ACIM Perspective on Leadership and Mass Projections

Blogger's Note: A change of pace. I don't usually deal with reposts or ACIM here, but I'm making an exception for these takes on the theme of Leadership because they are just that good:

“If you make me your authority,”

said the Master to a starry-eyed disciple,

“you harm yourself because you refuse to see things for yourself.”

“And you harm me too,

because you refuse to see me

as I am.” 

Anthony de Mello, SJ

This is a phenomenon all leaders recognize—the pain of not being seen as they truly are. They become a projection screen for resentment of the despised traits that followers don’t want to acknowledge in themselves; and for the qualities of grace and divinity that followers also don’t want to claim in themselves.

I cringe to think of how it would feel to be President. Half the country hates him with a hot vitriol and sends curses his way regularly. No doubt he receives them and feels the effects, whether or not he reads the newspapers. The other half thinks of him as far better than he is, a paragon of courage, compassion, and vision that has never been evident in his personality in the past. Those projected qualities are the very qualities that have been disowned by those who want their leader to be what they, themselves, dare not to be.

Either way, the President is in an unenviable position.  Few—and I include myself in this—see him as he truly is, a flawed human with a fearful ego and a Divine and perfect Self, doing the best he can under the burden of the constant heavy storm of the projections of the world.

Leaders as projection screens can be useful for us, if we’re willing to do the work of taking back our projections and looking at them as disowned parts of ourselves. Right now the country is so polarized that we probably only have to take back our negative projections or our positive projections—in the case of the President, we probably don’t have both. It’s not a pretty picture.

If you don’t see the President as courageous, compassionate, and visionary, then think of someone you do see that way. That person is who you are, or who you are becoming. You wouldn’t see those qualities if they didn’t already exist in you. Is it possible you can acknowledge those qualities in yourself, and give the admired person a break? Admiration is a heavy burden.

“Seek not outside yourself. For it will fail, and you will weep each time an idol falls.” (T-#573/617-29.VII.1)

Whoever we insist on putting on a pedestal will inevitably fall off. Then we weep, we feel betrayed, we feel abandoned, we lose faith in our ability to judge who is worthy of a pedestal. You are worthy of a pedestal! Not the kind that puts you above others for them to worship and/or hate, but the pedestal you have always previously reserved for those you see as better, more capable, more spiritual, more accomplished, more successful…in other words, “the one you gave the leader’s role.”

“You hate the one you gave the leader’s role when you would have it, and you hate as well his not assuming it at times you want to let the follower in you arise, and give away the role of leadership. And this is what you made your brother for, and learned to think that this his purpose is. Unless he serves it, he has not fulfilled the function that was given him by you. And thus he merits death, because he has no purpose and no usefulness to you.” (T-#603/649-31.II.4)

Perhaps it’s time each of us took back the leader’s role and let our brothers and sisters fulfill the function given to them by God, rather than the one we give them. Perhaps it’s time we accept our true function.

Salvation is my only function here. 

My function here is to forgive the world for all the errors I have made. For thus am I released from them with all the world.

(A Course In Miracles: W- #204/208-pI.rIII.115.1)

( I don't remember where I found this. It was off the internet, around 2004, probably off an ACIM site. If you know, contact me so I can make proper attribution.)

ACIM Perspective on Leadership and Mass Projections

A change of pace. I don't usually deal with ACIM here, but I'm making an exception for these takes on the theme of Leadership:

“If you make me your authority,”

said the Master to a starry-eyed disciple,

“you harm yourself because you refuse to see things for yourself.”

“And you harm me too,

because you refuse to see me

as I am.” 

Anthony de Mello, SJ

This is a phenomenon all leaders recognize—the pain of not being seen as they truly are. They become a projection screen for resentment of the despised traits that followers don’t want to acknowledge in themselves; and for the qualities of grace and divinity that followers also don’t want to claim in themselves.

I cringe to think of how it would feel to be President. Half the country hates him with a hot vitriol and sends curses his way regularly. No doubt he receives them and feels the effects, whether or not he reads the newspapers. The other half thinks of him as far better than he is, a paragon of courage, compassion, and vision that has never been evident in his personality in the past. Those projected qualities are the very qualities that have been disowned by those who want their leader to be what they, themselves, dare not to be.

Either way, the President is in an unenviable position.  Few—and I include myself in this—see him as he truly is, a flawed human with a fearful ego and a Divine and perfect Self, doing the best he can under the burden of the constant heavy storm of the projections of the world.

Leaders as projection screens can be useful for us, if we’re willing to do the work of taking back our projections and looking at them as disowned parts of ourselves. Right now the country is so polarized that we probably only have to take back our negative projections or our positive projections—in the case of the President, we probably don’t have both. It’s not a pretty picture. 

If you don’t see the President as courageous, compassionate, and visionary, then think of someone you do see that way. That person is who you are, or who you are becoming. You wouldn’t see those qualities if they didn’t already exist in you. Is it possible you can acknowledge those qualities in yourself, and give the admired person a break? Admiration is a heavy burden.

