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Collective Psychology

November 16, 1996

Q: Could you give a definition of "collective psychology", explain what it is that creates the collective psychology, and say something about how collective psychology provides the motive force of history?

Collective psychology is the overall psychic approach of all the people; it is the combined mentality which forms the central pillar or belief of the people collectively. Let us say there are ten people in a group, and all ten come to believe a particular fact or thought. Then that becomes a reflection of the collective psychology. Now one person comes to the group and they have their own individual thoughts and opinions. But now joining the group they see that all ten people hold a particular thought, a particular belief, and wanting to be popular with the ten people they will take the belief as their own to join in the group. So, if it is the collective psychology, let us say, to respect the animals and to not kill the animals, and a person comes into the group and, let us say, they may have been a meat eater before, but they will think, "Ah, among these people, they think it is very crude to eat meat so I will no longer eat meat." So they change their habits, they begin to become aware of the plight of the animals because the collective psychology of that group takes this approach.

Whenever there is a group of people gathered together for some time they will begin to develop a set of beliefs and opinions which they collectively ascribe to. And as the momentum and power of that group grows and people wish to join, they will begin to ascribe to the same set of principles and beliefs as the collective group has developed. This is the influence of the collective psychology. So, let us say, in a particular area the people are Muslim and they worship Allah. Now everyone is Muslim in that area and a person comes who is Jewish. What will he do? He will feel very out of place because he is not a part of the collective approach.

The collective mentality of the group may emphasize tolerance or intolerance. If the emphasis is upon tolerance, then they will say, "Alright, you are different from us, but good and well, we respect it." But if the collective psychology is intolerant, then the group will say, "Who is this one among us who has a different approach? Get rid of him." And many things may be done in the name of the collective psychology. So you see, when there is a collective approach of a group of people, they will tend to want to preserve their approach and impose their approach upon others. Occasionally, the collective psychology will be broad-minded; but many times it is narrow-minded, a reflection of the common denominator among the people.

You know, in a society there will be so many people, some will be very simple-minded, some will be quite ordinary, and then there are others who are very deep thinkers. But, in general, the collective psychology will reflect the mainstream of the thinking of the people. These deep thinkers will find themselves outside of the collective psychology. Most often they will find that they are having perceptions which are beyond the mainstream approach. And these deep thinkers will influence the collective psychology of the people over time.

The role of the sadvipra will be to stand outside of the main thinking of the people and to help them to move forward, to advance forward in their collective psychology. The sadvipra will stand outside of the collective thinking. They will, with a clear head and an emphasis upon dharma, assist the people to move forward in their thinking, always pulling them to the next level, to the next step in their thinking. But the ordinary person will usually be influenced by the collective thinking, not wanting to be excluded from the main group and its thinking. They will usually reflect the beliefs and opinions of the collective. If it is a group, a workplace, a social institution, or even a nation state, they will reflect the psychology of the group with which they identify.

So that is why I say, if you are to take upon yourself an identity, a group identity, that identity should be with what? It should be with humanity, with universality. You should be universal with your association so that your psychology is based upon a universal identification and not with any particular group, or organization, or clan, or family or anything that would be finite. When there is collective association with this group, with this teaching, with this nationality, then what happens? Then there comes to be a collective psychology that is unified within that particular group, and you come to think in the collective terms of that group to the exclusion of others. So if you are to adopt a collective identification, make it with universality, with the unity of human society, with the Divinity within all expression. Those people whose identity is with universality and who perceive Parama Purus'a reflected in all aspects of existence, they become the sadvipras, the ones who may pull the collective psychology out of the particular rut it may be embedded in so that it may go forward to a new horizon, a new level of universalism, a new depth of perspective.

Collective psychology is bound to come whenever there is any group association, be it ten people, or ten million people.