Deep Ecology: The Great Turning towards a Life Sustaining Society

Earth Day, April 22, 2007

Deep Ecology: The Great Turning towards a Life Sustaining Society

Blessings to all beings today and everyday! Yesterday I was fortunate to experience the work of Joanna Macy http://www.joannamacy.net/index.html presented and facilitated by Rebekah Hart dancingpine@gmail.com here in Montreal at the Padua Center www.padua.ca. I would like to deeply integrate this work by writing and sharing it with all of you.

It’s so simple, really, the transformation we are living and pioneering, and at the same time, it is complicated and challenges deep personal and collective beliefs and structures. I’d like to summarize the work here and add my personal observations about the possibilities for healing from my shadow/emotional/bodywork orientation.

SUMMARY

1. Three great revolutions: Agricultural, Industrial and Ecological

2. Significant features of the Ecological Revolution: Holding Actions, New Structures and Institutions and Perceptual Shifts

3. The role of Com-passion: A model for processing deep change

4. Source of the orientation towards a world view of isolation of individual ‘things’ and people

5. Models of power which arise from different world views

6. A return to a world view of flow and inter-relationship of information, matter and all beings (Quantum orientation) and a new model of power

7. Systems and the expansion of the definition of ‘Self’

8. Personal observations: deconstructing inter-dependence-> from the personal “I” to the personal “We” to the collective “We” and back again to the personal “I”

1. Three Great Revolutions

Humans have experienced three paradigm revolutions since we began to record our stories. These revolutions brought different world views, perceptual shifts and structures to culture and society. In the first revolution, humans shifted their orientation from nomadic hunters and gatherers to settlers and farmers. As hunter/gatherers, the understanding was that Nature provided; there was enough and there was gratitude towards Nature. During the Agricultural Revolution, humans settled in one place and began a trend towards manipulating Nature for food. Regardless of what one believes about agriculture, we can say with certainty that this revolution evolved a world view of separation from and dominance over Nature. The Industrial Revolution evolved a world view of manipulation of resources (Nature!) for profit with a focus on exponential growth, meaning the rate of growth has to grow. In less than 150 years the world view of the Industrial Growth Society has sent the world suicidally spinning into destruction as it tries to maintain exponential growth even as the ‘resources’ of the Earth disappear or lose their integrity before our eyes. As we have seen in our life times, an Industrial Growth Society has a finite life span, dependent as it is on the resources of the Earth. This understanding has birthed the 3^rd great revolution of humankind, the Ecological Revolution, or The Great Turning, as Joanna Macy calls it.

2. Significant features of the Ecological Revolution (Great Turning): Holding Actions, New Structures and Institutions and Perceptual Shifts

The Great Turning is a 180 degree shift from the death and destruction orientation of an Industrial Growth Society, to an orientation towards the life and growth focus of a Life Sustaining Society.

Rebekah talked about three features which define the orientation of the Life Sustaining Society at present: holding actions, new structures and institutions, and perceptual shifts. These features are inter-connected and mutually supportive. Each informs and grows the other. I find this a beautiful feature of the Life Sustaining Society…life will present itself in fractal nature no matter where you look in its structures.

Holding actions: These are actions taken in direct response to the destruction- personal, physical, mental, collective…of the Industrial Growth Society. They are actions which slow down and attempt to re-direct the destructive orientation towards a life focus. Holding actions were described as legal, lobbying actions, vigils, boycotting actions. Other actions I feel are holding actions include lifestyle re-orientation…reducing or re-orienting consumption habits, emotional healing work such as shadow work, ancestor work-our current drive to heal scarcity mentality at its roots in our beings; healing our relationship to animals and animal nature, food, consciousness raising through art, etc.

New Structures and Institutions: A Life Sustaining Society works towards inter-dependence, power-with, in non-hierarchical, consensus-based structures and institutions. These can include anything from new food systems, education, eco villages, bartering and exchange programs to personal changes in relationships, neighborhoods, communities.

Perceptual Shifts: These are simply the new ways we see ourselves and what we value in relation to the world as a result of our holding actions and new structures which support our perceptual shifts. Clearly, deep perceptual shifts will precede new structures and holding actions, and just as clearly, new structures and holding actions will produce deep perceptual shifts. For example, when we are brave enough to explore inter-dependence in relationships and other structures, we are filled with deep satisfaction and a sense of value for this type of interaction, as well as an understanding of the inherent interconnection of all beings with each other and this planet.

