The Convergence Magazine - Special Edition Preview

Pr P r e s e n t s

THE

October 2018

evi

ew

Iss

ue

CONVERGENCE

Waking Up, Growing Up Cleaning Up, Showing Up, Linking Up, and Lifting Up

Waking Up, Growing Up, Cleaning Up, Showing Up, Linking Up, and Lifting Up PREVIEW ISSUE Contributing Editors Kurt Johnson, PhD • Rev. Shannon Winters • Rick Ulfik The Convergence magazine serves the amazing work that is ongoing with the UNITY EARTH network, a global collective of change-makers who, through experiences and spiritual practices, are creating greater harmony among our human family and with Earth itself, towards the cultivation of planetary consciousness and peace. The Convergence features contributions that strengthen and connect the colorful diversity of the Human Family with the ecosystems that sustain us. Honoring all traditions and lineages, UNITY EARTH is inspired by the collective wisdom of humanity to foster community, connect cultures and cultivate peace.

UNITY EARTH: One people: many cultures One planet: many challenges One colorful diverse human family The opinions expressed in this issue do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher or editors of The Convergence Magazine.

Except for fair use extracts with full credit, no part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher.

We make every effort to obtain proper permission to reproduce images. Images and artwork that do not include a citation for use where they appear in The Convergence are from Pixabay. Please contact us with any information related to the rights holder of an image source that is not credited.

Acknowledgements: With gratitude the editors thank The Convergence Magazine graphic design and layout editor, David Winters, for his work on this preview issue.

Citation: K. Johnson, S. Winters and R. Ulfik [Eds.]. Waking Up, Growing Up, Cleaning Up, Showing Up, Linking Up, and Lifting Up. New York, NY: UNITY EARTH. In press. ©2018 UNITY EARTH All rights reserved.

Welcome From the Editors The Toronto Convergence with UNITY EARTH on October 31, 2018, at the Parliament of the World’s Religions 2018 assembles thought leaders and interfaith visionaries from around the world, assembling a collective movement for awakening global awareness and activism through cooperative events and initiatives, joining groups that have all visioned goals and directions toward the target year of 2020. We are blessed to have Diane Kahontakwas Longboat, a Mohawk, Turtle Clan Leader, and accompanying singers to welcome us in prayer and song. The ceremonial opening of the Convergence meeting will also include Chief Phil Lane Jr and Audrey Kitagawa—the newly elected Chair of the Parliament of World’s Religions. During the event there will be musical performances including Grammy-nominated Pato Banton, Antoinette Rootsdawtah Hall, Kristin Hoffmann, Eric Rabasca, and Lixin Chen accompanied by award winning composer Randolph Peters.

Along with the nearly 100 leaders attending the event, another 70 have joined in contributing to the upcoming volume on Waking Up (to our divine nature; our full moral capacity), Growing Up (creating a world that reflects these Heart values), Cleaning Up (healing, reconciliation, shadow work), Showing Up (activism and speaking Truth to power), Linking Up (creating cooperative and synergized work together), and Lifting Up (co-energizing and co-inspiring). In recent years, these monikers, summarizing elements necessary to real world change, have become familiar to activists and change agents around the world. They provide a stimulating background for the discussions of the Toronto Convergence event: Unifying the Unifiers on the Road to 2020.

The volume will be organized around the monikers of its title—Waking Up, Growing Up, Cleaning Up, Showing Up, Linking Up, and Lifting Up. We then add a special compendium which brings together, from around the world, statements by organizations, NGO’s, and networks expressing their itemized Universal Principles and Universal Action Steps. These principles and actions steps have been proposed by many movements but, to date, they have not all been gathered in one place where they can “talk to each other.”

Accordingly, we are pleased to offer this Preview which presents short excerpts from the forthcoming volume with a complete list of contributors and article titles in advance of the 2018 Parliament of World’s Religions and the Toronto Convergence: Unifying the Unifiers on the Road to 2020 event. This provides further opportunities for Linking up and Lifting Up in the coming days and the inclusion of outcomes and directions from the Convergence event and additional contributors in the final volume publication.

