Primal Morality

FURTHER IMPLICATIONS OF LEVELS OF CONSCIOUSNESS
Arthur Janov

ON MORALITY

Out-worn heart, in a time out worn,
Come clear of the nets of wrong and right;
Laugh, heart, again in the gray twilight,
Sigh, heart, again in the dew of the morn.
William Butler Yeats


My basic hypothesis is that morality does not exist on the deeper levels of human existence. Morality is a third-line concept involving the "shoulds" and exists when individuals have lost their internal access. On the feeling level of existence there is no morality, no notion of right and wrong, only what is. Feelings, unlike morality, are never judgments; they are states of being. Morality is what fills the gap when people leave their feelings behind. Because they are only third-line deep, moral principles must be invoked time and again to have any effect. They must be drilled into people, accompanied by a variety of real and imagined punishments in order to counteract natural feelings and impulses. Thus, when one is allowed his feelings, morality vanishes. Feelings are the only moral principles for natural man. They direct him to be honest, considerate, kind, thoughtful, generous, etc. When neurosis prevents feeling, when man is frustrated and angry and cannot trust what he feels, then he needs to be kept in check by morality. Neurotic man cannot be kind or considerate, and have all the virtues we usually extol in any real way.

When people cannot live by feelings they must live by categories: right and wrong. For them, all behavior must be so classified. When Grandma says the children are "bad" because they never call or see her, she isn't considering their desires. Their feelings never enter the picture, only her needs count. Indeed, it is the moralist who creates "sin," not only in the semantic sense that it takes a moralist to conceive of a notion of sin, but because it is the moral principles themselves which counteract feelings and reduce aberrant "sinful" behavior later in life. Those principles block natural, pure impulses and transmute them into immoral acts. Consider the man who drinks, comes home to beat the children and then goes to confession to be "forgiven." If he could feel his Pain he wouldn't have to drink it away. If he could feel his old rage at his parents he wouldn't have to take it out on his children. And after beating them he certainly wouldn't have to go somewhere to have his behavior labeled "sin" in order to be forgiven. Indeed, the notion of "forgiveness" changes nothing, erases nothing. It allows a person temporary relief for his behavior until later or until he again acts out in the same way. Feelings nullify morality and make it an extraneous concept; classifying a behavior does not automatically help us to understand it.

Feeling people cannot harm others or even harm animals. Because they can feel, they experience the impact of their every act. They can feel the Pain of others and would not do anything to hurt them. Feeling people have no need to be immoral in the societal sense. They don't want more than they need; therefore they require no outside exhortations not to be greedy. Of course the whole notion of morality is based on the premise that we are inherently evil and must be exhorted against natural "evil" impulses. We have been observing neurosis with its attendant immoral behaviors for so long that we have come to accept base living as the nature of things. It is only when we finally get man to his feelings that we see what a pure, honest and moral soul he is. And the strange dialectic is that the most moral of institutions - the church-spreads the kind of anti-feeling ideology which produces "immoral" behavior-drunkenness, etc.

When you cannot offer people what they need you must give them morality. Morality is the enemy of the people; as the suppressor of feeling it makes us act immorally to one another. In countries where religion has the strongest hold we often find rampant starvation. Where society is acting most immorally against its people, morality is powerful. The whole notion of a future reward serves to keep people from fulfilling themselves in the present. it keeps them working under exploitation, producing profits for others. For without the future reward in heaven the populace might decide to make a better life for itself in the "now". The more needs are denied to the people the greater the need to inculcate in them moral principles which will make them tolerate that denial. Morality is truly the opiate of the people. The superstructure of morality is built into a society in inverse proportion to how feeling it is.

Morality is basically a totalitarian notion since it involves an outside power coercing people into certain modes of behavior. It contravenes the principle of self-determination. The less a society attends to need, the more suppressive it must be. The fewer feelings allowed, the more external guidelines must be offered. Suppression and moralism go hand in hand. Moralism is the way suppression is carried out, and suppression is the wellspring for moralism. It is nearly always the church-dominated moralistic societies which permit the most immoral of acts, which perpetrate wars and develop the vigilante mentality of punishing those who feel and wish to act on their feelings instead of on moral principles. For a feeling person the notion of morality would scarcely enter his mind. By fiat of this feelings he is continually acting morally; thus morality is not life, not something superimposed on him against his will.

