We’re about to review the spiritual nature of the most popular political systems on the planet. These are monarchy and feudalism, socialism and communism, and capitalistic democracy. We will discover the each has a divine origin plus a handful of distortions….We’ll also see how each of them—in their divine and distorted ways—lives in each one of us…
MONARCHY AND FEUDALISM
The divine origin can be found in certain highly developed people who are fully aware of their responsibilities and are able to enjoy the privileges attached with this…We will all discover as we go along that these two things—responsibility and privileges—are bunkmates…
But we have to earn our right to enjoy the goodies…Conversely, if we haven’t been willing to assume our rightful responsibilities, well ‘no soup for you.’…
How about when people give themselves fully to a task such as being head of a government or the leader of a nation? They are acting on their responsibility, in accordance with divine law, to lead and guide those who frankly don’t want the job…
Leadership asks for a lot of self-discipline that the self-indulgent aren’t really so keen on…Leaders must often give up immediate gratification, which is something their followers would want no part of. Even as they are busy resenting the one who leads… Followers also wouldn’t be too quick to sign up for the associated risks. There is risk of exposure, criticism, slander and hostility. Those in the limelight must have the strength to withstand them…It simply doesn’t take a whole lot of courage to follow…
True leaders don’t shun the many inconveniences connected with their task. This, in a nutshell, describes the divinity that regimes of monarchy and feudalism contain…It’s not hard to see how selfish people who are ruthless and irresponsible could distort this… But a true monarch who stands solidly at the helm of a ship is always following divine inspiration. They must actively seek that inspiration and put it above all else, or abuse will prevail…
And we also need to know this. If we are a follower who resists our talent to become a leader in our own right. And if we go on to rebel against leadership because we are too lazy, fearful, selfish or self-indulgent. Then we are as dishonest as the ruler who abuses their power… So in each soul, both the monarch and the serf exist. One leads and the other follows without taking responsibility. One is rich, the other poor. One has rights, the other has given them up. Which part of ourselves are we feeding?…The two halves make up one whole, so if we abuse one half, we must also, perforce, abuse the other…
How do we react to that part that wants to cheat, to get results without earning them, to have a free ride without giving anything in return? Or do we take discipline well within ourselves, earning our authority in our immediate environment by the way we lead our lives? Then the “monarch principle” is acting in a harmonious, meaningful way that behaves appropriately toward the “responsible citizen principle” in us…Once we’ve established a reasonable amount of self-rulership, we will notice a small sphere of leadership arising naturally, almost as if by itself. It’s like a tree: the deeper the roots grow, the further out it is able to extend itself.
SOCIALISM AND COMMUNISM
In clear reaction to the abuses of the monarchy and feudalism systems, a form of government emerged in which everyone was equalized…In their divinity, socialism and communism are also a part of the grand scheme of things…But wait, are people really all the same? Here comes the contradiction: all entities are not equally developed…So in this sense, people are of course not equal…
But with this second system, abuse once again set in…When the dualistic mind can’t find its way to the unitive plane—where not only do contradictions co-exist but both halves are vitally needed to form one complete whole—it sides with one truth and excludes another. This is how we destroy inner unity…
Hence, equality becomes abused…A uniformity sets in that no longer honors the vitality of human unfoldment, the diversity of our expressions, or the divergence of our development. Free expression of choice and development of talent is superseded by fairness, uniformity and conformity. One size must fit all…
Those of us living responsibly and fulfilling our task in the universe, who live our lives according to spiritual laws, are not equal in expression to people who selfishly abuse the laws without concern for how they affect others…We can only truthfully know this inequality when we also know that deep down, underneath it all, we’re all divinely equal.
CAPITALISTIC DEMOCRACY
In its original divine nature, it is about total freedom of expression and abundance as it accrues from personal investment. At the same time, the divine form of this system also makes room for caring for those who, for some reason, can’t be—or aren’t yet willing to be—fully responsible for themselves…
There is no sentimental claim that such people should reap all the same benefits as those who invest their whole being into their lives. But it also doesn’t exploit such people to justify the power drive of a ruler… This form of government then is closer to the fusion of duality—to being about unity—and is a more mature form of government than the previous categories…
So how do we manage to abuse and distort capitalistic democracy?…This system can be abused from both sides. Those clamoring for socialism can become more parasitic and blame the power structure for keeping them down. On the other extreme, those who are strong and diligent, who risk and invest, can justify their greed and drive for power by blaming the parasitic nature of those who are lazy. But abuse is abuse…
That’s the paradoxical way of spiritual things: the more developed and free we become, the greater is the danger for distortion and abuse. As such, in this system, we find the potential for a “negative fusion” when both sides are in distortion… What needs to happen is that a channel must open up to perceive divine will and establish divine law…
The real question is: when we’re given enough leash to responsibly run our own lives, do we choke ourselves? It’s so easy to abuse freedom unless we confront our hidden motives at all times.
With selflessness at the top of the docket, world politics could blend together the spiritual nature of political systems. Not in contradiction to each other but as one united whole. Indeed, a single government could be created that would combine the divine natures of monarchy and feudalism, socialism and communism, and democratic capitalism. Yes indeedy, it could be done.
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Read Original Pathwork® Lecture: #242 The Spiritual Meaning of Political Systems
