It is easy to not see what sits right in front of us. We all experience challenges, at times, in grasping full reality at its highest level. Full and total reality must, by its very nature, remain in the realm of mystery. Not because we are especially flawed, but simply because of what it means to be human, biologically and otherwise. So it comes down to the dark and the light sides of being human; how best to see what there is to see. And, then, to know what to do with what one sees.
When negativity arises, as it does, of course, on a daily basis in the greater world via the internet and our other high tech communication capabilites, people often become outraged, or at least frustrated. “What to do. What to do.” is one lamentation. There are untold others.
Wise Elders offer us the guidance we desperately need with their words; wisdom born of the ages and sages, as relevant today as ever it was. Respected Elders everywhere illuminate our paths that we may find our way out of disquieting episodes.. If we want peace on this earth, one of the central paths to that peace is that we “build territories or zones of peace where violence and deceit won’t be used.” (Mahatma Gandhi.) A simple solution, more easily said than done. (New Horizons Small “Zones Of Peace” Project, obviously, is a strong proponent of this idea.)
If not only violence, but deceit, such as our politicians and politics have degenerated into, is not acceptable for the fabric of our lives, how about protestors simply confronting that issue across the board? Not only on Wall Street, but in Congress and campaigns etc. etc.?
Bill Clinton, Anthony Weiner, Strauss-Kahn, Herman Cain, etc. etc., whomever the person may be, if not functioning with complete integrity, do they really belong in a leadership capacity in this country? We are called, I believe, to investigate why we accept deceit. Why lying is such a difficult concept to confront. Everybody “seems” to be against it in others. Yet in practice, we allow it to go by, as if it were nothing.
The essential ingredients that generate and sustain peace and well-being in a family and/or a community are consistently accepted as universal practicalities, regardless of religion. They are, also, readily activated, if we choose to make them our priorities. The seeds of the potential for peace and unity already exist in the individual, the family, the community, the nation and the world. If our innate human capacities for kindness, generosity, honesty, courage and so forth are activated and nurtured, abundance on earth can be established wherein violence and deceit become obsolete because they have become unnecessary.
This potential begins with you and I. Is that really so difficult to see? It does not really take a protest, congressional approval or legislation in order to act with caring, compassion and integrity..
Of course, I am unlikely to live long enough, at least, in this lifetime to experience such a state of conditions. Yet, it gives me comfort that I know this potential to be so. In doing the interviews for our new Possible Human, Possible Society Study, others are telling me that they see it this way too; deceit does not need to be an accepted way of life in America. Expecting honesty and integrity from others, as well as ourselves, is simply an arm’s length away, if we proclaim it to be our way.
Interviewing participants started right off as an almost magical experience for me. Although I hold these values that I am here expressing, enough to stake my life on them, I had not anticipated how close to the hearts and ethical practises of many others were they, also, being held. Then I started listening to personal stories about values and standards. Interviews soon became storytelling in the ninety days plus since August 1, when the study, officially began, I have already been given, personally, more than I could have imagined;
Already in these early days of the study, I am being privileged to discover an enhanced viewpoint of both the head and the deepest yearnings of the heart. As well as the heart behind the distress people are experiencing under current political circumstances. The heart part, expressed in detail, in these one-on-one interviews, has been particularly profound. There is nothing like storytelling to expand one's consciousness and our human connectedness.
The internet cannot give us this sense of full-bodied personhood, person-to-person. No matter how advanced it becomes. There is something one receives in close proximity to another that high tech cannot replace; the flesh, the facial expression and the voice tone are parts of that “something.” But there is more, a subtle human vibration.
Right from the study’s start in early August, it prompted so much interest I wasn't sure we could manage it all. I believe, this was because many people are eager to speak the deepest truths of their hearts, as well as their mind, if there is hope that it can make a difference. For our parts, now, a few months into the study, we are beginning to accrue a decent enough flow. And, our every success with the project seems relatively assured, as much as anything can be predicted in these days of turbulence.
The fire in my soul has been ignited.
More to come.
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