Dialogues on Sustainability and Leadership
Everything - Not A Thing
I have not written in almost two months. I have been thinking. And I have been reading.
I have been thinking about trees, and people, and our environment. I am now reading: “Collapse – How Societies Choose To Fail Or Survive”, by Jared Diamond. In his book the author provides a number of examples of present and past civilizations, some successful, others which have disappeared. Easter Island in the Pacific is one; long considered a mystery but now with clear signs of how this civilization failed. Wanting to understand why, the author asks:
“”What did the Easter Islander who cut down the last palm tree say while he was doing it?” Like modern loggers, did he shout “Jobs, not trees!”? Or: “Technology will solve our problems, never fear, we’ll find a substitute for wood”? Or: We don’t have proof that there aren’t palms somewhere else on Easter, we need more research, your proposed ban on logging is premature and driven by fear-mongering”?“
And so I ask myself: How is it possible, in this age of unlimited access to information and knowledge literally at our fingertips, we are unable to act in a conscientious manner to provide food, shelter and meaningful occupation to humanity?
Tragedies in the aftermath of the recent Earthquake in Haiti, The Hurricane in New Orleans and the Tsunami in Asia five years ago show us that not even the greatest economical and military power on earth can make any significant dent in the suffering (nuclear powered aircraft carriers and thousands of helicopters notwithstanding). What have we learned? Is there anything new?
So here is my treatise:
The answers to our survival lie not in the past, and knowledge is in the past, based on information gathered in the past. Information, however useful, and the resulting knowledge, does not necessarily lead to intelligence. So there is something else.
What is it?
I am not saying that our accumulated knowledge and all the wonderful things made available by technology are not useful, they are, in a daily, very practical manner. I am saying that these “things” are not useful to solving the crisis faced by humanity; that is: providing food, shelter, and meaningful occupation.
What is it indeed? Since we have Everything, it’s Not A Thing. And we can’t find it “out there”, although we can die trying (seemingly the chosen strategy). “We need more research”; let’s put more money into a study to determine why the trees and oceans don’t suck up more CO2 from the atmosphere and balance the climate. Oh? there aren’t any more fish in the oceans and we’ve cut down more than half the trees? And we’ve taken out fossil fuels that took 450 billion years to make and used them up in 200 years?
We have the information, we could even argue that we have knowledge (albeit questionably), we are definitely not using our intelligence.
Why?
What is the obstacle, what is in the way of acting as intelligent beings, being our true selves? This is the question.
There is something greater. All our civilizations have looked outwardly; to the heavens, to the sun, the moon, to the stars. Some have even looked at nature; wind, fire, water. Fewer have looked within; into the mind, thoughts, feelings. Most of the latter have left their societies, becoming monks, entering a convent. So we have this information, this knowledge, and it tells us no secrets. How do we live? How do we act? How do we interact?
There must be a way in relationship, in meaningful living, in harmony and balance with nature which gives life, without answering with so much death.
Whereas the answer to Everything is Not A Thing (nothing), Nothing (not a thing) can also be the answer to Everything. I am not merely trying to play with words here; the answer lies not in “things”, there IS something else – what is it?
We are here, on earth, and we need food, and shelter, and meaningful occupation. And we are together, so this is not a solo thing. We are a community, and the answer lies in the community, not in the self. It’s not about “me”, it’s about “us”.
Where do these ramblings lead? I don’t know. This is a work in progress. A few glimmers on the horizon do appear however.
Thoughts are powerful, and lead us to say things, we verbalize them, and then “things” begin to happen; all of a sudden we find ourselves living our reality. Could it be that simple? I think so (no pun intended). Beware your thoughts; are they describing the reality you want to live?
There is something greater – could it be you? Could you be the most wonderful and wondrous being in the universe? What if you are, what if we are, what could we accomplish together? I think we are, and I can’t think of what would be possible (pun intended).
What do we need to do?
Do less, consume less (even eat less, most of us, me included, are using more resources than we need), have less “stuff” (things) to worry about. Create space for yourself, empty the jar (it doesn’t have to be full); create the conditions so that wonderful things can happen, effortlessly, and they will.
