Regardless of how strong our political framework is, it cannot overcome a weakened condition of the people indefinitely. Our weakened condition is reflected, as described in chapter one, by our physical degeneration, as shown in the rates of chronic disease, and our mental and emotional instability, reflected in the dissolution of families and communities. Our lack of faith in political leaders is pervasive, and although our standard of living is still relatively high compared to most of the world, the people feel very insecure about the future.

Insecurity is fueled by the realization that more and more Americans are dependent upon government programs for survival, whether it be by food stamps, tax credits, social security, medical assistance, welfare checks, corporate welfare, or grants. It is as though at some point we have made a Declaration of Dependence. While these expenditures are growing, the benefactor has built up a debt approaching thirty trillion dollars with no end in sight to its growth. But there will be an end. If this trend is not reversed, it will eventually end in economic chaos. The government choices will be to either default on its obligations, resulting in depression and civil unrest, especially in the inner cities, or to simply print money, resulting in hyper inflation and a greatly reduced standard of living for everyone. Civil war and the dissolution of the United States would be a possibility.

Presently, the individuals making up the Legislative and Executive branches of government have no vision of how to begin to solve the problem. A number of them do understand the severity of the problem, but they cannot grasp a large enough perspective to see clearly what must be done. Some propose spending cuts, balanced budgets, and streamlining government. This is like fighting a forest fire with a garden hose. Still others want to increase government involvement even more, hastening the inevitable collapse.

In a democracy, political leaders with large, long-range vision can only be installed in office if the people in general have a large vision or perspective. A large perspective is the result of higher judgment, the ability to be conscious of the relationships, the causes and effects, of seemingly separate events in space and time.

We can categorize judgment into seven levels. This was first done by a man named George Ohsawa. Ohsawa theorized that we begin life with the most basic type of judgment, mechanical, and gradually develop higher and higher levels, depending on how we live our lives and what we experience. He named these levels, from the lowest level to the highest: mechanical, sensory, sentimental, intellectual, social, ideological, and supreme. The following is a summary of Ohsawa's categories:

LEVEL 1, MECHANICAL: This judgment is without thinking. It is our unconscious reflexes, the beating of our hearts, the blinking of our eyes, our animal instinct. It is symbolized by Adaptability.
LEVEL 2, SENSORY: This judgment is reflected in our likes and dislikes, and our conditioned reflexes, our habits. Like Pavlov’s dogs, we don’t always know why we do things at this level, and we often wish we could change what we do. It is symbolized by Desire.
LEVEL 3, SENTIMENTAL: Emotion dominates this level, and it is this level of judgment which is often used when reactionary responses by government officials occur. This can be the most dangerous of all levels of judgment. It is symbolized by Love (or its counterpart, Hate).
LEVEL 4, INTELLECTUAL: Knowledge, science, and research are found at this level. Decisions are based upon the accumulation of facts and the scientific process. Politicians often use this level, conducting hearings and the fact finding methods. In the information age, this level can be confusing and contradicting, as statistical methods can often be used to “prove” either side of a question. This level is symbolized by Truth.
LEVEL 5, SOCIAL: This is the level of morality. Though they would vehemently deny it, few politicians think on this level. On this level, we begin to realize that whatever happens to other people, it is the same as if it happened to ourselves. The politician who makes decisions based on what is best for his or her constituents, rather than the people as a whole, has not attained this level of judgment. This level is symbolized by Peace.
LEVEL 6, IDEOLOGICAL: This level of judgment results in philosophical origination. New theories and principles are developed here which may last for hundreds of years. Decisions on this level attempt to provide a framework through which the natural law may be expressed with the least amount of suffering by the people. Politicians at this level are rare. This level is symbolized by Justice.
LEVEL 7, SUPREME: This level of judgment recognizes the oneness of all humanity. When considering the human condition, it recognizes no national borders, no social classes, no racial prejudice, no gender, no age, no behavior, and and no separation. It accepts responsibility for all of humanity. This level is symbolized by Freedom.

Many of the founders of the U.S. Constitution were making judgments on at least level five, with some, certainly Jefferson, using the sixth level. Unfortunately, today we find most politicians on the national scene operating from the second and third levels. But this is merely a reflection of the condition of the people who elected them. To rectify this situation, the people must make fundamental changes in themselves, to develop higher judgment. Fortunately, there are ways to do this. Our judgment is the result of the sum total of our life experiences, including what we consume in the form of food, education, life experiences such as relationships with others, and our activity. The following tables relates what type of activity produces which levels of judgment.