Right and wrong are obviously abstractions, not realities. We refrain from cruelty to our children not because to hurt them is "wrong," but because a feeling person cannot hurt anyone else. We don't avoid beating them because someone gives the act a symbolic label, "bad" but because feeling people are intrinsically moral in the real sense of the term. If we have to tell people not to be cruel it is only because we expect that without some kind of restriction they will be-thus, morality is based on a basic distrust of human intentions. We have yet to learn that the only meaningful discipline is feelings. They negate impulsive, antisocial behavior.

The logical question which arises from this discussion is, "Won't the absence of moral principles in a society lead to anarchy?" The answer is "yes," but we must hasten to explain the meaning of anarchy. It is my assumption that the need to be governed, to be told what to do and how to act, declines with the ascendance of feeling. We always need some ground rules in order to make social intercourse work more smoothly but to be submissive to the rule of law instead of the rule of feeling is another matter. To be governed by feelings lessens the need for law as an external force. It is our current unfeeling society which produces anarchy-an "every man for himself" attitude. Society produces a proliferation of laws because people cannot be trusted. In a feeling society each person is doing "his own thing." That "thing" does not involve exploiting others because no one has excess buried need. In a neurotic society each person "doing his own thing" means true anarchy.

When I say that we must be governed by feelings I must explain that neurotics think they feel. Until they experience deep Primal Pain they cannot know that they have never felt deeply. The neurotic may think of himself as moral because he has "risen above" anger, but that attitude does not eradicate his anger; it only keeps it buried. To "sink into" one's deep rage eradicates it and truly makes us unaggressive moral beings. Otherwise, what one gets is superficial piety and unctuous behavior which is never real. It is specious morality. Obviously, if one grown up frustrated and deprived there is going to be real anger and perhaps vengeful thoughts inside. If we rise above these feelings we are only pretending to be moral and it is all a sham. Thus, for neurotics, Pain is the avenue to true morality, and neurotic morality is the road to Pain.

Once we understand how neurotic behaviors such as perversions are driven by past Pain, there is no need to moralize and create "sin." We can never transcend sin until we get beyond morality. It is first- and second-line Pain which leads to third-line immorality; and it is the experience of that Pain which leads to true morality. Pain is the price we pay for the truth, and sin is the failure to feel that truth-the failure to be ourselves. So long as people have no inner access to the painful truth they must operate from the third line alone. It is at this level that both morality and sin occur. Once into feelings there is neither.

I consider the Primal Institute a moral institution precisely because it invokes no morality. There is no judgment and no blame. Relationships between staff and patients are based on feelings, not rules. There is a hierarchy of expertise, not a chain of command. There is no higher morality to which we appeal to settle our difficulties; feelings take care of that. In the outer society the entire superstructure has a moral bent because of the absence of feeling-dominance. Each social institution is designed, however unconsciously, to deal with a failure of feeling in one way or another. Even in the mental hospitals there are "bad" behaviors which must be conditioned out. Imposed morality is so absorbed into therapeutic ideology that it is not even noticed. Schools are every bit as moralistic as churches; here too feelings are considered extraneous matters that interfere with the rules. For some reason it never occurs to school authorities that to allow feelings fully is to diminish the need for rules. When feelings predominate there is no need for external forces. Contrarily, for each abrogation there is even stricter enforcement-a treadmill and a web in which the real lesson is never learned.

