Commonway Visioning » society

Announcing my newest book: “Spirit on Earth: An Operating System for a Spiritual Society”

sharif — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 21:17:58 +0000

Howdy–

A lot has shifted for me in recent months. I want to share that with you, and give you some news on my new book and related activities.

The recent events in Sri Lanka have affected me deeply. The Sri Lankan government’s willingness to kill and imprison an entire population in pursuit of their goal to eliminate the Tigers is appalling. Even more difficult for me has been Sarvodaya’s silence in the face of this nightmare. Because of confidentiality, I cannot go into the details of this matter. However, suffice it to say that they are NOT following my STRONG advice.

In the face of this setback for peace, in the face of the temporary triumph of violence and fear, I asked myself a question: have I wasted the last 14 years?

The answer that came back from that introspection was a resounding NO! I have learned a lot from my international work, in Sri Lanka, in Cuba, in Argentina, in Russia, in Venezuela, in many other places in the world. I have understood what makes societies work, and I’ve learned when and how they fail. I’ve learned the difficulties of keeping to one’s values in the face of adversity, and how easy it is to go along with popular opinion, even when that opinion violates your core values. I’ve learned what it means to be alive in the beginning of the 21st Century, and what it’s going to take to create a world for all beings.

I have also been searching through over 100 distinct cultures, looking for the common spiritual threads that unite humanity and connect us with the Divine. And, I’ve found them.

Every year, I use my birthday as a time to reflect back on my life, to look at how things have been and where I’m going. (I turned 58 in March.)

For the past 50 years, I have been witness to the NEED for a new society. For the past 30 years, I have been ENVISIONING the system that will lead us to that society.

For the past 15 years, I have been both discovering and field-testing the elements of a new operating system in places like Sri Lanka, Cuba, Argentina, Bali and now Nepal. I have learned what works (regardless of how improbable or unlikely) and I’ve learned what doesn’t work (despite how good it looks on paper).

And, for the past several months, I’ve been writing down what I have learned about Spirit and society. So, on the 20th anniversary of “The Power of One” and the 10th anniversary of “Creating a World That Works for All”, I am doing a new book, my most comprehensive.

My working title is: SPIRIT ON EARTH: AN OPERATING SYSTEM FOR A SPIRITUAL SOCIETY. Our challenge: to practically apply our spiritual values in the world, in a realistic way that we can save humanity and save the Earth. My goal is to envision a system that can work in Oregon and in Egypt, in New York and New Delhi, in Kathmandu and in Chattanooga. I am articulating what I call the “Relational Operating System”, as the replacement for (and antidote to) Breaker systems such as capitalism, communism/ socialism and any other human system based on separation and exclusivity (including most religions as practiced).

We know quite well what doesn’t work. Our problem is that we don’t know what will. For the first time in human history, our technology has outstripped our imagination. Recently, one of my critics wrote: “If socialism has failed we might as well embrace our coming extinction.” Isn’t that sad? In his self-limited mind, there are only two thoughts in the world: capitalism and communism/socialism. You can only have one or the other…

My new book will offer a solution to this dilemma.

I plan a very unique 3-step presentation/ rollout for “Spirit on Earth”:

COREBOOK: First, there will be a short “corebook” that will contain the essence of the concept. The corebook will be “launched” on 14 July (my late mother’s birthday, as well as the French Bastille Day – a good enough time to talk about the liberation of humanity… from itself). I am aiming for the corebook to be about the size and length of “The Power of One”.

I intend to offer this corebook as SHAREWARE! People will pay for it as they can, and to the degree they derive value from it. The intention is to BROADCAST “Spirit on Earth” widely. The goal here is maximum impact… well beyond the “usual suspects” that have populated Commonway’s database. I am also looking for some definitely non-traditional distribution methods. I’m going to seek some funding (probably from Fetzer Institute) to support the distribution.

SOURCEBOOK: Next, I will write and publish a “full” text of the concept. I am aiming for a December, 2009 publication. This will be available in a more traditional format. The sourcebook may be attractive to a publisher (especially if the launch of the corebook is successful).

THREE IN-DEPTH BOOKS: Depending on what happens with the sourcebook, I intend to write up to 3 other books in 2010 or 2011, one each on Consciousness, Economics and Power. (Most of the text has already been gathered.)

In addition: I intend to offer a series of new workshops and seminars, all based on how to understand and implement the Relational Operating System.

What I need from you is three things: spiritual support, networking support, and financial support.

1. Spiritual Support: One of the things that I learned from Sarvodaya: focused spiritual activity can shift the “psychosphere” the field of human thought. All it takes is focused will. Through your prayers, affirmations and meditations, you can help me to establish this one thought: “IT IS TIME FOR US TO LIVE OUR VALUES”. That will help prepare the ground for “Spirit on Earth”.

