God Beyond Religion: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and the New Humanity

Ephesians 2:13-15 NRSV  "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  (14)  For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us.  (15)  He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace," 

Can we pause for a minute and rid ourselves of religiosity? I realize that the above passage has religious connotation, especially for recovering evangelicals. Can we pause from the toxic idea that Christianity and the Christian message is exclusive/? Can we pause for a moment and accept the idea that eclectic spirituality is the reality, and that there is within the Christian message mystical revelation that is beneficial to all people? Can we pause from evangelizing to gain adherents for our group, and our correct way of thinking and believing? Can we pause, take a deep breath, change our minds about the necessity of division and right beliefs? Can we pause and see that "the Christ" is for all people? Can we pause, and contemplate what it means to say and think God is love? Can we pause and see the logical truth that we are all a part of one singular sisterhood and brotherhood of humanity? Yes, ALL means ALL!!! The claim made by many evangelicals that one is not a child of God unless converted to Christianity is absolutely, patently absurd!

Abraham Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs” is integral in the development of the new humanity. Below is a chart that shows the five levels that Maslow identified.

Self-Actualization	Morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack of prejudice, acceptance of facts
Esteem	Self-esteem, confidence, respect of others, respect from others, achievement
Love/belonging	Friendship, family, sexual intimacy
Safety	Security of body, of employment, of resources, of family, of health, of health, of property, of morality
Physiological	Breathing, food, water, sex, sleep, homeostasis, excretion

While the hierarchy of needs  While Maslow's hierarchy of needs is usually shown graphically as a pyramid, this table serves the purpose as well. The connection with the “new humanity” is self-actualization. I think one could add to the self-actualization category, spiritual enlightenment which would include many things. The chief concept would be to self-actualize our divine nature.

When one looks at the upward spiral of humanity over the millennia, it is obvious to me, that in spite of the fact that there is a lot of evil in the world, and that humanity has moved forward in enlightenment and also lost ground and moved backward, that the trajectory is an upward spiral. It takes all of the needs below self-actualization to be met for the final step to happen. However, when a large amount of the human population reaches that point, it will be possible for a leap in enlightenment.

This should result in a kinder and gentler humanity that looks out for the other and the material world around about including plants, animals, the environment, and the societal structure. Being on the cusp of the new age, the age of Aquarius provides the perfect timing and impetus for this leap to come to fruition. This will allow the further development of the second tier in spiral dynamics. The future can be very bright based on this analysis.

Second tier spiral dynamics is shown by two different color levels. There is the yellow level and the turquois level. In the yellow tier, there is the ability to leave the model of concern over scarcity in the material world and begin to see the potential as abundance. It begins to look at the world and all in it as integral. It stresses flexibility, knowledge, and intuition. The turquoise tier focuses on the holistic aspect of the world. It combines the material with the spiritual and sees the universe as a singular conscious entity. I find it interesting that cognitive science and physics is reaching similar conclusions.