New Thought and the Will to Power

One of the first things I noticed when I began investigating New Thought spiritual communities was the connection with a full spectrum of philosophy and religion. One teacher expressed it as incorporating the common thread through the history of theology and philosophy across all major World Religions. I have encountered this connection time and time again as I consume ideas from different philosophers and theologians ranging from Plato to Buber. There always seems to be that common essence of truth no matter what the style or perspective of the writer.

Some recent study in Existentialism has given me more exposure to Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche. I did not expect to find a connection there, as I was just curious about Existentialism, but as usual profound ideas seem to connect back to some representation in New Thought.

Nietzsche's Will to Power is something I misunderstood until looking closer. I was a typical human in that I heard bits and snatches of the idea and formed a superficial opinion. I thought it had to do with a misguided theory about how the ultimate goal of humanity or at least the most laudable goal was to rule the world.

Actually it goes something like this. The Will to Power is really a Will to Self Esteem or Self Expression. It is a positive earlier expression of self actualization, which was developed more fully in the 20th century by psychologists such as Maslow. It corresponds to Nietzsche's concept of Master Morality vs. Slave Morality.

Master Morality is the positive expression of who we are that is expansive, confident, magnanimous and teleological. Slave Morality is a shrinking, limited, negative self concept that runs on reactions to "they" who are in power. Master Morality, or the Will to Power, is the spontaneous, natural expression of who we are meant to be as a self-actualizing individual human being.

This expression is a secular expression of similar New Thought concepts that encourage us to connect with the inner Christ (or Buddha, or Brahman, or pick your favorite language) to guide the true expression of individuality in a prosperous, altruistic and self-actualizing manner.

Leadership and Virtue

Leadership seems to be more about the quality of being rather than the ability to give orders or boss people around. Great leaders blend general virtues into a strong individualism that permeates their thoughts, actions and results. Becoming a leader is, in a sense, becoming self-actualized and expressing that self-actualization in the medium of inspiring others to do their best; or better. If a leader is actualizing along a spectrum of virtue, her results tend toward the positive. If he is actualizing along a spectrum of vice, his results will tend toward the negative. At least positive and negative from our limited perspectives.

What are some characteristics of leaders? Here is one list: Judgement, Justice, Decisiveness, Initiative, Dependability, Tact, Integrity, Endurance, Bearing, Unselfishness, Courage, Knowledge, Loyalty, Enthusiasm.

There are many other lists of virtues including the 7 Heavenly virtues and the Knightly virtues. A cursory overview shows there is definitely quite a bit of overlap.

To be a good leader (not an evil leader), is to be consistent with virtue expressed along an idiosyncratic path toward self-actualization. Being, then becoming, never arriving.

The Enneagram

The Enneagram is a psychological profiling system that characterizes 9 distinct primary personality types. Each primary personality type is modified to some degree by a secondary type that is one of the adjacent types to the primary.

For example, a type 2 could have either a 1-wing or a 3-wing. Depending on which of these wings is dominant, the type 2 would be known as a 2 with a 1 wing or a 2 with a 3 wing. The secondary type can be strong or weak. This creates the potential for a large number of variations even within one primary type when degree of influence of one or more wings can vary from 1 to 99 percent.

The nine primary types each have a name that characterizes the pure essence of the type. For example:

1. Reformer
2. Helper
3. Motivator
4. Individualist
5. Investigator
6. Loyalist
7. Enthusiast
8. Leader
9. Peacemaker

Each primary type has 9 different levels of development ranging from self-actualization (1) down to complete disintegration (9). When a person is moving toward growth and self-actualization they move in their direction of integration. When this happens the type begins to display some of the healthy characteristics of the type in the direction of integration. For example, when a type 9 is moving to growth, characteristics of a healthy type 3 may become apparent.

There is also a direction of disintegration. When a type is deteriorating and moving away from growth toward extreme neuroticism or psychosis, tendencies of an unhealthy type in the direction of disintegration may become apparent. For example, a type 9 will begin to show behavior of an unhealthy type 6 when moving toward disintegration and away from integration.

The Enneagram theory has a long, rich history of development extending back into ancient Greece and including Jewish mystics and Jesuits. The direction of integration corresponds to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs in that the act of moving toward growth and integration is analogous to moving toward self-actualization.