Talk for Shumei Anniversary Celebration
I would like to especially thank Ms. Koyama and Alan Imai (ee-my) for inviting me today to speak for you today. I appreciate your essential work in the development of the Shumei International Institute in Crestone.
We are gathered here today to celebrate an anniversary important to Shumei’s work in fostering an attitude of global citizenship. This effort includes educational strategies to create a “more democratic, political, economic, and social environment, supporting equal opportunity for all people, nationally, regionally, and globally.”
My inspiration for this talk comes from Meishusama’s teachings that, ”Everything that exists in the material world has the origin of its existence and activity in the spiritual world. One must first try to deal with problems in the spiritual world in order to bring about a real solution of troubles in the material world.” In this spirit he challenged us to “create a true state of heaven on earth.”
This process of creation does not go directly from spirit to earth. Every ancient culture I know of recognizes the role of archetypal elements in the act of creation and in the balancing of energies in the body, in society, and in nature. Whatever begins in the world of spirit, must then become manifest as thought, which in some cultures is associated with Air. But this is not enough for an idea to be actualized. For this, we need the elements honored in Shumei: the Fire of passion and the will and the Water of love, compassion, and human connectedness, and the Earth of stability and groundedness. Fire helps us commit and act; Water helps us to love one another and work together for the common good, and Earth stabilizes, gives structure, and supports activity with orderly processes.
The Element honored by this grand edifice and center here in Crestone is Earth, without which everything is simply ephemeral. Fire burns itself up; water flows on, but Earth remains, creating the containers to hold and sustain the physical manifestation of spirit made manifest. For this reason I am dedicating my remarks to the Earth, Our Mother.
The subject of my talk today is the universal stories or myths that help us learn to live as global citizens charged with creating heaven on earth. Many people think of the word, myth, as meaning stories that are not true. However, the word really refers to the sacred narratives that provide the belief structures of any society. Ancient Christians, when encountering the sacred myths of ancient Greece, saw them as lies (because they did not conform to their monotheistic vision.) In this way, the word “myth” came to take on a connotation that has nothing to do with its use here, which simply means the stories that help us understand the meaning of our lives—spiritual and otherwise.
In my own scholarly work, I apply the basic tenets of Jungian psychology to everyday life: in human development, leadership development, organizational development, authentic branding and public policy.
Some history about Jungian psychology...20th Century Swiss Psychiatrist C. G. Jung had wanted to study anthropology, but could not get a scholarship to do so, so he took the scholarship he could get –one that allowed him to study medicine, eventually becoming one of the earliest and more brilliant psychiatrists. Because of his interest in anthropology, he continued to educate himself about the literature, art, rituals, symbols and religious beliefs of people around the world, both ancient and modern.
As a result of his interdisciplinary knowledge, he was able to notice that the dreams of his patients contained symbols and narrative patterns that, he recurred in cultures all over the world in all historical periods. Reflecting on this, he developed a theory that below all of our many cultural differences, there are fundamental ways of thinking and feeling that unify all people everywhere. He called these patterns “archetypes.”
My own work, influenced by Jung, focuses on archetypal stories that people both tell and live throughout the world. It strives to help people understand these stories so they can live them at higher and more effective levels. It also helps them, when they are stuck in a counterproductive story to shift the story by calling up a different archetypal energy. Developing what I call “narrative intelligence”—that is the capacity to recognize the stories we are living-can be a powerful tool in promoting global citizenship. It can also assist in designing educational experiences that foster various ways of living that are key to realizing Meishusama’s dream of manifesting heaven on earth.
The beauty of Meishusama’s idea of realizing heaven on Earth, and his emphasis on the importance of art has inspired me to use what is an unusual form for me for a talk: a parable. So, please indulge me as I share some insights in an imaginative way, recognizing that there is method in my madness and a point to the story with both global and individual implications.
So let’s begin....
Once upon a time, far far away, beyond the far side of the galaxy was a beautiful planet swirling around a bright and shining star. This grand ball of light generously gave off energy in all directions and this planet was at just the right distance from it, and had just the right orbit around it, to support life. It took billions of years for that life to evolve to create a species similar to humans, with the capacity for language and conscious thought. They called this planet Ichtar.
The first people evolved close to the equator where the temperature was warm, vegetation was lush and food plentiful, so no great effort was required to feed or clothe themselves, and all the shelter that was required were simple roofs to keep off the rain. Ichtharian’s were, quite simply, in paradise. Everything they needed was given to them by their planet, whom they honored as a kind and generous mother.
