It has long been speculated, the cause of suffering in human beings. Lack of faith, lack of discipline, lack of love, lack of sustenance. But in the last few years, I believe I have come to the root of what promotes human suffering: fear. Fear has many faces and manifestations, but the fear that seems to override all others for most people is in fact fear of mortality. At the end of the day, all of the lesser fears or “surface” fears like not paying the rent, getting the promotion, losing the weight, finding out our test results, or getting an education, can all be reduced to a fear of death.
Think about it. We fear not being a material success, for example, for two fundamental reasons: money or ego. Not being a material success not only leads to a lack of money and therefore an ability to support oneself and one’s family, but it can also lead to crippling self-doubt and a belief that we are unworthy of others’ respect and love. We believe that without these needs met, our ability to survive will be affected. Without our basic needs satisfied, or the more sophisticated needs of love and self-esteem taken care of, we fear that we cannot live. Food, warmth, love, and esteem are the energies that literally nourish the human spirit, let alone the human body.
Abraham Maslow identified a Hierarchy of Needs in 1943 which provided a map of the human’s journey throughout the life cycles. He posited that, once the lower order needs are satisfied like food, shelter, and safety, one is able to consider other aspects of life like friendships and vocational satisfaction. But eventually, after all the basic and higher order needs are met, there is a pinnacle level awaiting us – self-actualization. This is a ten-cent word referring to “figuring out who we are and what we’re capable of. It also encompasses the greater search for meaning.
It is often considered a luxury for most, the opportunity to ponder one’s sense of self, as most of the world’s people are born into circumstances which require their energies be directed toward satisfying life’s basic needs. For this reason, many of my clients report a sense of guilt over wrestling with identity and esteem issues. They compare their philosophical wrangling with those struggling to put food on the table, or to those living in war-torn countries with no hope of personal safety. But this is not cause for guilt. Feeling guilty for your level of growth and evolution is fundamentally counterproductive, as it is extremely de-motivating. Our progress is something to be celebrated. The opportunity to positively influence the world when you are safe and self-aware is a marvelous thing. As I say often in counseling, we can only act based on what we know at a given time. However, once we know, we must then hold ourselves accountable for our actions. In other words, if you are capable of greatness, you must aspire to such. As Maslow himself said, “What a man can be, he must be.”
So, the basic and root fear – fear of mortality – is something that is pondered philosophically at the actualization level. When the threat of untimely death is closer, it is easy to fear it; but, when you move beyond the basic level and away from death’s imminent threat, you are able to question physical existence and consider what lies beyond it with greater ease.
It is hard to put a number on the percentage of the population that reaches this level in our world. But, it is reasonable to expect that as the world evolves, global technological advances and the spread of educational opportunities will afford more people the opportunity to assume such levels. The question is, what happens once you get to the “top of the pyramid.” Do we continue to fear mortality, even then?
Having lived on this precarious perch for the past 15 or so years, thanks to the family I was born into, the genes I inherited and the geographic location I landed in, I have taken the opportunity to ponder the deeper questions. I have made every effort to seek the truth and, when found, to apply it to my daily existence. The level of accountability is great at this stage, and it can generate stress at times as I endeavour to do justice to my life’s circumstances and to the gifts I possess. But know this: at this level, I no longer fear mortality.
At this level, my truth-seeking has allowed me to conclude that we are in fact immortal. I see the human life experience as one of many stops along an eternal road. Formal, traditional education, “peak experiences”, and an open, analytical mind were key factors in drawing such conclusions. This human fear that plagues the masses inevitably loses its stronghold once an earnest search for meaning is undertaken. The reasons for this lie in the traits cultivated by the self-actualizing personality.
Such individuals require significant periods of solitude, and therefore spend a great deal of time reflecting upon concepts that are beyond themselves. They display a “democratic” nature, believing their lives are worth no more or no less than any others They are philosophical, highly creative, and are prone to “peak experiences” or moments when they experience higher levels of consciousness. Such experiences illuminate and promote wide-scale connectedness between all things, and involve a sense of being outside of time. Finally, self-actualizing people tend to run against the current of mainstream cultural beliefs, often rejecting societal notions that run counter to their own understanding. They do this easily, as they are seldom influenced by how others view them. They quite literally march to the beat of their own drums, and they accept full responsibility for their actions and their life circumstances. So, for all these reasons and more, self-actualized people have a very different view of reality. At some point, it is realized that death is not something to fear.
But the notion that suffering is automatically eradicated at this level is false. In fact, it has been posited that another level exists beyond the realm of self-actualization. I personally agree with this, as some days I feel as far away from peace as a starving person is from a meal. But what is it that replaces the lower order human fear of death once fear of death has been conquered? I will examine this in an article to follow.
