May the Mother Earth Goddess, Gaia, be as merciful and forgiving as she is generous.

Bride of the Almighty,

Mother of the living Christ our redeemer,

Light our way,

Enlighten us,

Deliver us from ignorance,

Free us from bondage,

Guide us to your garden of earthly delights.

There that’s better.

kudos to you, may peace be upon you.

may the fruits of the 8 fold path nourish and keep you.

and now a prayer for us all.

dear Sophia,

bride of the Almighty and mother of the living Christ our redeemer,

light our way, enlighten us,

lead out of this darkness,

free us from our bondage,

that we may return to dwell again in your kingdom one day.

Martin Luther King in a talk about loving your enemies talked about turning the other cheek but also added as an aside that he was still glad there were laws against murder because he didn’t want to be lynched. He was a spiritual leader but also a political leader. He got the Civil Rights Act passed. In doing that he brought an abstract idea to fruition in the real world through action. Ideally he wanted to get rid of racism. In the meantime he wanted laws that would allow black people to vote. The Dalai Lama is also a spiritual AND a political leader. The 3rd Noble Truth in Buddhism is that there is a way to stop suffering. The 4th noble truth is that the 8fold path is the way. The 4th step on the 8fold path is right ACTION. That is not a negation of steps 1 & 2 which are right understanding and right thought but it is equally important on the path to nirvana.

First, let me say thanks for sharing and I appreciate your perspective.

I have a few questions. Please name one “act” that we can take “collectively” to effect global warming?

With regard to the “giant footsteps” of “huge corporation”, what size shoes do giant corporation wear? Exxon Mobil for instance ought to be able to afford some pretty snappy shoes with all those bucks it’s racking in, right?

You imagine your art work as “direct participation in culture” or going to the town hall and taking notes as “directly participating in politics”, (assuming you’re a painter) is the act of painting something secondary to cultural participation? and what becomes of the dialogue in the town hall?

I do not intended to deny the validity of culture and politics, both are purposeful and instructive conceptions. However, when we allow the abstract to “seem pretty real” we enter a sort of Alice in Wonderland existence. In the USA we have entered into a sort of malaise where we feel disempowered at the individual level precisely because we are conditioned to expect the needed change to occur somewhere else. This provides us with a sort psychological sanctuary that allows us to rationalize our individual behavior. We get into a conversation with a neighbor at the gas pump about those dirty politicians who are letting corporations ruin everything.

You say “I alone cannot stop a huge corporation” and I say imagination is the powerful force in existence. There is not a single corporation in “existence” that was not imagined into being a single individual or small group of individuals. Every corporation you can name is run by about 12 (or fewer) PEOPLE. And finally, corporations are a “legal entity” endowed with certain rights, they are primarily an accounting entity. They thrive on currency. The currency derived from transactions. That is to say they are transactional entities. Consider the word

“transaction”, between actions, ultimately the acts of individuals.

If we wish to “turn around from our current destructive course” there is only one “law” we need consider. The law of thermonuclear dynamics. If we, the human species, wish to survive, we need to reduce entropy. It is really just that simple. Isn’t it?

What we are experiencing is a crisis of values. Our socio-economic institutions and the our current geo-political quagmire are all manifestations of our values. The climatic conditions we are presented with are the consequence of actions. Actions are the product of motivation. Motivation is function of paradigm. Values are the substance of paradigm. Values are informed by imagination. Who was it that said the fires of hell are the wages of sin? What is the third noble truth in Buddhism?

Let us make this our creed: Reduce entropy! or how about this: “be the change you wish to see in the world”

…suffering an acute form of cognitive dissonance…

This is a frightfully intriguing circumstance because it is permeated with the most intense irony and paralyzing paradox.

It is a problem that plagues us globally (collectively), yet it’s resolution can only be effected personally (individually).

May I offer a proposition for consideration: no one will lead us out of global warming. At essence, it is not a question of policy or diplomacy or security, it is a question rooted in paradigm. The symptoms that characterize global warming are the consequence of actions. Actions are inspired by motivation. Motivation is determined by paradigm (the way you see the world, more specifically the way you imagine the world). Only inspired imagination will light “the way out of” our current predicament.

Who was it that said, “I have met the enemy and he is us”?

Who was it that said, “we are entering a period of consequence”?

Who was it that said, “be the change you wish to see in the world”?

Who was it that said, “we have nothing to fear but fear itself?”

What we are experiencing is crisis of values stemming from and rooted in a misfiring of imagination. Will we allow fear to cripple reason and pitch us into the fires of hell? Or will we accept personal responsibility and respond accordingly? Those of us that would look to “leadership” or “politics” to “solve” the “problem” are suffering an acute form of cogitative dissonance. Politics and culture are abstractions, abstractions do not melt ice caps or fire up automobiles or eat apples from Chile or shop for bargains Wal-Mart.

As long as we insist on the primacy of the individual and competition and fail to see the manifest reality of our co-dependence and the necessity of cooperation, we seal our fate.