I am very excited by the program of events that we are offering through Wisdom University in 2013 – four intensives in the Netherlands that also make one whole, a sacred journey into the caves of Dordogne, and the annual pilgrimage to Chartres as the seven year Mystery School starts a new cycle. I don’t know if 2012 is the end of something, but 2013 is certainly the start of something!

[Note that WisdomU events are open to the general public as well as enrolled students.]

It is the first time that there are now enough courses in Europe for a student enrolled in Wisdom University to get all the credits they need in one year for a Masters degree in Wisdom Studies without leaving European shores (plus one virtual course and your dissertation). In this launch year, there is a special deal of the four Intensives in the Netherlands for the price of three, for enrolled students taking them for credit. And there is early bird discount until Jan 31 for students and general public!

The faculty who have agreed to teach with us on these intensives is stellar:

- Caroline Myss, well known and very in demand for her books on medical intuition and powerful public speaking on our spiritual paths. Caroline joins us for Wisdom as a Way of Life.

- Marja de Vries, author of The Whole Elephant Revealed, and teacher about the pattern that connects and the nature of or current transition. Marja joins us for the State of the World and Wisdom as a Way of Life intensives.

- Dr Jim Garrison, founder of Wisdom University, as well as State of the World Forum and the Gorbachev Foundation USA, well-respected writer, author and teacher. Jim joins us for the State of the World and Wisdom as a Way of Life intensives.

- Herman Wijffels, former CEO of Rabobank, Director of Dutch Social-Economic Council and Dutch representative at the World Bank, he is often cited as being “the best Prime Minister the Netherlands never had”. Herman joins us for the State of the World intensive.

- Apela Colorado, Ph.D, one of the world’s most respected authorities on indigenous mind and earth wisdom. Creator of the first doctoral program in traditional knowledge at the California Institute of Integral Studies. and the Worldwide Indigenous Science Network. Apela joins us for Ancient Wisdom and leads the trip to the caves of Dordogne, as well as playing a key role in the ritual at Chartres.

- Prof Ervin Laszlo, widely recognised for his work on systems theory and the Akashic Field. Author of more than 70 books, he has taught at the world’s top universities and been an advisor to UNESCO. Ervin joins us by skype (maybe in person depending on travel and health) for Frontier Science.

- Dr Paul Ray, most well-known for his groundbreaking sociological research into Cultural Creatives, he is a much sought-after teacher and advisor on the current movements in human culture and society. Paul joins us by skype for Wisdom as a Way of Life.

On top of this amazing teaching faculty, Wisdom University’s pedagogy is rooted in a holistic approach to the student. As such, afternoons of courses are devoted to transformational art and self-expression, linked to the theme of each intensive.

Richard Henry joins us for sacred geometry in State of the World; Calen Rayne brings his powerful and beautiful brushstroke process to Ancient Wisdom; Mariabruna Sirabella brings the SoulCollage experience to Frontier Science; and Marjolein Berger-Vos brings it all to a fitting close with you taking home your own sculpture at Wisdom as a Way of Life.

Gert van Santen and I will be hosting these events in turn, ensuring that each event works as a whole.

Here is an overview of the events with links to more info:

Ancient Wisdom – The Treasure of the Past

Looks at how our worldview changes when we honour our indigenous mind and earth wisdom. Healing our relationship to the earth and our body, inspired by ancient teachings. With Apela Colorado, Gert van Santen, Prof Matthijs Schouten and Calen Rayne. June 23-27, Mennorode, Elspeet, Netherlands

Frontier Science – The Promise of the Future

Leans into what our most challenging and holistic scientists are showing us about reality, what it really means to be deeply interconnected, and the implications of that for many dimensions of our lives. With Prof Ervin Laszlo, Peter Merry and Mariabruna Sirabella (and one more to be confirmed). October 7-11, International School of Philosophy, Leusden, Netherlands

Wisdom as a Way of Life – Action and Organization in the Transition

Given all that we know and sense, how do we lead ourselves, our communities and our organizations in the current Great Transition? What principles can guide us and what kind of people are rising to the challenge? With Jim Garrison, Caroline Myss, Paul Ray, Gert van Santen, Marja de Vries and Marjolein Berger-Vos. November 18-22, ZIN, Vught, Netherlands

State of the World - Seeking the Pattern that Connects

Explores the core of what is happening in our world at this time and reveals a deeper pattern that connects the surface events. WIth Dr Jim Garrison, Peter Merry, Marja de Vries, Herman Wijffels and Richard Henry. March 17-21, 2014. Mennorode, Elspeet, Netherlands

Journey to the Caves of the Dordogne

Go deep inside yourself and this ancient site, face your fears and emerge better prepared to face the challenges ahead. With Apela Colorado and Pascal Raux. In the Vezere Valley, Dordogne, France.

The New Chartres Academy: Grammatica – Illuminating the Language of Divine Consciousness

The New Chartres Academy launches a new seven-year cycle of the Seven Liberal Arts in 2013. The next octave of the New Chartres Academy will focus on the creation of the new human being, the Homo Universalis, and the resacralization of the Earth. Chartres cathedral, France.

It would be great to have you with us at this special time for humanity and this planet of ours.

He watched helplessly as the raindrops pulled his already bedraggled reflection rhythmically yet randomly one way, then another. He caught a brief glimpse of those sated, vacant eyes staring through him out of the water, before an unsuspecting drop sent concentric ripples radiating out from between his eyebrows. He breathed a deep sigh and forced his hands deeper into his coat pockets. He knew nothing could really separate him from his watery companion.

The silence was shattered by the splash of a rock landing at his feet, and the delighted laughter of two young boys, scurrying away, as he sought to collect his disintegrated thoughts. He looked up, into the bleary orange glow of the distant street lights, and turned to go. Which way? It didn’t really matter, did it?

Out in the street, people scuttled by, their gaze firmly fixed on the dancing darkness of the wet pavement. The world was lost in the falling rain and rising spray. He joined the flow, holding his head up, as the rain ran down his nose, round his sealed lips and off his chin.

Ahead, he saw a large bundle wrapped in a blanket, slumped in a doorway, the only sign of life, an outstretched hand. Shoulders twitched, shoes scuffed the pavement, people sniffed, their eyes and hands more firmly fixed than ever. He watched them walk past as he approached, that familiar burning welling up just below his ribcage. No-one met his accusing eyes. He reached into his pocket, but found only a tenpence piece. He knew he had a five pound note in his wallet, but… . He walked past. The figure had not looked up. His mind fought fiercely to justify his betrayal. He knew the conflict would continue into the night. As he strode past the Houses of Parliament, his mind and heart united in their venemous outpouring of guilt and accusation.

***

The night sky was torn apart by a series of explosions. Multi-coloured stars fell from the heavens, each one drawing closer to its twin, until the moment of contact, when both disappeared into the hiss of the Thames. London was alive with the sound of young voices, excited laughter mingled with awed exclamations of admiration. Sparklers reflected in gleaming eyes, soon extinguished.

