A Movement of Momentous Proportions
A movement of momentous proportions is emerging at the margins of
societies all over the world. There is a new story about our natural
place within the vast intelligence of nature and the Kosmos. A new
story that tells us that we are not imperfect and flawed, but that we
are gradually evolving towards a wider and more complex worldview with
expanded care and concern. Generative dialogues and global conversations
are taking place across the planet in response to the newly emerging
global civilization that is being born through us. We are sifting
through centuries of habitual responses to articulate what really
matters as we tap our deepest knowing, and move from mere descriptions
about material values to authentic engagement in the quality of life and
concern for humanity as a whole.
We ask anew: Where are we headed? How shall we live our lives? What
kind of a new civilization are we creating? Our expanded vision covers
the vastness of galactic space and the infinitely small as well. We
invite the whole world into our homes through television and the
Internet. We follow the trajectory of the evolutionary impulse through
time, which brings us face-to-face with present-day exploitation, and
domination of nature and of others as we teeter on the edge of survival
as a species. Our hope lies in the new sciences, a groundswell of
spirituality based on inner experience, elevated interpretations of our
traditions, and new discoveries intersecting with the compelling
realities of world events. We are walking and talking to a different
drummer.
We are searching for the vast intelligence of nature and the Kosmos
as guides to our individual lives and to our collective future. We are
transcending emotional fears that interfere with perception, mental
dissonance and confusion, and a sense of inner barrenness. We are
searching for what is emerging as the next step in evolution—to become
who we naturally are and to design planetary institutions that reflect
our new awareness and values.
Make no mistake. This is asking a lot of us. And there are lots of
obstacles, too. As individuals and as collectives we are at different
stages of maturation. Billions on our planet are still merely surviving;
others still need to intimidate through domination and fear; while many
are caught in inflexible ideologies that rule their unexamined lives.
A serious limitation in many spiritual communities is the lack of
knowledge about the realities of the world and how it actually works.
Power is often not understood until we find ourselves at war with those
we consider our friends, or we are threatened by economic decisions that
compromise our values. In the corridors of power we find the role of
beliefs and values to be grossly underestimated. Secular humanism, which
considers only rational solutions and rational arguments as
significant, is politically correct among the business and political
elite, dismissing human feeling and intuition as irrelevant. Will the
passion and momentum of this new movement be strong enough to overcome
the obstacles?
There are certain memorable moments in our lives that give us the
courage to move on. One of those moments for me was the launching of the
Creating the New Civilization initiative in Tokyo with fourteen
partners. Kosmos was founded for this purpose. I felt a palpable
confirmation within as the realization of five years of effort was
coming into being. We traveled from all over the world to find each
other and to join together in common cause—all of us on stage and the 50
ambassadors and 4000 guests in attendance. We raised our arms in unison
and in celebration of our partnership. The World Wisdom Council was
there, dedicated to the advancement of wisdom-in-action, a think-tank
for advocacy and inspiration that recognizes the essential task of
networking and forging alliances in the 21st century. I was honored to be invited to be the first Media Ambassador for this respected group.
What stirs me most about the Council is the promise it holds to
encourage each one of us to act from a place of higher wisdom. We can
choose to stop, reflect and then follow the most elevated voice
within—for we are full of multiple voices that would deflect us from our
mission and diminish our courage to change the world. If we choose to
listen to the voice of wisdom, we may discover the pathway to the
creative expression of our moral beauty.
Kosmos is honored to present for your consideration articles by
some of the wisest leaders on the planet today—all participants in the
groundbreaking Forum in Tokyo in November 2005.
A little reminder as you unfold these pages. Let us not wait until
we are perfect. Let us not wait until we have found the answers to our
quest. Let us choose to follow our highest wisdom now. Let us ignite the
conversation that is emerging into a living flame with the moral beauty
for which we all strive. Let the beauty of new scientific truths, the
beauty of a living spirituality, and the realization of our own
exquisite inner beauty and power bring forth a new civilization of
infinite wisdom and compassion.