Understanding Group Consciousness

Namaskar. The evolution of the mind and the spiritual development of an individual is a complex matter. It is a matter of training the mind to quiet and be able to feel into the stillness, but it also is a matter of changing the understanding that individuals have of their own self, a matter of changing even the fundamental definition of self.

So, this spiritual life is not so simple, and many flee from it because they are afraid to face themselves, to look at their own behavior, their beliefs, their ideas, their assumptions, and to surrender those to the infinite one. The beliefs in right and wrong, good and bad, the assumption that one’s actions or beliefs are superior to others and that one has the right to judge, has been a part of human society since the very beginning.

Human people form their social groupings and networks, and they create a wall around them. There are those that are inside and there are those that are outside. This is groupism.

But it is the nature of people to want to feel identity with a group and to trust their welfare to the group. If the group says this, then they will think this. If the group says that, then they will think that. They lose their personal integrity to the group. And therefore, they become unable to make personal decisions; personal values become secondary to the group.

And with most groups there are those that are inside of the group and those that are considered outside of the group. This has led to wars, feuds that have harmed many people both physically and mentally. So, what to do when confronted with this reality of human behavior?

You must ask yourself what is your attitude; where do you stand? Do you think for yourself or are you simply driven by this group psychology? Do you place your trust in the collective of a group, or do you place it in the divine one? Do you listen to the God within, or do you listen to the group and the scriptures of the group?

These have been the issues that have plagued humanity and in the name of group psychology, they have done great harm to others who are outside of their group. The wars of the world have been fought for the group, the clan, the tribe, the nation. People die fighting for the group.

But humanity and not only humanity but all the living beings are part of one family, one infinite source of being has created all of this and all of these living beings. The welfare of one is interdependent with the welfare of another, whether your group is your tribe, your clan, your town, your community, your region, your nation, your religion. There will always be the “other.”

 If you are Christian, you may take a stance against Muslim or Hindu and vice versa. And thus, the pain and suffering of the world has gone on. People fighting for religion, for nationalism. One group against another. For what? For what?

To be right. To make others wrong. To gain access to territory. To have dominance, power, prestige, to be the winner. This is the side of human nature which lives in Maya, which tries to find happiness at the expense of others, which tries to divide the world into those who are good and those who are bad, those who are like me, those who are different, of a different race, of a different gender, of a different belief system, of a different religion, come from a different region, speak a different language. There is always then your own group and other. And from this many animosities arise and much difficulty.

There is no end to the suffering this psychology has created in the human race. And until people think that the universe is their home and all beings their brothers and sisters, this will continue. And for the Sadhaka who takes this form of groupism to heart, they will justify themselves and their ill behavior towards others, and thus feuds and wars, power struggles among people dominate human society.

But a shift is occurring. There is turmoil now because there is change afoot, a shift occurring. Many people are tired of this psychology. They are tired of being part of a system that promotes oppression of some at the expense of some for the glory of others.

It is one world family, not only human beings but all beings. This is the very essence of neo humanism, the new humanism, that all beings are part of the family of living beings, abiding within the mind of the cosmos, within the grace of the infinite. All are within the mind of the cosmic one. None are outside, none are apart. Good and bad, right and wrong are very much a view of perspective.

What is good for one group may not be good for another group and vice versa. The solution does not lie in winning. The solution does not lie in conquering. The solution does not lie in convincing all that you are right.

The solution lies in love, love that is deep, pure, and universal, love for all living beings, even those who you think do wrong, love, compassion, care. Despite the difficult actions and weaknesses that plague humanity, despite the aggressive nature of some species, including human beings, can you find compassion, can you find love for all beings, can you make your heart pure, immune to this type of groupism that can swallow you?

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The spiritual path, the way to divinity, is not so simple. It challenges not only to quiet the mind for meditation, but to challenge the fundamental way you operate in this world, the way you assume and defend yourself. Let love abide. Let love divine and universal, and compassion for the weaknesses, sorrows, and deficiencies in human nature, not to endorse them to be enacted, but to have understanding and compassion for all beings, and support the expansion of love in the heart, for you and for all beings.

For when the spirit is uplifted by the waves of love and kindness and understanding, then in that upliftment of the heart, that is the path to spirituality, not in the beliefs and judgments of the mind but in the compassion, love, and kindness of the heart. The rational judgments, depending upon your particular view, they will change. You will think one person is good, another person is bad.

Let love and compassion, kindness rule you. Have compassion for the shortcomings of living beings, of human beings. It does not mean you indulge those things which harm humanity, but that you understand the weakness in human nature, which catches people and enacts through them. Hold yourself apart from these things.
Cling to the love of Parama Purusha, cling to the divine. Make that one the polestar of your life, no group, no collective psychology. Let Parama Purusha alone be the polestar of your life. Avoid groupism, avoid judgment. See with compassion the pains and woes of this world.

One group has felt oppressed. They oppress another group. That group feels oppressed. They develop hatred, they want to destroy this group. So it is in the dealings of human beings.

It is something to weep for. The solution lies not in force but in love. The solution is going deep in yourself and finding the love that abides there, love for yourself, love for all living beings, even when they have shortcomings. It is in understanding their shortcomings and in guiding them to the path of love that the solution lay individually and collectively. Not in judgment, not in finding the true way and the right way, judging others to be wrong. But even those who do harm to humanity, with an understanding heart guide them in the right direction.

It is the love of the infinite that will heal the woes of human society. When people identify one world. that they are part of one world they’re all on the same team with all the living beings on the planet. Then things will change. When neo-humanism becomes the mode of human society, and it will become the mod, people will learn from their errors. It will change.

But sometimes it is darkest before the dawn. There is a shift going on, a shift that cannot be altered, a change in the world. You are part of that change. Live in this cosmic, compassionate love. Let it be the guiding force of your life. Then you become part of the healing that will take place on this planet.

For healing will come, is there, but will be there. Healing for the planet, for the living beings upon the planet, and for humanity. This path of spirituality is one to learn, to uplift the human spirit in yourself and in others.


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