Tony’s excitement was of a different nature. The naïve buzz of pleasure that drifted across the water intensified his sense of secluded conspiracy. He smiled at the stars and the moon, an eternal backdrop.

“Ant! Get a load o’ this!”, cried a voice from the shore. There stood Rob looking like he had just crawled out of a seventeenth century London backstreet.

“What d’you reckon?”

“Magic!”, Tony called back. “What have you got for me?”

“You’re gonna love this. Mary’s got it in the van. Come and get it.” Tony’s pulse picked up as he walked across the barge to the concrete embankment where Rob stood. Rob held out his hand, and Tony sprang ashore.

“Everything okay?”, he asked, “Is everyone here?”

“Yep. Ready to rock.”

“Okay. Let’s go!”

Tony walked quickly over to the white Ford transit, noticing the fortunately concealed number-plates. The front faced the river, and a blanket dangled carelessly out of the back. Mary was obsessively adjusting her baggy cotton skirt. She looked relieved to see Tony appear.

“How does it look?”

“Great.” No time for dress rehearsals this production. “Mine’s in the van, yeah?”

“Yeah. I hope it fits okay. It’s roughly the right measurements. I’ve put a belt in as well, just in case.”

“Fine.”

He stepped up into the back of the van, and pulled the doors to behind him, jamming them against the blanket. He squirmed out of his jeans and quilted shirt, and shook out the thick baggy trousers and poloneck top sitting on the seat opposite. He would need the belt. He grabbed his dark heavy overcoat as he scrambled out, and slipped it on once outside. He felt good, but slightly uneasy at the lack of butterflies that usually filled his stomach before stepping onto the stage.

“Hey! Wicked!”, cried Mary, “Where’s the cap?”

“What cap?”

“There’s a cap there somewhere as well.” She shone her torch around inside the van, and came out with a puffy, peaked, black leather cap. “Try that for size.”

Tony slipped it on, pulling the peak down to his eyebrows. He liked it. It felt secure and protective.

“The perfect revolutionary”, Mary said with a quiet smile. There was a moment’s silence, then she went round to the back, pulled in the blanket and banged the doors shut.

“Francis should be here in a few minutes. He’ll keep the van at his place, in the garage, and drop it back at Budget’s tomorrow morning.”

“Where’s Jon?”, Tony asked.

“He just went to get some ciggies. There he is now.”

Jon was loping across the park, his shoulders stooped against the cold. He was already dressed up, but could easily be mistaken for one of London’s many homeless.

Jon’s cigarette trembled as he approached through the dark shadows of the bare winter trees.

***

It was still raining. The solid oak provided little shelter. Damp from the bench soaked through his light cotton trousers. A large drop fell into his thinning hair.

He saw a solitary figure wander vacantly through the small park, shoulders weighed down with life’s indifference, cigarette glowing. Then it was gone – only the constant rain for company. He could think of nothing. He saw, he heard and he felt, but for no apparent reason. His mind tried again – “So, where do we go from here?” – but the question just fizzled out and was carried away with the rainwater to the nearest drain. He watched it slip through the metal grate.

Someone came out of a pub across the street. Life spilled into the night, only to be ushered back in as the door swung shut again. He suddenly felt the desire to be surrounded by people and stepped out from the drooping branches. He headed across towards the muffled sounds of human voices, and shook himself down before entering. The Royal Oak. He rocked back a second as the wall of warmth swamped his senses. Loud, exuberant voices, vibrant music on the jukebox, the strong fumes of beer, quiet lights and the orange glow of the fake coal fire. The door caught his heel as he recovered himself, and he stepped towards the bar.

The barman was busy pouring a lemonade from one of those portable-phone-like gadgets, and joking with its future consumer, an attractive girl in a black all-in-one, which included the bare minimum of a skirt. “Just how a good novel should be”, one of his teachers had told the class, “Short enough to be exciting, long enough to cover the essentials.”

He gazed at the array of drinks, as if deciding what to have. “Whisky, please”, he heard himself say, as the barman appeared in his line of vision. Guilt fired his adrenlin as he reached for the five pound note in his wallet. He pocketed the change. There was a space at a table in the corner.

“Is this seat free?”

“Yes. Please.”

He let himself sink back and watched once more as life revolved before his eyes. What were these people going to do about anything? His thoughts drifted.

***

Tony smiled as he guided the boat away from the shore. The rhythmic throb of the engine and the chuckle of the water made him feel secure. His world was now completely defined by this small space. That’s what he loved about the stage. Yet there was something different here. It puzzled him.

His eyes rested on the twenty barrels packed neatly in front of him – five rows of four. He was the only one who knew what they really contained. Rob was sitting cross-legged on one, gazing up into the sky, still punctured by the occasional firework. He was smiling too.  “Here we go then, Ant!”, he shouted, “Can’t wait to see people’s faces when we roll up with this lot!”. Mary and Jon walked down to him from the bows, where they’d left the rope neatly coiled up. Tony watched them laughing as they tried to imagine how people would have spoken nearly four hundred years ago. The echo of the engine drowned them out as they passed under Chelsea Bridge. “Grosvenor Bridge coming up, then Vauxhall and Lambeth”, he thought to himself. A glass-roofed boat full of Japanese tourists approached, no doubt slightly bemused by the antics of three strangely dressed characters on the passing barge.

“Keep down!”, Tony yelled, as he saw a flashlight go off. Just part of the night’s celebrations, they were probably thinking. That’s what they were meant to think, but no point in taking any unnecessary risks. Mary joined him .

“A bit uptight tonight, aren’t we? It’s unlike you, normally so calm and collected before performances.”

“Just adding to the atmosphere a bit.”

The costumes gave the situation its bizarre look. In today’s world, if you looked strange enough, people assumed you were involved in some legitimate arty statement and generally left you alone. It was the ones trying to look normal who attracted the attention. With enough noise and bravado you could get away with most things. The video camera waiting for them when they landed would add to the faœade. Besides, it was November the fifth. Who would question four actors in costumes trundling around near the Houses of Parliament with twenty wooden barrels? It was carnival mood tonight.

Battersea power station loomed off to the right. How about that for the new People’s Parliament? Tony grinned and set his sights on Vauxhall Bridge.

The others had calmed down and were all sitting on the barrels smoking.

“Careful where you stub out your ciggies!”, Tony called. Their laughter was carried away by a gust of wind, and he suddenly realised what was wrong. They were still playing. For him, however, there was no imaginary character to play with. This time he was not watching himself. There was no actor any more.

Tony shivered and pulled his cap down to his eyes.