HIGHEST JUDGMENT: Levels 6,7:
FOOD: Grains and vegetables in their whole, unprocessed form help to produce this judgment. Grains in particular are important for the development of thinking that is compatible with peace and freedom. In ancient China, the symbol for rice was the same as the symbol for peace. Grains were the focus of important occasions in the Christian and Jewish traditions as well, including the Last Supper, the feeding of the five thousand, and the Israelite's captivity in Babylon and the exodus from Egypt.
EDUCATION: Highest judgment is developed by the study of the classics, such as Plato, Aristotle, Shakespeare, Hippocrates, Spinoza, Adam Smith, Locke, Tolstoy, and classical scriptures, such as the Old and New Testaments, Dead Sea Scrolls and other ancient texts, Tao Te Ching, Upanishads, I Ching, Bhagavad Gita, and the Koran.
LIFE EXPERIENCE: Highest judgment is developed by being challenged, by going beyond the boundaries which one has defined as their capacity. Difficulty develops judgment. The more we hold on to whatever makes us feel secure, the less likely we are to realize true freedom, which can only come from within ourselves, and can never be supplied by any form of government. We should visit and experience all religions and as many different cultures as we can.
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY: Activities which have as their goal the unification of mind and body nurture the development of high judgment. Examples include yoga, Tai Chi, and various martial arts. Also useful are activities which connect mankind with nature, such as vegetable gardening (without chemicals), or mountain climbing.
MENTAL ACTIVITY: A common experience of history's most enlightened teachers often includes a time of solitude, contemplative prayer, reflection and fasting. Meditation, mantras, chanting and singing help facilitate this enlightenment. Obtaining seventh level judgment actually means reaching atonement, or oneness, with the infinite, universal order. To achieve this realization, it is necessary at some point to detach oneself from day to day human events. Moses, Jesus, Buddha and many other teachers are described as having this experience.
FAMILY LIFE: When a newborn infant first arrives, it often experiences unconditional love from the parents. In rare cases, this unconditional love continues throughout childhood. Higher judgment is increased by giving or receiving unconditional love, especially as adults. Unconditional love does not mean giving a person anything and everything they want or desire. It means providing them with their basic needs, (in the case of a child nourishment, shelter, and emotional support,) but beyond that it means to acknowledge their freedom to live their lives as they choose and to acknowledge their uniqueness in the world. Protection is necessary, over-protection creates weakness.

MODERATE JUDGMENT: Levels 4,5:
FOOD: This level is created by the consumption of processed whole food. Whole grains ground into flour for bread or pasta, and in combination with other whole foods including vegetables, fruits, nuts, beans, and lean meat from wild animals, help to create intellect, but do not afford a universal perspective.
EDUCATION: This level is developed by the study of scientific, social, and historical material. An understanding of the physical world around us can be helpful when we begin to study deeper, philosophical questions about life.
LIFE EXPERIENCE: Moderate judgment is developed by having a large variety of life experiences. Having a variety of occupations, travels and adventures, friends and acquaintances allows us to be able to interrelate life's experiences from which we can synthesize an overview which is greater than the sum of knowledge we have gained.
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY: Even though not specifically designed to do so, most sports, dance, exercise, and work do facilitate mind and body coordination. Virtually any type of movement which helps prevent or relieve stagnation in the body also inhibits mental stagnation and improves our judgment.MENTAL ACTIVITY: Written or verbal exchanges of ideas with others from many different sources create moderate judgment.
FAMILY LIFE: The support of the nuclear family can generate a sense of security with which intellectual and social judgment can be nourished. However, in its extreme, which is not uncommon, security transforms into rigidity and preconceived expectations which inhibit growth and tend to foster children struggling with the same issues as did their parents.

LOWEST JUDGMENT: Levels 2,3:
FOOD: This level, dominated by greed, envy and emotional volatility, is directly related to what has been called the "standard American diet". It is the product of heavy consumption of animal food with high fat content, simple sugar, dairy food in a variety of forms including milk, cheese, and ice cream, highly refined white flour, and artificial additives, pesticides, fertilizers, and chemicals. Add to this recreational drugs, and especially prescription and over the counter drugs, and there emerges a picture of the wrecking ball which daily hammers at the foundations of American society.
EDUCATION: Education which produces this type of judgment is usually not found in schools or institutions, but is extremely prevalent. The daily pounding Americans take from corporate advertisers telling us how to make ourselves look and feel better and get more enjoyment out of life is an enormous falsehood. It is equivalent to the propaganda put forth from totalitarian states, but is even more dangerous because it is so subtle. It teaches us to seek happiness not within ourselves but from our external environment and in material gain, and in doing so we become slaves to our media masters.
LIFE EXPERIENCE: The more we believe in the education received at this level, the more enslaved we become to perpetuating our dependence on the corporate produced lifestyle, whether it be medicine, automobiles, thrills, vacations, or bigger houses. To pay for all of this, we find a job in which we can feel secure and sell our lives by doing the same, repetitive daily routine over and over. Our bodies and minds become stagnant and in the end we are conquered, not by military might but by the complete control of our minds.
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY: As our minds are controlled, the enslavement becomes complete by depositing our bodies in the prison of inactivity. This leads to further mental weakness and stagnation.MENTAL ACTIVITY: Mental activity at this level contains no original thought. We become media parrots without questioning the validity of what we are saying. Our mind and body is controlled by our emotions.
FAMILY LIFE: Family life which creates this level is distinguished by the dissolution of the family. Emotions are volatile and manifest in neglect and physical or mental abuse. Narcissism is prevalent. This ensures that enslavement will be carried over to the next generation.

At first it would appear that for Americans to substantially increase their judgment a great deal of sacrifice needs to be made. All of the foods we love, the entertainment we seek, and the great majority of how we spend our lives produces lower level judgment. But in reality, this is merely another addiction. By choosing activities producing higher level judgment, we are not only making a great contribution to our country, but we are also creating true health and happiness for ourselves. Created in this way, our health and happiness cannot be taken away by government, insurance companies, medical practitioners, tax collectors, thieves or credit companies. Thus in seeking the path to true freedom, only then can we find real security.

Chapter 1

Back to Table of Contents

Recommended Reading Offsite