Positive Ecology

PACHAMAMA ALLIANCE AWAKENING THE DREAMER,

CHANGING THE DREAM SYMPOSIUM

According to experts, there is now overwhelming evidence that our modern society is headed for a catastrophe.  Leading scientists say the impact of industry and the sudden expansion of man’s ability to harvest the bounty of our planet for short-term gain, may actually be upsetting the balance of our highly complex and fragile web of life.

With risk so overwhelming and potential cost so great, it is grossly irresponsible to keep doing what we are doing and not give this issue the serious attention.  It is as if we are living inside a dream, sleepwalking toward oblivion, while self-serving, shortsighted interests encourage our slumber.  It has become clear that our political and commercial institutions are unable to effectively address this crisis.

The “villain” here is not big business, corporate media, the military-industrial complex, or even those who for personal profit seek to clearcut our forests, overfish our oceans, pollute our atmosphere or drain our aquifers.  The “villain” is an outmoded worldview — a way of seeing the world in which such unthinkable acts can appear reasonable, sensible, and even intelligent.

Indigenous people of South America, who still live in their traditional Earth-honoring ways, refer to our modern worldview as our “dream”, have urged us of the industrialized world, for the sake of all life, to “change the dream of the North.”  It appears that changing this collective dream of ours will be a do-it-yourself-together project accomplished by committed individuals working in concert with one another, tens of millions of us, each willing to think and act in a whole new way.

That is one of the generating principles behind the creation of the Pachamama Alliance that causes the Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream Symposium.  The Pachamama Alliance was founded by Lynne Twist, a leader of IONS who has raised $100 Million for World Hunger Projects, and her husband Bill, when they visited a tribe in the Amazon Rain Forest who see life in a very different way from our worldview.

“Pachamama” is an indigenous term for the spiritual aspect of Mother Earth – that human beings and all living things are really one.  Many dream cultures have the myth of a struggle between the (aggressive) Eagle and the (peaceful) Condor.  The Pachamama Alliance is seen by many as the first of its kind, an alliance between the "Eagle” (of the industrial North) and the "Condor” (of the (indigenous) South).

The Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream Symposium is a day-long multi media experience that explores the link between humanity’s three most critical concerns: environmental sustainability, social justice and spiritual fulfillment.  Using video clips from some of the world’s most respected thinkers, along with inspiring short films, leading edge information and group interactions, the Symposium allows participants to gain a new insight into the very nature of our time, and the opportunity we have to shape and impact the direction of our world.

The aim of the Symposium is not merely to learn more about the world, but to grapple and come to grips with the very assumptions that underlie the way we ourselves see the world and our place in it.  If you are ready to be disturbed, inspired and moved to action, if you are ready to be introduced to a thriving community of like-hearted, deeply committed cohorts who are actively engaged in awakening from and changing the dream of our modern industrial culture, we invite you to come to the next Symposium in the Sacramento area. 

The first one in the Sacramento area was caused by ECOS Transportation, Air Quality and Climate Change Committee co-chair Jon Ellison in April 2008.  That Symposium was not intended as just a single event, but the formation of an ongoing partnership here in Sacramento between groups and organizations that are working for environmental sustainability, social justice, and spiritual fulfillment, so another one is being planned for this Fall.  Contact Jon at jellison@surewest.net if you want to become involved.