***

He rolled the remaining drop around the bottom of the glass and reflected on its trouble-free existence. He drained the glass once more, only to find the drop back where it had always been. He looked up at his corner-table companions. They too seemed entranced by the contents of their glasses, until one launched some banal comment across the table, only to be met by a vague nod in agreement or a sympathising shake of the head, accompanied by the appropriate sound; “mm” for a nod, or a tut for a shake.

He suddenly felt the urge to stand up and slap these people around the faces; “Wake up! What kind of fucking numbskulls are you? Get a life!”. But it would do no good. He’d just get thrown out and probably end up in a police cell for the night. It was time to leave. He got up and forced his way to the door, grateful for the rush of air as he yanked it open.

Outside, he was happy to feel the rain wash away the sweat from his face, taking with it all traces of those inane people. They weren’t human beings, he felt, they were human beens. What control did they have over their own lives? None. They were being lived. How long would it be before people started to realise?, he asked himself, Or are the enlightened always a minority? Tomorrow belongs to the madmen of today.

He turned up his collar and headed back the way he had come earlier. He stopped opposite the Houses of Parliament and leant against the corner of a sidestreet. “Poet’s Corner”. What kind of a poet would want to live opposite the Houses of Parliament, that bastion of bastardy and bigotry? He felt the weight of Westminster Abbey behind him. Bunch of bloody hypocrits. Shrugging it off angrily, he strode on, heart burning.

He knew where he was going. Soon he got there. Nothing had changed – the empty outstretched hand was in the same position. He paused for a while, then pulled a pound coin from his pocket and placed it in the open palm. The figure did not look up. He walked on.

***

Tony lowered the throttle as they approached Lambeth Bridge. He gazed at the impressive floodlit walls of the Parliament building, reflected in the still waters of the Thames. A starburst firework obliterated the image for a second and Tony snapped to. He steered the boat towards the bare trees on the left bank, just beyond the bridge.

Mary stood at the bows, rope in hand, ready to jump ashore. Rob came to join Tony, and prepared the other rope. Jon lit up and leant back against the barrels. Tony took a deep breath, trying to relax and empty his mind. He thought he could see the cart through the trees. Tom was probably chatting with Francis, who should have come on with the video camera. He had said that he would bring someone else along, with important-looking sound-recording equipment. The more, the merrier.

As they approached Lambeth, Tony slowed right down. They would need a burst in reverse to stop where they had planned. The bridge seemed to shudder with the boat, as the resonance of the engine and churning water filled his ears. He released the power and they drifted in towards the park. Mary jumped onto the bank, and quickly wrapped her rope around the nearest tree. Rob followed and soon they were nestled up against the shore, overshadowed by the size and noise of the bridge, and the naked, overhanging branches of the dark trees.

“Tom and Francis there?”, Tony shouted up.

“Yeah, and Francis’ mate.”

“Okay. Let’s get these barrels into the cart. Tell Francis to get filming. It’s time to be noticed.” Being ignored came later.

Tony and Jon passed the wooden kegs up one by one. Mary rolled them across the grass to the cart, where Rob loaded them up. Tom kept a hold of the horse and Francis bustled around getting shots from different angles. A few people stopped to look and were professionally ushered away from any camera shot by Tom. Transferring the barrels was a monotonous process and not many people stayed long. Tired, whining children tugging at coat sleeves helped to keep people moving.

“Film student’s final year project”, Tom was telling enquirers.

“Okay. That’s it”, said Tony, as they passed barrel number twenty up to Mary. “I’ll lock up here, Jon, you go and help prepare for our little jaunt around town.” He pottered about for a couple of minutes, checking everything was secure, and then, after a quick glance around, picked up the small bundle of fuses he had kept at his feet and strapped them to the small of his back. The overcoat would keep them hidden. He hoped his friends would understand and forgive.

He felt his first tingle of nerves, small but unusually irrepressible. As he clambered up into the park, he knew there would be no chance to make up for first night fallibility.

***

It was still raining. The whisky’s fire had long since been doused. Downing Street, Ministry of Defence, Henry VIII Wine Cellar Museum, Horse Guards, Banqueting House, Old War Office; funny how war and wine seem to go together. Drinking the blood of Christ as they spill the blood of the people.

The Old Admiralty Offices – did the “old” refer to the admirals or the offices? The buildings looked in better nick than most of the old fogeys he’d seen on tv, urging the country to war over some sheep-ridden island the other side of the globe. Kept them in pocket for a bit, anyway.

And there stands Nelson, perched proudly on his column to remind us of all those Frenchmen he slayed. “England expects every man will do his duty.” What duty? Duty to whom? To humanity? Or to the coffers of the aristocracy? “Liberté. Égalité. Fraternité.” Nice idea. Better than anything we ever came up with. Shame that today some seem more equal, free and brotherly than others. Having a different coloured skin is now a good enough reason to harass you for your papers. If you’re unlucky you end up in a Paris jail with a bullet through your head.

Nelson’s indifference to his curses fired his anger, and he fumed at the impregnability of this memorial to myopia. All around, indoctrinated with the glory of war – Admiralty Arch, Guards’ Memorial, Duke of York memorial, Waterloo gardens. Why? We, the species that has the option to live in peace with each other, insist on fighting over abstract beliefs, words, labels.

He wanted to go around asking all these people scuttling along the streets. Surely they’d all agree that killing is a bad thing to do. But then why…? He looked up again at Nelson, and somehow had to forgive him his ignorance. He was only doing his duty. But then who is responsible? Who delegates duty today? He looked back down Whitehall as Big Ben struck midnight.

***

They pulled away from the curb and headed up towards Parliament. Tom, Tony and Francis sat up front, the latter experimenting with various shots. His friend Monty crouched just behind, hanging the long microphone over the three of them to get the sound of the horse’s hooves, trotting on the tarmac.  The others sat on the back, legs dangling, waving and smiling at passing motorists, and chanting various revolutionary slogans.

“Evening, Constable”, shouted Tony, as they passed the gates into Parliament, “Just about to blow you all up.”

“Fine. Just keep that thing moving”, came the reply.

“No problem. We’ll be back in a minute.” The adrenlin had taken over and Tony was enjoying himself.

Tom pulled them straight into the flow of traffic on Parliament square, waving orders and apologetic thanks to the unsuspecting drivers. A black Hansom cab swung past, accompanied by an outpouring of south London vitriol.

Jon, Mary and Rob were in fine voice behind, demanding justice and rights for all, and singing various seventeenth century protest songs they’d dug up from the Folk Library.

Tom had done well in getting an ex-police horse, and she seemed undisturbed by the traffic and noise around her, as they turned off the square back towards Lambeth Bridge. Tony waved to his friendly policeman again, and then turned to the others.

“Okay. Quiet now. Time to disappear.”

Just after Westminster Abbey, they turned right into a short cul-de-sac, and pulled up outside the corner house on the left. “Poets Corner”. Tony liked that. He’d liked it ever since he had discovered the name in one of the old history books he’d looked out.