Dr. Kurt Johnson

Rev. Shannon Winters

Rick Ulfik

Preview Introduction

from

A Truly “Inclusive” Spirituality

By Ken Wilber

ne of the greatest breakthroughs in the understanding of world religion is the recent discovery that human beings have at least two quite different, but equally important, types of religious engagement.

One has been understood for several centuries, is found in some form in most of the world’s great religions and can be referred to as “Waking Up.” The other is much more recent—so recent, it is found in none of the major world religions themselves—and can be called “Growing Up.” Waking Up is generally understood to be the core of most of the great religions. It is marked by a direct religious experience of an Awakening to, or Realization of, what is said to be an ultimate Reality (Spirit, Godhead, Ground of All Being, Tao, Brahman, Great Perfection), an experience known around the world as Enlightenment, Metamorphosis, Satori, Moksha, Fana, the Great Liberation, the Supreme Identity… …Whereas Waking Up refers to an overall process that is said to result in the ultimate transcendence of the relative, conventional self (in a selfless True Self and nondual Ground of Being), Growing Up refers to the actual development of the relative self itself—the specific stages that it goes through as it grows and develops and evolves in the conventional world.

And why is this important (especially for spirituality)? One of the most profound of the recent discoveries about this Growing Up process is that, no matter what type of immediate awareness or experience that a person has (sensory, mental, or spiritual experience), the stage of Growing Up that they are at will be the primary interpreter of that experience. And this means that no matter what state of Waking Up a person is at, they will interpret that state using the stage of Growing Up that they are at… …There is another major dimension that, like the path of Growing Up, was only discovered in a serious way by the modern West, around one or two hundred years ago, and thus does not clearly or fully show up in any major spiritual system anywhere in the world, and that is what we call “Cleaning Up.” Cleaning Up refers to the general processes whose discovery is…—often known as “shadow”— ...it’s important to note that Cleaning Up is a process that in itself is profoundly different from both Waking Up and Growing Up. It has different causes; it produces very different results; and it is addressed by very different practices and techniques. …“Showing Up,” …refers to being fully open to, or showing up for, the major fundamental perspectives available in a person’s life.

There are many different and equally legitimate ways to refer to these basic perspectives. The Greeks called them “the Good, the True, and the Beautiful.” …A truly comprehensive spirituality today contains a wealth of different dimensions that none of the traditional religious approaches came anywhere near understanding or including. And you can keep pointing to new areas; once I had introduced these 4 basic practices, I have seen added to them: Opening Up, Hooking Up, Lifting Up, Linking Up… The point of all of that is simply that Spirit itself continues to unfold and evolve in numerous ways in the manifest world, and any authentic spirituality needs to stay on a path of genuine inclusiveness just to keep up. …A truly Integral Spirituality—including Waking Up, Growing Up, Cleaning Up, Showing Up, and a variety of domains yet to be discovered—will almost certainly be the religion of tomorrow.

Ken Wilber is the founder of Integral Theory and generally acknowledged as the most translated philosopher in the world.

5

Preview Waking

from

Up

Science Is Ready to Accept Consciousness

By Deepak Chopra

… The day-to-day work of scientists isn’t dependent on explaining how mind arose in the cosmos--not yet. The relation between mind and matter has existed in philosophy for centuries and working scientists don’t consider philosophy relevant to their research.

Collecting data and doing experiments needs no help from metaphysics. But when you look at the unanswered questions in physics, biology, biochemistry, and neuroscience, it’s more than a coincidence that all, without exception, impinge upon the same inability to know how consciousness actually works. By taking for granted the obvious fact that it takes a mind to do science, we’ve reached the point where science is leaving out the very component that might answer the questions that urgently need answering, not because philosophy demands it but because science does.

