The Second Face of God - Part 4

Embracing Hierarchy

Conclusion of the series, The Second Face of God, a dialogue between Andrew Cohen and Ken Wilber, as published in EnlightenNext Magazine.

We left off last time with this quote from Andrew Cohen:

“The structure of the entire cosmos, all the way from its deepest interior to its furthermost exterior, is hierarchical. Hierarchy is actually its fundamental nature at all levels, including consciousness.”

We have seen how the postmodern ego resists embracing the reality of hierarchy as the very nature of the cosmos. While we can accept as true the fact that all life forms evolve from simple to complex through different stages of development, it is infinitely more challenging to recognize that at the level of consciousness, some people are more developed than others. Teaching ourselves to acknowledge, honor and respect authentic differences allows us to connect with Spirit as Other, the second face of God.

Wilber describes two main types of hierarchies: dominator hierarchies, in which one level dominates the other (the caste system is an example of this type) and growth or actualization hierarchies, also called holarchies, where each level is more whole than the previous one. A classic example would be atoms to molecules to cells to organisms - each level transcends and includes the previous level. Similarly, human growth, from individual to societal, also moves through broad stages - egocentric (me), ethnocentric (us), worldcentric (all of us) and cosmocentric (everything) - again transcending but including the previous stage. Egocentric and ethnocentric stages want to dominate; the higher stages want to include and embrace, displaying more love, more care and more consciousness. Once we understand these differences, we realize that when we submit our ego, at whatever stage we are at, we are simply inviting our own next higher stage to manifest.

Wilber: “This hierarchical perspective is not a way to put you down; it’s a way for me to understand my own unfolding, to understand the number of perspectives that I can take into account and, in so doing, to help me grow, develop, evolve. These actualization hierarchies ... are extraordinarily useful because they point out things that we just cannot see on our own.”

But here's the paradox: as Spirit becomes manifest, it embraces a host of different complex forms - as Wilber puts it, “all things are Spirit, but some are more Spirit than others”. Our task is to be able to make distinctions about the nature of difference in manifestation at many different levels. Cohen and Wilber stress the importance of entering into committed relationships with people who we trust and want to learn from - this is how we generate qualities such as humility and respect, qualities associated with the second face of God. We also need to share these kinds of perspectives with groups of like-minded people - inviting what Cohen describes as “a new spiritually enlivened cultural context” in which these qualities can emerge. In the absence of a group or teacher, individually we can contemplate a simple phrase such as “consent to the presence of God” daily, awakening within ourselves higher and deeper aspects of awareness which are in fact representations of the Divine.

Cohen: “The practice of the second face of God is always fundamentally challenging to the ego. But you can tell when people authentically begin to awaken to this dimension of Spirit. Suddenly they begin to express and demonstrate respect, honor, reverence, love and humility. This isn’t a false humility; it’s a natural result of developing a certain kind of introspective capacity - they begin to pay attention to their own motives. They awaken to a sense of higher conscience, a moral context for their own existence. It’s a moral awakening for the postmodern self, because what emerges is an authentic care for a higher context and a higher purpose - a sense of an inherent meaning and glory in life, a respect for other people, and a fundamental respect for that which is higher.”
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Previous posts in this series:
Second Face of God - Part 1
Second Face of God - Part 2
Second Face of God - Part 3
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Andrew Cohen: Guru
(n., Sanskrit): one who teaches spiritual liberation from his or her own direct experience or realization.

Self-described "idealist with revolutionary inclinations" and widely recognized as a defining voice in the emerging field of evolutionary spirituality, Cohen has developed an original teaching for the twenty-first century which he calls Evolutionary Enlightenment. He is also the founder and editor in chief of EnlightenNext magazine.

Ken Wilber: Pandit
(n., Sanskrit): a scholar, one who is deeply proficient and immersed in spiritual wisdom.

Self-described "defender of the dharma, an intellectual samurai", Wilber is one of the most highly regarded philosophers alive today, and his work offers a comprehensive and original synthesis of the world's great psychological, philosophical and spiritual traditions. His books include A Brief History of Everything and Integral Spirituality.

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Immerse yourself in the complete collection of Guru
& Pandit dialogues at enlightennext.org/gurupandit
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I smile when I'm angry, I cheat and I lie

I do what I have to do to get by

but I know what is wrong and I know what is right

and I'd die for the truth

in my secret life

- Leonard Cohen
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