But this species was curious and adventurous and soon began to travel throughout the globe, settling in all sorts of less auspicious climates--where artic cold and harsh deserts rendured life hard and survival tenuous. Over time their bodies and skin color evolved to assist them in that survival, and their cultures and attitudes became distinct and different from one another.
Over hundreds of years, they forgot they were all brothers and sisters, seeing the others as Other, as foreign, and as competitors for the raw materials needed for survival. It was not long before they invented war, justifying the killing of their neighbors by seeing them as evil. The more land and resources a group won in this struggle, the more superior they began to feel, thus further justifying efforts to subjugate others. Over time this hierarchical view infected attitudes within many of these tribes, so that individuals in each society spent most of their time jockeying with one another for who could amass the most things, the most status and the most power. Doing so, took all the energy they had.
Now please indulge my fantasy further by imagining astronauts from our future earth landing on Ichtar. Imagine too that by the time they landed on Ichtar, it was in real trouble. Its People were depleting and exploiting their planet’s resources in a way that was imperiling its future. Individuals and groups were so compulsively protecting themselves and ensuring their ascendancy in the social order that they could not slow down to address this issue. Furthermore, each tribe had amassed enormous weaponry in order to successfully invade other countries or simply to protect its boundaries from invasion and exploitation. The few who were noticing the threats to the planet recognized that some of these weapons were destructive enough that, if used, they would destroy this species, if not all sentient life, on that whole planet,
Remembering what they had learned of a similar time in earth’s history, the human astronauts were immediately concerned. They had learned about how close Earth’s peoples had come to exterminating the life on our own beautiful planet. They realized how real the threat to life was (on earth) and now is again on Ishtar. They huddled together to figure out how to get the attention of the Ichtharians and how to tell the good news of how Earth had averted the crisis and learned to create “heaven on earth”.
They knew that they needed to explain that the solution began with the awareness that the story people on earth were living was not the only narrative available to them. In the realm of spirit there are many mythic or universal stories, all of which can guide human behavior.. One human space traveler remembered the importance of the ideas of the psychologist Carl Jung, who, as previously noted, noticed that the symbols and narrative patterns in his patient’s dreams were similar to those he found in cultures all over the world. People’s sense of Otherness came from culturaldifferences and differences of appearance, but people at the deeper psychological levels, were more similar than they were different. Not only were their dreams the same, but they lived out many of the same archetypal story patterns.
Now let’s step out of this story long enough to recognize that we know a lot about how we live stories in our everyday lives. If you think about it, you can see something similar in life patterns we all take for granted: the maturation process of growing from a child to an adult; the progression of attraction between lovers to the fulfillment of love and commitment; the way mothers nurture and even sacrifice for their children; the way that we all grow old and die, the yearning people have to connect with their Creator…. and so on. At different times in life, people all over the world live out stories of growing up, of making commitments, of caring for others, of letting go, and of seeking union with the divine. In fact, each of these situations tends to give rise to a certain type of plot structure, with some people living out its positive narrative (generally moving toward a happy ending) and others living it out in its negative or tragic form.
Let’s think about ways of naturally shifting stories in terms of a real person I know (although I am changing his name to protect his privacy.) As a young adult and way into his 30’s Bill lived an Explorer story, exploring new ideas, traveling, joining the Peace Corps (leaving the U. S. to live in Costa Rico), and generally enjoying and maximizing his independence. He gave little or no thought to marrying and settling down, until he met Susan and fell in love. Soon he amazed himself by his willingness to make a lifetime commitment to her and by how happy he was in his new married life with her. In this way, he transitioned from living an Explorer story to a Lover story.
Still, he recognized how important some degree of freedom and dependence still was to him. For that reason, he was reluctant to have a child, yet because his wife wanted one, he agreed. Imagine his surprise then when his daughter was born and he found himself suddenly in love with her, too, but in a different way, wanting to protect and care for her. When his wife went back to work when the baby was reasonably small, he decided it was time to shift jobs, quitting his job and staying home temporarily with this new baby. When a prospective employer began aggressively recruiting him for an ideal job, his response was reluctant, saying how much he was valuing being home with his daughter. For the first time in his life, he found it easy and natural to sacrifice his independence and to put his career temporarily on hold to care for someone else. We can see this as a Caregiver story.
Each one of us has some series of life events that fundamentally shift our circumstances and affect the narratives we live out. Generally, we have an idea of how to live in each of these stages in part because we have seen the examples of those who have gone before us and, in part (if we accept the Jungian notion of archetypes shared by all humans) because somewhere in our hearts and minds we already know these patterns of living and being.