The sticking point is physicalism itself. If everything must be reduced to the smallest units of matter and energy, and yet there is zero evidence that mind follows that pattern, it is unscientific to cling to physicalism. … Instead of conceiving reality from the bottom up, moving from tiny building blocks to larger and larger structures, one could do the reverse and create a top-down model. In other words, the starting point would be the whole, not the parts. So what do we know about reality as a whole? … If reality “out there” is a construct dependent upon consciousness, explaining the universe entails explaining consciousness. Where physicalists are stymied by how atoms and molecules think, non-physicalists are stymied by how mind creates matter. …This impasse is broken by taking a concrete approach to mind; that is, by investigating the qualities of reality “out there.” …The real horizon is where the inconceivable source of mind meets the conceivable phenomena in nature. The problem of something coming out of nothing is exactly the same when the cosmos was born as when a thought is born. This is the level playing field where mind and matter can be investigated as two sides of the same process: consciousness interacting with itself.

Deepak Chopra MD is a world-renowned pioneer in holistic medicine and the study of consciousness.

from

Overcoming the Illusion of Separateness

By Dena Merriam

The mindset that kept the religions apart is based on what some call the “domination gene,” the need to dominate over and feel superior to the “other,” and this other can be the religious other, the ethnic or racial other, the other defined by class or economics, or other species. Before we as a human community can overcome this domination mindset, we must recognize the many subtle ways in which it permeates our thinking and controls our personal and collective behavior. It controls the way we interact with other species and life forms, with our Mother Earth, and our fellow humans. If we could as a collective overcome this out dated mindset, many of the injustices that cause harm today would be set aright, and Mother Earth’s life systems would not be under threat. It would eradicate the hierarchies that structure our societies and help us reclaim the unity with the natural world that is our birthright. …In reality, there is no separation, there is no other. More and more people seem to be waking up to this realization at the conceptual level, but how does this translate into human behavior? It may be easier to see how this applies to our view and treatment of fellow humans, but it has far greater implications. …We are here to care for not compete with one another. Our Mother Earth is giving us an opportunity to understand this, for only by coming together as a community of life will we be able to repair the damage we have done; only by overcoming the domination instinct will we be able to truly progress. And by erasing our sense of separateness we will come closer to knowing our unity with the Divine. …In order to seize the opportunities before us for true human growth, we must do our own internal work to move beyond the illusion of separateness and take responsibility for the results of past actions. In this way we can help foster the upward movement of humanity.

Dena Merriam is founder of the Global Peace Initiative of Women and a recipient of the Niwano Peace Prize.

6

Preview Growing

from

Up

St. Francis’ Ecological Paradigm

By Patrick Carolan

Throughout most of Christianity the dominant social paradigm reflects the theory of human domination over nature. St. Francis of Assisi proposed a completely different paradigm, one that seeks total ecological integrity. He did not separate the spiritual world from the material world. He viewed the Earth and all nature as God’s creation, a place of continual incarnation. St. Francis taught that we had to live in relational solidarity with all creation. His spirituality is beautifully expressed in the poem “Canticle of Creatures.” … His idea of caring for all creation was not a paternalistic concept of having dominion over creation…. …So how did we get from this beautiful theology of oneness with God and all of God’s creation that St Francis lived to a world of separation and individualism? … St. Thomas Aquinas taught that non-rational creatures do not have moral value. He believed that the world was created by God as an ordered and unique whole displaying its beauty as well as the beauty of the Creator, and which was bequeathed to man that he may have dominion over it. … Bonaventure developed a different theology of creation. For Bonaventure, creation is relationship. … …Richard Rohr, OFM states: “Without some form of incarnation, God remains essentially separate from us and from all of creation.

God, who is Infinite Love, incarnates that love as the universe itself.” Thomas Merton was quoted as saying: “we will not save what we do not love. It is also true that we will neither love nor save that which we do not experience as sacred.” Thomas Berry, a Catholic priest, in his book The Sacred Universe, describes religious experiences as “emerging as a sense of the awesome aspects of the natural world. … …Almost 50 years after Lynn White, Pope Francis today calls us to move forward in a bold cultural revolution.

