Once I understood and accepted that the disintegration of our civilization is already underway, I spent a number of years trying to get people to change their beliefs and their behaviour. I felt that if they made the changes I was proposing they could make a “good” outcome more likely. I was disappointed when my exhortations and hectoring fell on mostly deaf ears – whenever I wasn’t just preaching to the choir, that is. It was Cassandra’s dilemma too.
The more I tried to promote change, however, the more I suffered. But the suffering didn’t spring simply from the pain of disappointment. It went much deeper than that, and eventually precipitated my Dark Night of the Soul. The Buddha was right when he taught that all suffering springs from attachment. In my case the attachment was to a particular outcome – my vision of a sustainable, just, ecologically conscious society that made room for all living things on the planet, not just our relatives and friends. When that outcome was thwarted through public indifference and even hostility, I suffered mightily.
Fortunately, I went through a transformation about three years ago. The shift was complete enough that it enabled me to detach from outcomes while still remaining committed to the awareness of what’s going on. At the same time I adopted the position that this reality is co-created by all its participants, and that at some level the nature of reality and our individual roles in it have been consciously chosen by us all. At that point, I realized that I had been working at cross purposes to the reality that was unfolding. The ongoing transformation, even if it becomes a collapse of civilization, is not meant to be stopped. Rather, it is the vessel within which our conscious awareness is being nurtured, developed and annealed. This leads to the rather uncomfortable conclusion that the collapse is not to be lamented or prevented, but rather to be celebrated and engaged. It will come as no surprise to those on similar journeys that when I surrendered to this understanding, my suffering ceased.
From that perspective, I decided that the most useful thing I can do – something that is aligned with the point of the exercise rather than in opposition to it – is simply to contribute my little bits of awareness to the field. I try to do it without expectation or attachment, without trying to elicit a particular response or outcome. Just put the awareness out there. Those who aren’t ready for it yet will ignore or reject it, those who don’t yet see it but are ready may awaken a bit more, those who are already aware may find some fresh nuance to play with. Whatever role my observations and discussions play in the unfoldment is the part they are meant to play. This is what I call “vocal witnessing”.
I still care very deeply about what’s happening, but I now remain relatively unattached to how it might unfold in the future. As a result I avoid talking about solutions as much as possible, largely because I don’t think there are any – at least at the level most people think of “solutions” (like new policies or new technologies) The point of all this apparently catastrophic unfoldment is not for us to “solve the problem”, but for for us to wake up.
I agree completely with the writer Charles Eisenstein (“The Ascent of Humanity”) and other observers – we do not have a soluble problem, we have an insoluble predicament. Because of that, our most useful response will be at right angles to the problem space. That means that the door out of this mess isn’t going to be opened by a new version of our old ways (new legislation, clean energy and more recycling) although that will play a role. The real doorway out will be found by shifting into a completely new way of being – the revolution of consciousness that so many of us know in our bones is just around the corner.
These days I’m putting all my chips on abetting that r/evolution of human consciousness, by acting as a vocal witness to the unfolding collapse.
Within the community of the environmentally and ecologically aware, this is an uncommon position, although perhaps less so among those who have chosen a spiritual response to their apprehension of collapse. Within the mainstream of activist thought it is still viewed as fatalism and defeatism.
How does thinking about this perspective make you feel? Do you think it is a useful point of view or not? Is it helpful or dangerous? Is it an approach you have taken, or could see yourself taking? Or does it feel like sophistry – simply a tricky justification for fiddling while Rome burns?
This reminds me of “The Work” by Byron Katie. I don’t think of it as defeatist at all, but simply “loving what is,” to use the words from Byron Katie’s book.
I do agree with the author. We are complicit in the destruction and it has gone too far to stop or reverse. I feel that if we are concentrating on pie-in-the-sky high tech solutions to these predicaments, then I am wasting time I could actually be softening the impacts of the collapse already in progress. My family has been slowly prepping since 2005: Re-skilling, re-tooling, detaching a bit at a time from the standard western lifestyle, building a small network of like-minded folks who will be ahead of the curve when the rest of our friends and neighbors wake up and need help and advice. I’m too busy with these things to fiddle!
