Humans are social animals. Like all other animals, they gather into groups that serve a common purpose, like reproduction and survival of the species. Unlike other animals, humans have brains that can classify relationships according to personal preference like race, religion and politics. Also unlike other animals, humans are able to create belief and value systems that have nothing to do with the natural order of life. This creates strata of understanding that are the root cause of the planet's agony.

When a laboratory scientist wants to examine how an organism grows, he or she places agar into a Petri dish, adds the seed of that organism into the dish, covers it and watches its development. It creates a Culture. So it is with cultures among human beings. Agar is replaced by groups of people, the seed is a thought or idea, and the result is a School of Thought, or Ism. These schools of thought create a Group Think or Cultural Ego.

Traditions, religions, institutions, political blocs, clubs and the like are examples of Cultural Egos. If an individual within a group rebels against an ism, all kinds of punishments can be meted out by the group. Arbitrary laws are written and established to maintain adherence to these artificial schools of thought and appropriate punishment is defined when violated. Moses, Confucius, Mohammed and others attempted to give guidance to the members of their society, evidenced by the Ten Commandments, Sharia, etc.

Cultural egos are very difficult to change. That is because the individuals within them have little idea of what they could do by thinking "outside the box." Additionally, the reinforcement of the "group think" becomes powerful enough to overcome most individual thinking. Society trains and domesticates its members very much like all animals that can be trained to perform certain behaviors on command. It is done by agreement and by propagating beliefs and traditions that once served to unify groups.

As social animals, it is important for us to belong to groups. Interaction, communication, and sharing life with others are a great part of being human. In a close community, everyone lives to contribute for the betterment of that group. Everyone feels better after doing a good deed for someone else. There is no reason why this concept cannot go global. Society is created by all of us. What we choose to do with this creation is up to each of us. If we do not come together to further our species in a common sense manner, we cannot improve the current situation.

The current situation includes the doubling of the human population in the last fifty years or so. It includes the pollution of most, if not all, fresh water. It includes the pollution of the air we breathe to the point that chronic asthma and bronchitis flourish. It includes global warming, proliferation of weapons, drugs, crime, power and greed. How long we remain spectators instead of participants is yet to be known. We must be insane. We are like Nero fiddling while Rome burns.

Many, if not most people, are interested in where they fit in any group in which they belong. The pecking order is important to some and status seekers are proof of that. It is essential to understand why we do what we do, why we think what we think and address how we can change our priorities to benefit our planet and all its inhabitants, not just people. To achieve more understanding, we can start with Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. That model has five levels which have been refined and redefined and will be expanded yet again. The first understanding to agree on is that the ONLY need we have is Consciousness. Everything else is a WANT.

The second understanding is that Maslow's depiction defines the desires of ego, or personality. The values that determine our actions in all levels will be the motivators for climbing to the Self(ego)-Actualization level. "Persona" means "purporting to be" and there are many whose egos put on act of being something other than what they truly are in order to gain status within a group.

Transcendence

Maslow's pyramid of human needs depicts the hierarchical priority of human actions. As basic needs are met, we strive to scale the pyramid by understanding a greater truth than we currently recognize.

The base level is meeting our physiological needs. In one depiction, he lists these as breathing, food, water, sex, sleep, excretion and homeostasis. All animals are born with these instinctual needs and, to go one step further, so are all flora. Plants are life forms, too. The knowledge of meeting any life form's needs is encoded in its DNA and RNA molecules as life's Grand Operating Design (GOD). We did not have to take a class to acquire this knowledge. It is innate. Its purpose is to maintain homeostasis in the body it occupies and create a balanced State of Being.

Once the physiological level is satisfied, our attention can be turned to the second level- Safety. Maslow proposes this as security of body, resources, family, health, employment, property and morality. The only thing plants have in common with us on this level is security of the body. Many plants have defensive mechanisms and immune systems to protect their body. The rest fall into the human realm and some social animals, like chimpanzees. They give birth to value and belief systems. Family, health and morality surely fit.

