are in fear that we are inadequate. Living joyfully in the sorrows of the world means that we know that we are adequate – but saving the world or saving others are not ours to do.

“So, what is enlightenment? How about coming down from that mountain and putting your unity consciousness to the test amidst mortgage payments and credit card debt, divorce lawyers and aging parents, nasty bosses and health problems, wars and poverty? Such conditions, as the alchemist knows, burn away the dross to reveal who we are not. Yes, in the midst of the madness we awaken, grow comfortable with our dualistic nature and develop mystical stamina so that we can handle our sobriety. Illusions are like drugs and enlightenment is like rehab.”

~ Natasha Dern

At the moment, many of us are called to put our unity consciousness to the test in meeting others with different beliefs, ideologies, and information. They may exist in a spectrum from family members to national politicians. They are often perceived as intransigent, belligerent, even crazy. They may show no signs of being willing to look at their own beliefs even as they decry ours. The key for us is to remember who we are, remember out teaching and its principles, and to act from the deep realization that unity does exist, but like all things, it can only actualize by means of the consciousness present. In the meanwhile, let the words of Dr. Holmes guide you.

“My feelings cannot be hurt. No one wishes to harm me, and there is nothing in me that can believe in any separation from the All Good. I perceive that I am free from all people, and I cannot be harmed nor mistreated. I have such a sense of unity with all that the circle is complete and perfect. I am filled with joy and love, forever.”

~ Ernest Holmes

Copyright 2021 – Jim Lockard

ARE NEW THOUGHT PRINCIPLES HOLDING US BACK – OR ARE WE USING THEM TOO SPARINGLY?

THERE IS A SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT AT THE END OF THIS POST!

“If you live in a world where you are constantly replaying the past, you can never imagine a world that has not yet existed.”

~ Adam Curtis

In my last post (LINK) I described how a return to some of the basic principles and practices of New Thought can be very helpful in dealing with the pressure, stress, and frustration of the issues facing us. In this post, I suggest that if we are to transcend the challenges we face, we may have to take those principles and practices to a deeper level.

With all that is happening now – the pandemic, growing unemployment, Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests, the conflicted mess of US politics with a coming election, and the elephant in the room: Climate Crisis looming and still getting worse. We are in a time of VUCA challenges – Volatility – Uncertainty – Complexity – Ambiguity.

We are experiencing high amounts of stress. Michelle Obama announced that she is suffering from “low grade depression” (LINK) as a result of all that is happening in the US. As a demonstration of how things are in US society, she is immediately supported by liberals and vilified by conservatives. Such is our current reality.

The disastrous US national response to the COVID-19 pandemic is just one example of the results of electing people to office who lack the capacity for truly complex thinking and for compassion. The rising up of many in protest speaks to a desire to heal the nation – but then many get caught up in fear-based responses. Can you envision Moses, returning from Mount Sinai with the tablets, coming upon a scene such as the one currently playing out in the United States?

 

Imagine instead if this were how we collectively approached electing leaders:

“More important than any other quality in our politicians we must demand psychological illumination, psychological awareness, because otherwise we get people sparring with their own shadows. Otherwise you’ll get nations, as we had in 1939, like the Germans projecting their shadows onto the Jews, and then when they were eliminating the Jews, onto the Poles and God knows what else.”

~Sir Laurens van der Post, Matter of Heart

One might think that the application of New Thought principles would lead to a clear voice for the kind of leadership mentioned above. However, within our New Thought community, I am seeing a lot of “stress fractures” among some folks on social media and at centers where I have guest spoken and done Q&A – a broad acceptance of conspiracy theories by some, a withdrawal from anything “negative” by others. On the positive side, we are also seeing many who seek some clarification/revision of NT principles to allow for a recognition of a kind of “victimhood” for oppressed people. None of this is particularly surprising, given the confluence of the pandemic with BLM and the woke/cancel culture movements. And it is necessary to acknowledge the oppression and harm that so many have suffered in our society. Without that acceptance, we will not be able to move toward healing, reconciliation, and true equality and inclusion.

What I see lacking in the moment are a sufficient number of leadership voices helping people through these perplexing times – finding ways to reinforce the basic principles of the Science of Mind and other NT teachings, while adding some nuances is increasingly important, I think. In these complex times, a simplistic grasp of Principle is inadequate. For some, ideas such as “it is all consciousness” and “you create your own reality” seem to include the false belief that this means a level playing field – that everyone is in an equal place when they become aware of how to think in more powerful, positive, and effective ways. Such thinking ignores the lived experiences of people. It also carries with it a sense of supremacy (white/male/straight) and privilege with the accompanying conscious and unconscious biases leading to vastly inaccurate assumptions.