The appeal to feeling is the only real moral principle to be found. It is no doubt a terrorizing and lonely thought to realize that no one is "up there" judging, ready to even the score for all our previous suffering. It is scary to think that we must be guided only by feeling, because this means an end to our "safety." No more can we calculate our actions on formulas of social approval or disapproval. No more guidelines and advice from others. No more "how to" books, eternal truths, Eastern philosophies to guide us. No leaning on family tradition, etiquette, etc. It is just a matter of being honest with oneself. Agony is the price of a moral life

Hierarchy of Fears

The fear of existing and of not existing
The fear of being and of not being
The fear of needing and not needing
The fear of having a need meet or not having a need meet ("starvation")
The fear of feeling and not feeling
The fear of thinking or not thinking certain thoughts
The fear of expressing and not expressing
The fear of shame
The fear of being and not being "in the right"
The fear of doing and not doing or acting♠
The fear of having and of not having or receiving
The fear or dread of "repeat"

All these fears can create "stuck points" or "impasses" in ones self and ones life.
The "hierarchy" above is only roughly linear and can vary.

Psychosis

I define "psychosis" non-clinically as the state of "not being in touch with reality". Since the state of "being in touch with reality" is a rarity for most people (I would say two standard deviations above the mean), "normal" is actually a type of psychosis.

Since we are raised in "psychosis" and are surrounded by "psychosis" we accept psychosis as normal, become psychotic ourselves and then project our psychosis on the the world creating a double layer of mass psychosis.

Using the word "psychosis" is a harsh and brutal judgment, however Reich's "emotional plague" and Fritz Perl's "mass psychosis" are real phenomena which must be looked at and explored unflinchingly and with even more than brutal honesty. Sometimes through our desire to be kind, sensitive and compassionate we can lose some of our honesty and some of our ability to question and find out.

Deep Processing

Deep cognitive processing is naturally followed by deep emotional processing, which is naturally followed by deep sleep processing. Most people don't follow this rhythm. Deep cognitive processing alone is rarely enough, even though people who live in their head may think it is.

Identity Confluence

A basic source of emotional pain is what I call "identity Confluence" or "Identity blending". We start out in life with undifferentiated identities. Gradually on we learn to differentiate between ourselves, our mother and our father. Most of the time, at one or more level we remain undifferentiated.


When we form bonding relationships later on in life, we again create an "identity confluence" on an unconscious level and the other becomes "I". Consciously we can make the differentiation but consciously we have a hard time. When the "other" evoke childhood anger or another emotion, that emotion gets directed back on the self at a deeper level because the "other" is not differentiated from the self. These "knots" can be fully untied through deep primal work.

The trick is......

The trick is:

1)to try to see the TRUTH of what the other person is saying even MORE (and in greater depth)than they can see it themselves

2)so that this truth becomes a positive ADDITION to (not a denial or non-acknowledgment of) the truths you already "know"!

3) Then do the real work of chewing on and integrating (get out of your comfort zone!)

4) only then spitting out what appears false by now (Seeing the truth of what appears false)

5) Creating a new improved, higher vantage point from which to see truth (truthfulness)

6)Realizing the "eternal truth" that cognitive vantage points MUST always change as a natural function of the healthy human organism's metabolism and that

7) "stuckness" is another word for anti-life.

Funny: SUPPLY SIDE JESUS

Real facts about racism

How Skeptics and Believers See the World

Two Main Styles of Coping

Two main styles of coping are: 1) to move ones "squelch-line" above ones level of pain and become delusional about oneself (and hence delusional about the world) 2) to reduce ones pain below ones squelch-line and no further and be in denial about oneself and hence the world.

The Four "Purposes" of Life

The four "purposes" of a human life are: 1) to "organismically" find ways of dealing with ones pain in order to fully heal ones wounds 2) to find & develop ones "gifts" 3) to give back from ones own gifts 4) to transcend both purpose and meaning by moving into the "trans-purposeful" and "trans-meaningful" in order to fully participate in the "dance" which is meaningful & meaningless and neither.

Truth

There is the concept of "seeing of truth". When you see truth you don't need to think about it. You can't separate yourself from it. It is you. I goes through you.It is in front of your face. It is like light. no need to believe in it. no need to have an experience of it. There is only the flow. It is a transcendent state. Truth is always different and always different than thought.

Identity Confluence

A basic source of emotional pain is what I call "Identity Confluence" or "Identity blending". We start out in life with undifferentiated identities. Gradually on we learn to differentiate between ourselves, our mother and our father. Most of the time, at one or more level we remain undifferentiated.