A year now he’d been staying in the basement flat, having talked his way into a job at the Abbey Gardens next to Westminster School. Gardening had never been a favourite hobby, but he soon learnt. It had taken a lot of time and patience to slime his way into the right people’s confidence. He had enjoyed the part. But which play was he in now? Camus’ The Just or Sartre’s Crime Passionnel? Or was this truly his own creation?

***

 His gaze was lost in the shimmering darkness below. The wind ruffled the water’s surface, the raindrops left it pockmarked. He was drawn into this mesmeric collage of blackness. There was no reflection. Even the illuminated splendour of the Houses of Parliament was just a blur.

The night was quiet, dampened by the steady patter of the rain. Few vehicles crossed the bridge now. He didn’t notice the policecar slow down as it approached him, and then pull away, unconcerned. He seemed far away, yet it was at these moments that he felt closer than ever.

At one stage he sensed the presence of someone standing next to him. They stood in silence for a while, then the person shuffled off. They were alone again. Him and the river. Perfect companionship.

Thunder rumbled in the distance and he withdrew still further into the depths of his raincoat.

***

“Okay, get filming, Francis. Rob and Jon, start unloading the barrels! Mary, act as look-out!

Tony went down into the flat, and through to the back room. A batik cloth covered half of the far wall. He removed it, revealing a wooden panel in the brickwork, about five feet by three feet. He picked a screwdriver off the floor and eased the panel out towards him. It came easily, and he propped it up next to the dark hole it had left behind. A cool breeze ran through the room.

Tony lit two of the candles he had prepared and stepped through the hole, lighting up a short narrowing tunnel that led to a wider passage. He had known that it had to be on about that axis. Two of his sources had talked of a passage linking the Abbey and the Palace, one in quite some detail. Together with an old map of the sewers, he could be fairly certain. And he had hit it first time. He went down to the end, leaving one candle halfway and placing the other at the junction. He fetched two more, and turning right at the junction, set them down further along. Soon the passage was lit right down to the Palace end, the flickering orange light reflecting on the damp, grey walls.

“Tony! Where do you want us to put these?”

“Through here!”

Rob and Jon brought the first barrel into the room and set it down. Jon looked up.

“What…?”

“Tony, what’s this?” Rob came over. “Shit! It’s a bloody tunnel! Where does it go?”

“I thought we might as well finish the job. We could sell the film as a full documentary. I wanted to keep it a secret to avoid any possible leak. This tunnel joins a passage that runs from Westminster Abbey to the Houses of Parliament. It was the Guy Fawkes original.”

“Bloody hell! And you dug this tunnel through to it?!”

“Yeah! Why do you think I’ve been opting out of the beer nights?”

“But… So what are we going to do?”

“Well I thought we could get Francis to film it. I borrowed a spot’ from the studio which should provide enough light.”

“Can we go down?”

“Sure. Bring the barrel!”

They carried it, bent double, and had to crouch down further as they got to the junction. Tony watched as the barrel was eased through the hole into the passage.

“Down to the right! Back there goes to the Abbey.”

There was more space here, and they could roll the barrel. In a hundred metres or so they came to some steps, where the passage ended. The steps led up to a concrete wall.

“Up there’s where they make all those daft decisions”, Tony said.

Jon and Rob looked in silence.

“But how…”, Jon started.

“Prime Minister’s Question Time later. Let’s get those barrels down here. Have Francis and Monty set up the light at the junction and start filming. I’ve got enough lead for them to come down here later. Don’t say anything to Mary yet.”

Jon shook his head in amazement and they headed back to the flat. It took some time to get all the barrels down, but eventually they stood lined up together at the end of the tunnel.

“Francis, bring the spot and camera down here, and let’s get a shot of the revolutionaries about to blow the government to the moon. Where’s Monty?”

“He said he had things to do. We can dub a soundtrack on top. Shall I call Mary?”

“No. There were no women present four hundred years ago.”

The three of them huddled in a conspiratorial group around the barrels, for the camera.

“Okay. I’ll edit that tomorrow”, Tony said, “I thought maybe we could enact an alternative sequel later on. We’ll leave the barrels here. So, do you two want to help Rob take the cart back, and Francis, you can look after the camera? I’ll take the cassette.”

Heads nodded agreement and they went back down the passage, whispering and chuckling to each other.

Tony sat on the steps, looking up the candlelit tunnel towards the darkness which led to the Abbey. The voices died away and he was left in silence. He sat still for some time, then unstrapped the belt from around his waist and removed the packet of fuses.

He unplugged the corks from the top of every barrel and carefully inserted each fuse. Probably just as well they hadn’t known what was really in the barrels. They might have been a bit more nervous about smoking. “Government Health Warning”. He placed the video cassette on top of the first barrel, and taking his lighter, he lit the twenty fuses.

Tony sat back down on the steps and pulled a large joint out from the inside pocket of his overcoat. Rolled especially for the occasion. African grass. He lit it and inhaled deeply.

“Tony!” Mary’s voice echoed in the distance.

His heart started to pound but he could do nothing now.

“Tony! Monty said he thought something strange…” Her head appeared at the junction. “Tony! What’s going on?”

As she approached, he watched the glow of the first fuse disappear inside the barrel. A blinding light filled his senses.

***

 He snapped to.

The rain was falling harder now. He was preparing to head back when a huge explosion and eruption of light filled the night. Everything went dark. He could no longer see the far bank. Caught in a half-world, stunned motionless, he stared; then started to run towards where he had last seen the beaming white face of Big Ben. He ran blindly, stumbling, dazed. As he came off the bridge, someone caught his arm.

“Woah! What’s the rush?”

He looked up into the face of a helmeted policeman.

“What…? What happened?”

“Called lightning, Sir. Power failure.”

Silence.

He turned to look at the heavy shadow of the Houses of Parliament, staring down at him in the dark. Power failure.

“Aye, it’s still there, my friend. No need to worry about that.” The policeman patted him on the shoulder. “What’s your name?”

“Antony.”

“Well, Antony, you’d better be getting home, or you’ll get yourself a chill.” He moved off.

A bedraggled old man shuffled towards Parliament Square. Which way now? Didn’t really matter, did it?

With Wisdom University in Europe, we are going to be launching an exciting new concept in October – the Wisdom Factor. There is a book coming out in Dutch first with essays by five authors – Dr Will Taegel, Dr Jm Garrison, Prof Matthijs Schouten, Irene van Lippe and Gert van Santen – followed by a two and a half day workshop with the authors deepening our understanding and felt experience of the Wisdom Factor.

In my words, the Wisdom Factor is accessing the dimensions of ourselves and our world that connect to our more intuitive and energetic sensing than to our rational mind. The conclusion I have come to is that this is essential for us to transition through the current turbulence.

You are welcome to the Book Launch on the morning of October 10th and the workshop on the afternoon of the 10th through to the afternoon of the 12th (which carries academic credit for Wisdom University students and is also open to others).