“. . .And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the negro poor has worsened over the last twelve or fifteen years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice and humanity.”

~ Martin Luther King, Jr. 

The fact that this 40-year-old statement by Dr. King is still valid, that the progress sought is still largely unrealized, speaks to the resistance of white culture to putting the necessary effort into bringing about justice and humanity for all. And this failure is not limited to those outside of the New Thought movement. Our members who are of color have not experienced a full sense of inclusion historically. While we may be more open to exploring this issue than some others, we have much work to do, both within our spiritual communities, and without in the larger communities where we live and work.

“Our spirituality should not infantilize us or make us whitewash evil. Spiritual seekers should be the biggest grownups in the room.”

~ Marianne Williamson

What is required as complexity increases and the responses from those unready or unwilling to adapt become more destructive, is an increase in emotional and spiritual intelligence (EQ – LINK) (SQ – LINK). This means developing our capacities to accept uncertainty, paradox, mystery, while staying grounded in the ability to act in the world around us. It means finding the inner strength to withstand the pressure and stress of living in this moment. It means increasing our abilities of (Discernment – LINK) so as to find the grains of truth in the onslaught of information and false claims coming at us every day – from advertising, to political punditry, to conspiracy theories.

“The bigger the context in which you can see your own life, the more informed your choices and actions are.”

~ Cindy Wigglesworth

Expecting the same level of consciousness with which you manifested a promotion, or a better car, or healed a minor illness to be adequate to what humanity collectively faces now is naïve at best. I call that “first plateau consciousness,” the level that many students of New Thought reach after a year or so of study and practice. It is a definite improvement over “ordinary consciousness,” when you don’t know how powerful thought can be, but a higher level of realization is needed today. We need to break free of the deeper limiting believes in our subconscious – the ones which are generally untouched by first plateau consciousness.

This is why unconscious biases including racism, sexism, ageism, and gender and sexual identity biases can continue to exist in our spiritual communities. These things tend to be beneath the awareness of those who hold them but are painfully obvious to the targets of these biases. Anything within your subconscious of which you are ashamed is very unlikely to be healed by first plateau consciousness.

“Nature will not let us stay in any one place too long.  She will let us stay just long enough to gather the experience necessary to the unfolding and advancing of the soul.  This is a wise provision, for should we stay here too long, we would become too set, too rigid, too inflexible.  Nature demands the change in order that we should advance.  When the change comes, we should welcome it with a smile on the lips and a song in the heart.”

~ Ernest Holmes

Higher levels exist, and your soul is yearning to experience them. These levels include growth in EQ & SQ along with deeper spiritual and self-realization. But they require deep personal work, which is always uncomfortable and often very painful. This is not the kind of thing that is healed in a weekend seminar or a short class, and certainly not in a single Zoom call. Higher consciousness requires commitment, diligent work and spiritual practices, and at least one, but more likely several guides who have traveled the pathway ahead of you.

We are called to rise up today. Before we can properly and effectively rise up in the world, we must first rise up within ourselves. We were born with everything we need, every shred of potential lies within us, much of it unrealized. It is time to rise up and realize more and more of that potential so that we can each give our unique gifts to co-create for all of humanity #AWorldThatWorksForEveryone.

You are needed.

You are essential.

You are ready to rise up.

And it is all within you.

To answer the question in the title of this post, our principles can never hold us back. They are timeless and limitless. What is holding us back is our resistance to going deeper, to delving into the discomfort of our repressed selves, creating a path to healing and to allowing our inner wisdom to come to the surface so that we can apply it for ourselves and for all of humanity.

“Real emergencies surface people with real leadership capacity. It is possible to become more clear, present, focused, and capable as the stress rises. If you are centered and clear, then act. If you are anxious, frantic, overwhelmed, or unclear…take a break and center yourself. Come back to action when you are clear and ready to act effectively.”

~ Daniel Schmachtenberger

 As always, your comments are welcomed in the comments section. Please feel free to share this post with others.

Copyright 2020 – Jim Lockard

A SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:

Once again I will be offering my Metaphysical Psychology course to a limited number of students for the coming year.

If you are interested, the email is below.

HERE AND NOW – REMEMBER THE BASICS

Americans are dying

We cannot travel anywhere

Our infection rate is catastrophic

We have no coordination among states or our federal government. 

We are isolated. 

