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 Maslow’s
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 that springs from within.
These skills develop the right-brain functions of creativity and intuition.
In the 1950s, Maslow believed 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.