Create the Space, and take the Time, to Know Yourself.
Come by Open World Café, bring a friend, let’s talk. Maybe we can figure this out, together.
I have been thinking about trees, and people, and our environment. I am now reading: “Collapse – How Societies Choose To Fail Or Survive”, by Jared Diamond. In his book the author provides a number of examples of present and past civilizations, some successful, others which have disappeared. Easter Island in the Pacific is one; long considered a mystery but now with clear signs of how this civilization failed. Wanting to understand why, the author asks:
“”What did the Easter Islander who cut down the last palm tree say while he was doing it?” Like modern loggers, did he shout “Jobs, not trees!”? Or: “Technology will solve our problems, never fear, we’ll find a substitute for wood”? Or: We don’t have proof that there aren’t palms somewhere else on Easter, we need more research, your proposed ban on logging is premature and driven by fear-mongering”?“
And so I ask myself: How is it possible, in this age of unlimited access to information and knowledge literally at our fingertips, we are unable to act in a conscientious manner to provide food, shelter and meaningful occupation to humanity?
Tragedies in the aftermath of the recent Earthquake in Haiti, The Hurricane in New Orleans and the Tsunami in Asia five years ago show us that not even the greatest economical and military power on earth can make any significant dent in the suffering (nuclear powered aircraft carriers and thousands of helicopters notwithstanding). What have we learned? Is there anything new?
So here is my treatise:
The answers to our survival lie not in the past, and knowledge is in the past, based on information gathered in the past. Information, however useful, and the resulting knowledge, does not necessarily lead to intelligence. So there is something else.
What is it?
I am not saying that our accumulated knowledge and all the wonderful things made available by technology are not useful, they are, in a daily, very practical manner. I am saying that these “things” are not useful to solving the crisis faced by humanity; that is: providing food, shelter, and meaningful occupation.
What is it indeed? Since we have Everything, it’s Not A Thing. And we can’t find it “out there”, although we can die trying (seemingly the chosen strategy). “We need more research”; let’s put more money into a study to determine why the trees and oceans don’t suck up more CO2 from the atmosphere and balance the climate. Oh? there aren’t any more fish in the oceans and we’ve cut down more than half the trees? And we’ve taken out fossil fuels that took 450 billion years to make and used them up in 200 years?
We have the information, we could even argue that we have knowledge (albeit questionably), we are definitely not using our intelligence.
Why?
What is the obstacle, what is in the way of acting as intelligent beings, being our true selves? This is the question.
There is something greater. All our civilizations have looked outwardly; to the heavens, to the sun, the moon, to the stars. Some have even looked at nature; wind, fire, water. Fewer have looked within; into the mind, thoughts, feelings. Most of the latter have left their societies, becoming monks, entering a convent. So we have this information, this knowledge, and it tells us no secrets. How do we live? How do we act? How do we interact?
There must be a way in relationship, in meaningful living, in harmony and balance with nature which gives life, without answering with so much death.
Whereas the answer to Everything is Not A Thing (nothing), Nothing (not a thing) can also be the answer to Everything. I am not merely trying to play with words here; the answer lies not in “things”, there IS something else – what is it?
We are here, on earth, and we need food, and shelter, and meaningful occupation. And we are together, so this is not a solo thing. We are a community, and the answer lies in the community, not in the self. It’s not about “me”, it’s about “us”.
Where do these ramblings lead? I don’t know. This is a work in progress. A few glimmers on the horizon do appear however.
Thoughts are powerful, and lead us to say things, we verbalize them, and then “things” begin to happen; all of a sudden we find ourselves living our reality. Could it be that simple? I think so (no pun intended). Beware your thoughts; are they describing the reality you want to live?
There is something greater – could it be you? Could you be the most wonderful and wondrous being in the universe? What if you are, what if we are, what could we accomplish together? I think we are, and I can’t think of what would be possible (pun intended).
What do we need to do?
