Posts Tagged ‘crisis’

“Seven Seeds for a New Society” Now Available!

Tuesday, July 21st, 2009
Seven Seeds for a New Society

Seven Seeds for a New Society

My newest book, Seven Seeds for a New Society is available NOW!

“Seven Seeds” is emerging at a critical phase of our time here on the planet. Many of us can see an unprecedented catastrophe looming on humanity’s horizon. I believe that we can still avert that catastrophe – a crisis caused by the arrogance of the exclusivist “Breaker” mindset. It is not too late to take the next step in our human evolution – moving out of our “caterpillar” phase (consuming everything in sight), into our transformative “butterfly” phase, casting beauty everywhere.

There is still time for all of us (including our President) to engage in “Plan B thinking” – if we’ve struck an iceberg, we are NOT getting back to “normal”. Trillion dollar life support for institutions that are TOO BIG TO EXIST gets us nowhere. “Plan B” is: “let’s do something different”.

The change of consciousness is already in motion! You already understand this. Others, including our brilliant President, will eventually get there. We can help this process by being CLEAR that this is not a “Progressive” (or “Conservative”) agenda. Those are just two different ways to articulate an ADVERSARIAL point of view. That separating, exclusivist point of view has gotten us all in trouble, no matter which side you are loyal to. It’s time to free ourselves from our limiting thoughts and viewpoints. “Seven Seeds” was written to show us how.

“Seven Seeds for a New Society” provides you with a very concise tool to engage people in the conversation on how to transform our society from its current toxicity to one which reflects our deepest values.

Do you notice how often conversations stay stuck in discussing “the problem” and don’t go on to solutions and visions? Do you notice how people can talk about what they DON’T want easier than discussing their hopes, dreams and visions? “Seven Seeds” is designed to help us past those conceptual barriers.

PLEASE HELP ME SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT “SEVEN SEEDS”. I don’t have a huge advertising budget. I don’t have a paid publicist or a staff cranking out press releases. What I’ve got is you. Acting together, we can raise awareness and consciousness, better than a hired marketing staff.

1. Buy the book! To order, go to the Commonway website and follow the directions: http://www.commonway.org/seven-seeds-for-a-new-society. (In a few weeks, you will be able to buy from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and also from your local bookseller.)

2. Encourage others to buy the book. We all have “networks” that we belong to. Some are only a few dozen people. Others are in the hundreds or thousands. Regardless of the size of your list, please tell folks on your lists that (1) you are buying this book, and (2) you encourage them to do the same. (Don’t forget to send them a copy of the webpage link.)

3. Print out a copy of the two-page flyer. Pin a copy to your church’s bulletin board. Make another copy for the community board at your coffeehouse or café. Leave a copy on top of your desk, for your nosy office mates to have something to look at! (At the bottom of the web page is an attachment for the printable version, in PDF format.)

Let’s work together to get this in front of as many eyes, minds and hearts as possible, to catalyze the next steps on our evolutionary path.

Lao Tzu said that “a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step”. Our journey of 6,800,000,000 hearts and minds begins with your first contact.

Peace,

Sharif

PS: For the observant: you may have noticed a title change. I am still writing “Spirit on Earth: An Operating System for a Spiritual Society”, which will definitely relate to “Seven Seeds”. But, talking about two books with one title was confusing even me! “Seven Seeds” should be considered a stand-alone “prequel” to “Spirit on Earth” when it comes out sometime next year.

PPS: On the printer’s website (www.lulu.com), “Seven Seeds” is listed in the “Religion and Spirituality” category. That’s simply the “least bad” category available from their website. They don’t have categories for “Consciousness”, “Current Affairs”, even “Politics” or “Ethics”. (I could have listed it under “Horror”, or even “Cooking”, but I’m not sure many people would have gotten the joke.)

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Next Steps in Sri Lanka

Monday, May 18th, 2009

A quick update: according to both Sri Lankan government sources and Tamilnet, the LTTE (also known as the “Tamil Tigers”) have been militarily defeated. Vellupalai Prabhakaran, the leader of the Tigers, has been killed, along with all senior LTTE leaders. The government reports that all Tamil civilians formerly used as human shields by the Tigers are under its control (although TamilNet reports many civilians still hiding in bunkers).

