I. Self Realization
This may not seem like the most important aspect of creating a new paradigm of peace and harmony for our planet, but indeed it is. Prophets and spiritual teachers from our past acknowledge that, to make any positive change to the outside world, you must first make the same change to your inner world. Most people desire similar things in life: love, compassion, acceptance, forgiveness, joy and purpose. Yet only to the degree that we have inwardly mastered these attributes can we spread them outwardly to others. As Ghandi once said, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” A tall order, but one that is critical for any real and lasting effect. We suggest that you take small steps in this endeavor. Allow yourself the time to drop deep within; breathe intentionally, quiet your mind, and gently ground yourself into this collective experience we call life. Then, without judgment, take the time to explore and acknowledge the person that you truly are. Make sure to identify what you believe are your best qualities and imagine being fully capable of acting upon them. Go ahead and write these qualities down, and trust that there will be many opportunities to express them in your daily life. Before long, you will begin to realize that not only are you creating a more positive and proactive version of you, you are actually creating a whole new reality for yourself. When you have achieved a sense of peace within, your outer world becomes a mirror to that inner peace.
II. Self Sufficiency
Like self-realization, self-sufficiency is key to positively effecting the world around you. Think of the cells in your body; each one needs to be capable of performing its assigned function before the entire organism called you can be considered healthy. As we move together in creating a world more aligned with our heart and soul’s true desires, we realize that all aspects of our existence are built upon a holistic approach. We are no longer addressing life as a bundle of separate cells, people and ideas, but a system of integration and unification that serves the greater good of all.
Still, you may be wondering why self-sufficiency is placed so high up on the list of principles. First, let’s address that we are not relating self-care to selfishness, nor are we talking about hunkering down in a bunker surrounded by guns and your last rations of food. Instead, take a moment to recall the safety demonstration provided on every commercial flight. If you’ll remember, in the case of an emergency which requires the deployment of oxygen masks, you are to put yours on first before anyone else. Is this an act of selfishness? No, it is to make sure that as many people are capable of providing care to others as possible. As we move closer to the tipping point regarding the survival of our species, it is imperative to acknowledge that we are a communal species which thrives collectively or collapses individually. “United we stand, divided we fall” is not just a political slogan, it is the foundational idea of what it means to be human.
III. Service to Others
Once we have attended to our personal health and well-being, we realize that our goal is not to be the most powerful, rich or famous person in society, but to be the most service-minded to others. This may seem a bit paradoxical in view of the previous principle based upon self-sufficiency, but it is not. What we are talking about here is redirecting our most primal impulses, many of which are rooted in fear and suspicion of others, and channeling our energy to support the well-being of those around us. This requires an enormous leap of faith into the realm of the heart, where love is shared readily and freely with everything and everyone it encounters. In the end, humans are not self-serving brutes who care nothing about others, we are altruistic beings who understand the value of community. There is an ancient African word, Ubuntu, which means, “I am what I am because of who we all are.” In this context, wouldn’t we all rather be supportive individuals shaped by a supportive community rather than greedy individuals shaped by a community of greed? This way of thinking could quickly turn into a reciprocal “Chicken or egg” debate, but this is not the case. Individuals shape societies and societies reveal individuals. Where you place yourself in the structure of a community is not as important as how you conduct yourself.
IV. Guided by Love
Love is an interesting word, for when you try to dissect it, its meaning becomes harder to pin down. To many scientists, love is expressed as a series of feelings created by certain electrical impulses in our nervous system. To others, it is both an intangible yet undeniable longing that springs up from the depths of what some would call our soul. For many, love is just a figment of the imagination that keeps us bound to preconceived ideas of romance, devotion and, at times, desperation.
Yet for all the things love may or not not be, we all yearn for our personal definition of it. In this regard, we begin to see that love is something more than its fragmented expressions, it is a unified force that shapes and defines us in every aspect of our lives. Maybe it would be easier to describe love by what it is not, as most people would agree that it is never violent, hurtful, angry or vengeful. Through this lens, love can be seen as the highest potential state of being not only for our species, but quite possibly provides the energetic foundation which the entire universe is built upon. After all, if every human feels a similar pull to love, might not we be seen as individual expressions of the entire nature of… everything? As such, it becomes easier to see that there is truly a universal force at work, a homing beacon guiding us all back to the source of who and what we were always supposed to be.
