A Bit of Background

When I was a kid, I remember having to memorize certain writings that the adults deemed important but in my young mind they held little or no meaning. Through the years, writings such as Lincoln’s Gettysburg address and the preamble to the U.S. Constitution have grown in their significance.

Recently words from the US Declaration of Independence have been coming to mind. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

The statement is truly beautiful and shows that the writers were highly enlightened and inspired.

To me, some of the key points the founding fathers were making here are the following:

• Certain things just are the way they are;
• One of those things that just is, is that all humans are equal;
• Another one is this – no matter how you think humanity came about, each one of us by the very nature that we exist has rights;
• That the rights we all “just have” are these – life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness;
• That humanity creates governments to ensure we maintain these rights;
• But governments get their power by way of each person granting the power to it;
• And when government stops ensuring we have these rights, then we need to abolish the government or change it.

After winning our independence, the founding fathers met to create a Constitution for our new government. Some argued that the new Constitution should contain a detailed statement of the rights of all the citizens – basically, an explanation of what it means to have life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Others did not want this kind of stuff in the Constitution. History tells us that the only way the Constitution was ratified by all the states was by way of a compromise where there was an agreement that the first amendment to the Constitution would be a “Bill of Rights”. This compromise allowed the Constitution to be passed over what would’ve been the objection of those who felt it had to contain such a statement from the outset. It’s ironic to me that there are some now in the political arena who believe that compromise is a dirty word when our whole Constitution came about through compromise.

After ratification, we established in the first 10 amendments of the Constitution our “Bill of Rights”. They were intended to limit the power of government so as to protect our natural rights but they were expanded to also include rights around “property”. Originally, these rights only extended to white males who owned land. Over time and through further amendments, these rights were extended to others. There is much good in this Bill of Rights, but they are also product of their historical time.

It’s my belief that a human Bill of Rights would transcend but include the essential elements from the American Bill of Rights.

In 1948, the United Nations crafted a Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It too, is a beautiful document with much good in it. If you’re not familiar with it, click here to read a copy. One of the first things you’ll note is its length. There are 30 articles.

It’s my belief that a human Bill of Rights would transcend but include the essential elements from this United Nations document.

To me, a human Bill of Rights can be much more succinct and tied directly to our desire for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  So here is my take on it……

A Human Bill of Rights and Responsibilities

By virtue of being infused with the spirit of life, all humans possess the following rights:

• The primary right to express love and receive love fully.
• The right to express their unique human gifts and talents fully.
• The right to fully experience freely all aspects of what it is like to be human.
• The right to fully believe whatever one wishes to believe about life and its meaning.
• The right to fully communicate with others what one believes about life.

By virtue of possessing and benefiting from these rights, all humans also possess the following responsibilities:

• The responsibility to ensure that every other human may freely express their rights.
• The responsibility to ensure that in the expression of one’s rights that they do no harm to any other human.

Conclusion

That’s it. Short and sweet. It could be even shorter and sweeter – ” live life fully with love, assist others to do the same and do no harm.”

What do you think?  Is there anything essential that I left out?  What would you change, add or delete?

In stating all of this, I reminded of the line from the first Spider-Man film where Peter Parker’s uncle tells him “with great power comes great responsibility”.  This is true for all of us.

I’m going to comment on this list of rights and responsibilities in some upcoming articles. But for now, remember this – We’re all in this together. Let’s enjoy life and help others to do the same!

Mark

I changed the focus of the book.  I changed the title.  I dropped whole chapters.  I reordered and edited others.  New material was created.  I reedited and reedited.  Every time I reread the book, I felt the need to tweak it a bit more.  This process kept me from writing and posting blogs here.

Back in February, I attended the Spiritual Living Conference in New Orleans put on by the organization I work for, Centers for Spiritual Living.  On the last night of the conference, one of those “coincidences” had me sitting at our banquet next to an individual who has published a few books.  We began talking about writing.  I left the conversation with two key takeaways.  One was the idea that I didn’t have to put everything I knew into the book.  The second was simply to finish the thing!

Sometimes we hold ourselves back from truly being ourselves.  Even though something inside us is pushing us forward, we fear taking the next step.  We judge ourselves inadequate.  We fear the judgment of others.  We tell ourselves stories so as to hold back in our safe environment.  I’m not good enough.  Who am I to do that?  The book isn’t perfect yet.  There is more I can put in it.  There are other things I can write into the book that will move it closer to being “perfect”.