For an in-depth analysis, please see the excellent article by my friend Dr. Jehan Perera of the National Peace Council of Sri Lanka: http://www.peace-srilanka.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=132:first-steps-to-be-considered-in-post-war-phase&catid=1:latest&Itemid=121.

I want to take a second to acknowledge Jehan for his courageous and consistent voice for peace in the face of the drumbeats of war and violence. Right now in Sri Lanka, people who speak out against the violence have been beaten and killed. (The infamous “white van gangs”, mobile death squads that no one can seem to find, will stop at home or office, beat or kill journalists or other public figures, then speed off.  There’s never been an arrest.)

It takes a clear sense of mission and a lot of personal integrity to be a voice for peace and nonviolence. In these times, silence can be construed as complicity. It takes real guts to say not just what is popular or what is politically expedient – to say what is TRUE.

As I think about Jehan, my thoughts go to another Harvard-trained lawyer, this one from Chicago. I think about the Chicago lawyer speaking out for peace at a time when the drumbeats of the Iraqi War drowned out all reason in America. Once Americans woke up from our orgy of violence, once we saw the true costs of the war (in dollars, blood and spirit), we turned to him and made him our President.

So Jehan, keep speaking out. Stay as safe as possible. “Temple Trees” (the Sri Lankan Presidential residence) awaits. [For more on Jehan’s work and writings, click here: http://peace-srilanka.org/]

Reactions and Predictions:

I shed no tears for the passing of the LTTE or its leader, Prabhakaran. The goal of the organization was always unrealistic and its methods always brutally violent. I am not sorry to see them go.

I do lament the orgy of violence, and the bloodlust that still grips the island. With upwards of 20,000 of their fellow-citizens killed or maimed in the recent fighting, with their country and their economy in tatters, I believe the celebrations in the capital city of Colombo are ill-advised and will be short-lived. The costs of this war will be more than the country can bear.

As bad as things are, I believe the situation is poised to get MUCH worse. Is it possible for a “failed state” to get “FAILED-ER”? War crimes, summary executions, extensive use of prison/ concentration camps and the possibility of ethnic cleansing are distinct possibilities.

So, what happens next? It’s anyone’s guess, but here are a few benchmarks or milestones you should pay attention to in the near future:

The next 3-6 days:

  • Are international observers granted access to all former battle areas?
  • Are international observers and international/ independent media granted access to all refugees?

(If not: expect a massive cover-up of war crimes, summary execution of suspected LTTE cadres and sympathizers, and bulldozing the “safe zone” battlefield to conceal the extent of non-combatant deaths.)

The next 3-6 weeks:

  • Are the refugee camps opened and unlocked? Are people residing in the camps only because they WANT to be there, not because they are FORCED to be there? (Of course, it is reasonable to restrict people from returning to areas that have not been cleared of landmines or have other health and safety hazards.)
  • Are detention camps for LTTE combatants open to Red Cross inspection?
  • Are the Sri Lankan people given full information on how much the war actually costs, in human lives and in financial expense? (The government stopped publishing casualty figures months ago, similar to the Bush Administration not allowing photos of flag-draped caskets returning from Iraq.)
  • Has the government initiated and opened a national dialog on the long-term solution of the underlying ethnic issues that gave rise to the LTTE? Have all parties and constituencies been invited to participate?

(If not: expect summary execution of LTTE combatants and ethnic cleansing.)

The next 3-6 months:

  • Is insurgent violence receding (or eliminated)?
  • Is there a reduction and removal of the police state security apparatus (fewer checkpoints, less population screening, fewer “high security zones” in the North and East)?

(If yes: this would be the first indication that the violence of President Rajapakse’s military offense against LTTE is yielding a non-violent result.)

Next year:

  • Is there a rise in post-traumatic stress related factors (the already astronomical suicide rate goes higher; alcohol and drug use up, domestic violence on the rise)?
  • Is there more violence on the island than in 2003 (the first full year of the Ceasefire Agreement)?
  • Is there a rise in communal violence?

