Deepak Chopra and Steve Braverman on this (2008) Election

Deepak Goes Deep: "Obama and the Palin Effect"

Deepak
Goes Deep: "Obama and the Palin Effect"

"The Republicans' success is based on
their ability to activate not just the base, but the basest of the
base."
--
Swami Beyondananda

Every now and then, I find a piece
of writing that is so incisive and pertinent to the moment that I am moved to
quote it in its entirety. A few days ago, I saw this article by Deepak Chopra
that brilliantly expresses the political choices we face now, and explains
why Sarah Palin has been so successful thus far in "activating the
base."

Here is his article called
"Obama and the Palin Effect:"

Sometimes
politics has the uncanny effect of mirroring the national psyche even when
nobody intended to do that. This is perfectly illustrated by the rousing
effect that Gov. Sarah Palin had on the Republican convention in Minneapolis this week.
On the surface, she outdoes former Vice President Dan Quayle as an unlikely
choice, given her negligent parochial expertise in the complex affairs of
governing. Her state of Alaska has less than
700,000 residents, which reduces the job of governor to the scale of running
one-tenth of New York City.
By comparison, Rudy Giuliani is a towering international figure. Palin's
pluck has been admired, and her forthrightness, but her real appeal goes
deeper.

She is the
reverse of Barack Obama, in essence his shadow, deriding his idealism and
exhorting people to obey their worst impulses. In psychological terms the
shadow is that part of the psyche that hides out of sight, countering our
aspirations, virtue, and vision with qualities we are ashamed to face: anger,
fear, revenge, violence, selfishness, and suspicion of "the other."
For millions of Americans, Obama triggers those feelings, but they don't want
to express them. He is calling for us to reach for our higher selves, and
frankly, that stirs up hidden reactions of an unsavory kind. (Just to be
perfectly clear, I am not making a verbal play out of the fact that Sen.
Obama is black. The shadow is a metaphor widely in use before his arrival on
the scene.) I recognize that psychological analysis of politics is usually
not welcome by the public, but I believe such a perspective can be helpful
here to understand Palin's message. In her acceptance speech Gov. Palin sent
a rousing call to those who want to celebrate their resistance to change and
a higher vision.

Look at
what she stands for:

• Small town values -- a denial of America's
  global role, a return to petty, small-minded parochialism.
• Ignorance of world affairs -- a repudiation of the
  need to repair America's
  image abroad.
• Family values -- a code for walling out anybody who
  makes a claim for social justice. Such strangers, being outside the
  family, don't need to be heeded.
• Rigid stands on guns and abortion -- a scornful
  repudiation that these issues can be negotiated with those who disagree.
• Patriotism -- the usual fallback in a failed war.
• "Reform" -- an italicized term, since in
  addition to cleaning out corruption and excessive spending, one also
  throws out anyone who doesn't fit your ideology.

Palin
reinforces the overall message of the reactionary right, which has been in
play since 1980, that social justice is liberal-radical, that minorities and
immigrants, being different from "us" pure American types, can be
ignored, that progressivism takes too much effort and globalism is a foreign
threat. The radical right marches under the banners of "I'm all right,
Jack," and "Why change? Everything's OK as it is." The irony,
of course, is that Gov. Palin is a woman and a reactionary at the same time.
She can add mom to apple pie on her resume, while blithely reversing forty
years of feminist progress. The irony is superficial; there are millions of
women who stand on the side of conservatism, however obviously they are
voting against their own good. The Republicans have won multiple national
elections by raising shadow issues based on fear, rejection, hostility to
change, and narrow-mindedness.

Obama's
call for higher ideals in politics can't be seen in a vacuum. The shadow is
real; it was bound to respond. Not just conservatives possess a shadow -- we
all do. So what comes next is a contest between the two forces of progress
and inertia. Will the shadow win again, or has its furtive appeal become
exhausted? No one can predict. The best thing about Gov. Palin is that she
brought this conflict to light, which makes the upcoming debate honest. It
would be a shame to elect another Reagan, whose smiling persona was a
stalking horse for the reactionary forces that have brought us to the
demoralized state we are in. We deserve to see what we are getting, without
disguise.

More about Deepak at
http://intent.com
www.deepakchopra.com

Evolution Or Devolution?

As Deepak so
articulately suggests, this election is far more than a contest between two
political parties, but a referendum on two diametrically-opposed world views.
One world view essentially believes that the nature of human nature is
"evil" so consequently we humans must be controlled, if necessary
via manipulation, force and the threat of death. In this world view, we are
"sinners", hopeless and helpless without divine intervention. And
if we're very, very lucky, the Divine presence will return ... to destroy the
world.

The other world view suggests that
we may be "sinners" only in the sense that to "sin" in
archery means "to miss the mark." In this alternative world view,
we aren't hopeless sinners, but hopeful "learners." Life moves
forward -- progresses -- with our accumulated awareness, provided we learn.
Here too we may call upon divine intervention, but that intervention is to
purify our own heart and intentions.

