Guarantor & Nemesis
Ultimate Values v Ideology
Much is written about moral decadence in the West. One cause, shared by other societies, is the willing submission of people to ideologies, cultural or constructed. Ideologies and paradigms have their place and can be useful. However, because they are divisive and theoretical, they are the nemesis of goodness.
Western History
Following the 18th Century Enlightenment, ideology and science took over, from the churches, as guarantor of proper thinking, proper society, and therefore proper morality. Science had nothing to say about morality and promoted a neutral, beyond good-and-evil mentality. Social sciences became almost immediately ideological. Ideology promotes indoctrination: now political, economic and cultural as well as religious.
The message from this framework is that the foundation of goodness in life, and therefore the only guarantor of our fundamental humanity, is the personal use of ultimate values-G"1B in everyday situations.
Everything in this framework is non-ideological. Every choice can be a matter for each person to consider by looking within. Everything is rather simple: almost too simple to deserve the label «morality», whose complexity is rather to be found in social life with its customs, laws and other moral institutions.
What You Can Do
The lower three Levels are about what you can do:
G"1 with its use of ultimate values provides the essence of Free Will and reflects your Responsibility.
Why?
The activation of ultimate values cannot be forced. Their use on a regular basis is a matter of personal choice. Because it is difficult to do so in a social context that is ideological and organizational, a sense of responsibility for these values needs developing. As the values embed, that responsibility comes to feel completely natural. Responsibility turns out to be the obverse of the coin of values.
G"2 with its focus on finding inner strength suggests the power of the Animus or Male Principle.
Why?
Life is difficult. We are here to do, so everything beds down in physical activity, and that means physical power counts. However, cultures commonly see psychological equivalents like work, persistence, forcefulness, and assertiveness as male. Across many cultures, men do appear to be more individualistic, and focused on autonomy, duty and agency. (The significance of this is uncertain, but it could be hormonal and neuro-physiological.)
G"3 with its overcoming pain and suffering suggests the necessity of the Anima or Female Principle.
Why?
Pain can be physical, but much flows from emotions. Biologically, mothering requires attentiveness and nurture, with continuous attunement and rapid responsiveness to the infant, especially when distressed. This has led to a cultural view that qualities like sensitivity, caring and sympathy are female. Across many cultures, women do emphasize the importance of communion, feelings and relationships. (The significance of this is uncertain, but it could be hormonal and neuro-physiological.)
Where You Stand
The upper three Levels are where you stand:
G"5 with its attainment of equanimity is fed by the Primal Quest and depends on your endeavours.
Why?
The Primal Quest is the over-arching purpose of life that feels right to you. It influences all endeavours to a greater or lesser degree and generates specific endeavours. It is where you want to be and how you want to live. Surrender to your Quest is a primary contributor to being contented.
G"6 with its embrace of vitality faces up to your Fate and clarifies your limitations.
Why?
We do not choose our parents (at least not knowingly). We can only live in the physical and social environment in which we find ourselves (or to which we can travel and join). In terms of time, we certainly cannot live in a different epoch of human evolution. All these are matters of fate: not in the sense of fatalism but in the sense of the limitations that are intrinsic to our existence. They specify the hand that life has dealt and inevitably affect what we can do, how we can live. Fate therefore shapes any realization of goodness.
G"7 with its great dreams provides Light and opens the door to life's potentials.
Why?
Light enters your life through a willingness to entertain great dreams for yourself and the world. Even those who wrap themselves in self-protective armour have cracks and chinks where the light can enter.
You
Self at L-4 reflects the Hero that is You.
Your authentic self must be engaged and handled via awareness (i.e. your better Self) so that it builds a character that can take goodness in its stride. This means being responsive to motivations provided by your Quest, the time, and the light, and being open to responsibilities that come with freedom, and your male and female sides.
- Continue to reflections on the better Self series of frameworks.
Originally posted: 10-Aug-2013