We are sick. 

We are the laughing stock of other countries. 

We are broken. 

This did not have to happen.

@SarahBCalif

I have not written a post for a while.

Like many, if not all, of you, I have been trying to process what is happening in the world currently, especially in the United States. As the words above illustrate, we are in a time of major challenges across a wide spectrum, from the pandemic, lockdown, and its health crisis; to the protests and government response; to rising warnings about climate change and ecosystem collapse – all subject to being misrepresented for ideological and economic reasons. Add the degree of political conflict and the ongoing issues of racism, sexism, gender bias, and classism to the list and you can see how this is both the result and secondary cause of a growing mental health crisis – with more and more people seeking solace in conspiracy theories and acting out in sometimes violent anti-social ways. Add to these things a Federal government which has no idea how to encourage higher social and cultural development while actually working to make some things worse.

One reason why I have not written a post for longer than usual is that I keep seeking some “bigger” wisdom: something more appropriate for these times. I do not want to retreat into platitudes or “feel-good” spirituality, because those seem somehow inadequate for the moment. As I write these words, my inner voice speaks up and gently reminds me that there is no big or small in Spirit. And, of course, that is true.

“There is One Mind, that Mind is God. That Mind is your Mind now. This Mind is always inspired with Confidence. It has no fears, no doubts, no uncertainties. God in you leads, directs and governs you at all times. The Spirit is never hurried, never worried, never afraid. Infinite happiness and Joy belong to the eternal Spirit in which you move and have your Being.”

~ Ernest Holmes audio recording on Confidence

We are clearly in a time of great upheaval, a turbulent time of change for human societies. When added to the challenges of everyday life, it can seem to be insurmountable. Big can seem very big, indeed.

“There is a longing that burns at the root of spiritual practice. This is the fire that fuels your journey. The romantic suffering you pretend to have grown out of, that remains coiled like a serpent beneath the veneer of maturity. You have studied the sacred texts. You know that separation from your divine source is an illusion. You subscribe to the philosophy that there is nowhere to go and nothing to attain, because you are already there and you already possess it.
But what about this yearning? What about the way a poem by Rilke or Rumi breaks open your heart and triggers a sorrow that could consume you if you gave in to it? You’re pretty sure this is not a matter of mere psychology. It has little to do with unresolved issues of childhood abandonment, or codependent tendencies to falsely place the source of your wholeness outside yourself. The longing is your recognition of the deepest truth that God is love and that this is all you want. Every lesser desire melts when it comes near that flame.”

~ Mirabai Starr, “Longing for the Beloved”

There is much soul-yearning today. Some yearn to return to an earlier way of being where there is more peace or certainty (or at least the illusion of these things). Many seek to break free of the restrictions and unfairness of the current social order, wanting to create a more equitable and sustainable society. While this may seem like it ought to be a straightforward process, it is happening in a time of information overload, siloed media, increasing complexity, and serious imminent threats to our ways of living. The pathway of cultural evolution becomes more complex and as a result, people grow angrier and more frustrated. There is clearly a significant mental and emotional health crisis happening. This has led to many of our current challenges, and, sadly, has all-too-often defined our reactions and responses to them.

“As bad as this virus is and as invasive as it has proven to be, what it’s exposed about us is far worse. It’s going to be a long haul to get well.”

~ John Pavlovitz (LINK)

So how are we to respond? Social media, which I do engage in, is increasingly frustrating. I feel like I want to keep reminding people to have a sense of compassion, and a sense of humor, while trying not to be triggered by some of the posts, tweets, memes, etc. We are in a time of too much information from too many sources for us to adequately comprehend and evaluate, making discernment (which is essential) increasingly more difficult. I will not withdraw, but I recognize the need to amplify my spiritual practices so as to be more available an empowered.

In my confusion I seek clarity, in my fear I seek courage, in my anger I seek calm, in my insecurity I seek strength. In all of these, I seek the realization of Spirit As Me in each unfolding moment. I seek to know the Oneness we share as I see others who are not being their best selves. Where I see injustice, I seek to bring a consciousness of justice, compassion, and equality.

I do these things though attention, intention, practice, forgiveness, and gratitude. For me this is taking more time, focus, and effort than usual. There is a wide spectrum of challenges, many of them with great depth, and I must attain and maintain a sense of equanimity so that I will come to know clearly what is mine to do (What Is #MineToDo – LINK).