3. The role of Com-passion: A model for processing deep change

This part of our workshop was a huge-ly honoring acknowledgement for me that we must awaken to our pain if we are to find freedom from it. No matter which side of the fence we sit on at this moment of the Great Turning, we are struggling to make sense of what is happening in our own personal way. As Rebekah said, we are mid-wife-ing the birth of a new society, within ourselves, and the contractions are our confusion, resistance, sadness, anger, fear. Compassion means “to suffer with”. We are encouraged to stay present to and feel, to suffer with, our own pain. The act of compassion, of being with ourselves, is a transformative act that releases energy from the pain which can then be focused towards life sustaining thoughts and actions.

The model for transformation used to hold us in this workshop begins with grounding oneself in gratitude. When we were deeply grounded in our gratitude we then shifted to explore our pain and confusion in a safe, supported container. We then shifted our focus towards goals and resources…what we really want. We ended our day with our focus deeply rooted in gratitude for what we have and desire for what we really want.

4. Source of the world view of isolation of individual ‘things’ and people from one another:

Searching for the root cause of the suffering of humanity is often like searching for a needle in a haystack. On this site I have written a bit about Miasms-their origin and relationship to disease. During the deep ecology workshop we explored the probable origins of the philosophy of separation in Western thought, in particular, the fundamental difference in opinion between the 5^th century philosophers Heraclitus and Parmenides.

Heraclitus wrote about the nature of the ultimate substance, and claimed that the nature of everything is change itself. For Heraclitus everything is "in flux". Heraclitus is recognized as one of the earliest dialectical philosophers with his acknowledgment of the universality of change and development through internal contradictions, as in his statements:

"By cosmic rule, as day yields night, so winter summer, war peace, plenty famine. All things change. Air penetrates the lump of myrrh, until the joining bodies die and rise again in smoke called incense."

"Men do not know how that which is drawn in different directions harmonises with itself. The harmonious structure of the world depends upon opposite tension like that of the bow and the lyre." (1)

These statements reflect an identification with Eastern thought on the nature of existence (the Tao) and our present understanding of Quantum physics.

Parmenides, on the other hand, was an early exponent of the duality of appearance and reality. For him and his pupils the phenomena of movement and change are simply appearances of a static, eternal reality. Parmenides' considerable influence on the thinking of Plato is undeniable, and in this respect Parmenides has influenced the whole history of Western philosophy, and is often seen as its grandfather. (2) His influence set in motion a way of looking at ‘things’ as separate and isolated from each other’s influence.

We have come full circle with this thinking, as we experience our deep inter-connection and inter-dependence in the face of the Ecological crisis, supported by the re-emergence of Eastern thought in healing (Chinese Medicine and Holism) and the emergence and integration of Quantum Physics in our understanding of the nature of reality.

5. Models of power which arise from different world views

Based on the world view of Parmenides, ‘power’ would be defined as ‘cause and effect’ or the ability of one thing to effect change on another thing, or the ability to reduce the choices of another. It is a win/lose model of power. In Parmenides’ world view, there is an image of God as invulnerable, immovable. “Power’ is built on strong defenses and the ability to remain ‘unmoved’ by forces outside oneself. I was struck (I literally felt wounded) during this conversation by how one symptom of our suffering world is the inability to respond to the suffering of the other…being ‘unmoved’ by other’s suffering. In this model of ‘power’, emotional and physical armoring is seen as strength.

6. A return to a world view of flow and inter-relationship of information, matter and all beings (Quantum orientation) and new models of power

New models of power have been explored by many people in response to a desire for healing and inter-dependence as we experience the perceptual shifts which reveal our innate inter-connectedness. Three authors on this site who explore the topic are Riane Eisler and Starhawk, and to some extent, Ken Wilbur.

