Deepak
Goes Deep: "Obama and the Palin Effect"
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"The Republicans' success is based on their ability to activate
not just the base, but the basest of the
base."
-- Swami Beyondananda
Every now
and then, I find a piece of writing that is so incisive and pertinent to the
moment that I am moved to quote it in its entirety. A few days ago, I saw this
article by Deepak Chopra
that brilliantly expresses the political choices we face now, and explains why
Sarah Palin has been so
successful thus far in "activating the base."
Here is
his article called "Obama and the Palin Effect:"
Sometimes politics has the uncanny effect of mirroring the national
psyche even when nobody intended to do that. This is perfectly illustrated by
the rousing effect that Gov. Sarah Palin
had on the Republican
convention in Minneapolis this week. On the surface, she outdoes
former Vice President Dan
Quayle as an unlikely choice, given her negligent parochial expertise in
the complex affairs of governing. Her state of Alaska has less than 700,000
residents, which reduces the job of governor to the scale of running one-tenth
of New York City. By
comparison, Rudy Giuliani is a
towering international figure. Palin's pluck has been admired, and her
forthrightness, but her real appeal goes deeper.
She
is the reverse of Barack
Obama, in essence his shadow, deriding his idealism and exhorting people
to obey their worst impulses. In psychological terms the shadow is that part of
the psyche that hides out of sight, countering our aspirations, virtue, and
vision with qualities we are ashamed to face: anger, fear, revenge, violence,
selfishness, and suspicion of "the other." For millions of Americans, Obama
triggers those feelings, but they don't want to express them. He is calling for
us to reach for our higher selves, and frankly, that stirs up hidden reactions
of an unsavory kind. (Just to be perfectly clear, I am not making a verbal play
out of the fact that Sen.
Obama is black. The shadow is a metaphor widely in use before his arrival
on the scene.) I recognize that psychological analysis of politics is usually
not welcome by the public, but I believe such a perspective can be helpful here
to understand Palin's message. In her acceptance speech Gov. Palin sent a
rousing call to those who want to celebrate their resistance to change and a
higher vision.
Look
at what she stands for:
- Small town values -- a denial of America's global role, a return to petty,
small-minded parochialism.
- Ignorance of world affairs -- a repudiation of the need to repair America's
image abroad.
- Family values --
a code for walling out anybody who makes a claim for social justice. Such
strangers, being outside the family, don't need to be heeded.
- Rigid stands on guns and abortion -- a scornful repudiation that these
issues can be negotiated with those who disagree.
- Patriotism -- the usual fallback in a failed war.
- "Reform" -- an italicized term, since in addition to cleaning out corruption
and excessive spending, one also throws out anyone who doesn't fit your
ideology.
Palin
reinforces the overall message of the reactionary right, which has been in play
since 1980, that social justice is liberal-radical, that minorities and
immigrants, being different from "us" pure American types, can be ignored, that
progressivism takes too much effort and globalism is a foreign threat. The
radical right marches under the banners of "I'm all right, Jack," and "Why
change? Everything's OK as it
is." The irony, of course, is that Gov. Palin is a woman and a reactionary at
the same time. She can add mom to apple pie on her resume, while blithely
reversing forty years of feminist progress. The irony is superficial; there are
millions of women who stand on the side of conservatism, however obviously they
are voting against their own good. The Republicans
have won multiple national elections by raising shadow issues based on fear,
rejection, hostility to change, and narrow-mindedness.
Obama's call for higher ideals in politics can't be seen in a vacuum.
The shadow is real; it was bound to respond. Not just conservatives possess a
shadow -- we all do. So what comes next is a contest between the two forces of
progress and inertia. Will the shadow win again, or has its furtive appeal
become exhausted? No one can predict. The best thing about Gov. Palin is that
she brought this conflict to light, which makes the upcoming debate honest. It
would be a shame to elect another Reagan, whose smiling persona was a stalking
horse for the reactionary forces that have brought us to the demoralized state
we are in. We deserve to see what we are getting, without disguise.
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Evolution
Or Devolution?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As Deepak
so articulately suggests, this election is far more than a contest between two
political parties, but a referendum on two diametrically-opposed world views.
One world view essentially believes that the nature of human nature is "evil" so
consequently we humans must be controlled, if necessary via manipulation, force
and the threat of death. In this world view, we are "sinners", hopeless and
helpless without divine intervention. And if we're very, very lucky, the Divine
presence will return ... to destroy the world.
The other world view suggests that we may be "sinners" only in the sense
that to "sin" in archery means "to miss the mark." In this alternative world
view, we aren't hopeless sinners, but hopeful "learners." Life moves forward --
progresses -- with our accumulated awareness, provided we learn. Here too we may
call upon divine intervention, but that intervention is to purify our own heart
and intentions.
In short, this election is about evolution vs. devolution. Do we evolve to
achieve our human potential (our full potential to be human)? Or, do we devolve
into machine-controlled slaves who mistake reality TV for reality?