As always, it begins within – how am I seeing myself, who am I being during all of this? And does that compare with who I would prefer to be? Spiritual practices are about our being nature – becoming the kind of person who naturally behaves as we would aspire to behave. BEING compassionate makes acting with compassion automatic. BEING forgiving makes forgiveness automatic. And so on.

There are no “Five Steps to a Perfect Society” available to us. We must each do our own inner work and then seek to contribute to the greater good, each in our own way as one among many. All the while, we need to avoid being drawn into the fear and negativity of those who are wounded, lost, and angry to the degree that they are incapable of being present. They may not be available to help right now and arguing with them does no one any good. I suggest taking another path. We need to be firm in our intentions and actions without losing an inner tenderness.

Affirmation: I stand strong in my deepening awareness and authenticity. I stand clear of those who are unable to contribute positively right now. I say YES to the unfolding realization of Spirit as me and I seek connection with others who share this pathway of awakening. I support justice, equality, fairness, and compassion. I bring these qualities with me wherever I am. I stand firm, but with an open heart.

Here’s a thought. Go to your bookshelves and pick up an inspirational book that you have not read in a few years. Read some of it. I think you will find that you have known what to do to BE your best self for some time. Today’s work is to realize this essential truth. These are times when it’s good to review the basics.

“The great need of our time is for people to be connected to spirit.”

~ Harold Stone

Finally, here is a list of positive ideas for the upcoming election and the ongoing “election season” to help us to stay clear, centered, and focused.

 As always, your comments are welcomed!

Copyright 2020 – Jim Lockard

 

ANNOUNCEMENT: CSLGeneva Global Connection Conference –

SAVE THE DATES!

DEFUNDING THE POLICE AS A COMPASSIONATE ACT

“To get through this time, you need foresight and the ability to envision the worst outcomes. People mistake that for pessimism but it’s really compassionate realism. The reason to envision it is to avoid it, to create contingency plans.”

~ Sarah Kendzior, @gaslitnation

“Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world…would do this, it would change the earth.”

~ William Faulkner

Compassion is a big topic. I have blogged about it a number of times (LINK). This post will contain some specifics addressing the current issues in the United States. For my international readers, you will find some things applicable to your local issues as well, for compassion is in short supply worldwide. The quotes throughout the post can all be applied generally.

The focus here will be the idea of #DefundThePolice which has become an intentional catchphrase, particularly since the murder by the police of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The idea of defunding the police, if taken to its extreme, seems impossible, foolish, or an idea whose time has come, depending on your point of view. There are any number of definitions of what this means (LINK to chart) (LINK to article by former police officer), but I think that the most common is to take some money out of police budgets and refund many social service programs which have been defunded over the past few decades while making significant reforms in how the United States is policed.

As some of you know, before becoming a minister, I worked in law enforcement for 24 years. I saw much that I was proud of and much that I was not proud of during that time. I have no doubt that massive reform of policing is needed, particularly relating to the massive militarization of police culture which has expanded since 9/11 and which effectively sits atop a racist/sexist/classist culture within police agencies. Part of that reform must also be to recognize that the police are part of larger systems, including criminal justice, political, and societal systems. Therefore, changing the police culture is made more difficult unless we also work to change the culture of the larger systems to which police departments must answer, and with whom they must work.

I am sure that there will be many conversations, committees, task forces, and the like addressing the generalities and specifics of this issue. What I believe to be critical in these many processes is the recognition that what we are seeking is a compassionate society and the policies, practices, and politics required to create and maintain such a society. This, to me, is the “more perfect union” to which the US Constitution aspires as a living document.

“Compassion asks us to go where it hurts, to enter into places of pain, to share in brokenness, fear, confusion, and anguish. Compassion challenges us to cry out with those in misery, to mourn with those who are lonely, to weep with those in tears. Compassion requires us to be weak with the weak, vulnerable with the vulnerable, and powerless with the powerless. Compassion means full immersion in the condition of being human.”

~ Henri J.M. Nouwen

Compassion is the highest possible human calling – it is the achievement of a true recognition of empathy and Oneness, divine within and divine without. It goes beyond sympathy to something much deeper and more profound. It is not easy to be compassionate due to our fear-based conditioning; our police forces as currently constituted are testament to this pervasive fear and its dominance in our society.

From Deep Change, Inc. – DeepChange.com

“You have to do the work to develop real empathy. There’s a cost to evolving: if you want your soul to cross the line, there’s no way around emotional work. Face that deep pain, and you gain tremendous compassion for yourself. You feel compassion for those who have hurt you because they were hurt themselves. To really make yourself available to consciously create a new future, you have to do that work.”

