Towards a planetary culture.

Here's a few interesting blogs which explore a planetary perspective:

1) Emergent Culture's "Towards a Universal Cosmology of a Planetary Culture."

A Holistic Cosmology would not be a set of untested beliefs or cultural instructions, but a body of knowledge offering the greatest amount of social coherence to those who have out grown the regionalism of cultural specific beliefs. A Holistic Cosmology would be for those ready to embrace a unified understanding of what it means to be a singular humanity

2. Emergent Culture, "Demystifying myth, and the power of myth to bind and free part 1."

Myths may therefore be seen as mind maps with built-in sets of directions to best help the collective-individual navigate the terrain of life. We may now understand why Campbell said that a society who has either forgotten or misinterpreted its myths is for all intended purposes lost—disoriented and in the dark. The overarching function of myth is then to orient, to guide and to relate the individual-collective with the phenomenal world.

3. Heidikolb's blog, "On AVATAR and the return of the feminine, a Jungian Perspective." I liked this in particular because it offered an alternative to the more cynical/dismissive reviews in mainstream media.

Much has been written about the film Avatar since its release. Critical voices abound. Some see it as a “white person’s fantasy on racial identity”. This thought would have never occurred to me. Others see it as a “mythic expose” of Western militarism & colonialism. That reasoning I can appreciate. It is what one might see when the eye is focused on the history of Western civilization. To that I will add some thoughts from psyche’s perspective.

4. The Gaia Community College. Anyone see this before? I just found it, looks promising!

Emergent Civilization: is a new society possible?

[Note, this is a brainstorm! So, if the ideas ramble too much, or could be more coherent, please let me know. It's a matter of conveying them now and I'd appreciate feedback! This is the first time it's all down on paper, or, well computer screen. Perhaps it will eventually become a book...]

There's a lot of talk and urgency these days on creating a sustainable civilization. It's almost like an underlying anxiety many of us feel: we wish to continue our lifestyles, but have this sneaking suspicion that the whole way of life we undertake is completely unsustainable, almost like a grand illusion which will come crashing down under our feet.

There are many of us who are more hopeful, thinking if we work on renewable energy, ecologically friendly energy systems (solar, wind power), and local economies, we should be able to at least avert or lighten the problems we are facing. But then, there is also the whole slew of problems that follow--can government continue the way it is? What about multi-national corporations and world banks? Hegemony and neo-imperialism?

In other words, our way of organizing, thinking, interacting in modern society is all based upon flawed ideologies, systems of thinking that, perhaps on a smaller scale caused less harm and actually helped us survive, but are now an immense danger, perhaps a monstrosity. If we try to analyze this situation as holistically as we can, we see the problem isn't just in physical sustainability, it's also in culture, philosophy, economics, government and primarily psychology. Our whole way of seeing the world is upside-down, and based on a primal fear of insecurity.

Escaping the present, a culture of tomorrow.

That being, we see ourselves as somehow manipulators of the natural environment. That the world is a vast mechanical system we awakened into, and progress is made when we can more efficiently manipulate the world. This may stem from an acute psychological fear of impermanence, of isolation, not able to reconcile our thinking minds with the living environment we are a part of. Even further, being unhappy with what we are now (insecure, in danger) we imagine what could be, and find ourselves always striving for some greater tomorrow--which, we might have learned by now, never comes. This whole psychology extends to a collective psychosis: human beings terrified of the now.

We therefore see cultures or civilizations which can manipulate their world as "advanced," because they have found some level of security, like a puppet master hiding behind his strings. The more you can manipulate, the further along you are progressing! That perception has spilled over into culture, so that we treat human beings in the same way we do objects, relying principally on incentive, behavior and mechanics. We objectify ourselves in the world, and do so at the terrible risk at creating a fragmented worldview, in which we are not a part of the world but somehow alienated from it, a distant "other," that must assume control or perish.

But there is another point of view that sees human beings as any other emergent life form--plants, flowers, mice and bees. We, like them, have been grown by the universe. We are a part of this great web of life, interdependent, so that one action has the potential to affect the whole system. The "advanced," individual, or culture, is significantly different in that it does not assume control over nature. Mastery is a particular degree of understanding the forces of nature and working with them, like a sailor uses the wind and ocean currents in order to move. Life, then, is more like an art, in which we must learn technique (which is where intelligence comes in) in order to move with nature, because all of who and what we are is already a part of the natural world! They would see someone who attempts to fight natural forces as foolish, as if nature could somehow bend to his or her will. True mastery then, is in The Way of things, or Tao, which we learn not to create "what should be," and strive towards it but to see what is, and journey more organically.

