One way to begin the shift from an unsustainable worldview with pervasive self-destructive behaviors is to begin to define and internalize an alternative narrative. The following dialogue guides can be used to facilitate community conversations with that goal in mind.
Conversation One
- Due to the process of “Globalization” there is now only one major culture, one dominant worldview, operating in the world today.
- The culture of the “global village” is unsustainable.
- The operational dynamic of human consciousness works like this: Worldview drives Identity drives Behavior
- The world’s religions tend to work backward from behavior (the “thou shalt nots” of precepts like the Ten Commandments and The Eightfold Path). In other words they attempt to change behavior which changes identity which creates a new context, i.e. “Heaven on earth.” History has proven the futility of trying to create a healthy, sustainable human community through fear.
- To change the behavior of an individual or a collective, the worldview must be changed first. Remember that a good working definition of worldview is a person’s or a collective’s feelings, beliefs, attitudes and values.
Recommended Reading:
Armstrong, Karen. A History of God. New York: Knopf, 1994.
Chopra, Deepak. How to Know God. New York: Random House, Inc., 2000.
Conversation Two
- To build a sustainable global culture requires a profound understanding of why human beings behave as they do. Such an understanding is the beginning of the process of changing that behavior.
- The structure of human consciousness contains these elements: an unconscious, repressed shadow; a false self survival strategy driven by the mostly unconscious need for security, sensation and or power; a personal unconscious; and a collective unconscious.
- We can remember the behavioral characteristics of the false self (sometimes called the psychological model) by associating each with Americans cities that can be said to exemplify dominant behaviors of each.
Security (accumulation of material things): New York City and Wall Street
Sensation (includes addictions): Las Vegas
Power: Washington D.C.
Recommended Reading:
Keating, Thomas. Open Heart, Open Mind. New York: The Continuum Publishing Company, 1986.
Keyes, Ken. Handbook to Higher Consciousness. Berkley, California: Living Love Center, 1975.
Conversation Three
- The content of the shadow is made up of all the behaviors that we repressed because they were disapproved of by our parents, peers, teachers, family, etc.
- We are unconscious of our shadow content and it can emerge spontaneously giving rise to the term “Freudian slip.” Obviously, we have no control over what, when or if shadow content will present itself.
- The collective unconscious is the influence that our communities have on our emotions, beliefs, attitudes and values. This content has accumulated since the beginning of ancient human self-awareness. Mythology and psychology are the disciplines that shed light on this content and its influence on our worldview and behavior.
Recommended Reading:
Zweig, Connie and Abrams, Jeremiah. Meeting the Shadow: The Hidden Power of the Dark Side of Human Nature. Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc., 1991.
Ford, Debbie. The Dark Side of the Light Chasers. New York: Riverhead Books, 1998.
Johnson, Robert. Owning Your Own Shadow. New York: Harper, 1991.
Jung, C. G. The Portable Jung. New York: Penguin Books, 1971.
Jung, C. G. Psychology and Religion. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 1938.
Conversation Four
- The distinction between each of the related pairs will help with the understanding of the distinction between paradigms A and B. Those pairs include: response and reaction, intuition and intellect, and feeling and emotion.
- The related pairs are part of a simple and secular language that avoids the ambiguities and emotional reactions that can accompany religious or philosophical language.