V. The Golden Rule
There is a well-known verse in the Bible, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” but it could be argued that this saying is universal and pertinent to every human being who has ever lived. After all, it addresses the consequences of one of the most fundamental laws of nature: Unless in a vacuum, every action results in some kind of reciprocal action. While studying the nature of the physical world, Isaac Newton claimed specifically, “Every action is met with an equal and opposite reaction,” which has become one of the foundational tenets of physics. In the realm of human conduct, we must frame the word “reaction” to mean “of equal measure and intent to the original force.” In other words, what you do to others is bounced back to you in the same degree.
The laws of reciprocity open up a deep philosophical conversation about human interaction and consequence. Whether we use the words “justice” or “karma” to describe the concept of “you get what you deserve,” it would seem that most people are fairly clear on the concept. Knowing this, how are we so inept at applying it to our lives? Why do we often treat others differently than how we would want to be treated ourselves? When did we become so detached from one of the most simplistic and obvious aspects of our communal existence? These are questions that could launch a very deep conversation about human behavior, but the most important thing to realize is that our past does not have to keep informing our present. We can, and must, change the model. While delivering one of his most famous sermons, Jesus said that, “If we all believe in an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, it won’t be long until everyone in the world is blind and toothless.” Though these words were spoken two thousand years ago, they are more potent and relevant now than ever. Where do we go from here? That all depends on how quickly we can begin treating others with the same respect we desire ourselves.
VI. Look Within
Many people are more accustomed to looking outside of themselves for the answers to their deepest questions than they are looking inward. Whether we are thinking in terms of “getting our ducks all lined up in a row” or just waiting for some kind of outward affirmation that we are intelligent, talented, attractive or successful enough to feel satisfied with ourselves, we seem to be fixated on the notion that outward influences are far more important than our own inner guidance system. But this could not be further from the truth, as no one is going to know more than you regarding what you need to feel complete. You are not a proverbial passenger on the boat carrying you through life, you are the captain, navigator and mechanic. Only you know where you want to go and what it will take to get you there, and now is the moment to take control back over your life. That, or someone else will do it for you. In ever more invasive ways, a small but powerful collective is poised to tell you what you can and cannot think, say, and do.
It is imperative that you quickly decide who is in control of your life, taking careful stock of your personal needs and wants and deciding how much effort you are willing to exert to acquire them. In the process, keep in mind that the things you need to stay alive are relatively abundant, while the things you want are usually shaped by society and will always come with a cost. If we look back at our indigenous ancestors, we see that most lived simple, happy, and sustainable lives in balance with nature. When we consider that these people thrived for over ten thousand years, it becomes obvious that, in the process of being driven by superficial wants, humanity has whipped itself into a frenzy of consumption, aggression and distraction in the course of just a few hundred years. It is more critical now than ever that we collectively realign our priorities as a global society. We are taking our first baby steps forward on what could be a very long journey of discovery regarding our true purpose, and that path becomes clearer when we look within for the answers to our deepest questions.
VII. Live Without Fear
This is, by far, the most challenging aspect of becoming the powerful, sovereign being you were always meant to be. It is also the most spiritual and metaphysical, so brace yourself not only for the connotations of this principle, but also the challenge of employing it into your daily life.
While most people might say that the two primary forces guiding our experience here on Earth are love and hate, what they are really referring to is love and fear. Love is the guiding light leading us to such things as kindness, freedom, forgiveness and service, while fear is the darkness lurking behind acts of hatred, oppression, judgment and murder. In that regard, we can see that if we don’t allow fear to have such a strong influence over us, we are far less likely to act aggressively toward one another. And when we can lose our ultimate fear – the fear of death – we have taken a giant step towards becoming a species whose consciousness has kept pace with its technical capabilities.
