By any measure these are extraordinary times, revolutionary times in which a ‘new normal’ is evolving as existing systems and practices crumble. A clash of values and ideals is increasingly evident throughout the world, as we move deeper into this time of collective, planetary transition: a turning point from one chapter, age or civilization into another in which totally different ways of living are required to accommodate the new and allow healing to take place. As the past fights for survival and The New lights revolutionary fires in the hearts of men and women everywhere, humanity flounders, old certainties fracture, creating confusion and insecurity in how to live, challenging purpose and strongly held ideals.
Such a shift has occurred many times in our history, and if approached rationally, embraced whole-heartedly and not hindered, it could proceed with minimal upheaval. However, while huge numbers see the inadequacy of the existing methods and myths, and sense that something fundamental is taking place around and within, inhibiting habits of the past persist, attachment to the familiar and fear of change is strong, strengthening resistance, creating division and conflict: individually and collectively.
Crises gather apace, the most pressing of which is the interconnected environmental catastrophe; the Living Being upon which all life depends is chronically, some say terminally ill and virtually nothing is being done. It is a global catastrophe, vast and complex, one that demands the best of mankind, but is being met with two of the outstanding characteristics of the past – indifference and complacency. The ingrained tendency is to apply habitual problem solving strategies to the issues we face now; this is evident every day in the political sphere. And every day they not only fail, but, flowing from an outdated methodology and therefore having no relationship with the rhythm of the times, whatever the problem is, it is made more acute.
As the influence of the new increases in potency, contaminating characteristics of the past rise in defiance: tribal nationalism grows, material success and the importance of the individual over the group continue to be emphasized and encouraged. Such ideals have become institutionalized; they are imbedded into the socio-economic fabric, and have a certain innate momentum that keeps them afloat. Competition and commercialization are widely employed and have infiltrated all areas of life including education and health care; selfish patterns of behavior are proclaimed as natural tendencies, desire strengthened, exchanged for love, and pleasure adopted as the aim of life. It is from this perverse, but strongly held position that the demands of the times are being heard by many, particularly those in power – political and corporate – and from this bereft standpoint that response issues. Failure, and an intensification of suffering, then, is guaranteed.
Healing the planet, healing the socio-economic system(s), healing our communities and the individuals within them cannot be accomplished by the old ways – historic, habitual remedies rooted in division, manipulation and control. Not only are they the inflexible means that caused the chaos they are devoid of vitality, functioning as they do on nothing but the residue of the past. In contrast to the current predisposition to divide life up and see issues in isolation, a holistic approach to living and to the issues facing us is needed.
Total healing based upon recognition that the various centers of life and of communal living are interrelated is required. A pragmatic understanding that humanity, human society in all its diversity, man-made systems, the natural environment and the space between these constitute interrelated aspects, or expressions, within One Life. For there to be harmony within the whole, all division needs to come to an end; human exploitation of all aspects of life for profit, including the natural world and people, the desire to dominate and control have fuelled discord throughout all areas of life. Human beings are in a state of conflict within themselves, and by extension are out of synch with the whole; the result is conflict, within and without.
Life is one integrated whole, but the patterns of the past, which echo so loudly through the present, are built on and promote division. For there to be harmony within the whole, including human beings, all division needs to come to an end. Ideas of separation have become normal, competition has become normal, selfishness and greed is seen as normal, natural even. Such attitudes and behavior may well be ‘normal’, i.e., commonplace, but they are far from natural: they are in fact completely unnatural, unhealthy, and are at the root of many of our problems. Separation runs contrary to the fact of our shared humanity and our inherent relationship with the Life within which we live. It sits at the poisonous core of our distrust and paranoia of the ‘other’, and has led to ecological vandalism on a global scale.
Separation is the product of a cultivated false way of thinking; life is a whole and humanity is one, we share a consciousness and a home, we are responsible for one another and we are all responsible for the natural world. Unity not division is the natural order of things, and is a thread of ‘the new’. We are part of that unity and if we are to facilitate total healing and act in harmony with purpose we need to design structures and ways of living, education systems, methods of governance, socio-economic models etc., that encourage trust, encourage goodwill and bring people together.
Unity and sharing, cooperation, tolerance and understanding, these are the hallmarks of the times, the new ‘normal’. It is an approach and understanding that people all around the world share, particularly young people, many of whom quite naturally live in accordance with such principles, principles of goodness that have been carried in the heart of mankind for millennia, and now demand expression. This ‘new normal’ is a vision of life rooted in love, it is consistent with the rhythm of the day, which itself issues from love, and despite the resistance of what we might call the ‘old normal’, it is gathering pace and will become increasingly widespread.
The ‘old normal’ has had its day and is dying, the civilization that it built is collapsing, it cannot be adjusted, manipulated, remodeled to become anything other than what it is. The new will not emerge out of the old: the new is not the opposite of the old, it flows from an altogether different source, and as resistance gradually gives way to resignation, discord will begin to fade and the new will emerge in increasing potency.
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