(If not: Sri Lankans can then legitimately celebrate the victory of May, 2009.)

Three years:

  • Is there a meaningful devolution of power that protects the rights of ALL Sri Lankans, including Tamil and Muslim minorities?
  • Has Sri Lanka moved off of the list of “failed states”?

Stay tuned. The first benchmarks are less than a week away.

Peace,

Sharif

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Memo to Obama: Forging Our Common Way Ahead

Tuesday, November 11th, 2008

MEMORANDUM

TO: BARACK OBAMA

FR: SHARIF ABDULLAH

DT: TODAY

RE: SOME ADVICE ON FORGING A COMMON WAY AHEAD

Yes, congratulations, you made history, yada, yada, yada. Not to diminish your amazing accomplishment, but since you’ve heard it all so many times by now, I won’t dwell on it (although, if you and I had a few hours, I COULD!)

No, I would rather not take up your time on that. I have a few pieces of advice for you. If I had five minutes of your time, the following is what I would say to you directly.

But first, who am I to be offering you advice? I have been exploring our need for a value-driven, inclusive and sustainable society for decades, including as Founder and Executive Director of Commonway Institute. The title to my second book sums up my philosophy and my life goal: “Creating a World That Works for All”. I offer my accumulated experience to you.

ADVICE #1: REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE

This part goes without saying: while you are in fact the first African-American President (Elect) of the US, that is an IDENTITY, it is not the core essence of who you are. One day, even being President will be a past accomplishment. You, however, will still be you.

You are the first President (Elect) of the 21st Century – I expect you to act like it. (We obviously aren’t going to count the last 8 years. We are now seeing the close of the last Presidency of the 19th Century). As the first 21st Century President, you will set the model for all of the other Presidents to follow. Aim high.

Bill Clinton was a very admirable bridge between the 20th and 21st Centuries. There are many advisors around you who would like to copy those times. Don’t listen to them. Your arc must be higher.

ADVICE #2: BARACK OBAMA – CATALYST IN CHIEF

In our days of fear and ignorance, many Americans needed a “Commander in Chief”, the father figure to command and control their lives. Now, we have just elected you, our first “Catalyst in Chief”. We don’t need you to “lead” or “command”. We know that the federal bureaucracy is virtually ungovernable and incomprehensible. (Of course, we do expect you to do your job and govern as best as a human being can.)

We most need you to display the skills that you demonstrated so well during the primaries and election: the ability to inspire, to engage and to motivate an entire movement of people to act.

It is indeed comforting that your heroes are similar to mine. I too am inspired by the words and deeds of Abraham Lincoln. He presided over the US when it underwent its most painful transition (to date). Now seen as one of our greatest Presidents, he was HATED by half of the country – the half that could not face the future, the half that could not live up to the vision laid down by the Founders in the Declaration of Independence.

I remind you of Lincoln so that you can remember to inspire – even though many of our fellow citizens would rather revile you than listen to you. Right now, they CAN’T listen to you – they can’t get past the color of your skin. However, they too will change. They too are caught on the arc of history. They will forget their hate – it simply is not sustainable. We can wait them out – time is on our side.

ADVICE #3: DON’T LET THE WEASELS GET YOU DOWN

You are a man, a model and a symbol. You symbolize and personify our quest for a new vision for our society, a vision that is hopeful, practical, inclusive and sustainable.

You need advisors who hold all of the above qualities, who can think outside the box.

I know that you have many “real-world” political advisors surrounding you – they are needed, they are necessary and you could not effectively govern without them. But, don’t let them be your sole source of advice – we didn’t vote for you so that you could fill the White House with the old political crowd (Democrats or Republicans).

You need advisors who can think outside the box (who actually don’t even recognize that there IS a box!) Balance your team with visionaries, ones with some dirt under their fingernails from doing real work in the world. There is a real difference between a visionary with achievements versus a visionary with just dreams. You need doers, not just talkers.

