PAUSE
A MOMENT
A
WORLD TRANSFORMED
Hopeful Solutions for Epic Problems
(with sincere acknowledgment to Dr. Deepak Chopra)
[The Power of One – Hans Zimmer & Teddy Pendergrass]
I
must be in my second childhood, at last. I've arrived at a point
where I don't want much any more -- I just want everything - the "everything" that is available if I could just change my mind. I'm working on it....
I
want a change of mindsets called "missing", and "lack" and "loss" and "impossible". That's all. Is that too much to expect? I
don't think so.
Along
the way I want this change of mind of mine to involve a couple of the epic
problems that the world faces, problems that open the way to
transforming life on this planet – one is chronic persistent hunger, and the other is
global warming. Global warming threatens a mass extinction of global
species, including our own, if worse comes to worst. Just recently
scientists have shifted the conversation away from saving threatened
species to actually nominating which species can go, and which we'll
do our best to preserve. That shift is a scary notion when many
people still think global warming is a conspiratorial myth.
But
neither world hunger nor climate change, real or mytholigised, stand
alone; they are intertwined with globalization, economic upheaval,
overpopulation, greed, poverty and hostile tensions in the world’s
hot spots.
What can little ol' me do about all that?
Everything,
as it happens. Because they are not the real problem; they are
symptoms of The Problem . The problem that links them all, I
suggest, is Low-Level Consciousness. And low-level consciousness
lives over here with me, so uplevelling consciousness begins with Me, and doing something about spreading the word on Low-Level Consciousness and its culpability for problems both personal and global is something I can very definitely do something about.
I
suggest tonight that the only effective and lasting way to solve our
epic problems is to arrive at a personal understanding of the
importance of Consciousness in all our processes, then devise ways to raise
it that will automatically benefit all of humanity in just about
every area of our lives. And all it will take is a simple change of
mind. I'm changing mine; if you change yours, we can meet again and
again in a better place. This is the Power of One in action.
Whether
in the short run or the long run, the choice confronting us is
between a waning life on a deteriorating planet, or a adopting new way of looking at what we
do and why we do it.
What we do and Why we do it determines How we do it – I
learned that as an actor. What + Why = How.
[You've
Really Got a Hold On Me – Miss Murphy]
Our
existing paradigm for looking at world problems is still
predominantly rational and scientific, peddled at the workface by
politicians. Now there's a problem right there – asking politicians to settle scientific and social problems is a bit like like sending a
band of bikies in to solve the riddles of infertility.
But
it's even more basic than that. Objective science is the hallmark of
Western societies today. It has an unrivaled power base. Peppering every
argument on global warming are the bleatings about “the science”,
“the science”, “the science” as if that's the only
consideration worthy of attention. Environmental and economic science
encapsulates and limits just about every description of reality that
has moulded the modern world. Science's worldview holds sway over
universities, governments and the public at large. Everyone who
participates in the consensus view of reality has been touched by it. But Objective Sciences have not delivered on their promises of solving all our problems and curing the world's ills. It seems that the minute we find a cure for some ill, someon invents a more virile disease. We're chasing our tail, and never quite catching up...
There is something else going on here that has not yet been noticed
by the players in the game.Who or what is watching the game? Who, if anybody, is refereeing the field umpires?
The
nature and the role of the Unidentified, Disinterested Observer has
puzzled and intrigued curious physicists since the quantum revolution
a century ago. What are the relationships that arise between the
Observer, and that which is being observed? How does the presence of
an Observer affect that which is being observed? What happens when an
astute observer reflects what's already here back on itself so
that we all get to see it in a new light? I feel that this issue
offers a crucial opening for expanding the scope of what we currently
call “science” in the context of global survival.
As
a counterpoint to the science juggernaut, there is another view of
reality, a Consciousness-based view of reality supported by loosely
aligned groups in religion, philosophy, metaphysics, and a minority
in other science disciplines, and my mob -- generally dismissed as
cosmic wackos. Our worldview is consciousness-based. Whatever our differences may be, supporters of Consciousness place mind, emotion,
spirit and intuition first in Nature and matter and reasoning
second, if there is indeed any difference. My own research indicates
that, at the margins, the boundaries dissolve; there's no difference
between tuition and intuition.