~ Rev. Bruce Sanguin

For many of us, compassion is aspirational – something we may strive to achieve, but feel is beyond us. Actually, compassion is within each of us as a natural human potential. It is a developmental step toward the best version of ourselves. It is a realization of true spiritual warriorship.

 “A peaceful warrior sheds the self-importance of ego and focuses on serving others with love, compassion, kindness and understanding for all.”

~ Puck Arks on Twitter

“May this suffering serve to awaken compassion.”

~ A traditional prayer to Kwan Yin, Bodhisattva of Compassion

Our compassion emerges within us when we have done the work and had the experiences to ready ourselves for it. It is beyond a consciousness of separation, of us vs. them. It is built upon a foundation of true empathy for yourself and for others. It is wanting the best for all and being willing so see through the actions of the fearful to their true nature.

The reality is brutal cops have very likely been brutalized themselves, or they have been shattered by the human misery they have encountered in their work. Unable to cope with this, it becomes shadow and compensatory behaviors are expressed so that the fear can remain hidden. Civilians become “them” and are treated accordingly. There are few departments with effective psychological support services, and police reward systems value numbers over quality; complaints against officers are expected and often covered up. Add to that a systemic culture which denies any other types of response to be valid and you have a recipe for disaster.

“Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It’s a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.”

~ Pema Chödrön

Over time, many social service agencies and programs have had drastic budget cuts or been eliminated altogether. Much of their work has fallen to police, who are neither trained for this kind of work nor inclined to do it. Most Defund the Police programs would transfer funds from police budgets for this kind of work to be handled by people trained to do it. This would be a compassionate response – including for the police, who are asked to do far too much in our society. There must be significant interim changes in policing, but large scale cultural change will take time and goes well beyond the police station.

If extraneous and improper duties are removed, then police can concentrate on what they are trained and inclined to do, but they will have to do much of it differently. What the current zeitgeist is calling for is transformational change in law enforcement and beyond – the demilitarization of policing is a start, and the recruiting, selection, training, and ongoing support systems in law enforcement need to be transformed as well.

“Righteousness goes beyond justice. Justice is strict and exact, giving each person his due. Righteousness implies benevolence, kindness, generosity…. Justice may be legal; righteousness is associated with a burning compassion for the oppressed.”

~ Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel

We cannot really expect police as a culture to have respect for this king of righteousness until their support and evaluation systems expect and demand it. When I was in law enforcement, I never heard a politician (to whom police chiefs, hence police, answer) say anything off-camera except to be more forceful in controlling “criminal elements.” That almost always meant non-white people, which was often made clear. The key to getting ahead was to have good statistics without too many use-of-force complaints, and not getting on the news in an unflattering way. Taking extra time and effort to help someone usually cost you in your evaluations.

“The principal of compassion is that which converts disillusionment into a participatory companionship. This is the basic love, the charity, that turns a critic into a human being who has something to give to – as well as to demand of – the world.”

~ Joseph Campbell, Pathways to Bliss

“When we know ourselves to be connected to all others, acting compassionately is simply the natural thing to do,”

~ Rachel Naomi Remen

Many, if not most, of my friends in law enforcement see encouraging compassion as a fool’s errand or worse. Their worldview often sees places where they work as jungles in which they have to survive. They see police leadership as being beholden to politicians and the media, and they have nothing but disdain for the media and most politicians. They smirk their way through various kinds of cultural sensitivity training and see “street justice” as the only kind most criminals will get. Within the cocoon of the police culture, which is tribal and family-like, they get nothing but support for these views.

Management guru Peter F. Drucker once wrote: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” You can substitute training for strategy as well. Most organizational cultures are very difficult to change – in ministry among those of us who do that kind of work, we believe that it takes at least five years to implement culture change if there is agreement to make the changes. Where such agreement is lacking, it will take much longer. This issue of cultural intransigence exists at multiple levels in our society, and the police are one spoke on the wheel of public institutions and services. True change must come from the hub and work its way outward. In other words, true cultural change has to be systemic, have significant agreement as to goals and methods, and it will take time to implement. Even though that may seem daunting, it is worthwhile. And I submit that compassion must be a core value at the center of the hub of the wheel.

Compassion serves all constituencies, all communities, and the police themselves. Only a transformed way of viewing our society will lead to the array of public services which truly serves everyone and provides for a peaceful and sustainable way of living together.