When we form bonding relationships later on in life, we again create an "identity confluence" on an unconscious level and the "other" becomes "I". Consciously we can make the differentiation but consciously we have a hard time. When the "other" evokes childhood anger or another emotion, that emotion gets directed back on the self at a deeper level because the "other" is not differentiated from the self. These "knots" can be fully untied through deep primal work.

The Actual Organism

The actual organism goes beyond the body to include the surroundings and the corresponding energy fields, both local and non-local. This "entity" extend even further to include other organism-environmental fields which eventually includes the "all-everything" as the one evolving manifested organism. No organism is separate from this. It ultimately is this. Therefore let the organism self-regulate you.

Toxic Jugdmentalness and Toxic Non-judgementalness

I believe there is healthy judgementalness and non-judgementalness as well as unhealthy judgementalness and non-jugementalness. How one is judgemental or non-judgmental is a major factor. Moreover, there certain things we should probably be judgmental of and certain things we should not be judgemental of. I believe huge social problems (perhaps most) have been created by inappropriate jugementalnes and non-jugementalness. more to com.....

! what_is_second_tier

ROUGH DRAFT

What is Second Tier?

Dr. Wayne Carr's View

Definition:

Second tier is an exceptionally large jump upward on the scale of human developmental stages. Only a small percentage of the population has made this jump. It is the jump from a post-modern, pluralistic, "green" stage (which includes most "cultural creatives") to a stage some have called Integral.

"Integral" second tier consciousness can look back at all previous stages (first tier) with much greater perspective and compassion. Such consciousness can also look and create forward into the "new" frontiers of being (towards third tier) with less "stuckness" typical of first tier.

Second tier signifies higher developmental stages of consciousness and is not to be confused with a particular state of consciousness. Second tier is capable of higher states, such a "non-dual", more frequently for longer periods. Higher states become more embodied as measurable traits and action-logics in second tier. Second tier is a dance of many states.

By saying someone is second tier, I mean that their "center of gravity" is in second tier, not just that their cognitive line of development is in second tier. It means that when all the lines of development are considered, (e.g. cognitive, emotional, social, spiritual, physical etc.) the majority of the lines are in second tier. There may still yet be parts of ourselves way down (or further up) on the developmental ladder. I say the cognitive and emotional lines (EQ), however, must be in second tier (necessary but not sufficient).

Introduction:

Some terms in this discourse will not clearly defined (yet) because my main intent is to ring a general cognitive-emotional-spiritual "bell" and see how it resonates inside of you. I believe second tier people have acquired a different, more sophisticated set of "resonators" and can recognize "2nd tier space" despite differences in specific terms that are used to describe it and despite some possible disagreements.

I believe second tier people can share the same "reality space" much more easily and deeply because that have less "overlay" and less "read-in". Second tier people have (and are) a multidimensional and more sophisticated set of "rulers" and "resonators" by which they allow, measure, co-resonate-with, co-create and co-evolve "what is". These "rulers" span "inside-outside", "one-many" and beyond beyond.

One of the meanings of the Hindu word Namaste is "The Deity in me recognizes the Deity in you". Similarly, the second tier in me recognizes the second tier in you. I would also add another saying: "may the darkness and blind spots in me become more illuminated by the clarity in you, just as the darkness and blind spots in you can become more illuminated by the clarity in me."

Lastly,there are two problematic issues that can get in the way when talking to people about second tier: 1) People, who's center of gravity is in the stage prior to the second tier "leap" (The "Green Meme" close in meaning to "cultural creatives"), often think they already are second tier. 2) People centered in the Green Meme, on the other hand, may judge a hierarchical developmental stage "rating" system only as a way of allowing a few self-selected people the egotistical judging that "I'm better than you."

Description of Second Tier: Into the meat of it

From my point of view, second tier means a shift in one's central focus from "shouldism" and "aboutism" to "is-ism". One's first and more primary concern becomes what is actually present rather than what should be present. 2nd tier is primarily a space one comes from, not so much an external philosophy one talks about, or a set of shoulds or guidelines. It is the glow emitted from the burning charcoal itself rather than a flashlight shined on it.

