Friday, December 05, 2008

Planetary Economics - The Art of Compassion

The economic turmoil facing society in 2008, 2009 until 2014 - is a small part of a greater planetary evolution whose beginning will alter our lives over the next 100 years.

The real problem is that people around the world are looking at life (issues, and problems) in a very limited way, through media prescribed (vision limiting) bi-focal lenses. The economic bifocals are necessary when individuals begin to exhibit symptoms of blurring and panic when faced with economic meltdown of a crumbling archaic system.

Media bifocals correct this panic by limiting the depth of perception of the crumbling columns and falling roof. Therefore a large block of collapsing masonry seems like a harmless fly until it hits the observer, at which point perception becomes irrelevant.

The physical brain is designed to correlate and act on information close to the observer and simultaneously be aware of what is happening at a distance. In humans this ability operates mostly on automatic pilot. Humans are not aware that the mind is processing information beyond the point of their myopic focus at any given moment.

Animals and birds are fine examples of the art of immediate observation both near and far. A blackbird or sparrow searches for its food locally, and yet remain aware of predators at a distance. A hare or a field mouse may forage for food at the edge of a wood, and yet the hare or the mouse are aware of movements that indicate the approach of a hawk, a fox or a cat.

Humans have the same ability to see far and near in the same moment, but these far/near observation skills are eclipsed by desire to focus exclusively on the ego, appearance, what we WANT and the game/power struggle of what we GET for ourselves. Humans have become very self-centred. This activity on a global scale has led to the current economic crisis.

One aspect of the crisis is a total lack of awareness of where our food comes from, or what food really is. The ego is rarely aware of the world around it, of cosmos, the stars and planets, and of the earth itself. Growing populations consume at growing rates, with little thought to the planetary implications of this behaviour.

Multiply a billion times the consumption of paper, wood, metals, water, food, textiles, fuel and land... and a billion adds to a billion more. Taking off the myopic lens, what is it we are consuming? Where do these resources come from? As economies increase in wealth, what is the resources base of this increase in wealth? It is the planet itself.

As the disaster approached (from afar), social myopia did not see it coming because no one was paying attention. The most ancient rules of behaviour begin with: If you do not care for the planet, you do not care for yourself. That is a very simple rule to follow, ensuring wealth for our grandchildren.

In the myopic world, what is wealth?

Wealth has come to mean indulgence, get what you can fast, take care of yourself, walk all over other people (if you have to), and always have more than your competitors. The structures this type of behaviour creates are crumbling and falling apart. As the masonry falls onto the wealth seekers in the temple, crushing them with a force equal to the selfishness they carry... no one looks up to see who created this mess.

All of mankind shares this planet with the trees, fish, animals, birds and insects. Currently, we take without giving. When individuals look outside of the ego-field they see their own reflection looking back at them as they destroy the earth. If one looks a bit further, the individual sees that as they destroy the earth they are destroying their own future, the future of their children, and are certainly destroying the future of their grandchildren.

Growing populations cannot consume depleted resources at growing rates.

Economics is a rational term for human behaviour. Buying silk or spices is the economic behaviour of consuming the earth's resources. Buying oil is a human (economic) behaviour based on certain needs. Alternatively, if the sands of the Sahara contained some power to fuel the worlds demand for energy, then emptying the desert of its sands would be an economic activity as a result of human behaviour.

The corrective healing for ego-driven-myopia, is to be aware of and see the world around us. Go for a walk in the park (if one still exists), walk across the fields or through the woods, and pay attention to the planetary provider of resources. Observe the animals and birds seeking to exist amid the concrete of towns and cities. Be aware of the weeds and plants growing at the side of the road. Paying attention to the physical surroundings far and near (there are stars and planets above our heads), beings us back in touch with the reality that surrounds us - and on which we depend.

To the soul, a fleeting moment of compassion, is the gold of the spirit. The Alchemical gold created by the ancients: The Art of Compassion. The ending of Ego. Being grateful to the planet for sustaining us, is the art of seeing far while observing what is near.