Do less, consume less (even eat less, most of us, me included, are using more resources than we need), have less “stuff” (things) to worry about. Create space for yourself, empty the jar (it doesn’t have to be full); create the conditions so that wonderful things can happen, effortlessly, and they will.
Create the Space, and take the Time, to Know Yourself.
Come by Open World Café, bring a friend, let’s talk. Maybe we can figure this out, together.
Comment
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Comment by Christer Soderberg on February 8, 2010 at 7:25am -
Thank you for the book tips, I will definitely add them to my list, even though it might take me a while to get there (it's a long list).
I like your optimism, and I agree, we have a dilemma of evolution (very well put!); rather than seeing it as "either or" I think we can look at it as "both and"; both growth (but the non-material, spiritual kind) and reduction (of stress, runaway consumption, etc.). All this is possible through a change in our awareness, which can be instantaneous.
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Comment by Juliana Campos Lopes on February 8, 2010 at 2:04am
- Dear Christer! Thank you for stirring us up to reflection and personal changing. Each time more, I believe that we face an evolution dilemma. Our civilization is the one that has more conditions to drive development to a sustainable path. More than that, we have a moral responsibility to rescue the planet from its collapse. But it is also true that all our technologies and skills have failed in this aim. Threats as global warming should prompt us to develop an ecological intelligence. Our motto must turn from efficiency into sufficiency. I didn’t read Collapse yet, but I intent to do soon. I’d like to share with you two books suggestions that inspired me a lot: Ecological intelligence, from Daniel Goleman; The Great Warming – Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations, from Brian Fagan and Plan B series, from Lester Brown. I’d love to hear some opinion about them from you. All the best, Juliana.
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Comment by Christer Soderberg on February 6, 2010 at 3:16pm
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Thanks Jacob! I like your thinking; if we extrapolate on what we know, as you say, relatively speaking, then we are on the way to ever increasing frustration if we follow the path of knowledge alone. Whereas knowledge is paramount to practical daily life, it's effectively very limiting to solve the challenges of our modern society. I also like your reference to our hearts (not the organ - the emotion), where I believe we would do well to spend more time relating to and feeling "what is", and learning to discriminate between "what is" and our perception of "what is" - two very different phenomena.
In this respect knowledge is a product of thought, so for me thought is a very useful tool, but by far not the only tool at our disposal. The difficulty arises when we are limited to discussing these things with words, also thoughts, manifesting a perception of "what is".
For me standing in a Primary Rainforest, perhaps under a tree several thousand years old, teeming with life and biodiversity, is a powerful experience of "what is", and then no words are necessary.
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Comment by Jacob Rønnow Jensen on February 5, 2010 at 11:21pm - The more we know, the more we have to accept how much we don’t know. Frustration arises since we - relatively speaking – now know less than we did before. Knowledge, however important and instrumental to growth, is merely a formalization of a perception of “what is”. In our hearts we should search for our ability to relate to "what is" (and not just our perception of it) ... and thus bridging the gap between what we know, and what we have not yet realized.
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Comment by Allen on February 4, 2010 at 10:36am -
Hi Christer,
It's been a while since I came on board and read your post, I must confess. I have lately putting thoughts into starting ConversationCircles here in Singapore and wil share with you more in private.
I felt strongly about your thoughts in this blog-post and I reflected and asked myself the environment and nature have a big part in teaching us about sustainability...
Look forward to read more from you.
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Comment by Christer Soderberg on February 2, 2010 at 7:31am
- Lots of good points Margottina, and good ideas! Please keep us posted as to how they develop, perhaps sharing the challenging parts, and the successes?!
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Comment by Margottina Verch on February 1, 2010 at 6:57pm -
Greetings Christer,
Thank you for inviting me to share your thoughts. I understand your recent time of reflection and reading because I too have been doing the same. It is mediums such as this that have led me to question, investigate, rethink, and change, more so than previously as a conscious adult. Thank you for this.