People live these stories in different styles, in different orders, and at different levels of consciousness, and hearing about or observing how others have navigated such life passages often guide them in living generously and well. In a very real way, we can see how every person who has lived such a story has etched a grove in the collective consciousness of humankind that makes it easier for others to do so. As people innovate, in how they live that story, the groove in consciousness widens and deepens making the plot progression of that story ever easier for each person to live out, and as they do, it helps them develop the virtues of that story. For example, the Explorer breeds independence, the Lover closeness, romance or friendship, and the Caregiver nurturance, altruism, and sacrifice.
We can also see that it is natural as people grow and develop to move from one story to another. No one has to force them to do so, (although this growth and development can be held back by cultural forces.)
Now back to our story….
The astronauts had no trouble identifying the different stories humans had had to live to rebalance the Earth, for they had learned about this progression in school. They learned that long ago, the first breakthrough that stopped people from hurdling off the edge into disaster was to realize that the way they were living was not inevitable. Up until then, most people thought that it was just being realistic to live according to a story focusing on competition and acquisition—because that was just how things were done and how you showed you were worth something.
Virtually everyone played a role in this drama which was often mistaken for “reality”. Some were the winners, some the losers, some supporters to the winners, and some kind souls were the Caregivers, trying as best as they could to bind the wounds of those minds, hearts, and bodies that were harmed in the ongoing battle. Overall, people came to realize, this meta story was a War story and required them not only to be at war with one another, but with parts of themselves, as well as with life itself.
The astronauts also remembered that although the War story had taken people to the brink of collective extinction and individual exhaustion, it also had had its usefulness. Through living this story, humans had learned the warrior’s discipline, focus, and courage, and to the degree that they also cared for the wounded and provided some safety net for the “losers”, they gained the Caregiver’s compassion and skills of nurturance as well. They realized that these virtues were essential to the daunting task of cleaning up the environment, finding ways to mutually disarm, and help those most disadvantaged by the old story.
At this point in the discussion, one of the astronauts wondered aloud about whether it was likely that the People of Ichtar could learn anything from another culture. Talking about it, the astronauts reasoned that their observations showed them that Ichtharians were also living a War story just as Earthings had and with the same result as the people on earth experienced. It was then possible that the course of Ichtar’s return to paradise might follow the same narrative progression as the people on Earth had experienced. It certainly was worth a try to share what they knew and then let the people of Ichtar decide what they wanted to do with the information, respecting, of course, their right to make their own choices and find their own way out of their own mess.
The astronauts particularly wanted to warn that the first shift of the story, that lead to earth’s problems being solved, did not look all that promising. Paradoxically, at first, it looked as if things were getting worse. People--and especially the young--began to feel and act more and more alienated, like Outsiders in their own cultures. And too many people who were chronologically too old to be this self-absorbed failed to mature and snap out of it. Looked at from the outside, people appeared to be quite self-indulgent, for it seemed like all they could focus on was themselves, what they wanted, what they believed, and how they wanted to live. Such people often traveled if they could or otherwise explored new thinking and new ways of being, but with a focus solely on finding themselves and their own sense of purpose. Everything was just “all about me.”
It seemed like the sense of global cohesiveness was simply crumbling more profoundly than before, as more and more people started living this fiercely individualistic Explorer story. In living this story, they often blamed the Others (that is, whomever they saw as having power) for the problems of the world, taking little or no responsibility themselves. They either stepped, as much as they could, out of the mainstream or simply tried to find some expression for their authentic selves within the world as it was, without much sense of responsibility for the whole.
Of course, when people start living different stories, these narratives color how they see everything. For example, when most of the world was living a Warrior story, scientists, looking at the natural world, stressed the competitive survival of the fittest at work there. The astronauts remembered that when people become more individual and atomized, scientists were noticing that organisms that survived balanced cooperation (finding their place in the ecosystem in a way that was interdependent with all other life forms in that system) with autopoesis, that is, a biology term describing how each organism strives to express its own essential essence, as an acorn becomes an oak tree.
In Earth societies, the focus on autopoesis (i.e. the fulfillment of ______________the individual or the species) preceded the focus on interdependence (i.e. ecological balance). That is, the emphasis on the good of the individual came before an awareness of how authentic and individuated individuals could live together in harmony. There was an important reason for this. In the Warrior story, a person is not worth anything until they prove their worth in battle (whether this is in war, in economic competition, or in other ways). As long as people were seeing their worth in contrast to that of others, presuming a hierarchy of human worth, they could not let go of the constant struggle to prevail over them. Their duty to the group is just that – duty – and it requires repression of their individual desires, gifts, and perspectives, thus limiting human initiative and creativity.