See Invitation Wisdom Factor book launch (Dutch) for more information on the book launch and Invitation Wisdom Factor Intensive (Dutch) for more on the workshop. Or feel free to contact me.

So all we need to do is be ready to release that which is longer fit for purpose while honoring the past for what it has given us, and integrating the foundation stones of the path we have walked so far. This is the difference between an ecstatic birth and a traumatic birth. Which we choose is up to us.

This is based on a paper submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for my PhD in Wisdom Studies at Wisdom University, following the course Fundamentals of Cosmometry, lead by Marshall Lefferts with guests.

The images of torus, jitterbug and vector equilibrium used with thanks to Marshall Lefferts.

Introduction

The idea that we as humanity have evolved in a linear process over time is probably one of the most widely accepted ideas across the human species. There is debate between more religious fundamentalist perspectives and more scientific-rational perspectives about exactly when it all began (eg a few thousand years ago versus 14 billion years ago), but they all agree on the idea that since that beginning we have been evolving through historical time with a past, present and future. Indeed, even our most popular philosophers and spiritual teachers tend to promote an evolutionary perspective (Wilber (1996), Cohen (2011), Laszlo (1996)). In my own book (Merry 2009) I adopted and connected these various evolutionary theories.

However, over the last year or so, I have come to question this perspective, and the cosmometry retreat has strengthened my belief that there is a more adequate perspective on our human reality that better reflects the fundamental dynamics of life. This paper attempts to explore the broader perspective and apply it to our human story.

An Integral Evolutionary Perspective

The map of the territory of our human development that I am most familiar with is that of Spiral Dynamics (Beck & Cowan 1996) and the archetypal dynamics of that journey (Wilber 1996). Based on the research of Clare W Graves (Graves 2002), it describes the evolution of our individual and collective worldviews, oscillating between I-centered and We-centered perspectives, in interaction with the life conditions as we experience them around us. Here is a summary of the worldviews (source: Evolutionary Leadership by Peter Merry):

Graves, and Beck and Cowan after him, postulate that our evolution is a never-ending quest, with one worldview’s solutions sowing the seeds for the next set of existential problems, which a new worldview emerges to solve.

During the very first course I followed with Dr Don Beck on Spiral Dynamics, I remember saying to him that it seemed to me that the model Spiral Dynamics came out of a Yellow worldview, and that therefore once we get to Turquoise, we should expect the model itself to start to look out-dated and a more adequate model to emerge. He replied: “I like the way you think, Peter Merry”. That was the start of what has been a wonderful relationship over the last twelve years. Now it feels like the Turquoise moment has come, and in the very spirit of what lies at the heart of Spiral Dynamics, it is time to expand our conception, while embracing the best of what it has given us.

From Worldviews to Energy Dynamics

In my work with Dylan Newcomb, exploring the energy dynamics of the Spiral Dynamics value systems through the body, we settled on a framing that held to a set of eight worldviews. One of the main reasons for that at that time was that we didn’t feel that we could stretch much beyond Turquoise ourselves, and that there was very little data on Turquoise itself let alone anything postulated to exist beyond that. Coupled with Dylan’s musical background and the natural form of an octave, and my sense that the model would shift anyway when we got beyond Yellow, we decided to work with the eight. It is important to remember that this was a choice, and therefore gives us data from that octave perspective. Taking the Spiral as recurring tiers of six value systems, as is popular with those familiar with the model, also gives interesting insights and is simply a different perspective.

When we started to explore the spiral through the octave lens, some interesting insights emerged that formed the beginning of my inquiry into a new framing. One of the key findings was a relationship between Beige and Turquoise, Purple and Yellow, Red and Green, Orange and Blue, as depicted in the image below.

In the body-based research we carried out around this, these pairs each ended up having the same basic movements but with a different quality. The movements in beige to blue were more solid and fixed than their echoes in orange to turquoise, which were more fluid and relaxed. As we looked into what the quality of the energy dynamics was related to each worldview pairing, an interesting pattern started to emerge. The outer-systems (starting at beige-turquoise) were more archetypal in their nature, that is to say that they reflected more the extremes and essences of yin and yang, whereas the closer you got to the center, the more refined the systems became, in increasingly subtle combinations of yin and yang[1]. This can be seen in the image, where the white and black circles reflect yin and yang. You can see how in the center they are more blended and in the extremes more pure.

Seeing the Spiral in this way gave me the impression that there was somehow a meta-map behind this map that was describing the creative process of life, from seed to fruit and back to seed again. The image I got was of more subtle archetypal energies coming ever more into form as they move in from the outer dynamics (beige-turquoise) to the core where it crystallises into manifestation (between blue and orange). This also happens to be the location on our Spiral octave map of the heart chakra (verified through body energy research), the ultimate place of connection and crystallisation. I had a sense of a breathing process, out of a field of potential into form and back out again, continually expanding and embracing. It didn’t feel linear any more, but somehow pulsing in and out, like a heart, connecting energy with matter, heaven with earth.

This was as far as life had taken me when I came across cosmometry and the work of Marshall Lefferts and Nassim Haramein, among others.

Volution

I had been aware for a while of the torus as a fundamental pattern of life but had never really looked into the dynamics that it reflects. What resonated with me and my inquiry was the subtle, lighter outer skin and denser inner core, like in my new sense of the Spiral. When I saw the animated jitterbug graphic for the first time at the Wisdom University Geometrica intensive in Chartres 2011, I could see in front of me the breathing process that I had been feeling was related to the dynamic underneath my Spiral Dynamics map. The cosmometry retreat has given me a perspective and language to further my understanding of what is actually going on, and this is what I will lay out below.

Firstly the concept of a unified field out of which every form emerges resonated with my experience and understanding of there being an absoluteand relative dimension to life, and allowed me to park the absolute perspective with the concept of unified field so that I could devote myself to exploring the relative dimension without worrying that it was ignoring the ultimate truth of absolute unity.

