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This thread is aimed solidly at the AQAL community, and (I think) goes straight to the heart of the matter of why the world is in such a mess.
I know that's a subjective opinion, but I can't get much further than thinking about the 20,000+ women and children who'll be starving to death today.
My favourite analogy for states and stages is the concert pianist (one of Ken Wilber's favourites). As he says, anyone can adopt the being of a concert pianist in a heartbeat, for such is the nature of a state change. However….
….if that person were to sit down immediately with the Boston Philharmonic and attempt to play Rachmaninov's 3rd Piano Concerto, it probably wouldn't turn out particularly well. The reason, of course, is that the state change only provides a context for taking some new actions, such as practising scales three hours a day for a couple of years. Without taking the actions, no individual can progress through the stages of development required to become a concert pianist, which include developing the necessary muscles and neural pathways.
I believe that there's a similar phenomenon at work in communities such as Zaadz (and many others), characterised by people thinking that a state change is enough to produce a desired result out in the world. And here's the bad news:
IT ISN'T!
Producing results in the world, funnily enough, requires taking action in the world. If I spend ten years thinking carefully about a new future, envisioning a new future, getting others enrolled and engaged in my new future….
….and not taking action in the world, then the results in the world are likely to add up to about the same as if I'd spent those ten years boozing, taking drugs and jerking off.
To put it another way (and please forgive me for being blunt), much of what happens in the global community of conscious capitalism (or sustainable development, if you prefer) is intellectual masturbation - undoubtedly very pleasurable for all concerned, but let's stop kidding ourselves that anybody's going to get pregnant from it!
If we want anybody to get pregnant (metaphorically speaking, of course) then we're actually going to have to go out and take a risk, by asking someone on a date, wining and dining them, and ultimately having sex (i.e. taking real action in the world).
Now, I don't want to invalidate the power of thinking in new ways. Adopting a positive mind-set is critical to taking the right actions. However, I just want to remind everyone (including myself) that results in the world require action in the world.
A good question to ask is this: What can I do today, in fact right now, to be the change I wish to see in the world?
If each of us institutes a daily practice of asking that question, answering it, and then taking the action, a lot is going to happen in a short space of time!
All the best,
Patrick
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