2. Networking Support: Each of you is part of a network. Some are obvious, like Facebook or MySpace. Others are less obvious (and more “human”): your church group, your school groups, your neighbors. By seeding the question – “WHAT WOULD IT TAKE FOR US TO TRULY LIVE OUR VALUES?”, you will be helping me to prepare the ground for what I hope will be a major dialog on our future as humans on this planet.

3. Financial Support: I am working as full time as my schedule allows (while monitoring the situations in Sri Lanka, Nepal and elsewhere, and doing some fee-based contract work during the summer). What I need from you is financial support. The more financial energy I get from you, the less I have to stop writing to do fee-based work to cover expenses.

I have already received a few generous donations, totaling over $1,000 toward my goal of $8,000 to complete this book by mid-July. This money will keep Commonway going, as well as allow me to hire a page editor, cover designer and other behind-the-scenes people who turn a collection of ideas into a BOOK.

Those who donate $100 or more to the corebook development and launch, will get a “Producers” credit in the book itself!

To Donate: Click on the “donate” button on the lower left-hand column on any page of the Commonway website: http://www.commonway.org/. After making your donation, please send me an email saying that you would like the funds applied to the “Spirit on Earth” book launch. (And remember: I still accept donations the “old fashioned” way: paper checks made out to “Commonway Institute” and mailed to:

COMMONWAY INSTITUTE

P.O. BOX 12541

PORTLAND, OR 97212

If you have any questions about this, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Peace,

Sharif

A Show of Power

sharif — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:55:55 +0000

Most of us have experienced them: a knot of half a dozen male teenagers and twentysomethings: a “street gang”. They come in all races and ethnicities. Whether loud talking during a movie or standing in front of the store entrance you want to use, their presence is undeniable. If you are not of their age and ethnicity, you will probably feel some intimidation: you probably won’t call the movie manager to complain about their noise; you will lower your eyes and rush past them into the store. Whatever you do, you will feel the flush of intimidation.

In case you hadn’t guessed, the purpose of their show is just that: intimidation.

From across the country to halfway around the world, the same scene is repeated. In Charlotte, black street gangs carry jam boxes and openly display anti-social behavior. Latino street gangs in Los Angeles fight over the colors or tattoos worn by the gang members. Palestinian teenagers openly carry automatic rifles instead of jam boxes. (Intimidation in Palestine has a more lethal quality.)

In all three instances, the goals are the same: a pitiful attempt at projecting personal power into a seemingly powerless situation. It is pitiful in that the display, whether openly or covertly violent, cannot ever achieve the aims of the young men. The “show” can never gain power for them.

The futility of their behavior is evident once one understands what power is (and is not). True power is the ability to manifest one’s intentions. It involves the will to move forward to accomplish one’s objectives.

With this definition, it becomes obvious that the young disaffected men in the street gangs cannot wield true power. The young urban rebels of America and the world are powerless because they have no collective intentions or objectives. Their show of belligerency is just that – a show. Like boats without paddles or rudders, they drift toward the chasm, knowing something is wrong but not knowing what to do about it.

However, in order to wield true power, intentions and objectives must be realistic and achievable. The goal of pushing Israel into the sea simply cannot be done. Pursuing an objective which, in your heart, you know cannot be achieved focuses and crystalizes your powerlessness and escalates the level of desperation in your actions.

Although powerless, the young men of the Middle East are responsible for hundreds of deaths every year, including the deaths of American civilians and soldiers. Similarly, the black street gangs of urban America are the leading cause of death in the black community. The buzzwords “black on black crime” mask a violent reality of a society rotting from the inside out.

What is the answer? What is the answer to those who feel so disaffected that violence is not only a solution but the only solution? What is the answer to those committing the slow suicide of drugs and casual violence, those for whom prison or execution is no deterrent, since it is no worse than the life in which they find themselves? “Senseless” acts of violence make all the sense in the world to those who perpetrate them.

The answer lies in adopting a simple but profound statement as a way of life: all of life forms one seamless, interrelated web. Therefore, anything I do to anyone else, I am doing to myself. I choose to resolve all conflicts through negotiation rather than confrontation. A person who is whole does not have the need for violence.

However, as a society, we send exactly the opposite message to the urban terrorists of this country and the Third World. We tell them that death and destruction are acceptable means of resolving conflicts. The lesson we teach by sending the battleship New Jersey to blow up Lebanese communities or sending in our armies to the Persian Gulf is that it’s better to shoot than talk. It is a lesson that the powerless have learned well.

If we ask Hamas or Al Qaeda or Iran or the Crips or the Bloods to renounce violence, we must be prepared to set an example and renounce violence FIRST. If violence is wrong for the Iranians, it is wrong for the Americans. Anything less is asking an adversary to hold still while you beat him up.

