Comments (1 - 17 of 17)
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I don't see the conflict, Winfried. Legislators are also people, and thus covered by Shaman's dictum. Legislation framed in a context of anger, hatred, fear (or indeed greed, which seems to be a mixture of all three) seldom gets the job done. Would you not agree?
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In my view, Azaria has hit the nail on the head. It's ALL happening, the good stuff and the bad stuff. So the question for each of us is: how do I use my (new?) consciousness? Do I focus on the good, or on the bad? Guess we all know that 'energy follows attention', so the question is not trivial. Focusing on the good doesn't mean denying the bad - just choosing not to give my energy to it.
Vogin, how about this: consciousness IS freedom? I don't know where you got these strange notions of 'communist states' from. In my experience, even in the former Soviet Union there was a lot more consciousness than then (or probably now) on the other side of the Atlantic. And writing today from Kiev, I can say that the weather may be foul (it truly is), but consciousness is alive and well.
The reason I'm in Kiev is because the Ukrainians, already first in the world with a one-year school curriculum of 'Lessons for Sustainable Development', have just - this week - embarked on developing a seven-year curriculum, for grades 3 to 9. This, five and a half years into the UN Decade for Education for Sustainable Development, when as far as we know no other country is even discussing such a possibility. They reckon to reach around 55,000 pupils, their families, and their schools in the next 3 years. And that's just the pilot phase. Count it as another straw in the wind.
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Azaria, if I'd been that gardener I certainly wouldn't have laughed at you. Imitation is one of the ways we approach synthesis - indeed, many types of learning. And narrative can help us imitate, yes? And - the gardener should have been delighted, because talking to you would have helped him become more aware of what he knew. So both of you would have been on a (possibly synthetic) learning curve.
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Very good question. We teach analysis for years and years in school, but hardly ever attempt to teach synthesis. When trying to teach it, we found that a key is to teach, encourage and support deep reflection. Simply allowing what has been gathered and (maybe) analysed to sink in. For some people, it's a matter of 'sleeping on it' - which can of course be done in a purposeful way. Sometimes thematic meditation can help. And sometimes it can be as simple as ringing a mental bell and taking a few deep breaths.
When designing a course to do this at a deeper level with leaders, the best source of inspiration we found was actually a couple of thousand years old - the Essenes' rules for right living. |
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Yes the RMI does fantastic work Shel - and why isn't it more widely emulated? I don't think we can get away from the question of the monetary system. It's inherently unsustainable - any debt-based money system is. In one way this is easy to tackle. Money is a human invention not subject to any 'natural laws', despite what most economists would have us believe. It's been reinvented several times since it was first thought of. Now it's no longer serving us in its present state, we need to reinvent it.
The good news is, we don't need to wait for big business and governments. Each one of us has a choice - not always, not in every circumstance, but often enough to make a difference. See for instance David Korten's book Agenda for a New Economy. Bernard Lietaer is also doing great work - see also my interview with him. And Margrit Kennedy. Even (some) governments are listening to them. We should, too. And do some thinking of our own. This is a real new frontier!
We can start by weakening the banks' hold on us, and supporting each other more. |
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Interesting. One of our projects in Belarus is to offer 3-day workshops where (mostly) young people learn about a) sustainable lifestyle and b) how to draw wordless comic strips. It's not 'fine art' but some of the results are striking. We have a physical exhibition (7 rollups) but not yet a web site. Right now there's a workshop in progress in Minsk for teachers who would like to use this approach with pupils.
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The Russian project is old, 90s in St Petersburg. I haven't been in touch with them for quite a while so no idea of current status or whether they had any follow-on projects. I know they wrote a little 'how-to' booklet. Send your email address to secretariat@globalactionplan.com, and I'll put you in touch with someone there.
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In climates that usually have a lot of snow, there's no problem with making a roof garden on an existing building - the snow weighs more than the garden. Not sure about hydroponic, I've always wondered about the nutritional content of such veggies. We've combined rooftop gardening with basement composting (in Russia), with excellent results.
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Perhaps you could find some useful contacts through the Plantagon project - http://plantagonblog.com/
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With all respect for Adler, I think we've learnt a little more since his research was done. A very basic human need is the need for attention - yes, to be seen, heard, and (when helplessly small or old) fed. In my experience most people suffer from an attention deficit. We simply don't feel ourselves to be seen or heard enough. Little wonder, when some studies show that an average parent in some societies spends 8 minutes a day conversing with his/her children (and up to 3 hours watching TV).
The attention deficit gets expressed in all sorts of ways. For some (and particularly for very many men) it becomes translated into a need to excel. Either by succeeding or - as a colleague says - if you can't succeed at succeeding, then you have to succeed at failing. If you can't be an angel, be a successful demon. Almost every parent has encountered that particular mechanism!
Let's pay more close, loving attention to each other. Starting here and now. Maybe things will change. |
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Whatever you can do, or believe you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and magic and power in it. Begin it now. - Goethe
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Pls post info / keep informed about your project, John.
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Good luck! We in Sweden don't have oil, but otherwise it's easy to recognize most of what you write.
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The need for control seems to be inextricably entwined with western culture - what some would call the 'old paradigm'. If we view ourselves as masters of all creation, our deepest fears will be concerned with losing control - no?
Well, hopefully not 'inextricably' entwined. |
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How about the Happy Planet index? |
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Anyone with a chicken tractor is a friend of mine.
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It has been said that everything we say and everything we do springs from one of only two places within us: the place of love, or the place of fear. Greed is one manifestation of fear - fear of being without; no?
If this is true then at one level the answer is very simple. Each person who chooses an act of love, at any moment, is contributing to the health and wellbeing of everyone. Each person who chooses an act of fear does the opposite.
It has been important for me to experience the difference between 'being afraid' and 'acting from fear'. You have to be pretty stupid (or very lucky!) if you never have reason to be afraid. But I don't need to get stuck in that place.
In brief, I think the world changes one action at a time, one person at a time. Since there are so many of us, the potential is enormous!