HOW TO CREATE A WORLD THAT WORKS FOR ALL

I'm still thinking about the message of  Occupy Wall Street; still yearning for a way forward that will lead to a more peaceful, equitable, and environmentally sustainable world that will benefit and meet the needs of all. I read several thought-provoking posts on this subject at Commonway Praxis, a blog written by Dr. Sharif Abdullah.  The following quote is from Dr. Abdullah's book, Creating A World That Works For All:

"We live in a world that works for only a few.  The problem  is exclusivity: the fundamental belief that we are separate  from one another.  All beings, all things, are One.  Our lives  are inextricably linked one to another.  Because of this, we cannot wage war against anything or  anyone without  waging war against ourselves.    Therefore, we are obliged to treat all beings the way we want to be treated.  There are no 'enemies' - all beings are expressions of the Sacred and must  be treated as such.  Some being cause pain to others; this does not meant that they are enemies.   Some beings are food for others; this is all the more reason to treat them as sacred.  Once we understand that we are interconnected, we have the responsibility to create a world that works for all."

"With this as our goal, the next question is obvious: how do we achieve it?  How do we avoid sinking into despair or cynicism?  And how do we avoid dabbling in utopian fantasies or engaging in 'pie-in-the-sky' religiosity?  In fact, we can change this world right now by shifting our consciousness and our values from a foundation of exclusivity to one of inclusivity. This shift in consciousness is the core of the world's major religions.  The essence of the moral code they urge upon us is inclusivity:

         What is hateful to you, do not do to others.  ~RABBI HILLEL

         Do not hurt others with that which hurts yourself.    ~ BUDDHA

         Do unto others whatever you would have them do unto you.  ~ JESUS

                   None of you is a believer until you love for your neighbor what you love for 

                    yourself.  ~ MUHAMMAD                                                                                                              

"Considering the clarity, simplicity, and consistency of these statements, one has to wonder what it is about the message of inclusivity that makes it nearly impossible for people to either comprehend or implement.  Why are there Jews, Buddhists Christians, Muslims, and many others around the world who are killing their fellow men and women when their traditions call for peace, nonviolence, and inclusivity?"

For me, the HOW is the missing piece that I've been searching for.  How do we implement the spiritual truths found in all the world's religions?  How do we put our spiritual teachings into concrete practice in our daily lives?  How do we embody the Divine and bring the Kingdom of Heaven down to this Earth that we all live on? 

Well, I'm very excited about a tool I recently learned about that's really answering the big HOW question for me.  Non Violent Communication, developed by Dr. Marshall Rosenberg, is much more than a communication method but a practical way to connect with "others" and live with Love toward all - beginning with our interpersonal relationships and expanding to peace at the global level. It is a way to practice the connections that make violence both inappropriate and impossible.  Below is the first in a series of Youtube videos filmed during a one-day introductory workshop in which Marshall Rosenberg teaches the basics of Non Violent Communication.  Altogether, more than three hours of this workshop can be viewed free of charge! 

Dr. Rosenberg's book is Non Violent Communication: A Language of Life.  Many additional resources can also be found online at the Center for Non Violent Communication and the NVC Academy.

By the way, PuddleDancer Press, the premier publisher of Nonviolent Communication related books, has recently donated hundreds of books on Non Violent Communication to various Occupy Wall Street libraries.                                                                              

                                                        

BUILDING A CARING ECONOMY: CARING PAYS!

Occupy Wall Street and the current economic condition of our country leave me wondering: Is there a way BEYOND left vs. right, Republican vs. Democrat, capitalist vs. socialist?  Is there a way FORWARD that will lead to a more peaceful, equitable, and environmentally sustainable world that will benefit and meet the needs of all?  

Well, I was delighted to discover Riane Eisler, who has devised a very sensible economic plan - a plan which demonstrates how caring for humans and the planet can actually be profitable.  Dr. Eisler (who is a social scientist, attorney, and internationally known author who is included in the award-winning book Great Peacemakers as one of 20 leaders for world peace, along with Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and Martin Luther King) talks about her book The Real Wealth of the Nations and the need for an economics of caring in the following video:

Dr. Eisler's "Full Spectrum Job Creation Proposal: The Roadmap to a New Caring Economy,"  was submitted to President Obama in 2009 and can be read in it's entirety here.  Visit Dr. Eisler's websites here, here, and here for a wealth of additional material and to discover ways you can become involved.