The second answer lies in providing realistic options to those who see themselves as powerless. Any animal, once cornered, will turn and fight to its death. The key is in not cornering or being cornered. The key lies in “Plan B” thinking. In the American ghettos, it means asking the disaffected a simple but profound question: what do you want that you are willing to work for? Then, if the goals are achievable, to assist in their realization. (Even if what they want isn’t what you would want.)

To solve the question of powerlessness, we must address the question of goallessness. We must cultivate a dialog in the schools, in the homes, in the community, about our goals, both individual and collective. A person with a set of coherent, achievable goals simply does not have time to feel powerless. It means helping to provide a sense of direction and purpose to an aimless life. (The accumulation of money is not a goal: rich people can lead powerless, aimless lives, just like the poor. They just do so with more “stuff”.)

In keeping with the philosophy of wholeness, we must see that the young black men on the corner are intelligent, creative, dynamic and energetic individuals, but without purpose, direction or constructive outlet. If we support them in the development and cultivation of goals and purpose, we will all be pleasantly shocked by their solutions to seemingly insoluble problems. For example, adults have talked for decades about the effects of drugs on teenagers. However, how many of us ask the teenagers to come up with the solution? Instead of considering them responsible partners, we treat them like mindless children, giving them simplistic, nonsensical solutions to complex problems, like the “Just Say No” anti-drug campaign.

On the international scene, ending the violence of powerlessness means ending military support. Period. Instead of selling arms to both the Arabs and the Israelis, it means sitting all parties down and TALKING – with no preconditions – until matters are resolved. It means supporting both sides (non-militarily) as long as they are talking, and withdrawing support from any side who gets up and leaves. It means being committed to “win-win” situations. It means recognizing that parties can differ without killing one another. It means being concerned about the growth and welfare of all.

To those who say that our security lies in everyone being capable of killing everyone else, the last line to the soundtrack of the movie “Colors” states both the promise and the peril:

“our war won’t stop
until all wars end.”

The Spiritual Society

sharif — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:54:50 +0000

[This was written a few Christmas seasons ago:]

It is so easy to fall back into the rut — naming the old society. Protesting the old society. Lamenting the old society. Struggling to reform the old society. Thinking that if we could only get rid of the old society, we would then have a the society of our dreams, our ideals.

This past December, I was sitting at one of my coffeehouses ( not my favorite, but one that makes great eggnog lattes). I was reading a good book, and was in the middle of the buying frenzy on 23rd Avenue. Suddenly, I realized that I was depressed.

I tried to analyze my feelings. I wasn’t a part of the buying frenzy around me; I don’t really participate in the “Xmas Thing”, so I don’t have any seasonal guilt, angst, etc. I thought for a moment that I was “homesick” for Sri Lanka — after all, I do spend half of my year there. But a quick internal check said that I didn’t want to be in Sri Lanka. I didn’t want to be ANYWHERE.

That was a sobering thought. There was no society, no country, no city I preferred to inhabit. I didn’t want to be in the land of shallow materialism, where success is measured by how much litter we leave. I didn’t want to be in Sri Lanka, wondering whether the guy at the train station smiling at me is distracting me from a pickpocket doing balance-of-trade, or making a sexual overture for a different type of balance of trade, or was just being friendly. I didn’t want to be in Prague, or Kampala, or Hong Kong, or anywhere else. I had no home.

I’m not being overly melodramatic. I have enjoyed my time back in the States, experiencing cold, actually enjoying chipping ice off my car in the frozen mornings. My feeling is that all of us have a core to retreat to in the face of all of the madness coming at us from all sides. We go home, pull in the walls around us, hopefully with someone who feels the same as we do, and retreat from the yawning emptiness all around us.

We move from nest to nest. We go from our home nest to our work nest to a movie nest to a coffeehouse or restaurant nest… moving about in our auto nest. We communicate with the same handful of people, even when we travel to other countries. (I always find it amazing when Americans attempt to glom on to me when I’m in another country. If I wanted to interact with Americans, I wouldn’t have left Portland.)

We lie to ourselves. Our big lie is that these little nests constitute the entire world, that we are actually interacting with the world when we are in fact interacting with only a tiny sliver of it. We think we are interacting with the world because we think we are looking through a window (television) and think we are interacting with other people. Lie upon lie upon lie.

It is this season where the lies wear thin, where we are brought face to face with the magnitude of our emptiness. I thought back to my challenge to the IONS members meeting a few years ago at Disney World in Florida: look around and see if you can find anyone who looks truly happy. Is there anyone here who is happy because of this season, not despite it?