One comes from 2nd tier like water spontaneously and bursts from a deep deep underground spring. There is outrageousness, gracefulness and "creative awkwardness" as one both discovers, learns to flows with, and find words for, the new material that spontaneously emerges and often surprises us. It is an out-of-the box-blossoming not contained by today's typical "cultural creative" thinking and being. It is out of, out of the box.

There is often a curiosity and interest in what is arising (often simultaneously occurring with a "creative indifference" and relaxed "detachment"). There is often ample space for phenomena to arise and this space is often "rested in". There is the "ground" and "fertile void" or source to which one returns and from which new subjects and objects emerge.

This can create an experience of dying or evaporating from moment to moment. It is this beautiful movement that creates an underling sense of well-being, groundedness and healing. It is the calm that permeates the storm. This natural self-regulating process is a primary function of the organism as vital as the breath itself.

There is a sense of trust in one's own vital processes. there is also a sense that one's own processes extend beyond the body so that all process, in a sense, are the self. Perhaps a sense of "how could it be any other way!" Every moment, every action is an experiment (and not some one elses experiment).

One is more grounded in one's own "primary processes" (direct, connected, core, full ranged, and non-fragmented) and less and less in "secondary processes" (substitute, symbolic, fragmented, compartmentalized, purely external, or deflected).

Secondary or substitute processes don't eclipse vital primary core processes nearly as much. One receives insights more and more directly from "primary sources" (the fertile void) and less from 'secondary sources" (external authority and models). One, more and more, receives moment to moment direct revelations that arise. One "downloads" information directly. One lives one's life according to what one notices.

There is a willingness to give space for all that one notices, so that one can include and transcend and include vs repress or deny and transcend.

"Read-ins", "overlays" and projections are traded for more direct perceptions and true implications. There is definitely the increased "grasping" or comprehension of the full implications of an action or idea less distorted by what is read-in.

One gives up the speaking and listening in "read-in-ease" which is the prominent mode of communication in our society. Many "first tier" people are so busy reading in to what they perceive that true implications are all but lost. "Read-in mentalities", developmental stuckness & fixations and anti-life meme infections are passed on from generation to generation as in Reich's "emotional plague". Moving up the developmental spiral is more like swimming up a river overgrown and clogged with roots and vines. Developmental stages become developmental stuckness. Stuckness comes to be seen as healthy.

I believe in second tier one can connect the dots on a meta level (or even a meta-meta level) or from higher perspectives. Stuckness can be seen for what it is. One begins to get "perspectives on perspectives on perspectives" and can see that all perspectives are not equal and that no perspective is final. there are always higher vantage points and every perspective has its limitations.

The higher perspectives can transcend and include intellectual, rational, emotional, intuitive, and sensory perspectives and are based on and grounded in primary perceptions and processes. There is a movement from out of secondary processes toward primary processes, to "meta processes"

All of one's processes take place within a larger space, nothingness or no-mind. There is no strong identification with any position. Thinking rarely starts from a conclusion, rather from a state of "not knowing" or "no-mind". Thoughts are beautifully "formed" rather than just thought. The interest is in: What is going on, what is real, what is the truth and am I being truthful at this moment, what is the corrective feedback for my navigation? The will to believe is traded for the will to find out.

One dwells in and comes from the "pre-thought gap" which is much wider in 2nd tier. This seeing from this gap prevents a thought from becoming master by running its program without awareness. In this gap, objects flow directly out of pure potentiality and pure possibility

On an even "deeper level" There is also the "pre-personal gap": the space in which somthing arises before it becomes your identity.

There is more of a moment to moment spontaneous "coming from" vs. talking about or "shoulding about". Primary being and feeling processes are less likely to be "deflected" into unnecessary or compulsive thinking activities. Needs are what they are, feelings are what they are and pain is what it is. Anti-life, toxic, indirect and secondary "pseudo-processes" processes within systems are more often recognized and dealt with on multi-levels. There is a grounding in all things as they phenomenologically are in that moment.