He calls for us to rise up, not in a revolution of guns but a revolution of Spirit-- to stop living in a world where we are all separate and come together in a world of interbeing, a world where we are part of God’s creation not separate from creation.

Patrick Carolan is Executive Director of the Franciscan Action Network and a co-founder of the Global Catholic Climate Movement, as well as Faithful Democracy.

from

SEVEN STAGES OF GREAT TRANSITION: A Pathway to a Sustainable and Surpassing Future

By Duane Elgin

The human family has entered a time of unprecedented change and profound choice. Powerful forces of our own making are accelerating and converging. The collective impact of escalating climate disruption, rising population, unsustainable consumption, species extinction could be catastrophic. It is vital that we envision the future being shaped by these powerful trends. …It is important to recognize how challenging it is to look at the new world emerging in this century. Collectively, we have never gone through the kind of fiery rite of passage that lies just ahead. Engaging with our collective future takes emotional courage as it brings up existential fears and deep-seated wounds. However, there finally comes a point when we cannot turn away—when we must look squarely at critical trends or surrender our world to ruin. … … Humanity is growing up. Just as a teenager makes many missteps in their maturation, so too can the human family be expected to struggle in finding our way to early adulthood. It is unrealistic to expect billions of humans to make the transition from collective adolescence to early adulthood in a single step. Instead, I envision a series of stages that seem likely in making this great transition. …

Seven Stages of Great Transition 2018-2100… …These seven stages describe a process of great transition for the human family—a time of collective initiation and collective awakening that takes us into a more mature species-civilization…. …The world has broken apart in countless ways and is now re-assembling itself in new ways that include: 1) an “eco-ethic” that prioritizes the well-being of the Earth system; 2) a new economic paradigm that views aliveness as our true wealth, encouraging people to move toward where they feel most alive—in nurturing relationships, caring communities, time in nature, creative expressions, and service to others; 3) a new democracy is emerging as Earth citizenship takes hold from the local to the global level; 4) a new understanding of the universe as a single, living system of which we are an integral part; and 5) a new view of humanity’s journey as bio-cosmic beings learning to live in a living universe.

Duane Elgin MA, MBA, founder of Choosing Our Future, is the author of several renowned books on transformation and our global future.

7

Preview Cleaning

from

Up

GOD, SEX, AND GENDER: Transforming Patriarchy in Religion

By Rev. Cynthia Brix

… Over the past 26 years, GERI [Gender Equity and Reconciliation International a project of the Satyana Institute] has been creating safe forums for women and men, of all sexual orientations, to have these intimate and often taboo conversations. In these forums, participants are invited to bring personal stories of pain and suffering into the open and speak truth to their experience—not as victims, but as witnesses to their lives. This is not to wallow in our pain and suffering, but rather to bring it into the light, so that we may heal and transform.

The nearly daily revelations of sexual assault and harassment from the #MeToo movement and #TimesUp point to the vast magnitude of transformation that is needed across all societies globally. Sadly, religious communities are also often complicit; #ChurchToo is an online forum for sharing similar stories in the evangelical church, and a new surge of #MeToo stories hit the Vatican recently, with nuns reporting sexual violations from priests. Other spiritual leaders have faced similar charges, such as the very recent revelations of sexual misconduct in the Tibetan Buddhist Shambhala community, and allegations against Shi Xuecheng, the abbot of Longquan Temple and head of the Buddhist Association of China.

These stories are profoundly important, because they have been systematically silenced for far too long. Every woman’s story and her courage to speak truth must be honored. At the same time, we need safe spaces for men to share, because they too are harmed by the patriarchal system, often in less obvious yet insidious ways.