In the new models of power, we honor our innate inter connection (Systems Theory) and ask of the universe: “how does it work?” (verb) rather than “what is it made of?” (noun). We ask ourselves how we are affected by the other and how we affect the other, knowing that whether or not we ask the question, we have an effect on the other. Taking into account the flexible, changing, inter-dependent nature of reality, we are guided by a model of power that is based on cooperation, power with, power between people and nature and all beings and things. In this case ‘power’ becomes a win/win or a lose/lose situation. Either we all win or we all lose in this model. We ‘win’ when we experience positive flow and growth and hope. We ‘lose’ when we experience the pain of destructive, death oriented, empty culture, relationship and isolation. It is to our evolutionary advantage to cooperate. In order to survive, we must build bridges and work together. In order to survive and flourish, we are asked to dis-arm emotionally and physically, to build trust with each other where there has been suspicion. We are asked to develop faith in this new model of power by continuing to explore inter-dependence in relationships and structures of our lives.

7. Systems and the expansion of the definition of ‘Self’

Living systems are holistic in nature. This means that if energy flows under conditions of health (meaning life supporting), a living system will organize in a balanced state. Living systems also have emergent properties. This means it is impossible to predict the exact outcome when two energies interact with one another because a third, totally novel energy is created.

In the old view of ‘Self’, we are isolated and defended, un-moved and unaffected by anything that happens outside our walls. As we can now understand, this world view is inaccurate, dangerous and emotionally painful. But when we experience the perceptual shift that we are actually inter-connected, our definition of ‘Self’ becomes expanded to include everything else. We begin to have an understanding of our ‘Eco-Self’…an expanded definition of self which includes trees, water, climate, animal populations, neighbors, nations, etc. Our definition of “self interest’ also expands to include everything which we define as affecting self.

And, the emergent quality of systems tells us that it is impossible to predict what the exact nature of our new cooperation will look like, only that under conditions of health and flow, the systems will organize in a balanced way.

8. Personal observations: deconstructing inter-dependence-> from the personal “I” to the personal “We” to the collective “We” and back again to the personal “I”

As a Holistic practitioner and Astrologer, the nature of my personal and professional focus is the individuation (or integration to wholeness) of the personal “I”. Each one of us is a cell in the organism of Gaia and the health of Gaia is dependent of the health of each one of her cells.

As I integrated this workshop, I started to explore how I might integrate Rebekah and Joanna’s work into my own work and understanding of the nature of inter-dependence. How is it possible to heal myself and help other people heal from the painful isolation, defensiveness and aggression the previous paradigm demanded of them and their ancestors? How can we be encouraged to peacefully, easefully dis-arm and gain trust with each other?

First, I believe, the desire for inter-dependence must be birthed in the heart and consciousness of the individual “I”. This is a uniquely personal evolution from a death orientation to a life orientation. For many people, like myself, a huge amount of suffering is ended simply in that shift…from death to life orientation.

In my own personal work it has been very helpful to work with models of power and individual authority. It has been helpful to work with inherited belief systems about power and authority and class and survival issues. It has been very helpful to me to find a model of spirituality which incorporates the Divine Feminine and nature. It is very helpful to find support and positive structure for our confusing emotions and resistance to change, and our deeply confusing and dangerous alliance with the death culture. For many people, shadow work is necessary to uncover and support transformation of painful alliances equated with loyalty and love.

I see my own desire for inter-dependence as having 4 components:

*equality

*good will

*common ground

*good boundaries

Equality: “I” create this by claiming my personal power to create and meeting the other as a powerful creator. “I” find my inner authority. “I” find my power in what I choose to create.

Good Will: “I” create this by my intention to find common ground with others

Common Ground: This is where our individual interests meet; where “We” meet; where our concerns meet, where our life force meets.

Good Boundaries: personal response-ability. This is where we have uniquely personal interests, responses, response-abilities and goals.

My personal desire for life brings me to a desire for inter-dependence. Each of these four components asks me to remain awake and aware of where I am still armed, unmoved and unmove-able. My desire asks me to open to my vulnerability and fear of dis-arming. My desire brings me to an understanding of the power of vulnerability….the ability to be present compassionately with the deep fear of being un-armed with others. It allows me to let this previously stagnant energy (Scorpio-Pluto-the desire to control life and death) flow towards health and balance. It asks me to take my personal power and to use it to make life sustaining choices. My desire asks me to trust, to have faith in the emergent quality of a healthy system.

Then, inter-dependence arises from a personal shift from death to life orientation, from a personal place of equality, good will, common ground and good boundaries. Inter-dependent, we relate, support, encourage and build together: shared awareness, structures that support sustainability, a life sustaining society.

Peace, love, blessings, Helen

(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraclitus
(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parmenides