One is constantly discovering and objectifying obsolete maps and representations of one's self and the world that are hidden in one's wallpaper of the world. One can outrageously let go of, and act without, any model or map when appropriate. Maps (including AQAL) are not grasped tightly an are allowed to constantly morph, develop and become conscious.

Consciousness Rhythms

Lately I've noticed how my consciousness naturally and rhythmically flows from enlightened transcendent blissful clarity, to arising painful shadow material that needs my attention to work through.

This feels like a natural balanced rhythm that allows for the deep enjoyment of life as well as the healing of past wounds. Increase opening on one end of the rhythm increases the opening process at the other end. They seem like oganismic complementary pocesses. I allows me to occupy and clean both the attic and the basement and all the rooms in between.

Perhaps the Most Burning Issues of our Time: Fear and Denial of Pathology

We are so afraid of pathology. We deny sickness at every level. The denial of the extent of pathology (inside and outside) is often at the very core of pathology.

I believe this denial is perhaps the most burning issue of our time because it is the ground out of which all contradictory and fragmented human behaviors emerge, including humans causing global warming and unnecessary mass extinctions (perhaps our own).

Pathology is the condition where an organism or life system is being prevented from its own truly optimal functioning and creative experimentation. Pathology is "anti-life", "anti-health" processes that speeds deterioration and prevents further healthy development. Most "shadow" reflects pathology, Most accepted "normalcy" reflects pathology.

Many of us can acknowledge that we live in a sick society (not to deny that healthy aspects exist). Most, however, quickly forget that when we try to function in it we quickly go back into our "trance" and denial as we buy into what is given to us. We become trapped by the belief that "the emperor must have clothes", otherwise others around me would have seen it. It's hard to break out of what you cannot or will not see.

Our view of what is pathological is a function of our own pathology. I believe most people frequently mistaken health for pathology and pathology for health. The more pathology we have, the more we will call pathology healthy.

From my point of view, Wilhelm Reich's "Emotional Plague" is very real. We are all "infected" with anti-life processes masquerading as life processes. Pathology is passed from one generation to the next and shows up both the individual and in society. Any developmental theory that does not fully deal with the vast presence of pathology on all levels is incomplete and becomes a reflection of the pathology itself.

Pathology is so all around us it seems normal. Responses similar to: "nothing could be that sick" or " let's look at the positive" prevents us from seeing "yes, something really could be that sick and out of balance relative to what it could be".

Of course, on the other hand, seeing more pathology than is actually there is also a reflection of pathology. As in most issues concerning what is actually there, one can make either "type one" or "type two" error.

I say, only "healthy clarity" can detect the full extent of unhealthy pathology. In addition, only "healthy clarity" can detect truly "healthy clarity". Other wise, you may not be able to see the "flies in your eyes" because of the "flies in your eyes". Healthy clarity can only come from a mind that is quiet (not a mind that is made quiet). A mind that is quiet is quiet because it continually understands itself.


Pathology vs. Woundedness & Pain:

I believe there is a huge difference be between pathology and woundedness.... more to come.

Reality Boxes

We all get trapped by our realty boxes. Not realizing that the boxes exist in a larger space. By always seeing the current walls of the box, by always questioning everything, by always allowing ourselves to bump up against something larger, we can continually shed and beak free of our old reality boxes. These walls were never meant to be permanent parts of our self. It can also be liken to shedding our old skin. It feels good and fresh, and can also cause stinging pain at times. To never shed your skin is to walk in deadness.

Truth is something that can always come from unexpected directions and dimensions and can spin your head around. It nourishes us, feeds us, and wakes us up, as if truth itself were intelligent. May your connection with truth always be a nourishing, exciting, intimate, and enlightening.

Remote Viewing

I can remote view and that is exhilarating. It is done in such a way that no alternative explanations are possible. It saddens, as well as, angers, frustrates and disgusts me to know how many people are not really open to discovering the truths of no-local consciousness. Pseudo seekers are pseudo finders. Really seek and ye shall really find. Perhaps to really seek is the ultimate discipline. In a sense, to really seek requires the beautiful space of non-seeking. Finding that place where doing and not doing are the same thing. See for yourself and really see.