What story do you tell yourself that keeps you from being your true self?  It’s time to allow that story to die and to allow another story to be born.

The truth is – you are good enough.  You are the right person to do exactly what you are being called to do.  As Nike said, “just do it”.  Let go of your fears that whatever it is you are called to do has to be perfect.  Let go of your self judgment or concerns about the good opinions of others.  Just do the thing!

As I write these words, it is Easter weekend of 2012.  That seems appropriate.  Easter, for me, is about the cycle of death and rebirth.  We are dying and being reborn all the time.  Our physical body is continuously changing itself over as cells die and new ones are created.  Our emotional body is continuously experiencing a sense of release and a sense of newness as the relationships around us come and go.  Our mental body is continuously learning new things and replacing ideas and concepts that are no longer true for us.

I finally realized that even though everyday I am learning and growing and that there are new things that could go in the book, I don’t have to put those things in it.  Waiting for me to have it say everything I want to say was simply an excuse, a rationalization of my fear.  I needed to allow that fear to die and the book and its ideas in their current state to be born.

Yesterday, I shared the book with a few more friends.  I also sent it off to a couple of publishers that I know.  We’ll see what happens.  One way or the other, I already know it will get published.  Sending the book off was both a birth and a death.  To a degree, I “died” as I let the ideas in the book be released from my mental fingers which clutched it tightly in search of the ever elusive personal sense of its “perfection”.  To a degree, the books release from my stranglehold allows its ideas to take flight and be born in the world in some form or fashion.  Yet even more important, the release created the space within me for more newness to appear.  The mental coin I had tied up in finishing the book was spent.  This morning, in the opening now created, new ideas are springing forth – ideas for this website, ideas for other books, ideas for workshops and more.  I feel reborn.

What is it you’re called to do or be that you’re clutching tightly?  It’s time to let it go, be yourself, share your gifts and talents and in so doing allow a new birth of freedom and love to take flight in your life!

Blessings.

Mark Gilbert

This week, the two groups become one. During the past year much has been done to create the structure of the organization—pulling from each of the current groups the best ideas, the best processes, to create a new way of being together. I have been honored to have been involved with a lot of this. When we leave Louisiana, we will have one leadership, one headquarters, one community! People who teach oneness will be one.

So, I am excited…..excited that all of the hard work of the past years is finally reaching this major milestone….excited that now we will be able to turn our attention out to the world in a more coordinated way to bring these empowering teachings to more and more people who could benefit from them…and excited that the example of a group of people who split in two coming back to unify might serve as an example of unity for the world. May we all live as One!

Mark

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Michael Adelberg and I worked together at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services – he in the DC area, myself from Denver.  I retired from the government a few years ago to pursue my spiritual teaching.  Mike continues on in what he describes as his “health policy wonk” role but he’s pursuing a broader path as well.  In addition to authoring historical pieces, he’s now published his first work of fiction – A Thinking Man’s Bully.

I recently read Mike’s book.  If Mike and I were not friends, I probably would not have read it being very selective on spending any time on fiction.  I generally only read two or three pieces a year.  Mike’s book is remarkably good and I highly recommend it.

He tells the tale of a middle-aged man in crisis, Matt.  In his younger days, Matt was a bully among other bully buddies, one of whom committed suicide.  Matt now deals with the realization that his son, Jack, is a bully.  Jack also attempted suicide.  By writing self confessional biographical pieces for his therapist (which are shared with us), we then sit in on his therapy sessions to discuss them.  This back-and-forth pattern brings us from Matt’s youth to present-day.  Along the way we experience Matt’s evolution in understanding how his unhealed youth contributed to the behaviors exhibited in his son.  There’s also a ton of cringe worthy humor in the tale – you know the kind – you laugh and grit your teeth simultaneously.

Although I wasn’t a bully, Mike’s book certainly called forth from the recesses of my memory deep recollections of youthful interactions long forgotten.  Mike has an eye for detail in past memories that’s a true gift.  I’ve always admired friends of mine who can recall at will details of events from our youth that I don’t have access to until their recollections allow the memories to come streaming forth from some hidden place within me.

The book’s jacket says Mike is a reformed high school troublemaker.  I do have a lot of memories of Mr. Adelberg but none that come anywhere close to such a description.  For example, back at the turn of the millennium I spent a long four-month detail on the east coast working long days at Medicare and lonely nights holed up in the condominium rented for me.  Mike invited me to join he and his poker buddies on a couple of their game nights while I was on my detail.  The games, camaraderie and outrageous laughter late into the night were highlights from my time there.  I remember wishing I could re-create a similar group of buddies back home.  There’s something truly special about connecting on a deep friend level where belly laughs are involved.

