Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke at a news conference today, announcing further developments with his country’s nuclear program.
Referring the U.S., he said, “If they fix their behavior toward us, we will have a dialogue with them because that’s a principle of our foreign policy. But you know, they have their own way of thinking. They really think they own the world, they always sort of look down upon you.”
Notice his last two sentences. The crises we face as human beings in this era is given by our level of thinking. While most of us intellectually understand Einstein’s observation that we cannot solve our problems on the same level of consciousness that created them, we collectively have yet to 1) emotionally/behaviorally understand these words, or 2) understand how to evolve to a higher level of consciousness.
What will it take to evolve our thinking to the “next level?” Consider that the level we’re at has prevented us from even glimpsing the level beyond it. And we’ve been at this “level” for thousands of years–or as long as there has been consciousness as it exists today, with a high capicity for self-awareness.Can we really be so blind as to not see how the context from which we see and relate to the rest of the world is feeding the problem? Can we really be so foolish as to think that in today’s world we can continue to force our solutions on the rest of the world with military might? Do we not see how our own thinking is at the root of the problem?
It is time for a distinction between two levels of consciousness. Let’s call them the “position level” and the “vision level.” Consider that most of the world operates most of the time at the position level. This level of consciousness has the qualities of being dualistic, defensive, reactive and primarily motivated by psychological fear (whether one is conscious of it or not).
[The ideas that follow will be grasped more completely by those in the Visionary Mind Shifts course by e-mail.]
Considering these qualities, it should be no surprise that one who is thinking on the level of position does not recognize his own thinking as the source of the problem. For one thinking on the level of position, the problems are “out there,” not within–in fact, that’s the mind’s fundamental use for a position, is to avoid the pain of looking within. Honest introspection and vision are obstructed by the position, for these qualities exist at the level of vision.
For many thousands of years, thinking on the level of position has “worked,” or at least been tolerable. The more one looks around and sees everyone else behaving at the same level, the less one questions one’s own behavior.
At the level of position, one finds a view of the world (or position) to stand in, and proceeds to defend from and attack others’ whose views threaten one’s own. Thinking at the level of position, one naturally tries to achieve goals or change the world by 1) converting, 2) compelling (forcing to submit; overpowering), 3) compromising with, or 4) killing one’s adversaries.
At the level of position, there is only one right way to view the world; and one’s job is to find it, believe it, obey it and convert or compell others to believe it–or at least obey it. Short of converting everyone to your worldview, as a positionary thinker, your next best option is forcing others to obey. If you have trouble with this and you have a moral problem killing them, you might try to compromise with them first. If you have more of a moral problem compromising with them, you try to kill them.
We can see the disastrous effects of positionary thinking around the world in politics, religion, education, parenting, romantic relationships, business and more.
In today’s divisive world of growing complexity and accelerating change, an “enlightened” positionary thinker sees compromise as a virtue. Such a thinker believes that it’s best if we all just give up a little bit of our position in order to have more peace and progress, and learn to tolerate each other.
There is a quantum leap from the position level of consciousness to the vision level of consciousness. And this generation will be known by our willingness to rise to this level of thinking, or not.
The vision level of consciousness is nondualistic, integrated, holistic, creative and primarily motivated by a force that we’re all familiar with, but to which we give different names.
This level of consciousness, as I see it, is not some esoteric state of enlightenment or greatness, given to or attained by a chosen few. It is available to all of us, regardless of our views.
Whatever your religious or spiritual beliefs, you can approach yourself, others and the world at the level of position or the level of vision. At the level of position, everything that you are trying to stand for is compromised and most often seems beyond your reach. People can’t hear what you’re saying, you are virtually powerless to inspire the other side. At the level of vision, everything you stand for is honored and seems to be within the realm of the possible. People can hear you, see who you are and you have power to come together to “make the impossible happen.”
Indeed, at the level of vision, the human mind’s capacity for creative thinking, problem solving and invention is much more accessible. Whereas at the level of position, we can usually see few alternatives, but convert, compel, compromise or kill.
In the realm of the hard sciences, we are relatively unencumbered by a positionary consciousness. Things like physics, chemistry and biology are relatively impersonal, and thus we are open to use the full power of our minds to understand these domains and create technologies such as satellites, cell phones and aids medication. Operating on the level of vision in these domains is generally much easier, although still problematic (Scientists subscribing to different theories often form positions, and then become limited in their thinking. Those who move beyond them usually come from new paradigms unburdened by the psychological limitations of those clinging to a long-held and time-honored position).
In the realm of economics or business, where we market our technologies to create wealth, some of us operate at much higher levels of vision. These are the entrepreneurs, the social entrepreneurs, the wealth creators. (For many of us, this realm is more personal and thus our thinking is more on the level of position, thus limiting our access to our natural creative capacities).
It is the realm of the softer (and softest) of sciences that we find positionary thinking most evident and pervasive. Indeed, our conspicuous impotence in this more personal realm has bred atrocious results, which we’ve quite shamelessly come to accept as the norm.
Growing crises with addiction, depression, suicide, domestic violence, lawsuits, overpopulated prisons, ecological disruptions, pollution, terror, war, genocide, hate crimes, corruption, etc., are the disastrous results of thinking at the level of position.
Defining the problem as “some people are believing or following the wrong doctrine” is positionary thinking. This kind of thinking leads to even more of the problems we complain about, as we ostracize, humiliate and antagonize “the other side”–or the opposition–the opposing position. They fight back and retaliate to defend their position, and the world we all share grows increasingly worse. This level of grossly irrational thinking is the norm at the level of position.
Globalization is one of the modern dynamics threatening and shaking the instutions of position level thinking that have controlled individuals for centuries. Most threatened are fundamentalist religions and people in positions of unquestioned authority. No longer are so many of the masses willing to simply follow and obey.
Indeed, no longer are individuals so willing to blindly accept some authority or ruling majority’s pronouncement of good and evil, and then be “good” followers. More and more of us are coming to see the great feat of our generation is to go beyond what positionary leadership deems to be good follower behavior, and rise to greatness.
Our task is to be willing to risk the esteem of those we deem to be our moral authorities or peers, to stand for a world that really works for all of us. Robert Kennedy’s words seem more appropriate now than ever,
“Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital, quality for those who seek to change a world which yields most painfully to change.”
The shift in thinking is one that awaits each of us as individuals. It lies before us as the moral imperative of our time. Who will we be now and tomorrow? Will we rise to a new level of thinking–a new level of consciousness?
The question is not just one for our leaders. No, each of us must choose to be the visionary leader we’ve been waiting for. Our personal failure to meet this challenge, is not just a matter of being able to live together in peace as a global community. No, it’s a very personal matter.
The challenges that we face within ourselves and the suffering that we experience can be shown to be but symptoms of position-level thinking as well. Greater inner peace, inner power, vision, natural passion, honor, courage and love are available to the person who thinks on the level of vision–or to one with a visionary mind.
This shift I speak of is a subtle one, yet one that changes (and I say WILL change) everything.
That’s why I’m so excited that our new home study program, Visionary Mind: Experience Your Call To Greatness is complete and available to the world. One day, perhaps, maybe one of these packages will find it’s way into the hands of the world’s leaders. In the mean time, though, let’s get it in the hands of our future leaders. That’s you, right?
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