Thank you for sharing this as I resonate with your experience of suffering because of attachment to outcomes. I hope to have Peace soon as I detach from these outcomes and see if it works for me to re-frame my role in the Universe, do my part as I can and let go. Thanks again. Namaste.
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
In the past decade, I myself have come to exactly the same conclusion and have been refining my view ever since.
I’ve decided that the r/evolution of consciousness will require a total collapse of the current zeitgeist and a resulting total collapse of the individual and collective psyche.
But if will be a collapse followed by a collective metanoia. The effect of the metanoia will be of such consequence that human awareness of our proper place on the planet, and our proper place in the cosmos will be forever altered.
The collapse will be so complete and immediate that human consciousness will spontaneously bifurcate. (A spontaneous metanoic bifurcation of human consciousness)
The only way out is the way through.
There still seems to be several groups: Those seeking change, and thereby putting the collapse further and further off. Those resigned and preparing themselves psychologically and emotionally for the collapse, but not actively contributing to it (That’s where I am right now). Those who are actively contributing to the collapse without realizing it (Politicians, bankers, stockholders, religious fanatics, etc.). And those who are just too stupid to see what’s going on (the vast majority of humanity).
BTW: Charles is not really on this train. ‘The Ascent’ is a really GREAT and inspiring book (except for the last several chapters about the gift economy which reveal his true solution agenda). Because of his book I’ve been looking for him here, but he’s really still over there praying for the Elephants and such. Perhaps he will get here soon.
I don’t find this response to be fatalistic or defeatist at all. Once denial is transcended, acceptance widens one’s
perception. Events are seen without distortion or misinterpretation. Acceptance allows engagement in life on
life’s own terms, without trying to make it conform to an
agenda. We’re not polarized by conflict or opposition.
All people are not on the same level and once we realize that, we become more tolerant. Focusing on the goodness of all life augments that which is positive and helps dissolve negativity. It is at this level that possible solutions emerge.
We cannot say definitively what the future holds and whether or not civilization will totally collapse. We can only forecast and prepare mentally, spiritually and
logistically as best as we can.
I find myself in the fourth camp, if you will, those of us who actively contribute to the collapse of civilization with the full awareness of the result. I guess I side with Derrick Jensen in believing that not only will civilization come down but that it must come down. The sooner it collapses the better it will be for all the life on this planet.
I have reached the acceptance stage and I also see some of us as voices “crying in the wilderness” -evangelists for the new awareness. (My wife tells me daily to stop preaching to everyone I meet. “But, it’s my job, I answer”.) When one sees all life as ‘people’ it becomes personal.
Thank you for your words.
We have been feeling the same.
The “Old World – Old Ways – Old Perceptions of consciousness are fading.
Celebrate ……….for it needs to happen.
Money, Petroleum, Elite controlled and false Religion led materialistic social consciousness is bound to come to an end for it is lacking in the one thing that this Universe is based upon……… Love !
There are beings of great consciousness all about us helping with this transition.
That they are largely unrecognized by us……does not mean they are not there.
They are striving to take us to a higher level of understanding.
As “Spiritual Beings” it is up to us to accept this opportunity for stretching our conscious awareness into closer alignment with cosmically aware consciousness .
Polarity manifests its extremes just before it reconciles. This is Universal Law.
Only Love takes us home.
Be at peace brothers and sisters …….. for it is a vibration that is catching and sustaining.
“How does thinking about this perspective make you feel?”
Nothing can “make me feel” anything except attacks to the body cause pain. If I choose to go to the house of despair, I can create pain out of my suffering. As I have a mirror experience to Paul, evident in correspondence to his second and third paragraphs above, when I escaped the California Crash, and made the very same decision.
“Do you think it is a useful point of view or not?”
Yes, this is a very useful point of view. With 21 years of Sobriety and still accumulating, there really is no other Spiritual position to be in. Let Go and Let God is the bumper sticker. What now transpires is un-fixable by human mind alone.
“Is it helpful or dangerous?”