ADVICE #4: YOU ARE NOT A “CENTRIST”

Neither the “Right” nor the “Left” have the vision for an America that works for all. Both the Left and the Right have flawed, myopic, partial viewpoints. But, paradoxically, both the Left and the Right hold key elements to the future of this country; they hold parts of the solution. Neither side should be dismissed out of hand.

Your job is to get the dinosaurs to play well together. Only together can those Left-Right viewpoints be transcended, harmonized, and resolved into one greater image.

You know that the traditional “Democratic” and “Republican” parties are outmoded and out of step with 21st Century realities. You know that your campaign for the Presidency has ignited a passion for politics (with the small “p”) that the major parties cannot understand, let alone harness. You know that you can harness this energy.

Your job is not to sit between these two warring camps. Your job is to sit ABOVE them. You are not a “centrist”. You are a “trans-centrist”. Let’s elevate the conversations beyond the uninspiring rhetoric that has been such a turn-off for many in the electorate. (I quote in my book a line from the movie “Slackers”: “Withdrawing in disgust is not the same thing as apathy”.) Your candidacy hit the “on” switch for tens of millions of us. And, you can help keep us turned on.

Of course, you will have to drag the mainstream media, kicking and screaming, into this new viewpoint. They still can’t comprehend what your victory means for America. Yesterday, CNN was reporting on how “black” churches were celebrating your election, completely missing the fact that there were at least a few “white” churches that were just as celebratory. They can’t see it. You can. WE can. And the media will, too… eventually.

ADVICE #5: YOU ARE THE LEADER OF A MOVEMENT

As you correctly stated, your job as President doesn’t start until mid-January. (Do not deny Bush the opportunity to further lower his poll ratings or to increase his historic position as the worst president in modern history. It’s his karma.)

However, you are not just “President” — you are also the leader of a movement. That job started decades, perhaps centuries, ago – it has just reached a powerful nexus point.

I started in this movement to save our human family and our planet 45 years ago (yes, you were 2 years old). The movement will continue when both of us are dust. This movement is the legacy that we leave to your daughters and my grandsons.

Unless there is a transformation in how we interact with each other, with our neighbors, with the Earth and with the Divine, those young ones have no future. Once we make these transformations, the future for our children and grandchildren is limitless.

Your role in the movement is obvious: KEEP IT MOVING. The politicos will want the people to sit down, shut up, and “leave it to the pros”. RESIST THIS. The movement for an inclusive, sustainable and loving society will not wait. Leading this movement is the single most important thing that you can do as President. It far exceeds any piece of legislation, any Executive Order, any policy initiative of your Administration.

Although you take the Oath of Office in January, you can stimulate and catalyze this movement RIGHT NOW. Don’t wait for the Inauguration – put us to work.

ADVICE # 6: TAKE THE FIRST STEPS

What you can do, right now, is catalyze a community, regional and national dialog on the fundamental issues facing us as we enter the 21st Century. (Given your present world stature, this dialog could be global.) Ask us: what can we do, on the local level, to address our social, political, economic, ecological and spiritual mega-crises?

This dialog would NOT be: “What must government do for us?” (You are about to find out how little government can actually do!) But, by bringing the conversation to the local level, you can catalyze building the most powerful people’s movement America (and the world) has yet seen.

So, what are these first steps?

1. Dialogs on Food, Water and Energy Security. Every community should know where its food, water and energy come from. Every community should launch discussions on how they can achieve sustainability on the local and regional levels. From these dialogs, each community should develop plans for local sustainability for food, water and energy.

2. Dialogs on the Future of Economics. All of our media-driven discussions on our economics have been focused on fear and insecurity. Most of our “rescue” attempts are aimed at reviving a system based in waste and greed. It’s time to re-define economics, to focus on hope, vision, and the realities human beings in the 21st Century.

In my work with Sarvodaya in Sri Lanka, we are experimenting with something we’re calling “relational economics”. The economics of people who are in actual relationship with each other. Economics not controlled by individuals, corporations or by the State. Economics at the community level. (A side piece of advice for you: to stimulate a community-based relational economics, your stimulus packages should be based on community, not on individuals or governments.)