Until we expand our capacity for compassion, we will continue to be in conflict and separation. Each of us is called to do our inner work to develop our compassionate hearts so that we can collectively do the outer work of creating a world where justice is realized and everyone has the opportunity to thrive. We are called to create #AWorldThatWorksForEveryone and to build #TheBelovedCommunity together.

‎”Having compassion does not mean indiscriminately accepting or going along with others’ actions regardless of the consequences to ourselves or the world. It is about being able to say ‘no’ where we need to without putting the other out of our hearts, without making the other less of a fellow human being. There is a difference between discerning and sometimes even opposing harmful behavior and making the other wrong – less than we are, less a part of that presence that is greater than ourselves- in our own minds and hearts.”

~ Oriah Mountain Dreamer

 As always, your comments are appreciated and please share this post with others who may be interested. I know that this post is in no way a complete appraisal of the situations which currently exist and continue to unfold. I simply wanted to place the concept of compassion into the cauldron of alchemical elements from which we are co-creating our way forward.

Copyright 2020- Jim Lockard

TURNING THE TIDE ON RACISM

“Dear White Progressives, Liberals, and Moderates—especially faith communities, Don’t be cowards. Speak explicitly/directly into institutional racism, systemic injustices, white privilege, and against the dehumanizing/senseless murders of black people. Silence is participation.”

~ John Pavlovitz (LINK)

“The violence of racism is that it makes you believe that you have to be someone other than yourself in order to be loved.”

~ Clint Smith

Here we are again – actually, here we are still – seemingly eternally – in the throes of racial injustice in the United States. The sadness, anger, bewilderment, and grieving continue and expand. Perhaps we had set racism to the side so that we could deal with the coronavirus or with our divisive politics, but here it is again, right in our faces. The flashpoints this time – Central Park (again – LINK) and Minneapolis – points of drama in the continuing story of racism in the US, a non-stop parade of outrageous behaviors.

Already the usual comments are coming forth from all sides (yes, there are many sides to this seemingly straightforward issue) as we repeat the patterns from the last time and the many times before that. The repeating of patterns – a period of arousal followed by settling back into quietude (for most), hoping that this time it will be different – is what an addictive process looks like. It is what happens in families, communities, nations ignore a problem until you can’t any longer, then follow your personal pattern of outrage or retreat, wait a while, then settle back into ignoring it again as you hope that “someone” does “something.” In personal relationship, this is what is called codependency (LINK). This is a form of withdrawal.

We hear that our racism is “systemic” a lot, which it is, but I wonder how many people fully grasp what that means. It means that racism is an integral part of our societal systems, that our society as it is constructed cannot operate without racism (LINK). Has it ever? What would make you think that this integral part of our society would simply fade and vanish? It is interwoven into our culture like the different threads on a loom – pull one out and the whole fabric dissembles. Eliminating something integral means taking the whole system apart and reweaving it with something different replacing what was removed. Not a simple task. It requires the opposite of withdrawal – which is engagement.

“In modern America we believe racism to be the property of the uniquely villainous and morally deformed, the ideology of trolls, gorgons and orcs. We believe this even when we are actually being racist.”

~ Ta-Nehise Coates: The Good, Racist People

Until we are able to see this systemic issue for what it is, we will remain in this loop of upset and ignorance and continue a destructive pattern of withdrawal. Racism is like a cancer which has metastasized but it felt in only one part of the body. The entire body is affected, but if we focus only on where it hurts, ignoring the rest of the disease, we will never heal. My experience of racism has been through the eyes of others – minorities whom I have know or read about or whose books I have read – I have never had an experience of racism directed AT ME. I do not know what that experience is, but I can imagine few things worse.

And there are many, many ways which racism affects people which I might never even notice as they are so embedded in a societal system which benefits me as a straight white male. I used to make the mistake, out of ignorance, of thinking that racism was about overt acts done by mean people; but it is much more than that, often blending in with what appears to be kindness and openness.

“When you believe niceness disproves the presence of racism, it’s easy to start believing bigotry is rare, and that the label racist should be applied only to mean-spirited, intentional acts of discrimination. The problem with this framework – besides being a gross misunderstanding of how racism operates in systems and structures enabled by nice people – is that it obligates me to be nice in return, rather than truthful. I am expected to come closer to the racists. Be nicer to them. Coddle them.”

~ Austin Channing Brown

Calling for increased kindness speaks neither to the oppressed nor the oppressor. Neither sees kindness as a pathway to their goals. Being an example of kindness is another matter. Developing the inner strength to be consistently kind, even in the face of contempt, is a worthy ambition, even a necessary one. Can I be “prayed up” enough to be kind wherever possible AND to stand up to bigotry and injustice when I see it? Can I speak for the oppressed, speak truth to power, speak to those who commit unjust acts firmly, assertively, but with love in my heart?