I have seen more news stories lately of teens in the USA committing suicide because of bullying. I have also been following the abuse of animals, via the Human Society of the United States. And, when I look at how we grow our food and how livestock are treated, I say to myself, "It's no wonder we are destroying our planet. We lack sensitivity, respect, compassion, and ethics in how we treat sentient beings, let alone the natural landscape." The worst part of this is that we have the means to end the ignorance.
I wonder how it is we haven't begun to teach tolerance in our schools? Like reading and math, shouldn't tolerance and sensitivity training be mandatory? I think so. In one of those recent news pieces where a girl took her own life after relentless bullying, the outraged parents of others at the highschool she attended, came together in the school gymnasium and demanded justice. "Do your job!" one man said to the parents of the bullies, "We won't accept this anymore!" I wanted to know how you can ask someone who raises a "mean girl," (as they are referred to), to unteach such cruel behavoirs? It doesn't just happen at the highschool level, anyway. This needs to be dealt with the moment kids are put together in kinder. Prevention!
It struck me that we study war, political crisis, criminology, etc. When will we study peace?
I truely believe that if we begin teaching peace for all people, creatures and the natural world from kindergarden on up, that we will change our decisions because our choices will be educated and deliberate. Right now, I believe a lot of us don't even realize the long reaching affects of simple daily decisions, such as what we eat or where we buy our household goods. We also do not follow our leaders' activities close enough or hold them accountable. I think it's because most have not been taught.
I have been giving it a lot of thought, and I am considering finding an established cirriculum for kids that would teach tolerance and awareness for all people and the planet. Imagine offering free workshops to school kids, getting their minds started. Peaceful conflict resolution, conservation, non violent disobedience, grass roots lobbying; these are not concepts lost on kids. If a child can identify all those Disney Characters and Pop singers, they can surely remember what they've learned about their brothers and sisters in other parts of the globe. The great thing about reaching the kids is that they are constantly teaching us too. The information will filter up to parents in most cases, and if not, at least the child has more information to form their own opinions and values, and ultimately, actions.
Imagine our members offering a Saturday workshop in thier own hometowns/cities? Imagine it happening around the globe like Earth Day....but over the course of four weekends? Imagine offering it to kids as an after school program for two weeks? Or one day a week for the course of a school year? Either which way, reaching the kids is where the greatest change will come. And it will be amazing!
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Comment by Christer Soderberg on February 1, 2010 at 5:42pm
- Thank you for your inspiring and uplifting words! Yes, you confirm also that it is through community that we can and will stay awake and lead forward, together!
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Comment by Silvia Barretto on February 1, 2010 at 4:12pm -
Christer, you are right. Our reality is created by our thoughts. We have to get to know ourselves better through meditation, so that we are able to outgrow the reality we have created.
Silvia
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Comment by Sander Tideman on February 1, 2010 at 4:10pm -
Christer,
I appreciate your wise reflections and recognize many of those feelings, some it seems tainted by some despair or at least disbelief. This is a critical time for those of us on the planet who have chosen to be 'conscious'. Like you I don't understand why so many of us have chosen to remain unconscious. Yet this is the case. Some wake up, many are asleep. A harsh reality. I guess that is why the theme of this forum is 'sustainability AND leadership'. Once awake, you need to step up to become a 'leader', in the sense of being prepared to step into the unknown even if many think your are misguided or crazy. Why wake up if the dream is so good? Once awake, we need to create a new dream that is even better that the dreams that are still being dreamt. Dreams of vision, hope and (com)passion - we can (and will) create a world that is truly worth living, that is truly worth waking up into. Yes, for sure, there will pain and chaos in the world in the next few decades to come. There will be human and ecological loss. This is tragic and outrageous, because it seems avoidable from the viewpoint of the awakened mind. But the laws of nature are such that the unconscious mind (and at some level we are all unconscious - some parts of my mind have yet to awaken) somehow creates its own challenge, which can only be overcome by becoming more awake. We awaken through pain, but we chose to remain awake by creating and believing a new dream. I trust that this initiative of the Open World Cafe helps us to co-create dreams and hope. Because without that we will be tempted to fall asleep again - and those dreams will be nightmares. Once awake, stay up, and lead forward.
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