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This article also appears in the Spring | Summer 2009 print edition of Kosmos.
One of the roots of the word ‘can’ is ‘know,’ and another is ‘power.’ Power from knowing. Because this flow is delicate, it’s easy to disrupt. Spiritually inclined people sometimes regard contemplation as a world-changing panacea; activists sometimes see direct action in the same light.
This article also appears in the Spring | Summer 2009 print edition of Kosmos.
I have just completed my doctoral research into a new paradigm for business leadership education for a post-WW2 world order.
Lessons from rural Africa
The world today has come to be arrested in her development, facing barriers that are causing the system to crack. A barrier between conventional thinking and breakthrough action. The urge for change, as emphasized by the election of Barack Obama, has come. The world, at the same time as it nears collapse, is reaching the tipping point to creation.
This article also appears in the Spring | Summer 2009 print edition of Kosmos.
Which will melt first, the Arctic or the economy?
The National Snow and Ice Data Center recently warned that the death spiral of the Arctic would leave the North Pole ice-free by 2013. But borrowing $2 billion a day to buy imported oil (and the rest of our unsustainable business practices) might melt financial stability even faster.
All over the world, and bursting forth today from its underground co-creative crucible into clear public discussion, there is a dawning excitement regarding the creative power and wisdom of collective human genius.
The emergence of a palpable new sense of ‘We’, a distinctive energy or level of consciousness experienced as available in, and for, collective consciousness is now at least glimpsed by nearly every deeply rooted spiritual practitioner.
Never in my lifetime have I been as inspired by a movement as the one generated by Barack Obama. In México and Spain I’ve witnessed the chant ‘yes, we can’ sung at the World Soccer Cup, but after the local team is defeated it’s replaced by ‘they lost’ and everyone reverts to their numbness and apathy.
This simple phrase, the national campaign slogan of Barak Obama, now the 44th President of the United States, fast became a global slogan of strength, affirmation and movement. Yes We Can became Si, Podemos, ναι μπορούμε, Да мы можем, and 그래 우리가 할 수있는. A tidal wave of empowerment rolled out from our shores, across the oceans and overland until it again flooded our native land.
This article also appears in the Spring | Summer 2009 print edition of Kosmos.
For me, Barack Obama’s message ‘yes, we can’ represents a fundamental belief in the intelligence and goodness of Consciousness itself. It represents trust in the unfolding of Creation, regardless of whether we are in a cycle of growth or destruction.
A mantra for our times . . .
‘Yes’ is a word of acceptance. It suggests seeing things as they are, whether or not what we see is to our liking. It intimates owning up to our role and responsibility in what we observe and experience. Wallace Stevens wrote, “After the final no there comes a yes and on that yes the future of the world hangs.”
Philosopher Pogo says: “We are surrounded by insurmountable opportunities.” It’s kairos time. Kairos (καιρσς) is an ancient Greek word referring to an opportune moment when meta-openings appear for personal and whole system transformation. This pivotal, parenthetical time (in-between the no-longer and not-yet) is a time of opportunity and shift.
This article also appears in the Spring | Summer 2009 print edition of Kosmos.
Yes, we can!’ is the ‘high-five’ commitment to accept the challenge to work for promised rewards. The promise of grassroots engagement to make a positive difference in the world, in relationships, business, and personal satisfaction to reach the mountain top together where we celebrate our achievement with a high-five and a shout of ‘We did it!’
YES: There is power in the word ‘yes’. ‘Yes’ affirms our commitment. ‘Yes’ focuses us, strengthens us, enables us to move mountains. Ambivalence, hesitation, fear and apathy, by contrast, foster the status quo.
We live in a time of great historical disruption and transition from the Industrial Age to what some are calling the Connected Age. No longer will traditional thinking and action be able to adapt to a society that is constantly changing, interconnected and increasingly complex.
When I was young in China my favorite English song was “A Bridge Over Troubled Water.” However, at the time I did not realize that my vocation and destiny in life would be to become a bridge between China and the West—between tradition and modernity, and between different disciplines. Nor did I realize that my hope would be to build these bridges for the sake of helping develop communities in China and the United States that are socially just, ecologically sustainable, and spiritually satisfying, thus helping sooth some of the ‘troubled waters’ from which the world now suffers.
Sisters, we grew up on this wheat and cattle farm in the rolling prairie of north central Oklahoma. After college, we each moved to other states, immersed ourselves in careers and raising families. Eventually, there was an irresistible pull back to the farm and three years ago, Ann, an energy kinesiologist, moved “home.” Pat, a trained spiritual director, moved back to the farm a year ago.
Starting in the sixties, when Dylan famously sang ‘the times they are a changing,’ I wanted change and I wanted it immediately. Especially for my own people, Australian Aborigines, for until 1967 we were not even counted in the population census of Australia.
The Globalisation for the Common Good Initiative began in 2002 at a conference in Oxford, UK. Since then, the GCG International Conference has become an annual event, traveling across the globe to Saint Petersburg, Dubai, Nairobi & Kericho, Honolulu, Istanbul and Melbourne; while the 2009 conference is scheduled to take place at Loyola University, Chicago.
When my wife and I decided to take a mid-career break and travel around the world, we immediately recognized our role as citizen diplomats—for the United States and the West. After launching a website and connecting with a growing international community, we sensed a gap. Although long-term travelers continue to build cross-border relationships, traditional institutions of diplomacy haven’t yet flexed to take full advantage of agents like us and the emerging new communication techniques we employ.
“We are seeing a very inspiring shift in social-mindedness and public compassion,” says CharityFocus founder Nipun Mehta. “Suddenly, ideas like service, selflessness, and philanthropy are cool. Our objective has always been to help create the tools that allow people to play joyfully in this space—to express their fundamental generosity, gratitude, hopefulness, and desire to be a more integrated part of the collective human experience.”