Right after reading the book, I was in a group process where we each identified via meditation a particular outcome to a group situation that we feared would happen.  My fear was that the ultimate outcome might be conflict.  We were then taken back individually in our imaginations to recall an early incident where that outcome occurred.  Ironically, my early memory of conflict was of being bullied on the playground in second grade.  It was fascinating to realize that certain present-day fears and patterns were still being influenced by long forgotten incidents from decades ago.  It was the same realization Mike’s character Matt experienced.

It’s interesting how everything appears to be connected, isn’t it?

Mark

Case in point – many of our TV programs, movies and video games contain excessive violence.  Sometimes I wonder how we might be getting acclimated to violence based on our continuous exposure to it by these arts.  There have been studies showing that the viewing of violence programs correlates to a degree in higher violence by the viewers.  Yet, the producers may say they are only making art forms which mirror back the reality of the world.  And, there is a supply and demand aspect to the arts – the producers give us what we buy.  Obviously we have a chicken and egg scenario, and it’s hard to determine which came first.

Question really becomes how are we going to break this cycle?  If what we look at grows in our lives – and I believe that it does – then the more we look at violence, the more we are going to see it – whether in our arts or in our lives.

Film critic Peter Rainer recently wrote about a new trend in movies – stories that he described as being a “metaphysical mumbo-jumbo gumbo”, films charged with an “otherworldly dread” linked to attempts to make sense of life.  Sometimes the dread is linked to catastrophic events such as in the movies “Contagion” or “Take Shelter”.  Sometimes the source of the dread is less clearly focused but plays more of a background role as the characters attempt to change “reality” and in Rainer’s words, “make it all turn out right this time.”  Films such as “The Adjustment Bureau”, “In Time” and “Source Code” fall into this interesting genre.

So are these movies feeding back to us a sort of barometer of our cultural consciousness?  Have the producers tapped into a 21st century post-9/11 malaise and are mirroring it back to us?  Is there really an underlying generalized sense of dread within us coupled with a desire to somehow change how the world turns out?  Or – are these movies presenting us a state of consciousness that we are now creating within ourselves?  Do you have an opinion on this?  Feel free to leave a comment if you do.

Of course, again, does it really matter which came first and caused the other?  Is it another cycle of life imitating art imitating life imitating art?  Yes.

So how do we break the cycle of dread and dissatisfaction and melancholy feeding a sense that the world has somehow gone awry and we are powerless to change it question it?  As long as we continue to focus our attention on our displeasure over the state of the world, the more we will see worldly events reinforcing our sense of displeasure.

We need a new cycle of art and life.  Our lives and our arts need to dance a new dance – one of love and peace and acceptance where we value one another.  Violence dissipates in that whirling pattern of care and concern.  Our lives and arts need to twirl in the energy of hope and personal assurance that things are always getting better.  Life is truly good.  May your life imitate that goodness until the imitation becomes the reality everywhere.

Mark Gilbert

The world really is full of good news if you set your intentions on seeing it—-here are some life affirming stories that came into my awareness recently:

This first one is from one of my favorite publications, the Christian Science Monitor—one of the best news weekly publications on the market—their December 26, 2011 issue contained a cover story on “The (surprisingly upbeat) state of the world “.  Click the link to read the online version, a reassuring take on the state of the planet….that in spite of the negative news we get each day, we are making great strides in reducing poverty, bringing equality of opportunities to the sexes, experiencing a boom in democratic governance around the world, and–believe it or not—seeing reductions in war and violence.  It is worth a read.

Here’s another cool story from a recent USA Today that I liked: “Man finds $10K cash at Las Vegas airport, returns it to owner”. I am not related to Mitch Gilbert, by the way, but he sounds like someone I would like.

Or how about this one from the Wall Street Journal—“Violence Vanquished” Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker gives his evidence for how the world is becoming less violent.

Or how about a constant source of good news:

Good News Network or Happy News

So what good news are you going to create in your life in 2012?

I don’t stress resolution setting as a January 1 only kind of thing……I think we can and are called to set intentions every day of our life.  Yet, I do find the time of closing out one year and moving into another one is a good time to stop and reflect and consider if our life is headed in the right direction.  I wrote about this last year with an article entitled “Questions to Jump Start the New Year”"> .  Click the link to read….the questions are still valid as we move into 2012….