This election is bigger than Democrat vs. Republican, even though the two
world views are wearing these labels this time around. It's not so much whether
a candidate believes in the theory of evolution, but whether they believe in the
"practice" of evolution. And that practice may be akin to the "community
organizing" the Republicans so snidely dismissed. (Someone sent me a slogan that
would make a great bumper sticker, "Jesus Was a Community Organizer.")
Why
community organizing? According to cellular biologist Bruce Lipton, the nature
of practical evolution is ... community, cooperation and shared awareness. Ever since the first single cell
organisms got tired of the single life and combined forces with other single
cells some 700 million years ago, every evolutionary step has involved groups of
cells combining to increase efficiency, awareness, and survivability. You and I,
for example, are communities of 50 trillion cells that cooperate for the purpose
of bringing "us" to the world every day.
The
thriving cellular society beneath our skins boast universal health care, full
employment, and truly no cell left behind. Our organs -- which can be seen as
huge "businesses" employing millions and sometimes trillions of cells -- do not
"compete" against other organs, but work with them to create health and vitality
for the whole body.
As Bruce and I explain in our new CD set Spontaneous Evolution (see below), we as a
species are on the threshold of a new evolution. Only this evolution doesn't
involve growing another limb, or even a bigger brain. Rather it involves
learning what our cells learned millions of years ago -- the universal
successful operating principle for life is "we're all in it together." Just as
our cells have learned to thrive through the common purpose of "thrival" for the
entire organism, the next phase in human evolution involves recognizing
ourselves each and all as cells in the body of humanity. In the universal
"fractal" reiterating pattern of nature, we find the cell, the individual, the
community, and even the planet all have the same requirements: fresh air, clean
water, healthy and abundant food.
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 While
that may seem like a high-minded ideal, in fact it is the down-to-earth "real
deal" that will determine whether we humans realize our true human potential, or
whether our species gets an "F" in third dimension. To get a much fuller idea of
the science behind this "new" theory of evolution (which ironically, our
spiritual teachers have been trying to tell us about for millennia), here is the
link to order the Spontaneous Evolution 5 CD set.
Not only will it give you a new understanding of evolutionary science, but
it will explain how the "invisible" field of ideas impacts our biology and our
reality -- and how we can change these beliefs from dysfunctional to functional.
This understanding is particularly important if we are to see this election --
or any other one -- in proper perspective.
So ... back to the election. What are we voting for? Or against? In
essence, our choice boils down to two distinct ways of seeing the world and
experiencing reality. "We're all in this together" vs. "Every man for himself."
One world view represents the core views of Jesus, and every other spiritual
teacher in history (and now confirmed by science). The other is a distortion
based on millennia of rule by "the lowest common dominator."
When Sarah
Palin -- or anyone else -- "appeals to the base," they have the weight of
history and unconscious programming on their side. So pervasive is this belief
in original sin and the venal nature of human nature, that even those who call
themselves progressive often subconsciously don't really believe change is
possible. (That's another thing Spontaneous Evolution addresses.) So the important thing now is for us to keep our eye on the prize, the
thrival of humanity by working together rather than fighting one another.
Interestingly, this is the "prize" the founders of America fought for, and is
expressed in our motto E Pluribus Unum, out of many one. Jefferson, Madison and
company did not in any way intend a topdown imposition of this common purpose,
but rather a bottom-up realization of it. That is exactly what is manifesting
now, and as Deepak points out, why the opposition is so strong and powerful.
In any shadow work, we must first confront our own individual issues -- our
fears and other shadow manifestations that keep these "dominator" patterns in
place. Remember, we cannot successfully confront in another what we are
unwilling to face in ourselves. So let's lose no energy to despair or
hand-wringing about how awful it is. It is exactly as it must be. We cannot
muster the internal and external resolve to make this next evolutionary leap
without the resistance that strengthens us.
May the best paradigm win.
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Coming
Very Soon ... the Department of Heartland Security.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Over the
next weeks and months, I will turn my attention to a new domain launching in
less than two days ... the Department of Heartland Security. There, we will
gather the most inspired and helpful thinking in the domains of "heart", "land"
and "security."
Heart represents our universal spiritual foundation, the vast and
untapped resource of love and connection
Land represents a restorative, sustainable economy that empowers
a mutually beneficial partnership between human and biosphere.
Security represents our evolution from the single cell
"every-cell-for-itself" philosophy to the multi-cell "we're-all-in-this
together." In doing so, we move from survival of the fittest to thrival of the
fittingest, from mutually-assured destruction to mutually-assured survival.
In addition, I will offer a weekly blog, radio interviews and more. My
intention is that these three portals become gateways to the most healing,
functional and exciting ideas, businesses, organizations and projects on the
planet, and these great ideas proliferate and are applied widely. Stay attuned
...
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