The idea of there being a geometry to the unified field, the Vector Equilibrium (VE), which is ready at any moment to come into movement and create form, enabled me to bridge from a feeling of the unified field to a cognitive sense of it in the relative world. It resonated with my understanding of the Spiral having the most fundamental unity-based dynamics at the extremes, holding the other worldview dynamics between two poles. Beige is a pre-cognitive unity system where the drive is pure survival, with no thought process coming between our instinct and its expression, and full living in the moment blending with the environment. Turquoise is a post-cognitive unity system that experiences reality as one interlocking sea of energy. A Vector Equilibrium is six pairs of vectors, six polarities holding the structure in balance. As I contemplated how this might relate to the Spiral octave perspective, I realised that actually only six of the worldviews could be seen to contain polarity, as the extremes of Beige and Turquoise were unity systems. So in the Spiral we also had a set of six polarity vectors (Purple to Yellow). I also realised that in themselves, that set is also in relationship as polarised pairs, with Purple-Yellow, Red-Green and Blue-Orange. As I said above, the two members of a pair contain the same basic dynamic, but with a very different form:

These pairs through their polarity seem to have the function of pulling potential from the extremes (seed Beige and field Turquoise) into form at the heart (between Blue and Orange), through the phases of:

• connecting up what needs to be connected and defining what is core and periphery (Purple-Yellow),
• putting it into right relationship defining the identity of each part and its relationship to the rest (Red-Green)
• and manifesting it in form through creating just enough structure for it to be able to thrive and grow (Blue-Orange)

This is what in the geometry is known as “tensional integrity”, or tensegrity (Edmondson, A 2009), as the tension manifests the form and the form holds the tension. As I sensed into this dynamic I got an image of the seed (eg Beige) and potential (eg Turquoise) arising at one and the same moment. It is a moment of conception at which point a seed planted in the material world is in resonance with its potential in the energetic world, forming together an energetic envelop within which that life form can crystallise out. It is literally a process of the integration of heaven and earth, of in-formation, as subtle energy potential inspires (“breathes into”) physical form and physical form draws down the energy through its density and gravity so it can manifest in three-dimensional reality.

This is precisely the process described geometrically by Marshall Lefferts during the retreat. When the unified field and VE come into disequilibrium, a process is triggered in which a dynamic geometry is released in a process of continual enfolding and unfolding as it breathes into the core and out to the periphery, linking up all levels and densities of energy, including matter. The density increases as the scale gets smaller towards the center of the VE, as it does towards the center of the Spiral. As it enfolds and unfolds, the jitterbug, as it is known, passes through the geometric forms that make up the platonic solids, known to be the core geometries at the foundation of all life forms. In my Spiral concept, this would correlate with the icosahedron being yellow-purple, the dodecahedron green-red and the octahedron blue-orange. A brief review of descriptions of the qualities of the geometric forms do suggest resonance with the worldviews as linked above, although to postulate it with more conviction would need much more research. What we can conclude is that this jitterbug dynamic literally links energetic potential with material form through its dynamic geometry. This is a perfect echo of what the Spiral is doing from the perspective I described above. It is the creation process.

Not only do we see the platonic solids in this process, but we also see how the phi proportion plays a key role in the relationships between the parts. Phi, also know as the “golden proportion”, is a number that describes the relationship between parts and wholes. It is a proportion that we see in most natural life forms as it is the most efficient way of vitalising parts whilst maintaining the coherence of the whole. This once more demonstrates how the dynamic geometric process seems to reflect natural life dynamics.

Although generally referred to in the physical realm, phi has properties that can also be applied to the human cultural realm. Its function, according to Lefferts in the retreat, is to balance inward and outward dynamics, expansion and contraction, or most fundamentally, yin and yang. So if human culture was resonant with natural principles, we would expect a healthy dynamic balance between yin and yang. Unfortunately what we currently observe is a swing to the extreme yang side, with an emphasis on expansion and growth, and a split with the yin side, of relationship to oneself, each other and the earth. This would suggest a lack of alignment with natural principles of life, hence a lack of “phi” harmony in our relationships, and an inability to hold our polarities in a healthy dynamic tension to act as a creative force.

Seeing the Spiral in this way, as an example of a deeper creation dynamic, links it very closely to the dynamics of the torus. The torus describes the form of the flow field that surrounds the VE and jitterbug dynamics. It is essentially a spinning dynamic. The VE collapse goes hand in hand with the emergence of the torus form. Ultimately then we can look at the human story more in terms of spin, pulses and breath, rather than linear evolution. It was this realisation, that evolution and involution are both part of the core life process, and that it is neither one without the other, that triggered me to use the term “volution” instead. When it came to me, I had no idea what it meant, just that it seemed to cover both evolution and involution as it was at the root of both. When I looked it up I saw that it meant “turn” and “spin”, which of course fits the toroidial perspective perfectly.

At this point, it is worth a quick baby-bathwater check. There is after all also something true in our experience of the seemingly linear development from Beige to Turquoise. So how might we be able to reconcile that linear experience with this more organic perspective? This is how I see it. From Beige to Blue, our reality manifests in the material plane through those worldviews, but each of those systems is in resonance with its partner in the energetic dimension. (That could explain why in the time periods of Beige and Purple (where we were apparently pre-cognitive in our development), we created great pyramids and temple structures which are being shown today to have encoded in their geometry the physics of the vacuum and so-called “dark matter”. The resonance with Turquoise/Yellow somehow enabled Beige/Purple to manifest those structures bypassing cognition.) From Orange to Turquoise, our world manifests through each of those worldviews in resonance with their partner, which means that we have to clear up any pain or unfinished business from the earlier phase to be able to maturely manifest the later partner (eg orange fully integrate blue, green fully integrate red, yellow fully integrate purple and turquoise fully integrate beige). That has certainly been my personal experience and would also be an explanation for why Dr Don Beck and Ken Wilber targeted a Red-Green combination which they called the Mean Green Meme (Wilber 2003.) as a blockage to the emergence of Yellow. The pairs are locked in a co-creative dance. At the end of the process, energy (heaven) and matter (earth) have been fully fused, all worldviews infuse each other, a major cycle is complete, the torus is functioning at its highest potential, and ready to be the seed for a new scale of manifestation.

Another link between cosmometry and the Spiral Dynamics model of evolution is in the systemic change dynamics. In the jitterbug dynamic, there are moments when all the different geometric levels meet at a “zero point”. In these moments during the life of a living system all information from the local system is shared instantaneously with the whole Unified Field, and all universal information is available to the local system. In Spiral Dynamics terms, this would represent a Change Variation 8, the most intense of all systems change variations. As the geometric levels move away from each other there is an increase in stability, which would be the times that cultures and worldviews settle down into periods of building on knowledge gained and establishing societies. One could see the movements of a jitterbug fractally at many different scales of space and time. At sub-particle level it would be moving very fast at tiny scales. At civilisational and epochal level, the time for a jitterbug to complete one cycle would be much longer at a much larger scale. The basic dynamic would be the same, just at a different scale. So this universal life process described in cosmometry finds its expression in human cultural form too.

Co-creators

If we are to adopt the perspective of volution as the framework for our understanding of the life story, the great question remains: what is it that triggers disequilibrium in the unified field, leading to a collapse within the VE, toroidial spin dynamics and the localized manifestation of a life form? What creates life?

In the cosmometry retreat, various clues were offered. Marshall Lefferts shared how the quantum level is what bridges the unified field and manifest reality. So the trigger must be related to the quantum field. He also shared how it is our consciousness that impacts this quantum level. The implications are that it is consciousness that can trigger the emergence of a life process through influencing probability in the quantum field.

