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Wylie and Helene Parliament of the World's Religions |
Living on the Edge of Evolution
Who are we?
Where have we come from? Where are we going? And what must we do to live meaningful lives? These questions have preoccupied human beings for thousands of years.
Now, for the first time, we can trace our ancestry back to the beginning-to the original fireball-and see the history of our existence as a sacred, continuous and unified whole. With this new knowledge, we have a radically new basis for personal and collective identity. We have the foundation for the emergence of a new culture, an "integral" culture. At this moment, our task is to work together to explore the implications of this new integral culture for ourselves and for all life on Earth. By doing this, we can engage fully and consciously with the process of evolution itself.
The Big Picture
In this workshop we discussed where we came from, the current state of the world and explored ideas on where things are heading from here. We also looked at ways we can effect its emerging expression.
Participation
One thing I liked about this class was that all of those who attended were able to participate. A significant amount of time was based on our input. Several times we were asked to respond to provocative questions. But most of our input came from the spontaneous discussions that were stimulated by the subject matter.
Changing Times
The topic I found the most interesting was the shift in values that is currently underway. Several seed questions were asked of the participants on this issue. Interestingly, many in the class presented ideas along the same lines, but the famous scientist Jonas Salk laid it out the most succinctly:
Emergence
Human interactions in the past were based more on Discrete Interests. Emphasis is now shifting to Networked Interests. We have little choice as more people come to live in a more depleted world.
Systems theory has shown that the component parts of a system under stress will individually respond in such a way as to reduce the stress. The resulting "higher order" is called Emergence. This can be shown when ice under pressure reduces to water, or the configuation of birds in flight. Each component part has the "intelligence" to benefit the system and thereby itself. As our social and environmental systems come under increased stress our individual consciousness are showing the intelligence to shift toward Networked Interests to relive the strain.
Resources
For more information on the organization that presented this workshop please refer to their web site: The Foundation for Global Community.
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