Resources, employment and property are temporary and evanescent concerns, but do belong in a societal environment. Whether or not this list is accurate is subject to scrutiny, but Maslow's work was done around 1949 and is being used here as a general guide for development. It has been interpreted and revised into more sophisticated ideas, including transcendence. At the security level, we are in a self-serving mode. We seek to anchor safety in our own actions first. From this base, we will develop into the next level to encounter relationships.

Maslow calls the Relationship level Love/Belonging. Once we are safe and secure, we begin to test the waters of society. We are not the only animals to socialize, but we can certainly carry that trait to extremes. For many, this level is difficult to broach because of the cacophony of messages received from interaction with others. Love is not simple to define into a common agreement of its meaning. Three definitions come to mind. The first is agape, universal love for all creatures and nature itself. This is exemplified by buddhas and Jesus. The second is the kindred spirit love of friends and family. Lastly, the carnal love that all animals, plants and insects do naturally. Carnal love in humans should be the bonus for having the other two in place, but today's world doesn't reflect that thought. Sex cannot be the primary reason for a healthy relationship, but it is a bonus.

Belonging is our herd instinct. Like the migration of the wildebeest, we tend to identify with safety in numbers. Socialization creates a "group think" that will define the nature and traits of the group. Agreement to follow the rules of the group establishes membership. Most people will satisfy their need to belong with various group thinks. Clubs, religions, nations, and many other "schools of thought" provide haven for the social needs of the individual. Once these three levels are set, Maslow proposes Esteem as the next hurdle.

In this level, he includes self-esteem, confidence, achievement, respect for others and others' respect for us. In interactions with society, skills and ability that produce favorable results will boost personalities into the competitive arena. The driver personality is the mover and shaker, Type A personality and is normally perceived in American society as a success story. Drivers become leaders and decision makers. They are primed for self-actualization, but in order to achieve it, they must acquire the characteristics of Compassion.

Self-actualization level contains morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack of prejudice, and acceptance of facts. Not an easy task for most. Our brain is comprised of temporal and spatial properties used to evaluate goals. Temporal is our logical side and Spatial our emotional side. These create our Time/Space concepts.

In the book "Good to Great," the author identifies individuals in businesses that exemplify this level. Likewise, in "Search for Excellence," similar leaders are described. These leaders have a balanced mentality. They use both hemispheres of the brain in achieving results. They have learned to use both left and right hemispheres of their brain appropriately. They create the future.

At the self-actualization level, there is still a gap to be overcome for reaching what we truly seek - Transcendence. This gap is shown on the Great Seal of the United States beneath the eye of Providence. To attain enlightenment, we must tend to the spiritual needs of life. Maslow gives guidance for the human aspect of socialization, but ignores the deeper sense of what it is to "be." This innate feeling of wanting to know what we are and why we exist eventually rises to the surface in most, if not all, human minds. If we reach this level, we must define morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack of prejudice, and acceptance of facts to go beyond.

Acceptance of facts is absolutely essential for the climb to continue. Truth is the only thing that can survive. It exists in all of us. Society domesticates its members through the use of indoctrination, propaganda, false belief systems, and other methods. If all of us recognized truth, there would be no wars. These methods are used to identify and manage different herds into manageable segments. Satraps are appointed as shepherds as long as allowed by the ruling class. If they get out of line, create a revolution.

After the instinctual animal survival wants are met, egos will seek safety and security. The Plutarchy spends a lot of time and effort to use this knowledge to create fear in the population it controls. Witness the 2016 Federal election and the fear-mongering statements being issued. Egos who have not yet matured are shaking in their boots from many incendiary diatribes. As Benjamin Franklin noted: "Those who would give up some freedom for security deserve neither." Franklin Delano Roosevelt wisely coined: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

Fear is caused by ignorance of the facts. The Plutarchy classifies its knowledge into Confidential, Secret and Top Secret. They do not want to inform lower levels of what their goals really are. The odd fact is that many people do not want to know. When Edward Snowden released the files related to the surveillance conspiracy the United States was conducting, there was quite an outcry from groups who saw this as unpatriotic and called him a traitor. His act was actually quite brave, but the Plutarchy was visibly upset and castigated him vigorously. The question: Is there such a thing as a "good" secret? Keeping the truth from the general population has been done from time immemorial for a very simple reason - maintaining power.