“Seek not outside yourself. For it will fail, and you will weep each time an idol falls.” (T-#573/617-29.VII.1)

Whoever we insist on putting on a pedestal will inevitably fall off. Then we weep, we feel betrayed, we feel abandoned, we lose faith in our ability to judge who is worthy of a pedestal. You are worthy of a pedestal! Not the kind that puts you above others for them to worship and/or hate, but the pedestal you have always previously reserved for those you see as better, more capable, more spiritual, more accomplished, more successful…in other words, “the one you gave the leader’s role.”

“You hate the one you gave the leader’s role when you would have it, and you hate as well his not assuming it at times you want to let the follower in you arise, and give away the role of leadership. And this is what you made your brother for, and learned to think that this his purpose is. Unless he serves it, he has not fulfilled the function that was given him by you. And thus he merits death, because he has no purpose and no usefulness to you.” (T-#603/649-31.II.4)

Perhaps it’s time each of us took back the leader’s role and let our brothers and sisters fulfill the function given to them by God, rather than the one we give them. Perhaps it’s time we accept our true function.

Salvation is my only function here. 

My function here is to forgive the world for all the errors I have made. For thus am I released from them with all the world.

(ACIM W- #204/208-pI.rIII.115.1)

( I don't remember where I found this. It was off the internet, around 2004, probably off an ACIM site. If you know, contact me so I can make proper attribution.)

Classic Abraham on Leadership and Group Dynamics

Abraham: The value of group dynamics is that when you gather together as two or more, and you focus singularly or purely upon desire, there is a compounding of the energy that makes the speed of the creation more dynamic. The disadvantage of coming together as a group is that you bring more of your baggage of observation with you and as a group then you tend to observe each other.

What goes wrong with most groups is you often find yourselves watching each other and critiquing. In other words, when you find yourself in vibrational harmony with your group desire, but you see someone else not vibrating with it, the tendency is to try and fix that one to bring that one back into alignment.

And so the guideline that we would give any group that is working toward any common end is you have great value in your numbers because there is always more to observe what is working than what isn’t working, but it requires understanding how you feel. In other words, we see groups come together and dynamically create and dynamically self-destruct. Group dynamics is a magnifying glass you are shining on things.

Quite often we will see someone in a group dynamic with a Vision. And as they get together in this Vision, the Vision is still imagery. It’s all visionary in the beginning. They are creating in their minds something big and wonderful. And as they focus and get excited and flow energy the universe responds and before they know it they start having physical breakthroughs where they actually find themselves working on this project.

Now the key thing to do is to stay in the visionary mode. The tendency however, is to try and start managing the project. And so they were visionaries, and then they become managers and sort of muck around in the physical sense, and then they lose their group dynamics; they lose their connection to the energy.

And so the encouragement that we would give you, is in your individual or group creating is once you begin the vision you must always be willing to stay primarily in the visionary mode. It’s a temptation to get into the physical and start managing it. To start orchestrating it, and paying attention to how it’s going and charting it, and keeping track of numbers and all of that, but you must stay in the visionary mode if you are to keep the energy continually flowing.

In order to benefit by group dynamics, it takes someone to lead and cause singular focus. In other words, a co-creation is not a co-creation UNLESS you are SINGULARLY FOCUSED upon what you are creating and so communication is very important. In other words talking about what you want and why you want it. Adding to the greater vision of how it will be. Talking to one another.

And the most important thing we would say about working in a group:if you ever feel the impulse to critique someone, or point out what they are doing wrong, bite your tongue and change your energy. Because all of that offering is destructive not only to the group but to the individuals involved.

We often hear people as they begin to recognize that you get what you think about. They will hear someone verbalizing out loud and right away they’ll “tsk tsk.”  Instead of “tsk tsk” we want you to immediately begin to KNOW what they want and KNOW what they mean and NEVER MIND what they are saying. Words don’t matter at all.

KEEP YOUR IDEAS TO YOURSELF UNTIL THEY ARE FULLY DEVELOPED.

If people begin to talk about an idea before they have amassed enough energetic Point of Attraction, others will often amplify the reality of what they are living rather than thevision, and they throw enough cold weather or disapproval on it, that it is often enough to cause the person to lose all their vibrational momentum. That is the only danger we see in group dynamics. From our perspective there are far more advantages than disadvantages to group dynamics, if everyone involved is willing to mind their own business and see themselves as an amplifier of success. Period. 

So often they just become a bigger dynamic of what they do as individuals which doesn’t work. They’ve got a group vision and then they keep trying to work the bugs out of it, and you can’t do both. You can’t work the bugs out and STAY IN THE VISIONARY MODE. When you go from Visionary mode to Actionary Mode you lose your connection and you become less dynamic, less satisfied, less successful, and you have more to talk about in your group meetings.

Abraham 12/95 in Maui