And a quick word on that Mayan calendar thing—who knows why their calendar ends this year….it certainly is not an end of times thing….if anything we can use this hype (which I suspect is going to ramp up later this year) as an opportunity to make a break through in our human consciousness to take ourselves to even higher levels of living our full potential.

2012 is going to be a great year!  You and I are going to make some good news……let’s get it started!

Happy new year!

Mark

A quick disclaimer or two – I live in the Denver area and have long been a Bronco fan.  I obviously like Tebow and want to see him succeed.  Also, I am spiritual (after all, I am a minister in a nontraditional faith!)  but my take on spirituality is obviously different from Tebow’s  faith.

I have been curiously following what people have been writing about Tebow online and saying about him in the media.  I have been surprised by how extremely negative some people have been in their criticism, more so than is truly called for based upon his performance or his religious statements.  The critics need to realize that their public proclamations and negative judgments really are a statement about themselves.  “Judge not least ye be judged” really is a warning that when we judge others we are really making a statement about who we are.  These critics need to take that to heart.

In my opinion, much of the support and vitriolic criticism of Tebow speaks volumes about the worldviews of these people.  Our modern culture has three predominant worldviews which have been clashing violently in recent years – the traditional viewpoint from which Christian fundamentalism springs, the modern viewpoint which denies the existence of the traditional God and places its value in science and materialism, and the postmodern or “cultural creative” viewpoint which seeks to understand humanity’s unique role in the world and recognizes the limitations in the “either or” thinking brought about by the other two worldviews.

A lot of criticism has centered around Tebow’s style of play.  His passing is erratic.  The Broncos use of a option style offense in the NFL is criticized for being gimmicky and doomed to failure.  Tebow seems ineffective until the final minutes of the fourth quarter.  As a Bronco fan, I have had my moments of frustration with some of Tebow’s passes and an ineffective  offense for long stretches of the games.  And, the Broncos use of the option has looked great at times and weak at others.  Yet no one can criticize that the games have been exciting and their recent win streak jaw-dropping.

Will it go on forever? Of course not – nothing does in professional sports.  No matter how far the Broncos go this season, they have already far outperformed anyone’s expectations.  Criticism of their play can be warranted obviously.  However I suspect we are going to see a lot of people saying “I told you so” when the Broncos eventually lose – smugly reveling in their self-proclaimed wisdom about Tebow’s ineffectiveness and the Broncos poor play calling.  Lost in their smugness will be that the Broncos and Tebow are already winners no matter what happens the rest of the season.

A lot of criticism has centered around Tebow’s display of his Christian faith.  When he vocally “thanks the Lord” or makes statements such as “I want to thank Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior” in media interviews, this obviously upsets some people.  Sure, it may be that were just not used to it being so overt in sports interviews, but the degree of anger displayed by some people in response to the most statements is downright scary.

Some people say that football and sports are not the venues for displaying your religious beliefs.  Why?  It’s okay to believe differently.  Someone can say that they are a Raider fan and  although I might question their judgment, ultimately I realize it’s okay for us to believe different things and I don’t have to attack them for believing differently!  So what if someone’s a Christian and says so?  So what if someone’s Jewish or a Muslim or atheist?  Does their professing their belief take anything away from me?  No, of course not.

However, if we realize that many people with a modern worldview have had to grow into that viewpoint by moving beyond the traditional viewpoint.  That is, as a part of that process they have had to look at religious proselytizing in a way so that they distanced themselves from it.  In other words, some religious zealots in their attempts to convince them to believe as they do have raised emotional responses in those with modern viewpoints who have run from the zealots.  I know a lot of people who have been wounded emotionally by traditional religions and their use of guilt to force their conformity.  Calls for individuals to believe as we do or you are “going to hell” has harmed a lot of people.  Buried within the psyche of these people are unhealed wounds emotionally linked to words and phrases like the ones that Tebow uses.  In my opinion when he says that “Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior”, these unhealed wounds are
invisibly rubbed open and the pain comes out in overly harsh attacks towards Tebow.  Again, their criticisms say more about themselves than they do about Tebow.  If they let go of their resentment towards traditional religions, they would realize that letting Tebow express his faith really causes no harm to their world.  Greater harm, in my opinion, would come in a world where we are not free to express our beliefs so long as they harm no one else.