A few years ago, I got invited to a middle-class feeding frenzy that they called “Christmas with the family”. The extended family met together at 10:00 in the morning to open presents. The children sat on the starting line, engines revving. At the signal, they tore into the pile of wrapped goodies that literally engulfed the christmas tree. Their method: grab a present, tear back enough of the wrappings to see what it is, squeal, throw the present over your shoulder and tear into the next one. After about 15 miinutes of this, all the gifts were open and the adults were sitting in a kind of shock, while the kids were walking around the livingroom like medics walking a battlefield, looking for signs of life and not finding any. After all of the squealing and getting, not one of those kids looked happy. After the orgy of getting, not one of them appeared satisfied.

For some reason, the Divine has provided me with a number of life experiences. I’ve been at the top of Breaker society, having cocktails in Prague Castle with Presidents and Prime Ministers and Nobel Laureates. I’ve had tea with peasants so poor that they had to use that day’s firewood to heat the water for their “honored guest”. I’ve had experiences from the simple to the absurd to the sublime.

What I have seen from these experiences is this:

We have painted ourselves into a very tight corner. We may not survive; we have to accept the possiblity, in the words of Gar Alperovitz, that “Rome dies”. And this “Rome” will take most of the world’s human populations with it.

Before the collapse of Rome, or the Greek city-states, or the European monarchies, most of those at the top did not have a glimmer that there was anything wrong, that they had painted themselves into a corner. Marie Antionette’s now infamous “Let them eat cake!” was not a statement of crudity or callousness — she simply had no experience with a world that did not have an abundance of bread, or cake, or pastry. She would fit right in with most middle-class Americans.

None of the “fixes” we advocate will create the society that we can live in. In some paradoxical way, each “fix” seems to hasten our doom. Many of us (myself included) fought for an end to Apartheid in South Africa. It was only in the last years of the Apartheid regime that I began to ask: what is the nature of the society that all Africans will live in? We visualized a “post-Apartheid” world, but we did not envision the “pre-???” world. And now, the post-apartheid world is a nightmare for most South Africans. For the majority of both blacks and whites, things did not get better, they got infinitely worse.

Let me rush to say that I am not wishing for the “good ole days” of apartheid, or communism, or any other Breaker system. They are gone and good riddance. But, their absence did not make the world a better place to live. We need to think about this as some of us continue to put energy into “post-corporate” or “post-patriarchal” or “post-anything-else”. Its time for us to visualize the “pre-” society.

All of this, the pain, the suffering, the greed, the shallow materialism, the emptiness… all of this points us in a direction. Like saplings bending before a fierce wind, we are all pointing away from the blast point. But, what are we pointing toward? We know what we DON’T want… what do we WANT?

If we are to survive, we must create the Society of the Spirit. A Spirit freed from the bonds of religious dogma, perhaps free from all religion. A society that has one basis of success: how much wealth did you give? A spirituality that has only two tenets: that you love, respect and honor the Divine, and that you treat all other beings the way you yourself wish to be treated. (You are free to add anything else that makes you happy: however, a Society of the Spirit must be based on only these two tenets.)

What do I mean by “society”? I mean a state of consciousness AND a state of behavior that all of the people of the world can join in if they wish. Together, right now, we have an opportunity that has never before existed on this planet: to create together the first true global human society, a society of inclusivity.

A society is the junction between our values and our actions. We can see our values through our actions. We know we don’t believe in “give us your tired and your poor”. We don’t ACT like we want the tired and poor in this country.

How do we get to the Society of the Spirit?

We have to make a commitment to live our values, out loud, every day. We have to recognize those times when we are unable to live our values; when that happens, we have to visualize what a society based on those values looks like. (For example, while pumping gasoline into my fossil-fuel burning, internal combustion engine motivated, single occupant vehicle, I can visualize creating the hydrogen I use to power my fuel-efficient, shared vehicle.)

We have to live our beliefs. I just got in the mail today a notice of a conference to address the needs of the poor. The conference will be held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC (for those of you who have never been to this hotel, trust me: the poor are not allowed inside, unless they are waiting tables).

We have to see that our spiritual practice is how we are with each other, every minute, every day.

We have to teach others how to live. Not how to ape each other in this empty, terminal society, but how to truly LIVE at the top of their being, their most spiritual, creative, connected Self.

THE SOCIETY OF THE MAJORITY

Anyone who has spent time in any truly indigenous society knows this to be true: Breakers don’t have a clue. Most of us raised in the belly of the Beast don’t have the eyes to see how indigenous people live. How can people be truly happy without _________ (fill in the blank: electricity, cars, Internet, running water, prescription medicines…). We then see that it is our God-given responsibility to bring _______ (again, fill in the blank…) to those “heathens”. Including our way of thinking.

How can people exist with courts, police, lawyers? How can people be happy without mass entertainment? How can people know God unless they read THIS book THIS way?

Keepers are happy, because they never left the Sacred Hoop (oneness with the Divine, oneness with all other beings). We will become happy when we figure out how to create that society for ourselves. And, it will be people who live close to the land, the Keepers, who point the way for us.