“In-tention” literally means bringing something into tension and as we know from the above, creative tension leads to manifestation. Conscious intention creates form – very literally in the form of sacks of manure and garden tools in the Perelandra context (Small Wright 1997) I understand the process as conscious intention bringing waves of potential into coherence, and exerting a pull in the unified field which sets off the process of volution. Arthur Young stated “The universe is a process put in motion by purpose”.

A good example of this process in action is the twenty-eight years of research carried out at Princeton University’s Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) (Jahn, B & Dunne B 2005). They drew highly statistically significant conclusions that human intention impacts the otherwise random nature of events. Things are random if there is no purpose. When we bring intention and purpose to bear on something, we exert a pull on the field and increase the probability of manifesting that which we are envisioning.

In her writings on co-creative science (Small Wright 1997) Machaelle Small Wright describes the role of humans as being to set direction, definition and purpose. Once we have done that, we should turn to our co-creative partners in the energetic realms to help us to find the most life-affirming form through which to manifest our intention. In our new Spiral cosmometry, that would suggest that the role of the conscious human is to set intention and make choices from the Yellow-Turquoise perspective, and then to come fully present to the life process in the moment and work with the nature spirits at Beige-Purple to pull the intention through the birthing canal of Red-Green into form and vitality at Blue-Orange. In a workshop on geomancy, Richard Leviton described the role of the human as one that bridges the angelic and nature spirit realms, stepping down the high-frequency energy of the angels so that it can safely infuse the lower frequencies of the earthly realm. Using our angelically-informed consciousness to express life-affirming intentions and make choices for the good of the whole enables us to fulfill that role as we trigger toroidial spin to birth new life forms that reflect heaven and enrich the earth.

If a new understanding of our human story, volution, can help me and others move in that general direction, then both Spiral Dynamics and the Fundamentals of Cosmometry will have been of great service.

References

Beck & Cowan (1996). Spiral Dynamics. Oxford, Blackwell

Cohen, A (2011). Evolutionary Enlightenment. New York, Select Books

Edmondson, A (2009). A Fuller Explanation. Colorado, EmergentWorld LLC

Graves, C (2002). Levels of Human Existence (Seminar 1971). Santa Barbara, ECLET

Jahn, B & Dunne B (2005). The Pear Proposition [DVD/CD]. Oakland: StripMindMedia

Laszlo, E (1996). Evolution the General Theory. Cresskill, Hampton Press Inc.

Merry, P (2009). Evolutionary Leadership. Pacific Grove, Integral Publishers

Nichol, L Ed (2003). The Essential David Bohm. New York, Routledge

Small Wright, M (1997). Co-Creative Science. Warrenton , Perelandra Ltd.

Wilber, K (1996). Up from Eden. Wheaton, Quest Books

Wilber, K (2003). Boomeritis. Boston, Shambhala

Click here for more info on my site, or go directly to Calen’s site here. Register by emailing me (petermerry@wisdomuniversity.org) or Calen (crayne@wisdomuniversity.org). We are choosing to keep the group quite small first time round (c 15) and have a few places left, so if you feel called, act now!

And I realised that the old beliefs and structures of our civilisation are also already dead. They are dead. Dead. Let it in. They are dead. They are dead and they are deadening for us as long as we cling to them. They are still interfering because we are holding onto them, but I can assure you that they are dead. That is why we are in so much turmoil at the moment.

An economy based on monetary debt, competition, unlimited growth, the privatisation of wealth and socialisation of costs is dead. Energy use based on petrochemicals, consumer excess, unlimited consumption, conflict and pollution is dead. A relationship to nature that involves exploiting raw materials for solely our ends, industrial use as if resources were unlimited, waste and degradation is dead. They are all dead, but not yet buried – and that is the problem.

Anything that dies needs to be honoured for the life it had, blessed and released. For us to let go of our fascination with the dead beliefs and structures of the past, we need to see in them the beauty of the gift they gave, the contribution they made and give thanks. And grieve for their passing. Weep, sob, grieve for the end of something beautiful, honour it and let it go. For it is dead. We are then able to carry forward the essence of the gift that past form held.

We don’t have to fight against the old system, it is already dead. We will only create zombies if we fight it. Bless it, grieve for it and release it. That may be hard to accept, because pushing against something can help to define your identity and give you meaning. But you are pushing against a shadow – it is already dead. And it will deaden you as long as you allow yourself to be defined by it. Let it go – it is dead and wants to be released, not bound in the twilight zone, hanging around to haunt us. Ritually honour it and bury it. It’s dead.

Now turn your attention to life. Life is right here, under your nose, in this very moment, happening. It’s dancing in front of you, trying to playfully grab your attention and seduce you into dancing with it. It’s pushing its way through cracks in the dead concrete of the past, at every moment. It is pure joy, acceptance and love. Let it in. It’s right here, now. Raise your eyes, stop reading this and look around you. Yes, that’s it! you feel it in your heart. It’s so simple people, it really is. We make it so difficult for ourselves. I laugh tears when I see it – oh my word we make it so difficult. Yet it is so simple, so simple.

The past is dead. Life is the present. And the future is calling. Let’s let go, come present and bring this species of ours back to life.

Think for a moment about what Juncker is saying – according to our economic policy framework and paradigm, we know what we should do, but we also know that it would be immensely unpopular with people. What does that tell us? One of two things: either the people are ignorant and don’t know what is good for them and their countries, or the socio-economic paradigm from which our politicians are trying to manage the crisis is fundamentally flawed. I tend to go with the latter. They are trying to impose more of the old when the old itself is the problem – because they don’t know any better.

Listening to the Hardtalk interview, I was struck by how, for the first time in a long time, views that fairly fundamentally challenge the current economic paradigm and assumptions were given a serious airing. Something is shifting. And Greece is leading the way.

This is not to say that I agree with everything Syriza stands for nor the energy with which they are going about it. But that is not the point. The point is that life is giving form to a new way of thinking about our societies, and Greece and Syriza happen to be the channels for the new birth. Passion, positioning and polarisation is part of the process. This may sound romantic but is actually a blessing very much in disguise. Greece is the innovator here, and for an innovator to carve out a new paradigm at this level is going to be extremely tough.

The transition will be painful, as people struggle to make ends meet playing by the rules of a game that is dying. It will take time for the new ways to emerge and crystallise in such a manner that they really serve the needs people are feeling and can be widely adopted (see this emergence of local solutions as an example of innovation due to need). There will be recriminations towards the old order, babies will be thrown out with bathwater, sides will be taken, society will be polarised. But eventually the new order will settle down, people will have space in their hearts to forgive, they will remember the good elements of the old and will re-integrate what has been rejected too hastily, and Greece will once more have been the cradle of a new civilisation.

Thank you Greece for being so bold. Thank you for cracking the old mold. And thank you for the suffering you undergo for us all. We hold you in our hearts.

[This piece is written for Dutch book Bloei! on leadership and organisation. I was asked to write on "lijderschap" which in Dutch is a play on words. Leadership is normally "leiderschap". "Lijden" means to suffer.]