Also interesting is this repeated asking of whether or not the Broncos are experiencing in their win streak “divine intervention”.  Is God helping the Broncos win?  The short answer is, of  course, no.  But even in the asking of the question comes a telling display of the worldview of the one asking.  When someone asks me a question and uses the word “God”, I stop and ask them to define what they mean by God.  The traditional viewpoint sees an old man in the sky – an external being who can intercede in people’s lives and possibly football games.  The  modern viewpoint denies that God exists, everything is statistical chance and luck – there is no old man in the sky who can intercede in lives or games.  The postmodern viewpoint recognizes the power of thoughts and belief to influence our actions – there are powers at play in our lives that are currently beyond the bounds of scientific knowledge which we are just now discovering – however there is no old man in the sky looking in on football games.

Simply stated – A traditionalist might wonder about if an external God is involving himself in the NFL because of Tebow’s visibility and success.  God is using Tebow and this moment to bring people “back to him”.  A modern materialist will either scoff at all of this talk of God or if they have unhealed wounds around religion might strongly attack such statements.  A postmodern cultural creative will wonder about how the individual thoughts of Tebow and the Broncos – the power of their positive thinking – might be upping their game or how our public collective consciousness and the power of all of our attention focused upon Tebow and the Broncos might be lifting them up to greater levels.

The bottom line – this entire story has been exciting to watch.  It’s an ongoing dialogue not only on the beliefs and faith of Tim Tebow but also each and every one of us.

Mark Gilbert

“He who is not busy being born is busy dying” (Bob Dylan)

It’s only natural that “Conscious Bridge”, a website which is about the evolution of our consciousness, would itself evolve.  Today, I am making a couple of major changes.

As a web site, we’ve been around almost 2 years, but for the last 2 months I have not posted any articles.  It’s not because I haven’t been writing!  I have been working on a book which deals with a lot of the themes covered on the “bridge”, but more on that at another time.  I will only say that my writing focus has been ”the book” and not the web site.  But the first draft of ”the book” is done as of a week ago and as I move into the editing process with it…..so today, the web site returns!….but it’s evolving… just as you and I are every day.

The first change—a new simple look—minimalist in appearance.  This will be easier for y’all to read.  This will be easier for me to post content.  Take a look, let me know what you think…I’m still playing with it… 

The second change—shorter postings.  I have a lot of thoughts that come up that I want to share with you, but the past format had “evolved” into longer feature pieces with an accompanying picture and so forth….I will still post a longer feature from time to time, but I want to shift my focus for the moment to shorter notes so as to give you some quick thoughts, to comment on the events of the day, to share books and resources that I discover and the like.

So shorter, more to the point posts, fewer pictures, minimalist website….but all of this will evolve too….would love your feedback along the way as I shift and bob and weave with life.  Thanks for reading the Bridge….and let’s all keep truckin’ and growin’.

Happy Re-Birthday!

Mark

Much has changed in our world since that day….there are aspects of life where humanity has come together in its love and concern for one another……and, there are many things that we may not have chosen to experience as a part of modern 21st century life ….but even in those experiences we can affirm that there is growth and learning for humanity–moving us to higher and higher turns in our evolutionary spiral to a world that works for everyone.

Last year in the midst of the “Ground Zero Mosque controversy”, I wrote a 2 part series on “Where Were You on 9/11?”  As everyday I am blessed with more readers of Conscious Bridge, I thought I might link back to my 2010 articles for those who may have missed them:

Part One

Part Two

It seems as if we have made great strides in the past year in moving beyond that so-called “controversy” as well as in coming together on the progress of the memorial that will commemorate the loss of life 10 years ago.  Maybe that is just me….choosing to see good and more good whenever I can.

But today–won’t you join me?  Please take a moment and feel deeply into your heart and sense your love and connectedness to those who lost their lives on 9/11 as well as to those individuals who were left to deal with the loss of their friends and family.  And though we are all saddened by those events of 10 years ago, may we also see the good that is coming forth on the planet….and may we affirm our continued positive evolution for all people so that we shall all know that those who lost their lives did not die in vain.

Love to all.

Mark

I didn’t really think about any of this much back in the day when I was young.  Those bigger questions just weren’t on my mind.  Oh yeah, I recall some moments lying in the grass as a kid and looking up at clouds and wondering where God was or how high up you had to go to get to see heaven.  Most of the time I was more concerned with fitting in with my group of buddies or trying to get some girl to like me.  Turns out that’s kind of normal – Piaget mapped out the stages of childhood development and said we don’t develop the kind of abstract thinking necessary for asking for such questions until late childhood or even sometimes adulthood.