4. Dialogs on Healing. How do we heal our society? After years spent in a wrong-headed and meaningless war, the men and women in our military are hurt, bruised, confused, angry and sick. After decades of divisiveness, our politics is fractured and visionless. Our legacy of slavery and American-style Apartheid continues to haunt us. The pending economic collapse hangs over our head like a crushing weight. We must atone for the pain and damage we have caused the Earth.

In the face of this, healing is necessary. We all share the pain and we all can, through the exercise of compassion, share in the healing. Asking us to engage in healing dialogs can serve as a start to this long-term process.

5. Dialogs on Our Vision for Our Society. According to Thomas Jefferson, our present Constitution was meant to last only one generation. He believed that every generation should re-write the Constitution.

We are long overdue.

We obviously cannot start with a Constitutional Convention – that would be suicidal. Most Americans have spent so much time as “consumers” instead of “citizens”, we no longer recognize the principles that lie at the foundations of our society. (This is why President Bush could get away with using the Constitution like toilet paper – most of us didn’t know what was in it to begin with.) We are going to have to start over again – to teach ourselves to become the intelligent, informed citizenry that Jefferson and the other Founders envisioned.

We can start with an interactive national dialog on “American Vision and Values”. According to the Bible, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” (Proverbs 29: 18). You can catalyze a dialog process with teeth – the people need not perish.

ADVICE #7: DON’T FORGET TO BREATHE.

I strongly encourage every person who works with me to have a daily meditation practice. It is the best (perhaps only) way to stay focused on the long haul, to not get caught up in the swirling madness of our times. It is the best way to stay true to our common mission: to create a world that truly works for all beings.

Peace,

Sharif Abdullah

PS: Incidentally – if you are interested in my help with any of the above, please do not hesitate to call.

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America’s Financial Crisis: A Real Solution

Monday, October 6th, 2008

Howdy–

We are unable to grasp the magnitude of the problem.  In America’s financial tsunami, the real wave hasn’t even hit us yet.

Several years ago, in the prelude to the horrific tsunami in Sri Lanka, the water went OUT, instead of coming in.  People were startled by seeing the shore line recede, sometimes hundreds of yards, and were delighted that they could walk out into the now dry ocean floor and pick up fish.  People were standing there, amused, amazed and bewildered at this site, when the water returned — with a vengeance.

We are similarly stunned by the news of financial turmoil on Wall Street and elsewhere.  So much is happening, so fast, that the collapse of two major banks just in the past few days barely registers in our consciousness.  Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, last week Washington Mutual and a short while ago, Wachovia.  Americans watch this carnage, but don’t react.  This is because we don’t know HOW to react.  It’s like being in a redwood forest, watching the giant trees crashing all around you.  But, so far, they’re not crashing on you.  So, what do you do?  Do you run for cover?  Do you stay put?  Do you make some popcorn, get a lawn chair, and enjoy the spectacle?

What is the real problem? (You may not like my answer.)

The problem is NOT mortgage-backed securities, credit default swaps, collateral debt obligations, or any of the other gobbledygook cobbled together by Wall St. whiz kids.  Yes, they have created a wall of opacity compounded by incomprehensibility.  But, that’s not the problem.  The problem is not even “greedy” corporate CEO’s with golden parachutes.

The real problem is… you and me.  I say this for 3 reasons:

1.  We have created a society that profits from greed and waste.  Wall St. didn’t create it, we ALL are complicit in its creation.  (Yes, some of us are more complicit than others, but that does not change the fact that almost all of us participated in this orgy.)  Every one of us who bought a bigger than needed car or house (“We just needed a little more room”), who lingered over those advertisements for the $80,000 car or the $10,000 watch (even if you didn’t BUY it, your lingering created the ALLURE, the DESIRE of the unattainable) contributed to the “you can have it all” mentality.  We look at these huge Wall St. hogs, all lined up at the trough.  Although we are just little piglets, we are lined up at the same trough.