The individualist search for a deeper sense of identity by finding one’s purpose, one’s talents, and one’s genuine beliefs led to a sense of identity and worth that was absolute, rather than relative. It was not about being better or worse than anyone else. It was simply about getting here and being fully oneself, a unique and individual human being.
Without having people grounded in their true identities, human interdependence and cooperation had always been undermined by insidious comparisons and competition. (Inner thoughts went something like this: Am I superior to you? Am I inferior? If superior, how can I retain that superiority? If inferior, how do I turn the tables?) When people know who they are in an absolute way, thinking can be different (“Who are they? What do they know that I do not know? How can we work together to solve this problem or realize this vision?) Of course, once we recognize what we know and what our gifts are, we understand that we are partial, just as everyone else is. That is we also know what talents we do not have and what we do not know. It is as if we are puzzle pieces eager to find those that complement and complete us….
The astronauts also remembered that they had been taught that only when people expressed such willing interconnectedness, creating a wholesome societal ecosystem, that humankind began to turn the wheel of history and save themselves and the planet.
What is this story, this story about yearning to find the other puzzle pieces? Well, you may remember the ancient Greek myth about how the gods were threatened by the original androgynous people because of the power of the feminine and the masculine, yin and yang together. So, they separated male from female and, ever after, humankind has been obsessed with finding the person of the other sex who will complete us. This is, of course, the love story.
Most people throughout history have lived some version of the Lover story (although for some the search for mate is of their own sex, rather than the other sex). And, of course, some have been more successful than others in finding a satisfying life partner. Great spiritual teachers of all times and places had taught the importance of moving beyond romantic and familial love (and friendship) to develop the capacity to love nature, to treat all sentient beings with loving kindness, or to experience union in love with the divine and/or the divine in all beings.
Maybe it was because the future of the Earth hung in the balance--people suddenly did not take their home planet for granted. Shifting the story, humankind opened their eyes and fell in love with the Earth. They began to savor the beauty of a meadow or a flower, the grandeur of a mountain range, the clarity of a clear mountain lake, loving it as they would a lover or a cherished child. Instead of taking it for granted, they marveled in its beauty and cared for it, not out of duty and not out of sacrifice, but as an exercise in gratitude and devotion to something immeasurably beautiful and valuable and precious. As they learned more about the balance in nature and the ongoing miracle of the round of birth and death and rebirth, they also respected the Earth, not as a thing, but as a being with its own life and consciousness. Rather than seeing themselves like Warriors as nature’s conquerors, they recognized that they were part of that Earth. Any harm they did to her, they did to themselves.
Rooted in a new sense of individual purpose and identity, people, for the first time in history—began living a Lover story, thus they were able to stop judging others, looking for what is wrong with them. They also stopped competing with other people long enough to appreciate the beauty of all the different sizes, and colors, and shapes, and opinions and gifts we find among the peoples of the world. Different national states assessed their abilities to generously give what they had to help avert the prevailing crisis. Together, they raised the funds, the technical knowledge, the person-power, the prayers, and the strategies of change and transformation necessary to right the natural and social balance and to ensure that life on Earth would not just survive, but thrive.
Over time, people all over the world began to see themselves as Creators and Healers—people who had responsibility for creating the lives they lived. They began this by recognizing the stories they were living and analyzing whether those stories were fostering lives that balanced their own good with that of their loved ones, neighbors, and the globe. They also learned strategies of shifting the story—by calling on the fire of awareness and the capacity to choose, the water of flexibility and oneness with the whole, and the solidity of earth to ground this new story in right action and enlightened social structures.. In this way, they also learned to live the story of the Creator, creating their own lives and the life of the planet.
The primary point the astronauts wanted to share with the Ichtharians was that this shift of stories was as natural as that of an individual growing up and learning how to love—caring for someone else as much as his or her self. No miracle needed to happen. The natural growth of the human heart and mind simply needed to stop being blocked by the false belief that the story they were living collectively was reality, just the way things have to be..
And that is how the people of Earth manifested heaven on earth, the astronauts concluded. They simply shifted stories in a way that is totally natural to the species.
But could the citizens of Ichtar learn from Earth’s example? These future Earthlings had places to go and people to see, so they could not wait there to see what happened. But thinking through Earth’s history in order to share it, sharpened their own conscious awareness of the role of shifting archetypal stories in the evolution of their own species and the preservation of their own planet.
As they traveled around the universe, they shared this awareness, providing many civilizations with empowering tools of consciousness. That did much good.
So this is the end of my story. But what does this have to do with us, today, in Crestone, you might ask?
