Towards a Psychology of Peace
It has taken time to move beyond the limited views of radical behaviourism towards more modern and more robust theories of brain, mind and consciousness. The body of psychology has been actualized through the work of people like, Piaget, Maslow and Jung to name a few, to better explain the soul, spiritual values, and human potential and development. The school of Transpersonal Psychology contributed to the advancement in areas of the human potential and experience that were taboo to science in general and that inspired new pioneering areas for cognitive neuroscience that aim to explain: (a) the difference between conscious and unconscious moments of cognition and their relationship to personality, identity and self, (b) how the brain creates knowledge and meaning for intentional action and values based decision making, and (c) the power of meditation and spiritual life in the quest for inner peace and general wellbeing.
The following question is raised: is it possible to achieve sanctity, enlightenment and holiness in the modern world?
This question must be explored before we can powerfully conceptualize the ideal of a society of saints, holy people, and tzadikim and tzadikot (righteous souls), while simultaneously avoiding to confuse such an existential and cognitive state with dogmatic religiosity or its polar opposite, that expresses as a false sense of liberation, one that could be based on biologically generated mystical and psychedelic experiences or modern commercial forms of superficial spirituality.
Further questions that await an answer are:
When we look closer at the lives of Yeshua (Jesus), Siddhartha (Buddha), Sri Aurobindo, Shahar (Shalom) Yadin, Prophetesses Sarah and Deborah, Mirra Alfassa (The Mother), Carey Jackman and any other spiritually realized human being, we would arrive to the conclusion that both ancient and modern life have imposed serious limitations on the scope of their actions.
Let us imagine, what would it take to travel in the modern world without a religious, national or corporate identity, a national passport or travel document, in order to deliver spiritual service to people? Instead of thinking about the kind of miracles The Creator would have to do for them, let us think in terms of what we human beings should do to support such holy people to successfully and gracefully complete their work. It can easily be derived from this mental exercise how difficult their task would be!
In our view, one of the most difficult and exciting challenges that society in general and particularly a Psychology of Peace will face, and it seems to us will support to overcome, relates to the psychological and social framework by which holy people could be identified as such, and the articulation of educational means, policies and law to enable the social privileges they would deserve and require access to. We could conceptualize such people as Ambassadors and Ambassadresses of Peace, rather than people with any chauvinistic interest, so that they can have travel documents that allow them to serve in a period of transition, from a humanity as we currently know it, to a humanity as it ideally can be.
This challenge requires that we understand how to clean up the mess left by materialistic psychology with its presumed competition between all humans for the means of survival, and instead embrace a Psychology of Peace towards holiness where the basic needs are met cooperatively and harmoniously.
For further reading see also: The Embodiment of Spiritual Values: The Power of Transpersonal Psychology to Advance Societies of Saints and Holy People and Redefine Identity and Jurisdiction
The following question is raised: is it possible to achieve sanctity, enlightenment and holiness in the modern world?
This question must be explored before we can powerfully conceptualize the ideal of a society of saints, holy people, and tzadikim and tzadikot (righteous souls), while simultaneously avoiding to confuse such an existential and cognitive state with dogmatic religiosity or its polar opposite, that expresses as a false sense of liberation, one that could be based on biologically generated mystical and psychedelic experiences or modern commercial forms of superficial spirituality.
Further questions that await an answer are:
- What is the difference between a mystical spiritual experience and the continuous embodiment of spiritual values?
- What is the difference between spiritual escapism and transformative self-giving actions in the world?
- How do we empower child development in a direction that allows children, as they grow, to eventually define their identities, and their zones of sovereignty and jurisdiction grounded in spiritual values?
- How do we ensure the physical protection of children, teenagers, adults and elders, against violent opponents, without the use of weapons and force, so as to acknowledge and safeguard their purity of being?
- How do we promote a climate to support the altruistic endeavour and life service of such holy people, in order to properly credit such a life as an honourable way to live, something that all people would look forward to, promote and foster, as they would with any other medical, academic, political or business career, while preserving the distance and differences between a profession (success-oriented) and a spiritual call (service and transcendence oriented).
When we look closer at the lives of Yeshua (Jesus), Siddhartha (Buddha), Sri Aurobindo, Shahar (Shalom) Yadin, Prophetesses Sarah and Deborah, Mirra Alfassa (The Mother), Carey Jackman and any other spiritually realized human being, we would arrive to the conclusion that both ancient and modern life have imposed serious limitations on the scope of their actions.
Let us imagine, what would it take to travel in the modern world without a religious, national or corporate identity, a national passport or travel document, in order to deliver spiritual service to people? Instead of thinking about the kind of miracles The Creator would have to do for them, let us think in terms of what we human beings should do to support such holy people to successfully and gracefully complete their work. It can easily be derived from this mental exercise how difficult their task would be!
In our view, one of the most difficult and exciting challenges that society in general and particularly a Psychology of Peace will face, and it seems to us will support to overcome, relates to the psychological and social framework by which holy people could be identified as such, and the articulation of educational means, policies and law to enable the social privileges they would deserve and require access to. We could conceptualize such people as Ambassadors and Ambassadresses of Peace, rather than people with any chauvinistic interest, so that they can have travel documents that allow them to serve in a period of transition, from a humanity as we currently know it, to a humanity as it ideally can be.
This challenge requires that we understand how to clean up the mess left by materialistic psychology with its presumed competition between all humans for the means of survival, and instead embrace a Psychology of Peace towards holiness where the basic needs are met cooperatively and harmoniously.
For further reading see also: The Embodiment of Spiritual Values: The Power of Transpersonal Psychology to Advance Societies of Saints and Holy People and Redefine Identity and Jurisdiction