I was 18 and had just arrived at college when I recall the first inklings of trying to figure out who I was and why I thought the way I did.  I recall taking an introduction to psychology class in my first semester and discovering I had all the symptoms of every type of abnormal psychological diagnosis in my textbook.  I ended up majoring in psychology partly as an attempt to cure myself.

Now I have to admit that a lot of the psychological theories I read about at that time were either over my head or just didn’t seem to have much applicability in the real world.  My university psychology department was very much into BF Skinner and behavioralism, so I read a lot about that subject.  I even ended up working for one of the professors doing implants in rats’ skulls and running experiments on the  effects of electrical stimulation on parts of their brain.  It was all a lot of stimulus-response stuff that didn’t seem to apply to me.

Then I discovered the work of Abraham Maslow and his “hierarchy of needs”.  Finally, here was a theory that answered many of the  questions I had been asking about myself.  The first thing I liked about Maslow was that instead of focusing on humans performing abnormally, he sought out and studied high performers and asked “what motivated them?”  More importantly, I saw how his theory could  be applied in the real world.

Of all my college psychological studies, Maslow and his hierarchy along with Robert Ornstein and his book “The Psychology of Consciousness” were some of the only concepts that stayed with me long after college.  Ornstein’s book looked at the specialized functioning of the hemispheres of our brain.  Yet in doing so, he also posed questions about what this thing called consciousness really is and how it related to our physical brain.  I have wondered about that ever sense!  One interesting side note – I wrote a paper for one of my classes attempting to integrate Ornstein’s book with Maslow’s hierarchy.  I was interested in integrating theories back in the early 70s before there was a well-known integral theory!

Let’s consider Maslow for a moment – As a college professor at Brooklyn College in New York in the late 1930s and into the 1940s,  Maslow was in the perfect place to study those who were exhibiting high mental health.  He began observing and noting the characteristics of fellow professors and mentors, looking for the common denominator’s of these individuals.  This process started a lifelong pursuit of seeking those universal human indicators of self-actualizing performance.  One of the most famous subjects that Maslow observed was Albert Einstein.

As Maslow stated, “All the evidence that we have indicates that it is reasonable to assume in practically every human being, and certainly in almost every newborn baby, that there is an active will toward health, an impulse towards growth, or towards the actualization.”  You have to like that attitude!

As Maslow tracked the characteristics of these high-performing humans, he noted there was a trend or direction in their traits and their motivators that could be mapped out.  Ultimately, he created his basic theory which he outlined in 1943 paper entitled “A Theory of Human Motivation”.  His theory detailed five basic categories of human motivators or needs.  Only later was the visual of a pyramid was employed to show the hierarchical nature.

According to the theory, each of these five levels of motivators can be stacked so that one is on top of one another, with our lower or basic needs on the bottom and our higher needs on the top.  The theory says that fulfilling one level allows us to move up to the next.   And,  if at any time any lower-level need became unmet, we are plunged back down to the lower need and it must be met again before we can return to being concerned about the higher need.

Here then, is a brief summary of the five levels of Maslow’s original hierarchy of needs:

Our basic primary motivator are our physiological needs – water, air, food, sleep – things essential for our bodily survival.  Maslow stated that once these needs were met we could be concern with our security needs – shelter from the elements, a steady job, a sense that life around us was stable and secure.  Meeting these needs allowed us to focus next on our social needs – feeling that we are loved, that we belong to our group, that we have secure relationships, that we feel accepted.  Again, meeting our social needs allowed us to focus on what Maslow termed self-esteem needs – a feeling of importance, social recognition, being worthy.  Finally, at the pentacle of Maslow’s pyramid was what he called our desire for “self-actualization” – that is fulfilling our highest potential, seeking personal growth for its own  sake, moving beyond being concerned with the opinions of others.

Although Maslow’s model appears nice and neat, life is not always that way – and our needs motivating our actions in a particular moment can be dynamic and shift between levels so quickly that it may be hard to determine which level is actual driving us.  Yet from the moment I first encountered Maslow and his pyramid, it has always resonated with me – it rings true from my experience both in college and throughout my life.