WHAT IS THE BODY OF CHRIST?

Spiritual Insight from the David Ord's book Your Forgotten Self:

The body of Christ isn’t synonymous with Christianity.  It isn’t correlated with the churches. What it may be hard for many Christians to accept is that the body of Christ can be found among people of all faiths: Christians, Jews, Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, Jain, Sikh, and so on.  The body of Christ is far more encompassing and includes the entirety of humanity.

“Christ” is a term, not a surname for Jesus of Nazareth. It’s the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew term messiah, meaning the anointed one. It used to be the term used for Israel’s kings, who were anointed with oil to signify their choice by God for the throne.

The messiah—the savior of the world—isn’t an individual, but is the whole of humanity empowered to at last be true to themselves as the image and likeness of God.

Jesus is definitive of what the Christ reality looks like, and in that sense he’s the “head” of the body. But a head is useless without the rest of the body. The body of Christ—that which will save humanity from its broken state—is comprised of all who begin to move out of the normal unconsciousness of human beings and into the enlightenment of consciousness. They become aware of the divine presence at the heart of their being, the heart of all being.

The term “Adam” doesn’t refer to a real person but is a symbol of humanity in our unconscious state. So too the Christ isn’t a single individual but is a symbol of humanity as we become conscious. This collective reality is made up of all who have become conscious of their oneness with God. When this awareness takes over our lives, we become a more evolved human, as was Jesus. He represents the next leap in our development as a species and is definitive of the new humanity emerging on the planet.

When we read that there's "no other name given by which we must be saved," it's not about saying a name, but about becoming what Jesus was: a conscious person. "In Jesus' name" isn't a statement to be tacked onto the end of prayers like a magical charm. His name represents the divine nature. When we awaken to the divine nature in ourselves, the image and likeness of God that we have always been but lost sight of, we become as Jesus was. It's in this sense there's "no other name." You have to become conscious in the way he was.

As awareness of our oneness with God increases, the impact isn’t just personal. It changes how we relate to each other. Recognition of our oneness with God leads to oneness among us. All barriers between the world’s peoples are broken down. The future of the human race involves the gathering together of all races and creeds to form one new human being. This collective “one new human being” is the Christ. You can read about this new humanity in Ephesians 2:15-22, where it’s likened to a house in which God dwells.

The divine dwells in us. As we recognize this in ourselves, we become the Christ that will save the world from its turmoil and usher in what Eckhart Tolle calls A New Earth—or in more ancient language, the kingdom of God.

This entire article can be accessed at The Body of Christ Means Conscious Individuals.

WAR OF THE WORLDVIEWS - Deepak Chopra and Leonard Mlodinow

In this video hosted by Huffington Post, Deepak Chopra and Leonard Mlodinow discuss their newly released book "War of the Worldviews: Science Vs. Spirituality."  The book promotion on Deepak Chopra's website says, "These two great thinkers battle over the cosmos, evolution and life, the human brain, and God, probing the fundamental questions that define the human experience." These topics greatly interest me, and I found their video discussion quite informative.  It's refreshing that although they do disagree, they are able to engage in an open and non-antagonistic dialogue and seem willing to learn from each other.  I think we need more discussions like this, not only between science and spirituality, but between religious denominations, faith groups, belief systems, politicians, special interest groups, cultures, and people groups throughout the world.

WATCH FREE MINDFULNESS CONFERENCE ONLINE

Sounds True is one of the sponsors of the Creating a Mindful Society  event, held in conjunction with the Omega INstitute in New York City.  Conference headliners include Jon Kabat-Zinn, psychologist Richard Davidson, Buddhist teacher and author Barry Boyce, and U.S. Congressman Tim Ryan, among others.  Sounds True is offering live free on-demand viewing through January 31, 2012.

Mindfulness is a simple yet profound practice that changes lives. If you’re committed to mindful living, eager to learn more about its growing influence across all facets of society, or only beginning to discover the transformative power of mindfulness, watch this historic conference on Creating a Mindful Society.

