Talking to the bad guys...
the dudes for whom life was about to get a lot harder, John Wayne would slowly take off his jacket, shake his head sadly and say "life is hard...
it's even harder if you're stupid".
They didn't appreciate the wisdom he was sharing with them of course, but they soon came to grasp first hand what he was talking about.
John is no longer with us, but I am convinced that the world is about to experience the wisdom behind his words...
the consequences of continuing to ignore reality...
of continuing to use an obsolete primitive ego consciousness.
As we know all too well, life can be hard for all of us at times, but it's especially hard if we insist on letting the unconscious primitive ego of our inner-child have a free hand in running our life.
So how do we know when our unconscious primitive ego has kidnapped our psyche? How do we take back control of our lives? This can be a difficult task because it is a challenge for our minds to remain intentionally observant of our own behaviors.
Fortunately it is very easy to observe the presence of unconscious primitive ego behaviors in "others".
In other words, when we have the courage to be unflinchingly honest with ourselves, the behavior of others can be an excellent mirror into our own psyche.
There are three distinct behaviors that unerringly point to the presence of a primitive ego that has unconsciously taken control of a persons consciousness..
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three behaviors that currently dominate the majority of our personal lives and the well-being of our nation.
First is a strong sense of entitlement; the feeling that we "deserve" more..
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• entitled to more free government handouts,
• entitled to more free health care,
• entitled to more free unemployment benefits,
• entitled to larger bonus checks at the end of the year,
• entitled to purchase a nice home even when we know that we can't really afford the monthly payments,
• and the belief that the many problems and crises facing our nation such as climate change, our dependency on foreign oil, and the depletion of natural resources, are not our responsibility..
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  they're someone else's fault therefore, it's their problem to fix them,
• entitlement's bottom line..
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  it's the responsibility of the government to take care of us but don't even think about raising our taxes.
  

Secondly, a narcissistic, greedy "me first" attitude that reflects a significant lack of compassion or empathy for others..
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• a deep prejudice and bias against immigrants and people different from us,
• the belief that "our" personal rights are more valid and important than the rights of others,
• the assumption we live in a survival of the fittest world so it's OK to steal what we want from others, besides..
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  if we don't take care of ourselves, who will?,
• it's OK to abuse, deport, imprison, torture, or execute illegal immigrants and other terrorists who enter our country illegally,
• winning the next election is far more important than protecting the needs of the voters who sent me to Washington,
• amassing political power and influence is more important than the crises' facing our country,

And third, the inflexible attitude that my rigid black-and-white beliefs always represent absolute truth...

• abortions and homosexuality is absolutely wrong no matter what the situation,
• my anger is justified whenever another person challenges my beliefs,
• even if I am a news reporter, or a national news organization, it is OK to lie and distort the truth because we are always "right" in our beliefs,
• the ideology of my political party is absolutely right and anyone who disagrees is obviously of questionable character and not very patriotic,
• it's OK to be radically partisan even if it gridlocks our nation because my beliefs and the beliefs of my political party are always right,
• my religion is the only religion that possesses truth so it's my right to go into the world and tell the members of other religions that they are wrong.
  

If you are becoming a bit uncomfortable that some of these behaviors are hitting a bit close to home for you, congratulations, you are a person who is ready to grow and evolve your consciousness.
If this list has not made you uneasy or perhaps has made you angry, you are apparently "not yet" ready to grow.
But you can! This is not a terminal situation, it simply means you're not ready "yet".
Continue reading.
When faced with challenges to our belief system, the unconscious primitive ego of our inner-child (and therefore the primary impulse of our nations' collective primitive ego) becomes frightened...
we begin to feel overwhelmed and powerlessness...
we protectively pull inside...
we shut down and begin to isolate...
we convince ourselves that we are right and those who dare to disagree with us are the "enemy"...
and most importantly...
we get angry and aggressive.
This is a very dangerous behavior for any nation.
Unfortunately, this is clearly what is happening to a growing number of Americans today.
This tendency to make our world smaller and thus more manageable can be seen clearly in the emerging political party called the Tea Party Movement.
This growing political movement is inevitably attracting the most ideologically inflexible...
the most rigid, black-and-white, all-or-nothing primitive ego thinkers...
those who are unconsciously under the unyielding, unconscious control of their inner-child's frightened primitive ego.
If you follow the Tea Party ideology you will know that these self styled "patriots" are already talking about...

• the coming civil war between the haves and the have-nots,
• the coming armed conflict between big government and the little persons,
• the coming civil war between those with a conservative political ideology and those with a liberal political ideology,
• they openly debate which side the military will support when the "people" rise up against the government,
• they are calling for the end of the evil Federal Reserve and the IRS,
• they openly refer to President Obama as a dictator or Nazi,
• they fearfully see conspiracies and terrorists around every corner,
• they angrily distrust authority and aggressively reject all aspects of big brother government,
• they insist on the dismantling all government social programs..
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• they aggressively insist on the absolute protection of their own civil and personal rights but show little or no compassion for others,
• they do not appear to understand the power and social dangers inherent in narcissistic primitive ego greed,
• they totally reject any and all attempts at political or financial reform as government meddling,
• they advocate closing the borders of our country, and ignore the reality that we are an integral part of a global culture..
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  financially, politically, legally, ethically, philosophically, militarily and economically,
• they reject the reality that a civilized culture requires some individual rights be surrendered..
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  for example, the right to murder, the right to steal,
• the right to drive however fast you want down a city street, the right to deny to others the rights you demand for yourself..
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  including the moral right to ignore justice issues, compassion, or empathy for others.
  