A couple of interesting additions to these basics about Maslow’s theory –one, he later divided his need levels into two groups –  “deficiency” needs and “being” needs.  Deficiency needs are driven by a sense of “lack” in our lives.  When we are lacking something, it  places us in survival mode.  We have to get it.  If we have it, and someone tries to take it away from us, we will fight for it.  Being needs arise not from lack but from a desire to grow in our lives.  Instead of living with a sense of lack, we sense that we have more than enough of what we need and we want to give from our abundance.  Our being needs are about growing and thriving and moving into the highest possibility of who we can be.

The second additional point about Maslow’s theory was that later he added on three more needs which he had identified.  Between self-esteem and self-actualization, he added the needs levels of a desire to understand and a desire for aesthetic beauty.  He also divided self-actualization into two levels, his original self-actualizing and a higher need which he termed a desire for “transcendence” – an inner pull to move beyond the physical human.  More on this later on.

Hence, I offer the model here not because I believe it explains all of our motivations.  Rather it gives us a good map for understanding potentially why humans think and act the way they do.  It puts things in an easy to understand manner – if our “lower needs” are not  being met, they are going to drive our decisions and actions.  It’s only when we can move beyond our lower needs that we are able to focus on bigger issues and advanced concerns.

So let’s look at Maslow’s hierarchy or map from three different directions and see what insights it might offer us.

First, let’s go back in time and consider what our primary motivators were at different points in our life.  Right after birth, although I  don’t really remember it, I suspect that my physiological needs were primary.  I cried for food, I cried to have my diaper changed.  Back in the day when I was young that I can remember, when I was being motivated by my buddies and attractive girls, central to my needs were survival as well as love and belongingness.  Later as an adult, many of my actions to seek success at work were probably driven by a need for self-esteem.  Only much later in life do I have a sense that my primary motivation became a drive towards self-actualization.

Doing this kind of life review to recognize how I had different motivations at different stages of my timeline gives me a sense of how I have evolved in my awareness and consciousness throughout my life.  It reinforces the fact that my life and all life is growing and  evolving, strengthening that evolutionary viewpoint I have been discussing.  It also shows me that earlier in life I was driven by a sense of lack which I have been blessed to let go of for the most part in recent years.

Second, rather than going back in the day, let’s look at just today – let’s look at our life in this moment and consider what is currently motivating us.  When you get up each day do you take time to “create your day” or write down a to do list?  If so, what’s filling your daily  planner?

We have to realize that we have different needs driving different actions every day.  We don’t live our day totally in one of Maslow’s levels.  We breathe, drink, eat, eliminate waste and perform other physiological functions.  Most likely we have a roof over our head and are not spending a lot of time concerned about it going away.  We are blessed in our Western society to be living in a stable environment.  Although we may not be consciously focused upon it, there are probably some things we do each day to support this underlying level of safety and security.  But above these two basic levels, things can get tricky.

We may or may not feel a degree of love and belongingness being met in our life based on whether or not we have a healthy primary love relationship or a close circle of friends.  We may or may not have a healthy sense of  self-esteem depending upon factors in our  relationships, our work, our feelings about our appearance, our health and so on.

As we think about what motivates us each day in all the various aspects of our life – we might consider asking ourselves if our primary motivators come from a sense of lack that we are trying to fill – or whether they come from a sense that we have enough or we are good enough and we are simply trying to give from our abundance and share our unique talents.  Which is it for you?  The point, of course, is to evaluate the motivations of our day so we can release our attachments to certain deficiency needs and spend more time working on  higher needs.

A third way of using Maslow’s theory is to lay the hierarchy against our actions out in the world in relationships with others in specific situations and see if it offers us any guidance in how we relate to others and in guiding our own personal evolution.  Let’s look at a couple of examples.

Let’s consider what is underlying your motivation in your interactions with your primary love life (either in your relationship with a specific person or in your approach to creating such a relationship)?  Now it’s easy when first considering Maslow to think that any time you are motivated to create or maintain a loving relationship with a significant other that your motivation comes from his “love and belongingness” needs level.  But that’s not necessarily so.

In reality, there are generally multiple needs levels at play.  You may be seeking or staying in a relationship because you want access to sexual pleasure – a physiological need.  You may feel you need the other person’s income to survive – a safety and security need.  You may believe your friends and family expect you to be in a serious relationship and would think less of you if you’re not – a love and belongingness need.  You may believe your sense of worthiness relates to being in a relationship, that you would be a failure if you were not – a self-esteem need.

In each case, one is motivated to be in a significant loving relationship – and the underlying need is coming from different levels.  There is one similarity though – no matter what the level, you desire the relationship because you believe it will fill a lack in you.  It’s the old Jerry Maguire “you complete me” thing.  That belief is flat out wrong!