And how to deal with my anger? In my case, my anger is mostly relating to shame and to impotence. What can I do to make a difference? I am an old white man living in Europe. I did not do all that I could have to foster anti-racism in my life – in some cases, sadly, I did quite the opposite. My anger is different than the anger of a black person in the US, or a queer person, or any other person whose identity is outside the power position that I happen to occupy for no other reason than my identity at birth.

“Anger is a necessary, appropriate, and useful response to this kind of injustice. It is the beginning of social critique and helps us protect the appropriate boundaries for ourselves and others. Yet anger can be dangerous, too. When it hangs around too long, it becomes self-defeating and egocentric. Then it distorts the message it came to offer us. We can become so intent on pointing out problems that we are never actually willing to be part of the solution. As I like to say, the best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better, not more criticism! The question of true conversion and solidarity is, ‘how can I work through my anger and get to the other side, so I can be a life-giving presence with and for those who are most suffering?’  For oppressed communities, however, anger can be a form of survival, a necessary stage on the path towards healing. Listening to such anger with compassionate friendship can itself be a form of solidarity.”

~ Richard Rohr

I will continue to be a voice for justice, for love, for unity, and for compassion in my way. I pray today for the residents and the police of Minneapolis and for the people involved in the Central Park incident. I pray for us all.

I trust that you will find your role to play in the healing of our society in the unfolding and evolving human story. Begin with prayer and move outward to action.

May peace prevail on earth. May we, together, build #TheBelovedCommunity

“Prayer doesn’t change things for us, it changes us for things.”

~ Norman Vincent Peale

“(One’s) mind should swing from inspiration to action, from contemplation to accomplishment, from prayer to performance.”

~ Ernest Holmes

 

Copyright 2020 – Jim Lockard

SPIRAL AWARENESS IS IMPORTANT WHEN ENCOURAGING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION – PART 2

LINK TO PART 1

While there are clearly serious problems in our society, our organizations, our schools, and our families with racism, sexism, and other forms of bigotry and violence, it is often unclear how to approach making positive changes in the systems so infected.

Spiral Dynamics™ (LINK) shows us that human development moves through stages of complexity and values systems which are called Levels of Existence. These are the effects of a larger dynamic which is unfolding calling higher stages of development forth from within human beings in response to increasingly complex Living Conditions. As more complexity emerges within individuals and groups in response to an increasingly complex world around them, new values systems emerge in ways that we are coming to understand.

When some people evolve to more complex levels while others do not, or when people with different levels of complexity move into communities, a natural sort of disharmony results. This disharmony may involve appearance or background, but it will also involve a clash of values systems. You can probably see this in your own family – some who have what are considered “old fashioned” values, while others have evolved to more open and complex values.

Of the values systems described by the Spiral Dynamics Model, the Green stage or Level of Existence (LINK) (LINK) is the most relevant to our current discussion in New Thought. Green is a very complex level of thinking, one capable of systems thinking, and is a communal, feelings-driven values system. Those centered at Green value egalitarianism, consensus, cooperation, and believe that no one should be made to feel inferior. At Green, one sees no value in competition, labeling, ranking, or otherwise putting people and things into artificial categories.

Those centered at Green tend to favor interfaith initiatives, have a global viewpoint, and support sustainable practices in all areas of life. Green is communal and is often unbound by dogma – but not always. Sometimes in order to gain support for what it believes in, those at Green can be dogmatic, insisting that certain speech or behaviors are or should be forbidden or required. This is usually in the name of acceptance of those who have been marginalized, oppressed, or worse by previous values systems.

The Civil and Women’s Rights Movements were born at the Green Level of Existence. So was the Ecology Movement, and many others. Movements which arose from a values system which is complex enough to understand systems thinking, and which places a high value on egalitarianism, diversity, and accountability arise regularly from Green. Diversity and Inclusion programs are no different in this regard. The Green Level of Existence sees all people as equally valued, valid, and places a high premium on every voice being heard. In this regard, Green is a very positive force for good, seeking to heal the sins of earlier values systems and to create a world which is more equal for all.

