Maslow
Predicted The Shift
Abraham
Maslow (1908-70) was a psychologist who became famous for his
hierarchy of human needs. When he developed his theory in the 1950s, he
predicted the transformation of humanity into a realm of spiritual
transcendence, but he had no idea just how soon this would develop into a
major movement.
Maslow's
hierarchy of human needs shows that basic human needs have to be fulfilled
before people can attend to higher needs and values.
First, the basic
physiological needs of food and shelter must be catered for in order to
ensure survival.
Second, once food and
shelter are obtained, safety and security must be achieved.
Third, acceptance by others
is sought, in both the social and romantic senses. To fulfill this
'belonging' need, people become part of a group, a tribe, an extended family
or a community.
When these deficiency, or
outer-directed, needs are satisfied, then the individual works to acquire
self-respect.
Recognition by others
produces self-esteem.
Once the outer needs are
fulfilled, the inner-directed need for self-actualization comes into play.
To self-actualize means to become the best you
personally can be. Self-actualized people include those who have achieved
material abundance, and also those who, as a decision of personal power,
have chosen simplicity over the pursuit of further abundance. At some point,
when a person says "That's enough" to the endless pursuit of additional
financial security, then they become free to accomplish anything that
inspires their inner joy the most.
Self-actualization is
achieved after the individual ceases to have deference to hierarchical
authority, and instead matures into the ability to make
their own rules of personal responsibility. Personal responsibility
is always more powerful and effective than any system of imposed rules. For
example, you can threaten to punish someone if they steal and hope that the
threat works. But, a self-responsible person simply wouldn't steal because
they would feel empathy for the loss that a would-be victim would feel. They
simply wouldn't have the heart to do such a thing to another person.
It's a matter of increased
maturity. When a person abandons the impositions of external authority and
becomes their own, self-directed authority, then they become far more
functional in the world. This is, in fact, a higher state of consciousness,
one which provides a higher vista of awareness. From this expanded vista,
they see clearly how they as an individual can best serve humanity.
In this state of awareness,
the person acquires the ability to think and analyze situations
independently. As a result, new and creative solutions spring to mind. They
have enough self-esteem to be able to clearly see their own needs, skills,
strengths and weaknesses, and from that they see where they can best be of
service to humanity.
Once basic needs are
fulfilled, the next values to require attention relate to being. The first
of these being-values
is
self-actualization, which is the instinctual need of a human to make the
most of their unique abilities.
Above that,
Maslow placed transcendence, which he considered
a spiritual value. Traditional universities typically presume that spiritual
matters are beyond the understanding of their students, so they present the
Maslow hierarchy of human needs differently.
They present it with self-actualization as the ultimate human goal, and omit
the transcendence stage beyond that.
The being-values of
self-actualization and transcendence are the higher, more beautiful aspects
of human consciousness. They include unconditional love, altruism, inner
joy, a love of nature, the development of
intuition (in males as well as females), idealism, and a sense of wisdom
which springs from within. These skills develop the right-brain functions of
creativity and intuition.
In the 1950s,
Maslow believed that only 2% of the population
had achieved self-actualization. The mid-1960s changed all that when masses
of people began the search for the higher values, such as unconditional love
and spiritual wisdom. Today, that core group of progressive society has
blossomed from 2% to over 20%, and is climbing every year.
The Shift is not a temporary
by-product of the baby boom generation, or any other generation of modern
society. It is not a passing fad. It is not going away. It is a cosmic
pressure that is unfolding and relentlessly
increasing
the frequency of all consciousness upon the planet.
It is a part of the plan of
Infinite Being that we progress to the next stage of conscious human
achievement. The Shift is, to put it simply, the most wonderful
transformation in recorded history. This is where humanity gets to build,
literally, Heaven on Earth.
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This article was written
by Owen Waters, author of "The Shift: The Revolution in Human Consciousness"
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