So what happens if I have a lack which you’re supposed to be filling and all of a sudden you don’t?  What if you grow and change?  What if you decide to leave me?  If you threaten my survival by withholding the meeting of my needs, I might just lash out at you.  How dare you try to leave me?  I need you.  Of course, when I think I need you in order to be okay with myself, I am coming from a sense of deficiency and lack.

The interesting thing is that the most healthy relationships are based on when the underlying motivation comes from a desire for self-actualization.  Here, we have moved into “being” needs.  We don’t sense any lack within ourselves.  We don’t need the other person to meet any deficiency within us.  We are whole and complete just as we are.  Rather at this stage, our motivation is not to get something from someone but rather to give of ourselves to another.  We love the other person and want them to live the highest possible life that they can.  We are there to support them and encourage them and to love them.  We are not there to cling to them or limit them in any way.  Paradoxically, we have to be okay if they decide they don’t want to be with us anymore, because even though it may emotionally hurt us, what is more important is that they are happy and living their dreams.  We want them live a self-actualized life even if apart from us more than we want them to live a limited life with us.

Let’s look at another example – people seek out and join social groups such as clubs, organizations, churches and spiritual centers  based on different needs.  If you’re in such a group, consider for a moment what need the people meet by participating in it.  I know some people who attend a traditional Christian church out of the old-fashioned fear if they don’t, they will go to hell – sounds like safety and security to me.  I know a lot of people who attend churches and spiritual centers because they want to belong to a group where people hold the same spiritual beliefs – love and belongingness.  I know people who have gotten involved with the leadership of an organization because it makes them feel important – self-esteem needs.

Although there’s nothing wrong with using these social organizations as a means of meeting your deficiency needs, it is helpful to understand what is motivating your involvement.  It can also offer some insights when members of these groups begin disagreeing on what activities they should be doing together.

I’ve heard plenty of stories of leaders of social organizations and ministers of churches who come in to express their being needs through a desire to grow their group so they can do more good in the world and find that they are pushing up against individuals resisting them.  If these members joined the group to meet their love and belongingness needs and they sense that their new leader is minimizing the meeting of those needs in their desire to serve others out in the world, they move into survival mode whether they know it or not and are going to push back!  Realizing that members of their group may have different reasons for being there is useful knowledge for the leader if they want to maintain their group.

Which brings us finally to a consideration of how Maslow’s theory can assist us if we are trying to move across that metaphorical  bridge where we are going from a world where we sense that we are separate from one another and in competition – where we think in terms of win-lose – to a world where we know that we are all connected and our highest calling is to be in service to one another-where we think in terms of win-win.  Using Maslow we gain clarity that our old world is based on a sense of lack and deficiency, where everyone is focused on these lower needs.  In the new world of higher possibilities everyone is focused on being needs – on self-actualization and  self transcendence (a topic we will come back to later).

So how can we move everyone into focusing on the pull for self-actualization or self transcendence – that is moving from surviving into thriving? The primary step is to begin with ourselves.  How can we be focused upon higher needs when we are worried about what others may think of us, we are feeling unloved, or we are experiencing a general sense of unworthiness and low self-esteem?  The key to our personal thriving is moving beyond whatever makes us believe we are less than whole, perfect and complete.

How do we do that?  We start by expanding the time we spend each day knowing and stating this wholeness as the truth of our being.  We spend less and less time looking at things in our life that we have used in the past to convince us their lives are not perfect.  We focus on the gifts and goodness in our life.  We see perfection everywhere we look. We release attachments to people, things, experiences or our sense of how things are supposed to be.  As long as we are emotionally attached to stuff  ”out there”, we will sense a deficiency in our lives when we don’t have them.  As the Buddha said in the “Four Noble Truths”, the root of all are suffering is attachment to these external  things.  Awareness of the attachment is the first step in releasing it.

Releasing our attachments and focusing on our perfection allows us to know that we always have more than enough.  From this  abundance we are called to give.  Within us a special talent or ability seeks expression in the world.  Living our passion and sharing it with others allows us to move to that higher world in our own lives.

And what about all the people out there in the world who are still stuck focused upon deficiency needs?  What can any one of us do to assist them?  How can we be a change agent that allows people around the world to meet their basic needs, release their attachment to  lower needs and free them to live a life of self-actualization and ultimately self transcendence?  What can you do?

Mark