Our particular and unique place in nature is that we are capable of reflection, and perhaps some greater degree of consciousness. We are particularly self-aware. But that comes at a great responsibility. Have we ever taken that ability to reflect upon the nature of things, and turn it upon ourselves? It takes maturity to accept the idea of "striving" towards a better future, a safer future, is in fact an instinctive illusion, perhaps driven by our ancestors struggle to survive. But, true survival, is releasing that primal fear--that is, true living is not mere subsistence, but learning the world will always be in flux, there is no true "security" out there waiting for us to unveil. Life is now! Wisdom is thus, knowing that insecurity is a reality of nature. In order to flourish, you're going to have to trust it, to open up. Living is being vulnerable, connected to the whole of life.

While we may be physically doing this, psychologically we hardly realize it. We act like seedlings terrified of breaking their shells and pushing out their first root and stem--yet we must, if we wish to live.

Philosophy of life, new perspective!!

Some of the attitudes that more eastern philosophies and cultures have taken towards the world--interdependence, holistic systems, emergence, synergy and relationship--have been unfortunately neglected in Western society. It's unfortunate in that, although western technology has brought great advancements in the manipulation of the world, it has drastically failed to find any kind of harmony, or equilibrium. What if the more organic philosophies became the guiding factor in scientific endeavors? Then the picture might be very different.

I think that, all of these points can be broken down into three major possibilities.

1) Organic philosophy--that the world is interdependent, relational, synergistic and vastly complex. In order to understand how anything works, you must study the object in relation to the whole.

2) This vast interdependent view of reality has emergent properties. Many things come together and form greater wholes, or layers--in the biosphere, in the social sphere (or noosphere).

3) One great way of seeing this is a holonic view of the universe: things are made parts. Every "whole" system has many parts, and everything is always part of a yet ever-greater whole. This goes from rocks, to planets, to solar systems, to galaxies, to galaxy-clusters, and beyond.

Human beings, then, are organisms in an emergent, interdependent universe. If we wish to flourish, we must learn to expand our sensitivity and overcome primal, illusory boundaries between us and the world. This can't be done by conceptions alone, but by directly working on ourselves and our attitudes. A tall order, perhaps, but there may be things that can help us along the way. Particularly, cultural mythos and alternative ways of organizing that may help foster new attitudes. This will be mentioned later.

A new way of seeing, and thus creating a civilization:

The next part of this blog will be exploring what happens when we see civilization as art, movement and flux--not merely mechanics, but cultivation. What would such a civilization look like? And would it be sustainable?

Please check out part 2.

Mindfulness, Nature and Manipulation.

I think it's important to note that intellect, when not complimented by mindfulness, can be easily misguided. What is meant by mindfulness? Critical self-reflection? Partially. It also means a passive awareness of our thinking, a meditative state in which we observe thoughts, and don't become over-identified with them. Not prone to sway in one direction or another. This is equal to "cleaning the lens" of our conscious experience, so as not to further distort insight.

Mindfulness, then, might be seen as a way to help keep our assumptions in check. This is what the Zen koans mean when they speak of emptying one's cup, so that it may be filled. Insight is only possible when we release the idea we must control our minds in order to understand; to grow a mind rather than build it. But by releasing control, we more resemble nature's way: things arising and emerging by simply letting them be. An "organic" phenomenology of the world might assist us in a century where we are faced with impending ecological disasters.

The open minded scientist might then recognize another insight: perhaps manipulation and control are not the true signposts of an advanced civilization. Rather, a civilization that understands "The Way," and is able to see itself as a part of nature, not separate from it. This can only be done if the individuals themselves can attain such a perspective.

A cultural paradigm shift, complimenting the physical science of sustainability, might be the seeds of a new civilization, one which can support billions, explore the cosmos and live as beings within the world, rather than alienated without it. What would happen if even a few million people began to cultivate mindfulness in themselves, and apply that to their professions? This, in a sense, is a calling for an organic-worldview. Rekindling our connection with life, the cosmos, and healing the dissociative rifts, in which, like aliens in a strange land, we feel the need to defend and control in order to gain some sense of security.

But the secret of life, as many have noted, is that there is no security, not ultimately (see Watts, the Wisdom of Insecurity, also, a great video talking about it).

Everything is in flux, and the only way to grow is to take a chance, to be vulnerable, to challenge assumptions and cultivate a sensitivity with the world, not build psychological-fortresses in which we manipulate the environment in fear and terror for our survival. Isolation is the road to extinction. Cut off from life, we whither. As a species, it seems we have some growing up to do. Many of our actions manifest as collective fear, while life is actually more like art: mastery is the release of control. Knowledge is the learning of technique, with which we may then more naturally create. Like a sailor who moves with the wind to get where he is going, rather than trying to bend the wind to his will! Mindfulness, then, is the release of this primal psychological fear, and the expansion of sensitivity to the world around us, like a seedling reaching out to the world with its first roots and branches.

So the question is, can civilization learn to abandon its shell, and embrace true growth? Here's some food for thought from Alan Watts:

What if the same realization--that science can be the work of nature, and that the individual is one body with his environment--could become the informing spirit of Western technology?" - Alan Watts, Does it Matter?