Our
problem is that a Consciousness-based worldview has no significant
financial backing comparable to mainstream science. Understanding is
King; “Eureka!” and “A-hah!” are the mating calls of
crackpots. Outside of Pyschology Departments, the Eureka phenomenon -
the
sudden, unexpected realization of the solution to a problem
-
has been excluded from experimentation in major universities and all
but banished from respectability. In general it depends for support
on the rich heritage, East and West, of saints, sages, mystics and
seers who fall outside the empirical scientific method.
Which
is a pity because it consigns at least 50% of evolution – those
quantum leaps of “got-it!” to a cosmic rubbish bin. The
understanding, rational, step-by-careful-step plodders get the big
grants and the prizes, and Archimedes gets locked in his bathroom.
I'm
a big fan of processes and training that encourage lateral thinking,
and of allowing starbursts of Intuition to mix it up with methodical
analysis and Understanding. Intuition reveals latent possibilities.
If I can explain the differences in this way –
- Analysis follows existing channels of thought. A Eureka moment blasts new pathways of neural activity and fires bursts of new reactions in the brain. The channels get changed, rather like the natural course of a river over time.
- Existing mindsets actively resist creativity. Mindsets always look for shortcuts from question to conclusion, shortcuts that reinforce the mind's existing conclusions. Eureka moments blow all that out of the window.
For
any kind of new vision, we have to be able, somehow, to merge and
switch mindsets. To release Possibility and Intuition, we have to
disable logic, at least temporarily, until we can find a new place
for it alongside Inspired Realisation. Given the power of mind and
its need to be right about itself, that isn't easy, and Mind is
certainly not going to do it for you. Since when has any problem
solved itself? A computer that has been formatted from the beginning
with a limited or flawed operating system is never going to be able
to solve problems created by that system. Wiping the hard drive and creating a new programme is
essential. "A-hah!" moments do that. This holds just as true for world crises as it does for
personal psychology.
A
New Vision
My
vision is to close the gap between scientific Understanding and
Intuition by expanding awareness of personal science and at the
same time submitting my consciousness to my own experimental
research. The opening for this vision has already appeared among a
generation of researchers who regard the wholistic fusion
of mind and body, consciousness and matter, physics and biology,
physics and metaphysics as a paramount project for this millennium.
Objective
science has
failed to explain how consciousness arose from gross matter. I know
where my body came from, and I have some understanding of how my mind
comes to be in the shape it's in, but whence come the consciousness
of all that? I haven't a clue! It's there; I'm aware of its
existence. But what is that awareness? Where does it come from and
where is that awareness going with what it's learning?
The
consciousness tradition
has yet to fully explain how mind could create gross matter, although
I believe it has something to do with lowering the frequency of its
vibrations so that it takes on some solidity.
Neither
of them say much about the correlation between awareness and
intelligence, sensitivity and reason.So
we have two apparently mutually exclusive worldviews fighting for
supremacy on the assumption that only one of these explanations could
possibly be true. Who says so? Until we can show how
molecules learned to think, or how thoughts create molecules, the
full truth about Nature and reality will remain hidden in a paradox
that maybe, somehow, BOTH things happen in concert – molecules can
think, AND thoughts create molecules. If we could get a handle on
this paradox, medicine,
for one, would become very interesting indeed!
From my explorations inward I do have
some answers and, more importntly, intelligent questions for you to stand in – questions that could
lead to a Eureka moment for you and all mankind:
1.
I can't see electricity, but I can see where it has been. Does
consciousness leave traces in the physical world? If so, can they be
measured and replicated, like electricity? Could consciousness be
harnessed to power a light bulb?
2.
Are our brain processes associated with mind a cause or an
effect? Or both?
3.
Is there mind outside the brain? What is the relationship between
mind, brain, heart, soul, spirit, body and environment?
4.
We talk about the existence and non-existence of life and
so-called intelligent life on other planets. Shouldn't we have wider
definitions of what constitutes “life” and “intelligence”?
We seem to assume that intelligent life out there in the cosmos will
look vaguely humanoid – like ET. How arrogant is that? All living
organisms display biological autonomy - the ability to make decisions
that are not predetermined by physics and chemistry alone. Is this
evidence of mind in all life forms? Come to think of it – does this
construction of steel, fabric and leather I call “Chair” that I'm
sitting on have a mind of its own? Sometimes I think it does, but
that's another story.