Passion – pp. stem of patī suffer (Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology)

Practice

We are on retreat with the Center for Human Emergence Netherlands. It is the last morning and we have just completed a forty-five minute session of Quantum Light Breath. I am sitting in a circle of seventeen people who fill a role in the organisation I founded and lead. I have just announced that I have something to say. My voice trembling with the emotion of the realisation that I have just had, I open my mouth to speak. I share that it has just hit me really hard what an honour it is to be entrusted with the leadership of these amazing people I see sitting around me. I tell that I allowed myself to accept that I may be worthy of their trust, which is a huge thing. I say that I realise that I have not always been able to see them for the great souls they are and have not honoured them fully in my leadership. For that I apologise and commit to remembering. The room is still. Then our master of ritual tells me to stand in the middle of the room and has everyone put their hands on my shoulders. People call out qualities that they respect in me and my leadership. I am rooted to the spot and feel my self expand. The pain of the realisation has bonded us more closely and installed me more deeply in my leadership role. Natural order is honoured.

Pain and Passion

I was struck recently when researching the etymology of the word passion that it had its roots in the word pain. It set me thinking – does all passion emerge out of pain? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Do I only care about something strongly because I hurt somewhere? Does that mean that all the things I am passionate about are simply a projection of my own past pain? And if that is so, does that mean I should be wary of passion? Yet passion is what has helped me create, inspire and lead the organisations I lead in the world. What is this all about? And so my mind whirred around confused and challenged.

As I quieted the monkey mind, the chatter began to settle and clarity started to emerge. Yes, passion emerges from pain. Pain comes from a realisation of separation and split. Passion is our yearning for wholeness that looks to transcend the separation and heal the pain. My passion, as an expression of a desire for greater wholeness, is a valid and important part of my being and life’s movement towards more wholeness and finer definition. It becomes unhealthy when I demand that others share my passion. After all, it is rooted in my pain, not theirs. It is vitalising and inspiring when I own my pain and passion, and create space for others who resonate with my passion to embark on a journey together to do something about it.

Pain into Passion

Pain in itself can be debilitating. It can paralyse us – quite literally if it is physical. If we only feel pain and don’t see anything we can do about it, we are not going to be in a position to lead anyone, let alone ourselves. The first key step when transforming pain into passion is fully facing the pain and accepting that the situation one is hurting about is the way it is. There is no point in fighting that reality emotionally as it is simply that way for now and we need to able to accept that. Once we have accepted that, we can actually be in clear contact with that situation, unpolluted by our other fears and judgements. From that space we can connect to potential alternatives and hold the tension in ourselves between the present and the future in a way which can create a natural evolutionary movement that expands our possibilities while embracing the current reality.

Creative Tension

Tension is the pre-condition of all life. Buckminster Fuller, David Bohm and more recently Nassim Haramein and Marshall Lefferts have illustrated how that is actually so in the dynamic geometry of life. The following points draw on these sources.

Everything that we can perceive as a life form rests in what is called the Unified Field – that is a field of potential energy where everything is one. This is the inner experience of the absolute unity context that we can feel through meditative practices. It is a place of stillness where nothing happens. Life is created when a pull is exerted on the unified field geometry which brings a certain energy out of balance and starts a collapse of the unified field’s vector equilibrium geometry through the platonic solids geometries that are the foundation of all life. A dynamic is triggered between two poles in which a number of other polarities are activated, which creates a toroidial spin. The most recent scientific observations describe the torus as the foundational geometric form and dynamic of all living systems.

Without a polarity, nothing comes into movement and the unified field is undisturbed. Polarity creates tension which creates movement and spin, creating life. Pain is rooted in polarity, in an experience of a current reality compared to a possible other reality. It hurts because it could be so much better. A good leader knows how to hold polarities in such a way that they trigger passion and creativity, and build a movement.

Pain, polarity and change

Pain and polarity are key change conditions. If one is not feeling a tension between current reality and future possibility, why should one change? This issue is central to our current global crisis, which is of course also a crisis of leadership.

We are clearly in trouble as humanity at the moment. The Earth is destabilising the climate and ecology that has supported our life form for so long, at least in significant part due to our disrespectful and uninformed exploitation and waste of natural resources. Economic, social and ecological systems are showing signs of high stress. Nature is ruthless – if any life form does not adapt to fit the whole that it is a part of, then it will die out. That safeguards the vitality of the life system as a whole. As humanity we are pushing the limits of our own survival. Yet we seem to be extremely slow at changing.

Although the facts are clear, we are finding it very hard to let in the pain of the current situation. Species are dying out all around us, including some of the great mammals, peoples are suffering under increasingly challenging survival conditions and much of the beauty in our world is coming under great stress. The world that our children and grandchildren are likely to inherit will be a high-stress, conflict-ridden world of extremes.

So why aren’t we taking the action we should be? Because we are not allowing it in. We are keeping it out of our hearts and emotions because somewhere we fear that we may not be able to take it. When you really allow the current reality in, it hurts, badly. It breaks our hearts. Particularly when we allow ourselves to accept that we are partly responsible. Sadness emerges at the loss of beauty and potential, anger emerges at ourselves and others around us for not doing what we know we should be doing, and fear emerges that we may be too late. Reinforced by the consensus trance of the rational society and culture we live in, we are loathe to give our emotions the place they deserve. So we bottle it up. Yet as all psychologists will tell you, repressing pain will only lead to more stress in the future. We find all sorts of ways to distract ourselves, yet increasing numbers of people are at home with burn-out. Stress is the highest cause of absenteeism at work. Somewhere in ourselves we know that things need to change. And somewhere in ourselves we are hurting, badly. We need to let it out.

As humanity now we must create the space and conditions for us to name and face the pain of our knowing about what is happening. Drop deep into the despair, frustration, fear and anger. Let it rage in us and between us. As we do so, our beings will come to settle into a creative tension between what we have accepted is true now and our knowing that it can be different. In that space we can lead ourselves and each other into a world that reflects our deepest desires and potentials, an abundant world where all needs are met and people thrive on the beauty of life. The longer we refuse to let it in, the more suffering we will undergo as the Earth restores the balance on her terms. The sooner we let it in, the more graceful the transition will be, and the quicker we will find ourselves doing what we are really here to do.

Leadership

We live in archetypal times. As leaders, we need to work at the archetypal level. This is the place of deep pain and passion, the place of story, of heroes, of wizards, of magic. This is the place from which we can make anything happen, if we believe. To do so, we need to bless and release our cognitive minds from all the hard rational work they normally do for us, and open our hearts to the energies of the time. In our hearts we will find the fire and the deep knowing that will guide us through this turbulent transition. Fuelled by the pain of what is at stake and the passion for what is possible, grounded in seeing the present clearly, and held in our ultimate knowing that all is one, we will unfold a future worthy of who we are.