I’m aware that the story I’ve just told puts a positive spin on the Earth’s future—and the future could well be not just much bleaker, but catastrophic. Yet, I also know that the scenarios I’ve laid out could happen and if they do, they would start with each one of us. They start with a clear intent to manifest heaven on earth right now in all we do—“to be the future we want to see,” just as Gandhi urged us to do.
All change starts with a few people, whose actions breed ripple effects that eventually can change everything. Such changes can be negative, ushering in stories of oppression, exploitation, and devastation. But they can also be positive.
This is why it matters how we each live, even in what we consider quite private and personal parts of our lives. We can begin by cultivating the “narrative intelligence” to recognize the stories we are living and to notice the impact of those stories on the quality of our individual, family, community and global experience.
We can also recognize the gifts we are gaining, even by living narratives we have not chosen. Looking back, we may see that we have had personal experience with living all the stories I’ve described so far.
For example, most of us have had experience living a Warrior story, trying to measure up, defeat the enemy or the competitor and generally stand our ground and overcome obstacles. When you are in this story, you see people as inherently flawed unless or until they pull themselves together and use their strength to accomplish something of value. Doing so, helps them gain skill, focus, discipline and courage. Moreover, in the Warrior story, you are likely to project whatever you do not like about yourself on to others, blaming them or even attacking them. However, if you let go of this tendency and withdraw your projections, you can use these strengths to have the discipline to let go of narrow, parochial self-interest and xenophobia to live as global citizens, committed to the common good.
At the same time, or at another time in your life, you may have lived a Caregiver story, taking care of the young, the old, the helpless, the poor, and the downtrodden or just being really nice to anyone who seemed to need it. In the process, you may have gained great virtues of compassion, nurturance, and altruism. If you are able to avoid the negative side of the story—martyring yourself and keeping others dependent on you,--you can wrap your arms around this world and keep it safe. When you are in that story, your focus is on anyone in need and you are motivated to do whatever you can to help.
Many may also have lived an Explorer story, seeking out possibilities as a way of finding your own uniqueness. In the course of that journey, you may have found your talents, your gifts, your own perspective and your life purpose. But this story could also have a negative side, leading you to get lost in the role of the Outsider, suffering from alienation and sometimes acute loneliness because of a fear of the cost to your own soul of conforming. If you let go of that sense of being alien or an outsider, recognizing that you are as much an insider as anyone, you may have actually found yourself in ways that make you open to appreciating others, without always having to measure yourself against them.
You may also have lived the Love story—that is, if you have allowed yourself to fully feel your love for a lover, a spouse or partner, a child, a place, a work, or a spiritual path, If you have been able to let go of the tendency of the Lover to be overly attached to a particular love object, you can also let go of the fear of loss that seems to be part of the human condition. When you do this, you may have become a life-lover and a person capable of building community and encouraging coalitions – moving through conflict to promote peace.
Finally, if you have experience with the Creator story, you not only enjoy artistry and the chance to create in any aspect of your life, you also know that to some degree at least, you are a creator of your own life. However, most creative types have sometimes created messes in their lives, leading them to distrust their imaginative potential. Yet, such mistakes can be the source of learning. If you have gotten good at knowing which fantasies to trust and which to reject, you may have moved into a process of being a wise creator of your own life—working with others to create heaven on earth at least in your own corner of the world.
While it is helpful to clarify one’s own intent to live out the best side of each of these stories, generally speaking, you can trust that they arise in all of us naturally as we move through life’s many stages and grapple with common problems. Being aware of these patterns, in their positive and negative forms, however, speeds up the process and makes it increasingly likely that you can live out the more positive and life-enhancing form of each story.
Being a global citizen starts here in this beautiful place—Crestone-- and it starts now—in each moment that we choose to expand our circle of care and concern beyond our own self-interest and our own group or nation. We further our ability to do this by living the great mythic stories and as we do so, experience union with every other soul who has done so. Recognizing that we are trodding well-worn paths forged by pioneers of human consciousness “whether well-known or forgotten” can give us courage and provide us with hope.
As Meishusama wrote:
man’s behavior conditions whether this world becomes a blissful earthly paradise or a cruel hell. This is the Truth….In short, the achievement of the kingdom of heaven is our ultimate goal.
Thank you again for inviting me to this wonderful occasion. Now we can share with one another. If you have any questions about what I’ve said, I would be happy to answer them in the time that remains if I am able to do so. Or feel free to share your own reflections on the stories we live and their impacts on our personal and collective lives. And/or the blocks that currently exist to the natural human maturation process that might retard the growth in consciousness necessary to fulfill humankind’s potential. Or, perhaps you would like to share your own stories about how you or someone else created heaven on earth.
Now let me hear from you…..