The security clearances are handed out with great care. Confidential information is minimal in its impact on upsetting the apple cart. Secret information is usually disseminated way after something can be done to prevent its original intent, normally after the participants have died. Top Secret clearances are handed out very sparingly to extremely loyal individuals who would prefer to die rather than tell. Snowden was in the CIA and had access to such clearance. Unlike many psychotic CIA agents, he chose the higher road.

"The very word 'secrecy' is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths, and to secret proceedings." John F. Kennedy

"I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them but to inform their discretion." Thomas Jefferson

Maslow's third level is Socialization. This is where the bulk of the population wallows and many, if not most, will never go to the next level. At this level, there is a myriad of choices for the types of herds to join. Instinctual desires like the mating instinct will be fulfilled, friends will be made, family will be treasured, etc. Schooling provides new adventures and prepares young minds to execute the directives of the Plutarchy. Careers will be chosen, new families will be created and life experience can open new opportunities. As soon we graduate from school, we can begin our education.

How we were raised will give us some guidance from which we can develop our life. Ancestral influences of how life should be lived invariably will come into play. Folklore, tradition, superstition, and other thoughts from others will have an effect on the developing ego. One of the more common practices for many families is to inject conflicting and/or false beliefs into their children's innocent minds. As the brain develops, untold numbers of influences will affect how an individual ego makes its decisions.

We have a bicameral (two chambers) brain. Much has been said about how little of our brain we use, but the truth is that we use all of it. What prevents us from agreeing is the tendency to use one chamber more than the other. Social stratification normally refers to financial status, but there are more elements that define our position. To illustrate, an ancient Asian proverb describes egos as follows:

"He who knows not and knows not that he knows not is a fool, shun him.
He who knows not and knows he knows not is a student, teach him.
He who knows and knows not that he knows is asleep, wake him.
He who knows and knows that he knows is wise, follow him."

These four ego types comprise the majority of the population, regardless of what topic we may address, including the political debacle we face for the November election. This proverb can translate into a more modern view described in some advanced classes.

The first ego in the proverb is an Unconscious Incompetent -- unteachable. In the Johari window of Larry Wilson's Counselor Selling class, this is the Analytical Block. In the Indian caste system it is the Untouchable level, made up of street and latrine cleaners and the like.

The second ego type refers to societal motivation to better itself through learning experiences and is named Conscious Incompetents. These are the trainable egos that can perform more valuable tricks. They would reside in the Driver block in the Johari Window and represent the Sudra of India's caste system, primarily entry-level duties and develop from there.

Third ego type is the "Natural" Unconscious Competent. Driven by instinct to achieve goals, not much thought about method and sequence enters this mind and this appeals widely to many of his group. Wilson would call this the Amiable block. India's system classifies this level as merchants and landowners (Vaishya) and their success probably comes from their social appeal to others.

The fourth type is the Conscious Competent and is the doorway to the next level of development in Maslow's pyramid. In that level, self-esteem (self-worth) is recognized by the ego and evidenced by confidence, achievement and mutual respect with the group. It is the Expressive block for Wilson and the Kshatryia caste level (warriors and kings) in India. Everyone reading this has probably heard of IQ tests (intelligence) and EQ tests (emotional). The Conscious Competents are above 100 on both scales.

These various ego types are evident in every situation and every group. They express themselves as the situation and circumstances around them dictate. Some will be great at body-building and some can shine as rocket scientists. Everyone is a Conscious Competent at SOMETHING. Accepting one's shortcomings and focusing on one's strength is the easiest way to fulfill one's purpose for one's existence.

