Evolution of Religions and Movements

A fascinating aspect of religions and movements is their evolution. Often, within just a few generations, religions and other movements metamorphosize into something with an "energy" quite different from the original teaching. Most often, it seems to me, the greatest changes take place in the first few decades after the death of the founder, with evolution becoming very gradual after that (but still accumulating dramatic changes when viewed over long periods of time).

The movements I am aware of all had charismatic founders who were intensely focused on their work and leadership and had a profound effect on followers. What seems to happen is that after the founder's passing, a vacuum suddenly forms and the movement undergoes a crisis of existence: "what next?" The teaching had been so intertwined with the personality of the founder himself that followers feel lost and rudderless. As a rule, founders of teachings do not leave behind successors of their own stature, since people of their stature tend to form their own teachings rather than follow in others' footsteps. Early high-stature followers seem to splinter off and create individualized versions of the teaching or movement, leaving mostly people with a follower mentality around the original founder.

With the memory of the founder still fresh in everyone's minds, people begin to compile everything that he or she said, did, and wrote. A period of canonization begins where followers try to be as true as possible to the teachings of the founder and follow his instructions - whether explicit or implicit - as closely as possible. At the same time, they look for a logical new direction for the movement to take. After a period of searching, the movement finds a stable configuration and gradually settles down for the long term - if it has survived the crisis. Depending on the vitality of the original movement, there may be periodic "spikes" of energy and change, and disturbances in society, such as wars and calamities, can give the movement a completely new impulse. Otherwise, the trend seems to be towards greater conservatism, traditionalism, and stability over time.

It is interesting that movements often attract many creative, talented, and charismatic individuals during the early stages. These people are attracted to the chance to learn and be involved in something new and unique. And no, not all of them are types! They are people of all kinds of types who are passionate about learning and development. And they are also quite competitive. Many want to be teachers and leaders. These people contribute a lot to the movement early on but then create splinter groups or leave the movement altogether if they are not able to find a position of sufficient influence within the movement.

This creates a paradox. Spiritual movements are created by charismatic individuals who tell others of their own path to God, enlightenment, or success, but their movements are made up almost exclusively of people who, for various reasons, cannot repeat their teacher's spiritual path. The ones whose paths are in fact similar to the founder's leave the movement and start their own. To put it simply, the spiritual leader is teaching people who are followers by nature about becoming spiritual leaders. The real peers of spiritual leaders are not their followers, but the spiritual leaders of other teachings.

The natural evolution and loss of relevance of religions and other movements over time ensures that there is always demand for new ones that are full of vigor and fresh ideas and approaches. In a coming post or posts I will discuss a number of religions and teachings and their evolution and socionic emphases.