This pioneering event in New York City will feature keynote presentations by four outstanding leaders in the mindfulness field plus a rich program of dialogue and practice sessions. Together, we will explore all the proven, practical ways that mindfulness can transform our lives from the inside out—and help reshape society, from health, work, and family to education, leadership, and policy.  Details here and at http://live.soundstrue.com/event.

I would have loved to have been there, but it was pretty awesome to be able to watch it!

WHAT COLOR IS YOUR JESUS?

I recently listened to an interview with Bruce Sanguin and Rev. Kelly Isola in which Sanguin talked about how he’s applying the Spiral Dynamics model of human development to explain why Jesus means so many different things to so many different people. 

I have been a fan of Spiral Dynamics for quite some time.  Spiral Dynamics is a theory of human development introduced in the 1996 book by Don Beck and Chris Cowan which was based on the work of professor Clare W. Graves.  This theory explores the process of human emergence and how living systems evolve, grow and change.  Each new level transcends and includes all previous levels.

 The following diagram illustrates the different levels of development and their associated characteristics:

vMEMEs	COLOR	THEME	FOCUS	VALUE SYSTEMS
LEVEL 1 (A-N)	BEIGE	SurvivalSense	"ME"	Group bands together to stay alive
LEVEL 2 (B-O)	PURPLE	KinSpirits	"WE"	The sense of family-tribe with time honored
LEVEL 3 (C-P)	RED	PowerGods	"ME"	Power-action driven, egocentric
LEVEL 4 (D-Q)	BLUE	TruthForce	"WE"	Purposeful, absolutist, "one right way"
LEVEL 5 (E-R)	ORANGE	StriveDrive	"ME"	Entrepreneurial,materialistic, success-driven
LEVEL 6 (F-S)	GREEN	HumanBond	"WE"	Community,harmony, equality,relativistic
LEVEL 7 (G-T)	YELLOW	FlexFlow	"ME"	Natural processes, mutual realities; live for mutuality
LEVEL 8 (H-U)	TURQUOISE	GlobalView	"WE"	Harmony, holism, spirituality

In his book The Emerging Church, Sanguin applies these stages to how Christians see Christ.  Each stage's view has a positive and a negative aspect:

Purple--Christ is the Tribal Christ. "He makes the world go 'round when proper ritual is performed....He answers the prayers of those who are obedient." (p. 94).
The negative can be superstition: praying for football victories, parking spots, and miracle cures.

Red--The Warrior Christ. "Followers of the Red Christ go with him into battle on behalf of their tribe, nation, or belief system....In its most positive expression, following this Christ gives us the energy to "fight" for what we believe in--to take a stand."
But, "The Red Christ led the Christian armies in the crusades. He also led the U.S. army into Iraq." (p. 94)

Blue--The Traditional Christ, a Divine Scapegoat. "As part of the divine plan, God sends his only son to suffer and die on behalf of humanity, modelling sacrifice of self for a future reward....Christ's own sacrifice invites followers to led lives of self-sacrificial love, with the hope of eternal reward.
But...he can be used in a triumphalistic manner. He is the only truth, the only way, and the only life, and if you don't believe it you're going to hell." (p. 95 emphasis author's)

Orange--The Modern Demythologized Christ and Christ as CEO. "Christ is seen as the human one, a teacher of spiritual wisdom....In its positive expression, the Orange stage helps us transcend the literalism of previous levels....modernist values give us permission to think for ourselves.
But......In its negative expression, the Orange level leaves no room for Spirit." (p. 95)

Green--The Egalitarian-Postmodern Christ. "The postmodern Christ embraces multiple cultures and downplays the "Truth" of any particular religious system. The Green Christ draws the circle ever wider, so that it includes the outcasts, the left-behinds, and the marginalized.
But...In its negative expression, followers of the Green Christ are impatient and dismissive of all other value systems." (p. 96)

Yellow--The Integral/Ecological/Cosmic Christ. "The Yellow, integral Christ encompasses the universe and all cultures as an integrated ecology of systems....Followers of this Christ become fascinated by the world that the new sciences are discovering, and by how this world connects to the core metaphors and narratives of the Judeo-Christian tradition." (p. 96)
 But...elitist thinking and impatience with those perceived to be 'below' this stage.