In these movements, organizations, and initiatives developed at the Green level with the highest of intentions, sometimes there are excesses and unhealthy elements. Many at Green are unaware of the entire Spiral and, like all Levels of Existence in what is termed the 1^st Tier (Two tiers are believed to exist (LINK)), Green can simply see those centered at other levels on the Spiral as ignorant, wrong, or evil. From this viewpoint, Green can approach others by making them wrong, or, by insisting on a degree of complexity of thought to which those lower on the spiral have not yet evolved. And when complexity meets dogmatic thinking, the dogma often proves to be unshakeable.

Terms and concepts such as white privilege or gender fluidity tend to have a high resonance at Green, but do not resonate positively among those centered at lower Levels of Existence on the spiral. While individuals, particularly those who are white and male at Blue or Orange may be open to diversity on a personal level, they often see general diversity programs as intrusive and unfair. Part of this has to do with values, and part has to do with complexity – both white privilege and gender fluidity are complex concepts with lots of factors. Those thinking at less complex levels than Green will have some difficulty grasping these complexities.

If we define privilege as not having your race, ethnicity, gender, or orientation be a barrier to opportunities in your life, then it takes away the sense that privilege means unusual success or celebrity. Green will understand this relatively easily, but not so much those below Green on the spiral. Complexity enters the picture when you have some members of oppressed groups achieve high levels of success and make lots of money while some members of groups identified as having privilege are homeless or otherwise struggling.

Those centered Blue and below will have a hard time with the concept that privilege is an absolute (which is a necessary component of their values system) when such disparities exist. And then, when one explains the reasons for the disparities, it gets even more complicated. And those at Orange, particularly white people who are individualistic, achievement-oriented, and value rationality will not really be that invested in the issue – Orange values tend to focus on individual achievement and competition. They will give concepts like diversity and inclusion lip service if it helps the bottom line but tend to have difficulty accepting that the playing field is not level in terms of opportunity.

“The very term (white privilege) is to me hypocritical: discrimination against women happens when they are seen for their gender over their humanity, racism happens by way of a person seeing skin color before humanity. The term ‘white privilege’, no matter how much evidence one might pile onto the concept, cannot escape the same fallacy it is supposed to be challenging. When we focus on his skin color and gender, instead of having a practical conversation with him, I cannot see how it will do anything except make it worse.”

~ Comment on the Spiral Dynamics FB Page

This quote demonstrates a response which those who are developing and presenting diversity and inclusion programs need to consider – it is a values resistance to the idea, but also an issue of complexity of thinking. The idea that white privilege is a given to be accepted is a value is not easily accepted at levels below Green on the spiral. The idea presented in the quote – to speak to desirable behaviors and attitudes – may well resonate more positively with an audience made up of people at several Levels of Existence on the spiral.

This is similarly reflected in the following quote:

“It turns out that while progressive activists tend to think that only hate speech is a problem, and devoted conservatives tend to think that only political correctness is a problem, a clear majority of all Americans holds a more nuanced point of view: They abhor racism. But they don’t think that the way we now practice political correctness represents a promising way to overcome racial injustice.”

~ Yascha Mounk in The Atlantic

The article in The Atlantic Monthly (LINK) describes a study of attitudes in the US to political correctness. In the quote above, you might recognize the viewpoint about hate speech as coming mainly from the Green level and the viewpoint on political correctness as coming primarily from the Blue level, and the more nuanced view as coming from the Orange and Yellow levels. There is a strong relationship between where people are currently centered on the spiral and how they view these issues.

While every level on the spiral has its version of political correctness, the type in the forefront today arises from the Green Level of Existence. It includes many constructs, but those relating to how people who have experienced oppression or discrimination are in the forefront at the moment. For example, certain kinds of jokes based on ethnicity or race, or which are seen as sexist, are increasingly forbidden. Those at Green would tend to say, “with very good reason.” Those at levels other than Green would tend to disagree – not necessarily with the intention behind it, but with the way it is enforced (seen as political correctness). When not recognized by those at Green, this disconnect can lead to additional resistance to well-meaning and culturally positive efforts to promote kindness and better treatment of our fellow human beings.

In Part 3 of the series, I will describe my ideas for effectively communicating challenging and difficult concepts so that they have a better chance of being heard.

 “The political winds may howl above me, scattering people like leaves in a storm, but I will hold fast to the common ground, the wisdom that once formed us. Difference is not a crime. Diversity is not a threat. Disagreement is not a failure. Community requires of me what it requires of others: a commitment to share in the process of justice. There are no expendable human beings in that process, only a sacrifice of privilege. For the sake of the many, I will not stop caring for the few.”

~ Bishop Steven Charleston

 

Copyright 2018 – Jim Lockard