Obedience

The four most popular religions -- Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam, in order of their antiquity -- were all created in authoritarian cultures that rely heavily on 'rules and roles'. This type of society is hierarchical, demanding legalistic obedience to authority. There is always a clearly defined code, and adherence to the hierarchy is the key to status, power, and influence. Current examples of level four cultures include the Marines, the Catholic Church, and the police.

Everyone has to learn self-discipline as part of the process of psychological development and maturation. In other words, we need to learn how to follow the rules and maintain the right roles in order to grow up and face the world as adults. However, we are not meant to stop at that level, as if there were no higher, more sophisticated levels of development. As Dr. C. W. Graves (the creator of Spiral Dynamics) says, “The psychology of the mature human being is an unfolding, emergent, oscillating, spiraling process marked by progressive subordination of older, lower-order behavior systems to newer, higher-order systems as man’s existential problems change.” As holons, we are meant to “transcend and include” earlier levels of consciousness and experience as we become more complex, conscious beings.

In the West, societies have moved beyond the authoritarian model (for the most part). Starting in about 1600, European cultures started to develop into the Age of Reason. It took a few hundred years to catch on, but the results were astonishing. Instead of seeing them as all in one big pot, we began to differentiate between religion, science, art, and law. Proto-scientists began to construct theories from observations rather than beliefs; artists started to develop new techniques for more realistic (and secular) images than the iconography demanded by the Church; political thinkers pushed for civil rights for all individuals, starting with “the rights of man” and developing into equal rights for all humans. The individual became more important than the clan or other role definition(s), and status came to be measured by wealth or achievement instead of position within the hierarchy.

Most cultures in the West are at this level of scientific/personal achievement. This is the underlying developmental stage for the majority of people in the US, for instance, with some fairly large conservative pockets of earlier authoritarianism, and somewhat smaller progressive groups at the relational/affiliative stage. Most Americans favor a rational-scientific-materialistic perspective, and this is what supports our economic, government, and scientific structures.

One expression of this level is “bend the rules, don’t break them”. Many at this level see life as a game; winning (achievement) through circumventing or ignoring the rules in one’s own favor (narcissism) are prevalent. Because the emphasis is on self-expression rather than fitting into a group, many people struggle to separate from earlier states and stages, including relationships with both individuals and groups such as one’s family/tribe/culture/religion.

This has advantages and disadvantages. The major advantage is the freedom to develop personal achievements and accomplishments, regardless of social, cultural or financial background. This level has a certain striving for rationality and objectivity that has led to the overthrow of slavery and misogyny within an extraordinarily short time-span. For thousands of years of recorded history, 90%+ of known cultures had slaves; after only 300 years, this became illegal in every country in the world. The same is true for the position of women, for the most part. Individual achievement has allowed science, art, and philosophy to develop at an astonishing rate.

The downside of every level of development is that we tend to forget the levels we worked through in order to get to the new, higher-order center of gravity. Where we are Now is self-evidently the only correct place to be (which explains why different generations usually find it so hard to get on harmoniously). Also, the individualism of the current level tends to focus a person inwards on his/her own achievements and desires, while the rational/objective component separates us from earlier hierarchies. The result can be a frightening level of self-justifying narcissism, as in “nobody tells me what to do!”

As a result, many people who naturally dwell at the rational-scientific level have a hard time with the concept of obedience. For those at earlier levels, obedience is the norm; it is the water in which everyone swims. Of course you will do what your mother/father/priest/ruler/law says; not doing so is the surest way to be expelled from the group. In earlier times, protesting against unjust laws would be considered heretical as well as anti-social. When you offend against the hierarchy – any hierarchy – you are offending God. This is clearly a fundamental principle in the Big Four religions we mentioned earlier: Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam.

However, this is not the way most people in developed countries see the world today. They claim the right to decide what will best serve them, and (if convenient) what serves society as well. So what does it mean to say we still have a spiritual duty to obey God?

According to every creation story, we were designed in the image of God – not literally, but in terms of similar capacities. In fact, we are here to be the eyes, ears, hands, and feet of God, acting as the embodiment of the divine here on earth. If we do well at God School, we graduate as co-creators with God. In order to do this effectively, we must be in alignment with our God selves. When we align perfectly, then we live in God and God lives in us, and we can speak the Word we have each been given to speak in our unique divine blueprint.

Sin is simply whatever takes us out of alignment, or leaves us “off the mark”. So as well as the big obvious sins like murder or adultery, lying and stealing, we can be off the mark by accident, unconsciously, or by manipulation. Many times we end up saying, “Oh, I can do whatever just this once” and there we go, out of alignment once more.

Being pulled into disobedience can be very subtle. Serving, giving, allowing, forgiving, and teaching are all divine principles; God loves to do these, and likes us to do them as well. However, there are times when we accidentally or unconsciously give, teach, allow or serve the wrong people in the wrong situation, or for incorrect reasons. Doing the right thing for the wrong reason is still disobedience; even with the best intentions, it still takes you out of alignment.

Also, we can be manipulated by others to give, serve, teach, or allow when in fact the highest action may be to say No, avoid that person/situation, or do something else entirely. This happens all the time in my line of work: someone comes to me for help, and my natural urge is to help, serve or teach them, because that’s what I do best. I’ve learned over the years to ask if it’s obedient for me to work with a specific client. Even if I believe I can help, it may be that this person needs to learn this particular lesson by herself… or it’s more in line with his path for someone else to assist him… or if I do work with this person, the exposure will take out my field so that I am no longer 100% myself, but will start running their programs instead of mine. This kind of subtle disobedience is even more prevalent in families, where we are used to being guilt-tripped into doing things that are presented as ‘nice’, but aren’t correct energetically (or kind, either, in the long run).

So when we speak of obedience in energy-based work, we are not referring to the ‘rule and roles’ obedience of an authoritarian culture that relies on sin and guilt to keep people in line. Obedience means staying aligned to your innate blueprint, the path that will allows you to act as God’s hands, feet, eyes, and ears here on Earth. That “word” may involve doing, being, having, relationship, or any other human experience. The point is that your path is something you agreed to before coming into your body, and you will naturally have a happier, easier, more grace-filled life if you act in accordance with your grain rather than wandering off track and out of alignment with your own divine plan.