5.
Is the activity of consciousness on any level where it might exist -
human, biological, physical, or cosmic - consistent with the already
proven findings of quantum physics?
6.
Is the universe conscious? Is it aware of itself? Or are we
alone and unnoticed? Actually, I think the jury is already back on that one.
7.
Then there's the chickn-or-egg question -- Did human awareness evolve from systems throughout Nature that
self-organize in an intelligent way? Or did Nature evolve and
organise herself from a pre-existing awareness?
[This
Could Be the Start of Something Big – Grant Green]
Here's
where I think the human race is on the threshold of something really
big. The fact that these primary questions are being addressed
after centuries of neglect is itself evidence, if not of a grand
awakening, at least of a stirring out of a deep slumber. The benefits
to society could be incalculable. Imagine consciousness as the
ultimate renewable energy resource! And it's free! Hmmm. Maybe that's
why no-one's eager to push the research. Imagine having an endlessly
renewable energy supply that no-one can control, artificially limit, and charge everybody
else for!??....
Through
the objective approach, scientific technologies have burgeoned to improve
material life. With a parallel advance in observer-based science, a
huge domain of consciousness may reveal abilities in self-healing,
telepathic communication, the eradication of inner conflicts that
lead to war, and new areas and modes of inspiration and intellectual
and technological breakthroughs. Wow!
But Consciousness,
the central hallmark of human existence, has suffered from problems of
acceptance and credibility in mainstream science (despite the
original quantum pioneers who became convinced that consciousness
must be included in any observational scheme - such figures as
Max Planck, Erwin Schrödinger, and Wolfgang Pauli). Moreover, the Consciousness worldview has no centre, no critical mass, or focus
that enables people to connect with it. And a procession of changeable
intellectual and spiritual "alternative" fads doesn't help.
But social consciousness is way, way higher than when I was born, and I pin my hopes for my grandchildren on us as a nation reaching some kind of
critical mass of support for serious Consciousness-based science, the sooner the better. That's why I've taught my
children and grandchildren to be aware of what they think and feel;
to be the casual, curious, critical observers of their own processes and of what's going on around them.
The
first requirement
for
this exploration is to be
totally open and transparent. That's the first hurdle, and maybe the
hardest. And this is where I lay down the challenge to you. There's not lot of self-awareness going on in public life at
the moment, and it won't until more personally aware people begin to demand higher standards of those who stand for office.
The
main obstacle to solving global problems are the boundaries that
divide – nation from nation, societies from societies, parties from parties, "isms" from "ism"s, groups from
other groups, individuals from each other, income levels, cultures,
our yin from our yang, and so on. Pure consciousness is common
to every human being. It is our shared birthright and our greatest
source of pride, although why we'd want to be proud of it kinda
sucks. And a new world order wants to operate without
boundaries; which flies in the face of eons of instinct and habit. The signs of a yearning for transformation are already here. These are all wall-demolishing signs to build on.
The
desire for a new world order is
itself an outgrowth of an expanding, uplevelling of social
consciousness.
At a time when only kings, knights and bishops had rights, rising
awareness gave birth to ideas like universal
human rights. People around the world now clamour for two things: a
better life, and freedom from the deep anxiety over the future of this planet we live off - together. We have a blossoming faith in Possibility, and the
particular possibility that a better life doesn’t mean shitting in
the nest, nor does it mean improving your own lot at the expense of somebody else. Ben Lee's song "We're All in This Together" is an anthem of Optimistic Possibility. Individual Betterment and Communality are compatible if a new paradigm teaches
people how we can be happy, prosperous, and successful AND still
engage in a sustainable, supportive, renewing lifestyle. On the basis of
this kind of consciousness, a time of despair can end. In whatever time I have
left, I’ve dedicated myself to a Consciousness Solution, and I
invite you to join me in gratitude and optimism.
The
glory of this revolution is that we don't need headquarters, real
estate, or massive funds for it to happen. It happens within each and
every one of us as we change our minds and become aware of what is going on, and the universal yearning that exists within and around
us. Already we are connecting through social media and loose, unaligned
socio-politial movements like Getup and Change.Org. The day of
critical mass is drawing ever closer. And the bullies are powerless
to stop it.
If
you want freedom, start thinking for yourself.
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