Turquoise-The Mystical Christ. "At this level, the world is experienced--not merely conceptualized--as one. A follower of this Christ does not merely perceive the universe an integrated whole. She knows herself to be a form of the integrated whole, the part in whom the whole is manifest. The great diversity of life is also an expression of the Holy One. All of life is sacred revelation, for those with eyes to see." (p. 97, emphasis author)

(Thanks to John Shuck at Shuck & Jive, for this summary).

 I can see my own journey reflected in this spiral. Although it has not been a smooth journey (I'm more than sure that I've expressed both positive and negative traits at each stage!), I've traveled through magical thinking, dealt with anger problems and judgmentalism, escaped the bonds of fundamentalism, questioned everything I ever thought was true, and come to a place where I can embrace the Oneness and inclusiveness of the Divine.

I fully believe we need to have space for people to think for themselves and ask questions, but I've been puzzled lately by the attitudes of some (certainly not all!) skeptics that I've encountered on blogs and in comment threads.   So what was really illuminating for me was Sanguin's perspective on the unhealthy aspect of the Orange meme's worldview.  This seems to fit with what I'm encountering: a tendency to leave out spirit; a mindset that rejects the spiritual completely and reduces everything to the level of matter and empirical evidence.  Throwing the baby (spirit) out with the bathwater (mythic literalism), so to speak

In his book, Sanguin describes healthy Orange: "The orange value system embraces scientific rationalism...Within this system, Christ is seen as the human one, a teacher of spiritual wisdom.  The divinity of Christ is downplayed in favor of the flesh-and-blood human being...In the scientific era, we learned that Christ didn't actually walk on water, heal the blind, or raise from the dead.  These are rich metaphors, but not to be taken literally...In its positive expression, the orange stage helps us to transcend the literalism of the previous levels" (p. 95).

According to Ken Wilber in his book Integral Spirituality, both modern science and religion have confused the premodern mythic level with spirituality itself. He went on to say that religion itself needs to make room for and sanction the orange, or modernistic, interpretations of its religious messages.  Wilber recommended the works of John Shelby Spong, Marcus Borg, Stephen Carter, and F. Forrester Church as religious and spiritual writers who have emphasized the orange interpretation of Christianity without dispensing with spirituality (p. 178-179).

To disregard any level of development leads to rigidity and lack of growth.  Let us allow room for one another to retain a connection with the Divine at whatever developmental level we find ourselves.  May we encourage one another to grow and transcend each level in a healthy manner, and may each of us enter into the place where all of life is experienced as sacred.

PROPHECY AND THE GREAT FLOOD

The following article blew me away!  I found the perspective on Reality as viewed through the minds of primitive peoples to be fascinating.  The application for today is even more fascinating.  The article  is taken from The Doctrine of Oneness website.

"A Great Flood is coming...

“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so too it will be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man.”

Noah received Revelation to build a great Ark. He shared the message of the coming Great Flood with his people but the community heckled and rejected him.

Our Earth is 4.6 billion years old, and global temperature fluctuations have caused many changes in our environment. Floods are commonplace.

At the height of the last Ice Age 18,000 years ago the sea level was 394 feet (120 meters) lower that it is today. Ancient humankind, just like today… typically built their society near the sea. All of these outposts at the dawn of humanity where flooded as the ice melted. As the Glaciers receded, the sea rose 394 feet and destroyed everything in its path.

Thanks to science, we have a new Revelation.

We live in a time of great crisis, confronted the challenge of the ecological consequences of our own doing. The consensus is overwhelming: human activity is triggering environmental breakdown on a planetary scale.

Climate change is happening at an exponential rate, and threatens to cause the rise of sea level this century of at least 1 meter (3 feet). Not only sea levels will rise but the balance of life as we know is changing. We can already see it now: extreme earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, drought, flooding.

Koyaanisqatsi. Our Life is out of Balance.

Just like in the time of Noah, our naysayers heckle and reject the message. They are motivated by their own greed and self interests.

It is our collective responsibility to preserve humanity from this imminent disaster.

Future generations, and the other species that share the biosphere with us, have no voice to ask for our compassion, wisdom, and leadership. We must listen to their silence. We must be their voice, too, and act on their behalf.

Instead of an economy that emphasizes profit and requires perpetual growth to avoid collapse, we need to move together towards an economy that provides a satisfactory standard of living for everyone while allowing us to develop our full potential in harmony with the biosphere that sustains and nurtures all beings, including future generations."

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?