In the end, the trajectory of our lives will be guided by our ability to live peacefully with one another, so why not begin shifting our thoughts, words and actions into being a part of the solution, rather than perpetuating the problem through violence? It’s as tragically simple as that, and at this point it will probably take nothing short of a miracle to buy our species more time to evolve. But miracles, often in the form of unforeseen uprisings can, and often have, shaped the course of history.
VIII. Think Globally, Act Locally
As we watch the globalization of almost any profitable endeavor, we see how small, localized models of society end up shaping larger structures of commerce, communication and governance. At some point, however, it often happens that the large system overtakes and erases the small, which is fine until the large system collapses under its own weight and there is nothing in place to keep society running.
We are nearing such a point, and we should all realize how fragile these megastructures have become. Consider the phenomenon of manufactured electricity. Just over a century ago, electricity was a novel way to power appliances humans had never owned or needed before, thus few people or businesses were reliant on it. Today, however, if we lost the electric grid, life as we know it would stop in an instant. There would be no way to buy things, no transportation, no way to communicate with people not standing directly in front of us. To that end, it would seem advisable to keep our local affairs in order, where we value our neighbors, support local businesses, learn how to grow food and be of service to one another. What we may find in the distant future is a patchwork of self-managed, interconnected small communities and businesses, which is basically the human-scale model that has been working for centuries. At this juncture, it is too early to tell how any of this could play out, but being prepared while honoring our communal nature is never a bad idea.
IX. Passive Resistance
Peaceful non-compliance is truly the most effective way to create lasting change, but the sacrifice of passive resistance is often so great that few people are willing to risk losing whatever they have – money, possessions, social standing – in the process. This, of course, is well known by those in charge. When people express their frustrations over virtually any issue, they are often ignored or told to file what they know will be a meaningless complaint to some faceless institution. In essence, we are being held captive in a prison without walls, a system of control built by an elite few who manage the affairs of the many.
But things change, and right now they are changing rapidly. Disgruntled people are waking up to the reality of how societal life is run, and when enough of them are no longer willing to comply with the rules and mandates of a system built to control them, the masses will suddenly have more power over their lives than they could have imagined, and the house of cards built by the elite will collapse at an ever-accelerating pace. Will this be a smooth transition? Absolutely not, but if nothing is done soon, humanity will not even be able to recognize itself in the very near future. Any semblance of freedom will be gone, we will all be connected to a digital hive intelligence that tells us what to think, watch, do and buy… and there will be no turning back. In this regard, it would seem that struggling to change the course of a bleak future now is worth more than being enslaved for the rest of humanity’s existence on Earth. Lastly, keep in mind that we are not doing this for us, we are doing this for our descendants who have not yet been born.
X. Less Virtual, More Actual
We live in a digital era where we are affirmed by the volume of likes, followers, subscribers and dollars we generate on social media. There is nothing necessarily wrong with any of this, but there is a big difference between having a tiny impact on millions of people in the digital world, versus having a large and meaningful impact on a few people in the real world. We are the same communal and relational creatures we’ve always been, yet we seem to be losing our way, entranced by the frenetic explosion of the digital age. Artificial Intelligence, robotics, 5-G connectivity between things and people are all here now and will continue to infiltrate every aspect of our lives. At some point, you will most likely have to draw a personal line in the sand and make a choice as to how much of your autonomy, freedom and creativity you are willing to relinquish to these new technologies. As technology advances and continues to infiltrate every aspect of our existence, it may not be long before we reach what has been called the “singularity,” a state of human subservience to Artificial Intelligence, at which point we will no longer be fully human, but a trans-human, cyborg species that no longer thinks for itself. If we project far enough into the “logic” of this future timeline, we can see that, at some point, organic human beings will be considered the weakest link in a digital world, no longer relevant or necessary.
This may sound like the plot of a scary science fiction movie, but it is happening all around us at an accelerating rate. At some point, the choice will need to me made whether we allow the organic process of human evolution and ascension to continue, or do we acquiesce and trust that those who are running the digital world have humanity’s best interest at heart?
TIMELINE X 