This is extremely helpful, one of the better posts you have put up. G. Celente is wrong, it won’t be an intellectual revolution, it will be a Spiritual revolution, an awakening driven by the Sun’s fluctuating magnetoshpere, see “Jesus, King Arthur, and the Journey of the Grail; The Secrets of the Sun Kings,” by Maurice Cotterell. Such a read will help you move from anthropomorphic changes to cosmic changes happening as we chatter.
Is it an approach you have taken, or could see yourself taking?
Yes. When I realized I was powerless to defend against the economic onslaught, and my bookkeeping indicated the very real precipice of finance, I decided to follow the advice of Carolyn and “get where you want to be now,” which was back then. And since I was getting the financial wind knocked out of me anyway, I adopted the Orlov Principle, “Those close to the bottom won’t hurt so much.”
Or does it feel like sophistry – simply a tricky justification for fiddling while Rome burns?
Burn baby, burn! I’m with Jensen, shut it down for reset.
Robin Marie Ward
http://wp.me/p6kf2-58
I think this is the only way to view reality. There is a fine line, however, between acceptance of what you can’t change and defeatism. Usually when I hear “it is what it is” come out of somebodies mouth it means that they aren’t going to do anything about it. In some cases, like the collapse of industrial civilization, it is what it is, but you can do things about it for you and those around you…namely accept the nature of transience and suffering before it finds you and leaves you paralyzed with fear.
I think the author of this article is just saying that having a deep spiritual understanding of our coming reality is where you start from. Life emerges and disappears cyclically on both the micro and macro levels, and our human experience is no different. The point to all of this is that there are no viable solutions. It’s like John Michael Greer recently said, “there is no way to make a middle class American lifestyle sustainable.” This is not defeatism…just reality.
Thank you, this is very useful and it feels good to see our 3-E (energy, economy, environment) disasters seen from the point of view of enlightenment of sorts. The momentum of our collective, ecological “path” seems too great for individuals to be able to change, especially if it’s so few individuals who are aware of the problem at all.
I’ve naturally focused on “solutions” as a way to positively communicate the problems to people not at the same level of awareness as myself — my goodness, it is a monumental task trying to inspire others to see where humanity is at and where we seem to be going. I am concluding that others can’t be “taught” what to see and how to feel and therefore behave. “Spreading the word” may not be that helpful. I have no answers — and I suppose that’s the moral of the writing above. I think I’m okay with that, but am pained to think of my daughter, mother, all people, suffering in this great process.
Each individual must take responsibility for waking up–or not, and then face the consequences. That doesn’t seem fair, and the results may be brutal, but it is a fact of our lives as collapse intensifies.
It’s easy to remain unattached to the state of the world when you are in a position of privilege. Civilization isn’t just going to go away on it’s own due to some mass consciousness shift and if we allow civilization to continue we are participating in mass murder. It’s not a popular thought since most of us don’t want to give up our positions of privilege but the institutions and individuals bringing all of this forward aren’t going to stop by thinking positive thoughts. Instead of coming up with elaborate justifications in order to absolve ourselves from any responsibility, why don’t we fight for the indigenous and other marginalized and oppressed beings (including non-humans)? And please don’t say fighting fire with fire will only make things worse. Love does not imply pacifism.
Yes, ‘everyone in agreement’ here, but does everyone agree on the underlying evolutionary biology? -and the trajectory of that biology? -and the _inevitability of that biology too?
How We Came to ‘Democracy-
-The Best Form of Government’
Why It Isn’t -and Where It’s Going
http://www.condition.org/democ.htm
Human Nature and Continuing Human Existence
The Inevitabilities of Human Deliberative Capability
ICAPE (Salt Lake City) / AAAS (Boise, Idaho) – June 2007
http://www.condition.org/humexis.htm
The State of Affairs
excerpt from the Preface to-
Godel’s Proof and The Human Condition
http://www.condition.org/preface.htm#(1)
The Matter of Forensic Integrity
http://www.condition.org/forensic.htm
Democracy -and Further
http://www.condition.org/oped.htm
Breakdown – Futurology
(appendix to Arms Reduction-
-and Global Reconstruction)
http://www.condition.org/breakdow.htm
Perry Bezanis
(-for the DH Group)
San Pedro CA 90731
perryb@condition.org
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