|
A Note from Marjorie Cohn, MA
Despite the flurry of millennium activity, the changing millennium does seem to present a poignant moment.
Technological advances continue to dazzle us yet simultaneously, interest in integrated healing continues to flourish. There seems to be at least two apparently opposing trends, one typified by the mechanics of a technological age, the other contrasting with ancient wisdom and indigenous perception.
I've wondered, which one is occurring; an increase in technology and mechanism or increased recognition of holistic understanding. I've begun to believe that probably both are occurring, that they
need not be mutually exclusive.
A good illustration is the internet which holds the capacity to weave connections previously only imagined. The name, World Wide Web is a great metaphor, indicating the potential the internet represents. We hear that we are all connected. The internet shows us one way. Technology and nature do not have to regarded at adversarial odds.
In his article "Y2K and Ecological Redemption" Matt BiersAriel suggests that at its' root, Y2K is not a technological problem but a religious question. As we become more attuned to virtual realities
and less connected with nature, the fact that a computer glitch could potentially damage food supplies and incapacitate banks,a "historical shift regarding the connection between the human species and
the natural world" is exemplified. (1999 p.53) The question is, how do we begin to see ourselves as part of the natural universe rather than separate?
An irony of Y2K, as BiersAriel point out, is that January 1, 2000 falls on the Sabbath, the traditional day of rest and inner contemplation in the Jewish tradition. Maybe this is where we need to
start in the new millennium, focusing on inner rather than virtual realities.
Reference
BiersAriel, Matt. "Y2K and Ecological Redemption" in
Tikkun. July/August 1999. Volume 14, Number 4, p.53
New Year's Ceremonies & Meditations
Several global meditation ceremonies are planned for New Year's Eve All are geared toward uniting the planet in focused attention for peace & awareness in the new millennium.
1. Lightshift 2000 has organized a global meditation at 12:12 am on January 1, 2000. To find out more information, the Lightshift 2000 website is at www.lightshift.com
2. Several writers and authors are encouraging a Moment of Prayer at midnight on 12.31.99.
3. On December 31, Millennium Live, Humanity's Broadcast, the world's first live global convergence media event will air simultaneously on television networks and the internet.
Please check local listings.
what's real in reality?
I recently attempted to see a movie.
After twentyfive minutes and on the verge of going home, I did find a parking spot. As I stood on line for a drink and popcorn, I overheard the man ahead of me. He asked for a hot dog but they were out. He asked for something else that was also unavailable. He then asked for a pretzel, also unavailable. I happened to notice a case that appeared to be full of assorted pretzels. Not knowing I had fallen into virtual reality, I mentioned to the man in front of me, "Aren't those pretzels?" He replied that they indeed looked like pretzels. We waited for the counter attendant, who we then asked about the mysterious pretzels. He told us that in fact, those pretzels were not real, they were plastic and they actually had no pretzels.
In this particular moment, maybe because of my struggle to obtain a place to park my car which took a third of the movie's playing time, the fact that the movie theatre looks like a Las Vegas
casino, and I was beginning to feel trapped in Disneyland, this pretzel incident struck me as funny and ironic but underneath I really felt somewhat betrayed, at least insulted. Why are things
presented as real that are in fact not real?
How are we to have genuine experiences and to know the difference between truth and illusion? When the world is filled with things that are not real, how do we feel about ourselves? Then again, it all depends on how we define the word real. Those pretzels were real, they were real plastic.
Throughout history, philosophers and thinkers have contemplated the nature of the universe and attempted to define reality. In Plato's allegory of the cave, prisoners inside a cave see
their shadows reflected on a wall of the cave.
They have been there so long they can only look straight ahead.They have no knowledge of anything outside the cave and are unaware of commerce and activity outside or the fire that is in actuality casting their shadows. They believe the shadows on the wall to be coming from the wall itself. Eventually they come to think that only the shadows are real and they themselves do not exist.
In The Spiritual Universe, Fred Alan Wolf compares this ancient scene with a modern equivalent, people watching TV. Because characters on TV appeal to our basic instincts, Wolf
suggests that just as the cave prisoners believed the shadows real, we take the TV characters as real and mistake them for ourselves. Wolf asks, "Are we too beclouded by the sensory process, the
process of watching illusion, to ever take part in reality?" (1999, p.47)
What is real in the universe and what can we trust? While this is certainly a high tech era with holistic movements, it is also a time when our images of reality and culture are
changing. Capitalism was built on notions of territory, individualism, and competition. The sixties challenged this ideology with ideas of peace, cooperation, and community.
As we move into the next millennium, it seems both realities; competition and cooperation, are present. Interest in spiritual life, the welfare of the environment, and ethics in business are just some of the issues progressive thinkers are concerned with today. How do differing ideologies share the stage..... does one have to dominate or can both exist simultaneously? In my own life, I feel the tension inherent in these opposites; trying to live an ethical life based on spiritual values and cooperation while submerged in a culture based on materialism and competition. Which is the "real" view?
In discussing hope in the new millennium, writers Michael Lerner and Peter Gabel point out the problems that can ensue from a tension of opposites.
How, for example, indigenous peoples destroy their native forests for income out of economic necessity and no education about the environment will change their action if they know the world will not support them otherwise. (1999)
As Lerner and Gabel point out, "If the 'reality' is that everyone is out for themselves," how do we begin to live from a different model?
They suggest that "...each individual....will tend to choose to maximize their own individual advantage as long as they live in a society whose basic message is: you are a naive fool and dupe if you believe the world can be based on anything but selfishness." I ask again, how do we change our ideology? And what I wonder all the time, where does cultural change originate? Is it enough for us to simply wish for a different reality? What can we do differently?
Lerner and Gabel suggest we need a new ethos, and that this can only occur if we focus on challenging the dominant ideology that shapes our consciousness and "makes everyone reluctant to make choices that
presuppose the possibility of a more loving and caring world." (1999, p.53) This they propose, can only shift if we reject prevalent 'reality' and begin to believe in the possibility of genuine change.
It sounds too simple and maybe it really is not a complicated shift. Maybe we need to just start acting or "acting as if" reality were what we wanted it to be. If we take a view that we are partners with the universe and not its' masters, maybe we can begin to build a world rooted in interdependency, compassion, and connection. Let us try to act as if this were so.
References
Lerner, Michael & Peter Gabel. "Why We're Hopeful about the New Millennium." in Tikkun Nov/Dec 1999. Volume 14, Number 6, pp. 910,5356.
Wolf, Fred Alan. The Spiritual Universe. 1999. Moment Point Press: Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
CURRENT FORUM DISCUSSIONS
Current forum discussions include Global Change, Paradigms and Planes, Perceiving the Future, and Your Experiences. Contribute to the discussions or create your own forum topics.
We are looking into organizing live forum discussions with leading thinkers and writers. Please let us know who you would like to see involved and we'll see if they are available.
Press Deadlines for the Calendar
Winter, 2000 February 10
Spring, 2000 May 10
Summer, 2000 August 10
Fall, 2000 December 1
Peace and Happiness to you in 2000.
|