In short, this election is about
evolution vs. devolution. Do we evolve to achieve our human potential (our
full potential to be human)? Or, do we devolve into machine-controlled slaves
who mistake reality TV for reality?

This election is bigger than
Democrat vs. Republican, even though the two world views are wearing these
labels this time around. It's not so much whether a candidate believes in the
theory of evolution, but whether they believe in the "practice" of
evolution. And that practice may be akin to the "community
organizing" the Republicans so snidely dismissed. (Someone sent me a
slogan that would make a great bumper sticker, "Jesus Was a Community
Organizer.")

Why community organizing? According
to cellular biologist Bruce Lipton, the nature of practical evolution is ...
community, cooperation and shared awareness. Ever since the first single cell
organisms got tired of the single life and combined forces with other single
cells some 700 million years ago, every evolutionary step has involved groups
of cells combining to increase efficiency, awareness, and survivability. You
and I, for example, are communities of 50 trillion cells that cooperate for
the purpose of bringing "us" to the world every day.

The thriving cellular society
beneath our skins boast universal health care, full employment, and truly no
cell left behind. Our organs -- which can be seen as huge
"businesses" employing millions and sometimes trillions of cells --
do not "compete" against other organs, but work with them to create
health and vitality for the whole body.

As Bruce and I explain in our new CD
set Spontaneous
Evolution (see below), we as a species are on the threshold of a new
evolution. Only this evolution doesn't involve growing another limb, or even
a bigger brain. Rather it involves learning what our cells learned millions
of years ago -- the universal successful operating principle for life is
"we're all in it together."

Just as our cells have learned to
thrive through the common purpose of "thrival" for the entire
organism, the next phase in human evolution involves recognizing ourselves
each and all as cells in the body of humanity. In the universal
"fractal" reiterating pattern of nature, we find the cell, the
individual, the community, and even the planet all have the same
requirements: fresh air, clean water, healthy and abundant food.

While that may seem like a
high-minded ideal, in fact it is the down-to-earth "real deal" that
will determine whether we humans realize our true human potential, or whether
our species gets an "F" in third dimension. To get a much fuller
idea of the science behind this "new" theory of evolution (which
ironically, our spiritual teachers have been trying to tell us about for
millennia), here is the link to order the Spontaneous
Evolution 5 CD set.

Not only will it give you a new
understanding of evolutionary science, but it will explain how the
"invisible" field of ideas impacts our biology and our reality --
and how we can change these beliefs from dysfunctional to functional. This
understanding is particularly important if we are to see this election -- or
any other one -- in proper perspective.

So ... back to the election. What
are we voting for? Or against? In essence, our choice boils down to two
distinct ways of seeing the world and experiencing reality. "We're all
in this together" vs. "Every man for himself." One world view
represents the core views of Jesus, and every other spiritual teacher in
history (and now confirmed by science). The other is a distortion based on
millennia of rule by "the lowest common dominator."

When Sarah Palin -- or anyone else
-- "appeals to the base," they have the weight of history and
unconscious programming on their side. So pervasive is this belief in
original sin and the venal nature of human nature, that even those who call
themselves progressive often subconsciously don't really believe change is
possible. (That's another thing Spontaneous
Evolution addresses.)

So the important thing now is for us
to keep our eye on the prize, the thrival of humanity by working together
rather than fighting one another. Interestingly, this is the
"prize" the founders of America fought for, and is
expressed in our motto E Pluribus Unum, out of many one. Jefferson, Madison
and company did not in any way intend a topdown imposition of this common
purpose, but rather a bottom-up realization of it. That is exactly what is
manifesting now, and as Deepak points out, why the opposition is so strong
and powerful.

In any shadow work, we must first
confront our own individual issues -- our fears and other shadow
manifestations that keep these "dominator" patterns in place.
Remember, we cannot successfully confront in another what we are unwilling to
face in ourselves. So let's lose no energy to despair or hand-wringing about
how awful it is. It is exactly as it must be. We cannot muster the internal
and external resolve to make this next evolutionary leap without the
resistance that strengthens us.

May the best paradigm win.

Coming Very Soon ... the Department of Heartland Security.

Over the
next weeks and months, I will turn my attention to a new domain launching in
less than two days ... the Department of Heartland Security. There, we will
gather the most inspired and helpful thinking in the domains of
"heart", "land" and "security."

Heart represents our universal
spiritual foundation, the vast and untapped resource of love and connection

Land represents a restorative,
sustainable economy that empowers a mutually beneficial partnership between
human and biosphere.

Security represents our evolution from
the single cell "every-cell-for-itself" philosophy to the
multi-cell "we're-all-in-this together." In doing so, we move from
survival of the fittest to thrival of the fittingest, from mutually-assured
destruction to mutually-assured survival.

In addition, I will offer a weekly
blog, radio interviews and more. My intention is that these three portals
become gateways to the most healing, functional and exciting ideas,
businesses, organizations and projects on the planet, and these great ideas
proliferate and are applied widely. Stay attuned ...

Swami's Quick Links

· Swami's Ompage

· Swami Products Page

· Read Swami's Declaration of Interdependence

· Bruce Lipton's Website

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