2.  We have created a nation of debt.  We ALL created it.  Our political and economic leaders have mortgaged our children’s future to pay for their addiction-induced wild partying.  (In my book, “Creating a World That Works for All”, I talk about money addiction as the only form of addiction where the supply of the addicting substance is completely controlled by the addicts themselves.)  But, our leaders are US.  Don’t you run your household on a debt basis?  Don’t your credit cards, car bills and mortgage greatly exceed your fixed assets?  That bubble had to pop at some point in time.  What you’re seeing is simply the check that has finally come due.

3.  We maintained the silly belief that we could grow forever, without any consequences.  In Nature, the only entity that grows forever is cancer.  And that is only until it kills its host.  But, we said, “We’re different.”  Now, as it turns out, we’re not.

The real problem is not an economic or financial crisis.  Our real problem is a moral and spiritual crisis that has manifested itself, this time, in the financial arena.  And, in these troubling times, we lack the moral and spiritual leaders and institutions to even address it – most of our “religious” institutions are just as complicit in this crisis as we are.  Our “religious” leaders looked the other way as the collection plates filled up and the “churches” get larger, fancier — and richer.  It’s hard to denounce greed and money addiction when you are the direct beneficiary of it.

It is time for confession, repentance and forgiveness.  All of us.

As a pre-condition of any bailout or rescue, the CEO and senior officers of each troubled institution should go before the public and confess their addiction.  Confess how greed, the quest for power, the addiction of having MORE drove them to make risky and foolish gambles.  Promise that, if given another chance, they won’t do it again.  (And no, this public confession shouldn’t be used in a lawsuit – that’s just more of the same old mindset.)  If they aren’t willing to admit their addiction… don’t bail them out.

Without confession and a sincere request for forgiveness, the responsible actors will simply do the same thing all over again.  They are ADDICTED.  Addicted to money, addicted to power, addicted to “more is better”, addicted to “having it all”, with no consequences.

People who are drug addicted will do anything for the next fix.  They will jeopardize their health, their family, even their lives for the sake of their “high”.  Addicts lie, cheat, steal, even sell their own children to satisfy their addiction.  The money addicts go one step further – they are willing to sacrifice the health of their entire country for their money fix.

The addiction of the Wall St. players has just been exposed.  They have nowhere to hide.  So, what do we do?  The “bailout” offers the drug addicts all the heroin they can shoot, no (few) strings attached.  That’s what the bailout is… a free supply of highly addictive drugs.

There must be an answer.  This crisis is too important to do nothing.  But, the “bailout” is worse than doing nothing.  With our collective house on fire, Congress shows up with a tanker truck filled with gasoline.

After the confession, what comes next?

The Democrats talk about “re-regulation”.  The Republican mantra is “de-regulation”.  Both miss the point.  Instead of taking over the “toxic” debts, leaving them free to screw up again, the answer is to take over the BANKS.  The answer is to turn our nation’s banking system into a “Mondragon” type system, where the banks are owned by the people, managed by the people, and exist to start small, human-scale businesses.  (If the CEO’s of these financial institutions were people like you and me, they wouldn’t have any multi-million dollar salaries in the first place.)

Think this sounds too much like “socialism”?  Well, get over it.  “Socialism” is just fine when it is the rich and powerful who receive the benefits of state welfare.  Here in the 21st Century, it’s time for us to move beyond the “Breaker” concepts of “capitalism” and “communism”.  (Even the Communists aren’t communist anymore!)

Creating a “Mondragon” style banking system would mean a complete restructuring of our economic system, converting down to a system that works by and for the people, and is understood by regular human beings.  This will mean a lot fewer millionaires – and a lot fewer bankruptcies.

Our economy, every part of it, must be re-oriented away from greed and material acquisition.  Our entire society must be re-oriented toward the most pressing problems of our times: ending violence in all its forms, and healing the harm that humans have done to this planet.  With all of us pulling in the same direction, with all of us providing leadership and a high moral example for the rest of the world, we can achieve truly great things.

If, though, we keep up our current delusional excesses, we will be a different kind of example to the world: what NOT to do.  What we do, at this time, is our choice.  Let’s choose wisely…

Peace,

Sharif

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