Transmutation: Soul & Society
Step 1: go sit on a rock and meditate, talk to God, commune with Nature, listen and reflect. Then take your insights, revelations and learning and apply them to your life, interactions with others, endeavors and so on. —Cultivate a lifestyle of practicing presence, appreciation and mindfulness.
Step 2: build communities in your diverse geographic areas around the world that sustain an agrarian and altruistic life. —No matter of individual cultural philosophies and beliefs, we all need to eat, we all want to raise our families and we all want to live productive and meaningful lives.
Step 3: [research] progress, spiritually and technologically and do so harmoniously, in partnership with the ecosystem in which we live and of which we are merely a small part. —Enjoy responsible evolution.
Rather than constantly patching up a global system which we all know is badly broken and expresses itself in more problems than in solves, we must stop and think: “what are we doing here?”
Are we living meaningful, fulfilling, happy, healthy lives? How do we get there?
Example
Let’s say we wanted to start a new colony on another planet and start over. The essentials we need is to grow various foods and harness livestock, we need medical specialists, we need teachers, we need craftsmen such as carpenters (perhaps a little oversimplified) … In this colony, everybody pitches in to help build dwellings, schools, an infirmary, planting crops, taking care of the animals and contributes in some way. In turn, we all take part in the fruits of our labor. Once the essentials are established we can expand by responsibly deciding (relative to food and other resources) whether and when to have children, as well as engage in everything from philosophy to research and development. At some point there’s room for entertainment, fashion, art, and simply enjoying a pristine and unadulterated, healthy and satisfying life …
How do we stay on track without giving in to complacency over time as it’s happened to most if not all historical cultures resulting in the eventual fall of a sophisticated society?
When corruption enters a culture, it is because that culture ceases to be now; it becomes past and future. Periods in history when great art was created, when learning advanced, or peace spread, were all now. Those situations happened at the very moment of their now. But after now happened, then those cultures lost their now.
Chögyam Trungpa — Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior
Concepts such as profit, economic growth, government, greed, overconsumption and all the other undesireables are not needed because they’re neither relevant nor productive nor conducive to meaningful living.
Personal application
I’m currently looking for a way to do just that … on one hand to disengage from the burdens of the illusions and status quo of society as we know it and instead, pursue a more dignified and inspiring life by building an ecologically sound home, grow our own vegetables, fruits, herbs, spices, learn about e.g. renewably harvesting energy, naturopathic medicine, and many other things that make for responsible and enjoyable living. Once these things are established, hopefully together with like-minded, kindred spirits, pratice, test and prove what I envision, and build a community around the principles mentioned, eventually to altruistically share of my creative energies with others to help them …
Detlev Obst
~ eternal sojourner ~