Brain function is the cause of the separation of these ego types. The fool is stuck in the vortex of Ignorance and Apathy (don't know, don't care) and is just an animal waiting to die. The student ego uses the left hemisphere (digital) to understand it is missing values it wants and seeks knowledge of how to reap more, but is based upon the materialistic view of life. This is an example of the conservative ego. The natural ego doesn't care about material as much as acceptance and illustrates the liberal ego. Neither can see the "Big Picture" because of ignoring the opposing hemisphere until they start questioning their position, or opinion.

We have the unique ability to stop a thought and think about it. To behold a thought and evaluate its meaning is the most powerful capability of human beings. To pass thought through the Corpus Callosum to the emotional hemisphere and gather meaning is a virtual miracle. In this age of constant belaboring by the cacophony of meaningless input, it is difficult to focus on what is truly important. We have to use this ability in order to change the path we have created. We have to prioritize our life by accepting not what is important to each of us, but what is important to all of us. We have to stop clicking on cultural icons that activate the apps that have been programmed into us. The only way to make a breakthrough to a higher level of understanding is to let go of what is not true. Ego has attachment issues. It does not want to let go of beliefs and values it used to make decisions in the past. That is the hurdle that must be overcome to reach new heights.

The left hemisphere of our brain is an antenna that receives digital information while the right receives analog information. This is the difference between thought and emotion. The Corpus Callosum is where we should position our thoughts and emotions to assess the impact of the input on one side or the other. Meditation does that.


After the Self-Esteem level comes the Self-Actualization level. It is truly Heaven on Earth.

Self-Actualization

Once an ego has learned to use both hemispheres of the brain effectively, it can begin to sift through its knowledge base for faulty thoughts and values and remove them. Underneath the flotsam and jetsam of societal propaganda and conditioning, ego can dis-cover the truth that was always there. Why wouldn't more people want to do this? Probably because they don't know what it means or hadn't realized they could actually achieve transcendence. Perhaps it is the fear of being cast out of a group. The enlightened man is the greatest stranger in the world; he does not seem to belong to anybody. No organization confines him, no community, no society, no nation.

People are afraid, very much afraid of those who know themselves. They have a certain power, a certain aura and a certain magnetism, a charisma that can take out alive, young people from the traditional imprisonment of societal hypnotism.

The enlightened man cannot be enslaved - that is the difficulty for others to accept - and he cannot be imprisoned. Everyone who has known something of the inner is bound to be a little difficult to be absorbed; he is going to be an upsetting force. The masses don't want to be disturbed, even though they may be in misery; they are in misery, but they are accustomed to the misery. And anybody who is not miserable looks like a stranger.

Whether he is wealthy or poor, the enlightened man is really an emperor because he has broken the chains of society's repressive conditioning and opinions. He has formed himself by embracing all the colors of the rainbow, emerging from the dark and formless roots of his unconscious past and growing wings to fly into the sky. His very way of being is rebellious - not because he is fighting against anybody or anything, but because he has discovered his own true nature and is determined to live in accordance with it. The eagle is his spirit animal, a messenger between earth and sky. Muhammad Ali was such a man.

The enlightened man challenges us to be courageous enough to take responsibility for who we are and to live our truth. How can we proceed to that final level?

The first step is accepting the fact that it is only the artificial mind we call ego that will die. The source of our consciousness is eternal.

Second, we must know that this is a solo trip with no return ticket. Once we assimilate a higher consciousness of truth, there can be no return to a lower level.

Third, societal rules and rituals cannot help us complete our journey.

Fourth, the ego must release desire, creature comforts and selfish interests; and, additionally, forgo judging of others and itself.

Fifth, understand that all forms we behold are temporary and evanescent while living in Universal Consciousness is permanent and real. We must truly desire consciousness in eternity and infinity.

Sixth, eliminate the attraction of conceit, selfishness and ego motivation.

Seventh, be patient and at peace while unifying and harmonizing thoughts.