The frightening part of the Tea Party Movement is the fact that their numbers are growing.
Despite their intentional distortion of truth, and their rhetoric of fear and hate, they are quickly becoming an influential third political power in our country..
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a New American Patriotic "Anti Everything" Movement.
A movement with frightening shades reminiscent of the past...
a New American "World Order" mentality.
I don't know about you, but there are times when I too just want to move to Canada or go live in a cave somewhere and ignore the whole mess.
But then I recognize that my own primitive ego is trying to take over my emotions.
I remind myself that dealing with "reality" is not an option..
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it is often ignored by our frightened primitive ego, but hard "reality" is the only thing we "can" actually deal with.
In fact, when something is "real" it means we "have" to deal with it..
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we have no choice! The evolution of our consciousness requires that we be willing to engage with truth and reality..
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not with illusion, distortions, and denial.
Only when each of us chooses to intentionally evolve our own consciousness, to consciously and intentionally become self-aware of the primitive ego within, will our species awaken to a more enlightened adult observing ego consciousness and develop the ability to pay attention to the reality of "what is".
If we want to create a more enlightened world then each of us must be willing to become the change we want to create.
We must we willing to expand our vision of the world.
We must be willing to embrace the evolutionary possibilities waiting for us in the future, and most of all, we must be willing to bring hope into the world...
to become the light in the darkness...
to let go of our primitive "ego-self" and embrace our more enlightened, spiritually evolved observing "ego-self".
I am not referring to a "religious" concept here, but rather to a more basic spiritual truth.
Only when each of us is willing to intentionally awaken our consciousness and pay attention..
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to become intentionally self-aware of the unconscious behaviors that we are sending into the world..
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only then will we successfully evolve the critically needed evolutionary growth of human consciousness.
This "conscious evolution" of our species consciousness will happen effortlessly when each of us accepts responsibility to become the change we all want to see.
How will we know when we are awakening our own consciousness? How will we know we are becoming more enlightened? How will we know our spiritual growth is authentic and not simply a fragile shell of "religious beliefs" surrounding our unconscious primitive ego personality? The surest sign of an evolving consciousness is the ability to sustain gratitude and thankfulness.
As gratitude and appreciation grows, our ability to be happy and openly embrace the future will grow..
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even when confronted by the global crises and challenges that we are currently facing.
As our attitude of gratitude and appreciation grows stronger, like a snake shedding its skin, the greed and narcissism of our primitive ego will slowly give way to a more mature, enlightened observing ego consciousness.
We will learn to listen more and talk less.
We will learn to "hear" what others are sharing with us.
We will learn to embrace the questions and give up the need to possess all the answers.
In spiritual language, we will begin to empty our selves and learn to embrace not-knowing.
Gratitude, appreciation, cooperation, and compassion are contagious attitudes..
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powerful energies.
Never underestimate the power of a person who is optimistic..
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a person who exudes gratitude and compassion.
When we are in the presence of a person who is more evolved, more enlightened than we are, their energy is catching.
It transforms our own consciousness.
Over time, we too begin to change the consciousness of others.
Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Jesus, Muhammad, Nelson Mandela, the Dali Lama, and Desmond Tutu are each good examples of an enlightened consciousness that changed the world.
There are many more.
Our world is in crisis right now.
We have given in to the helplessness of our frightened inner-children..
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the unconsciousness of our collective primitive ego.
The consequences of primitive ego thinking is clearly visible in Washington.
Just as we can see it clearly in many of the people around us, they can see it just as clearly in each of us.
Only as we become increasingly self-aware..
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only as we learn to intentionally pay attention to our own behaviors we will begin to see the primitive ego narcissism, the self-focus, the sense of isolation, the me first attitude that unconsciously resides in our own hearts.
Again, our primitive ego is not a terminal condition.
It is simply the ego consciousness that formed during our early childhood.
Every one of us can become more enlightened.
The question we need to ask ourselves is "when will "I" make the decision to become intentionally self-aware and begin my spiritual journey into an awakened observing consciousness"? The day we each begin our own intentional journey toward a more enlightened consciousness will be the day that our nation, our species, and our world evolves and becomes more enlightened..
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more able to envision the world through new eyes..
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more able to create a new worldview that transcends the tribalism and primitive ego thinking we see today.
I am convinced that the world is going to experience a very dangerous social upheaval in the next three to five years, an upheaval that will convince us beyond any doubt that we can no longer continue on the current path.
When this upheaval arrives we will begin to see clearly that continuing to use primitive ego thinking will only bring us more pain and suffering..
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more chaos to the world.
When each of us discovers the courage to walk a more authentic spiritual path..
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a path born of deep self-awareness..
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only then will we move beyond the current violence created by primitive ego thinking and begin to create a more enlightened global culture based on gratitude, appreciation, cooperation and compassion.
In philosopher Jean Gebser's words only then will we learn to become "more appreciative of things that really matter".
We need to listen to the wisdom of philosophers like Jean Gebser and John Wayne.