Saturday, April 11, 2009

Compassion and Conscious Collapse

I am feeling great today. Maybe it was the shower. Maybe it was that I started filling out a job application for a government environmental agency. Maybe it was the fact/luck that the lawn mower started. But I laid my clean self on my bed for a rest and immediately tapped into the thing which is beyond me, the universal oneness which does not speak and is not perceivable.

Then I took my book (Sacred Demise) and went to sit outside the post office. They had a package for me that needed signature. I couldn’t get it until the carrier brought it back. The carriers were working quite late tonight. But, as soon as Chris (my carrier) pulled into the driveway, he saw me and knew exactly why I was sitting there. He was asking me about my running and couldn’t believe I’m 50. There are two or three carriers who stop at my house, even the UPS guy, and they know about the running. I’ve even had the UPS guy stop me while I was running to tell me he had left something at my house. The fact they know me is the beauty of a small town.

Don’t push compassion away. Karen Armstrong said, “Compassion doesn’t mean feeling sorry for people. It doesn’t mean pity. It means putting yourself in the position of the other, learning about the other. Learning what’s motivating the other, learning about their grievances.” I really want to push others away and not be bothered with consciousness of my brother. But, I find today that I am open to the idea. I no longer feel lethargic about allowing the intrusion of my brother beyond or into my personal walls. I am letting my personal walls go.

From Sacred Demise by Carolyn Baker: “Collapse (of our civilization, civilized humanity) is a fact of our lives for as long as we reside on this planet. Our work is not to prevent it but to open to it, prepare for it, and do our best to survive and live it with conscious intention and presence in relation to ourselves and all other life forms on earth as we experience it.”

Her point is that we are beyond bail outs and windmills, solar panels and hybrid cars. Our predicament is that we are beyond sustaining life at all as we know it. “A global holocaust can offer many humans an extraordinary opportunity for experiencing warmth, tenderness, compassion, sacrifice, sharing, authenticity, generosity…” Collapse is dying in order to have new life. You can’t get the new life without first dying. A few little adjustments in recycling won’t cut it. Face it. No individual can stop the holocaust; or even Green Peace. But “Our existence on planet earth at this juncture of recorded history is not accidental and is replete with purpose and meaning. Each of us individually and in community can discover our purpose and live it in the face of collapse. In fact it may be that without collapse, we could not achieve clarity about our purpose or live it as fully as we can in a collapsing world.”

"This book has been written specifically for the purpose of providing a structure for choosing deliberation and introspection—not narcissistic navel gazing, but deep, conscious contemplation of collapse and its emotional and spiritual implications for you…Walking the spiritual path of collapse is a journey that beckons us far beyond mere survival and renders absurd any attempts to “fix” or prevent the end of the world as we know it. This odyssey is about the transformation of human consciousness and the emergence of a new paradigm as a result discovering our purpose in the collapse process and thereby coming home to our ultimate place in the universe. Our willingness to embark on the journey with openness and uncertainty offers an opportunity for experiencing the quantum evolutionary leap with which collapse may be presenting us.”

Carolyn has said alot. It gives me a heady feeling. Introspection and conscious choice are so up my alley. I experienced freedom when I thought, "Let it come and deal with it spiritually." My fear evaporated as I looked beyond it. I'm willing to be awake and not pretend.

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