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Maslow Predicted The Shift
by Owen Waters
April 14,
2012
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Abraham Maslow (1908-70) was a psychologist who became well known for his hierarchy
of human needs. When he developed his theory in the 1950s, he predicted the transformation of humanity into a realm of spiritual
transcendence, but he had no idea just how soon this would develop into a major movement.
Maslow’s hierarchy
of human needs shows that basic human needs have to be fulfilled before people can attend to higher needs and values.
First,
the basic physiological needs of food and shelter must be catered for in order to ensure survival.
Second, once
food and shelter are obtained, safety and security must be achieved.
Third, acceptance by others is sought, in
both the societal and personal senses. To fulfill this ‘belonging’ need, people become part of a group, a tribe,
an extended family or a community.
When these deficiency, or outer-directed, needs are satisfied, then the individual
works to acquire self-respect. Recognition by others produces self-esteem.
Once the outer needs are fulfilled,
the inner-directed need for self-actualization comes into play. To self-actualize means to become the best you personally
can be. Self-actualized people include those who have achieved material abundance, and also those who, as a decision of personal
power, have chosen simplicity over the pursuit of further abundance. At some point, when a person says “That’s
enough” to the endless pursuit of additional financial security, then they become free to accomplish anything that inspires
their inner joy the most.
Self-actualization is achieved after the individual ceases to have deference to hierarchical
authority, and instead matures into the ability to make their own rules of personal responsibility. Personal responsibility
is always more powerful and effective than any system of imposed rules. For example, you can threaten to punish someone if
they steal and hope that the threat works. But, a self-responsible person simply wouldn’t steal because they would feel
empathy for the loss that a would-be victim would feel. They simply wouldn’t have the heart to do such a thing to another
person.
It’s a matter of increased maturity. When a person abandons the impositions of external authority
and becomes their own, self-directed authority, then they become far more functional in the world. This is, in fact, a higher
state of consciousness, one which provides a higher vista of awareness. From this expanded vista, they see clearly how they
as an individual can best serve humanity.
In this state of awareness, the person acquires the ability to think
and analyze situations independently. As a result, new and creative solutions spring to mind. They have enough self-esteem
to be able to clearly see their own needs, skills, strengths and weaknesses, and from that they see where they can best be
of service to humanity.
Once basic needs are fulfilled, the next values to require attention relate to being.
The first of these being-values is self-actualization, which is the instinctual need of a human to make the most of their
unique abilities.
Above that, Maslow placed transcendence, which he considered a spiritual value. Traditional
universities typically presume that spiritual matters are beyond the understanding of their students, so they present the
Maslow hierarchy of human needs differently. They present it with self-actualization as the ultimate human aim, and omit the
transcendence stage beyond that.
The being-values of self-actualization and transcendence are the higher, more
beautiful aspects of human consciousness. They include unconditional love, altruism, inner joy, a love of nature, the development
of intuition (in males as well as females), idealism, and a sense of wisdom which springs from within. These skills develop
the right-brain functions of creativity and intuition.
In the 1950s, Maslow believed that only 2% of the population
had achieved self-actualization. The mid-1960s changed all that when masses of people began the search for the higher values,
such as unconditional love and spiritual wisdom. Today, that core group of progressive people has blossomed from 2% to over
20%, and is climbing every year.
The Shift is not a temporary by-product of the baby boom generation, or any
other generation of modern culture. It is not a passing fad. It is not going away. It is a cosmic pressure that is unfolding
and relentlessly increasing the frequency of all consciousness upon the planet.
It is a part of the plan of Infinite
Being that we progress to the next stage of conscious human achievement. The Shift is, to put it simply, the most wonderful
transformation in recorded history. This is where humanity gets to build, literally, Heaven on Earth.
Owen K
Waters is the author of The Shift: The Revolution in Human Consciousness, which is available as a downloadable e-book, at:
*
www.infinitebeing.com/ebooks/theshift.htm *
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