Both women and men are afflicted by gender injustice, and each needs the other for a true and complete healing. Working through the challenges of gender disharmony with integrity, compassion, and non-judgment, men and women discover a liberating awakening and new spiritual communion…. ….A theme we constantly hear in our work is that women are shocked to learn the level of men’s suffering in the patriarchal system… …Bringing women and men together is essential and highly effective for healing the deep wound of gender injustice. …. We have consistently witnessed the power of women and men working together, to bridge the gender gulf that divides them. … we repeatedly see ordinary women and men in countries across the globe achieve profound mutual healing. …

Rev. Cynthia Brix is a co-founder of Satyana Institute and also Gender Equity and Reconciliation International.

from

The Perennial Quest for Peace on Earth

By Michael Bernard Beckwith

Today’s news and social media make it impossible to avoid the blunt reality that we are living in a post-truth society wherein breaches of trust, respect, compassion, and dishonoring of the rights and dignity of our global family have become the new normal. Alternative facts fill the airwaves, attempting to convince us that we are not interconnected and interdependent, that only a proliferation of nuclear weapons can protect one nation from the encroachment of another. …Like no other time in history, the technological revolution has accelerated our ability to reshape our world. Visionary solutions to challenges including global warming, world hunger, healthcare, and education have been put in motion. As the paleontologist and Jesuit priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin coined, the next label for homo sapiens may be “homo progressivus,” while visionary architect and inventor Buckminister Fuller suggested we will evolve into “hetero-techno sapiens.” What they are both telling us is that we human beings are the essential vehicles for fulfilling our perennial quest for peace on Earth. It is through our individual inner work and spiritual practices that we embody that mandate and put it into action as the beneficial presence on the planet that each of us is. …The truth is, we can no longer afford not to recognize how the actions of our global family impact the entire planet. …In order to move in the direction of peace, we must make a choice to live in love rather than fear, to practice wisdom rather than ignorance, value nonviolence over aggression. The question I ask myself is, “Am I willing to do the inner work required to cultivate unconditional love, compassion and forgiveness—qualities that dissolve a sense of separation from the wholeness of life, that hold together the fabric of the created world?” Each of us is a choice-point in the center of the universe. What will be your choice? …As the acknowledgment that we are members of one global village finds its home in more and more hearts, it announces that now is the season to become a spiritual evolutionary who realizes that the solution to the world’s challenges is a spiritual one, that only through love, compassion and peace can we create international wellbeing. Such a response to Spirit’s clarion call to recognize and honor our interconnectivity as one world family acknowledges that we are aware of the verdant, beautiful inner landscape of goodness that is inherent within all beings. It is through such an awakened state of consciousness that we can move forward united as one global heart, together beaming a cosmic smile across the universe.

Rev. Michael Bernard Beckwith is the well-known founder of Agape International Spiritual Center in California and an influential media voice for transformative change.

8

Preview Showing

from The

Up

United Nations—A Catalyst for Interfaith Actions

By Monica Willard

The Parliament of the World’s Religions brings people together from all over the world who represent diverse religions, spiritual and indigenous traditions. We gather with hope and deep convictions that we can make a difference in our personal lives and in the world.

Our specific traditions may differ and yet we share many common values. .…The United Nations (UN) has worked for over 70 years to bring nations together to address global issues. Amid all the political strife, violence and injustice in the world, the Member States of the United Nations work together to create priorities and programs that are designed to make a better world for everyone. Peace, human rights, the environment, climate change, and the economic condition and wellbeing of people everywhere are just some of the many UN agenda issues. …I would like to share some specific ways that the United Nations documents and programs offer a catalyst for Interfaith Actions that can transform the world. …. …How different would our world be if governments, businesses, religious and spiritual traditions and each person really knew and practiced the 30 principles in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights? …The opportunities for Interfaith impact on global issues and local communities by engaging with the United Nations has grown substantially since 1946. Member States increased from the initial 56 to the current 193, plus the two observer members of the Holy See and Palestine. During that same time, the Interfaith movement has expanded. … …A very special UN Resolution for the interfaith community is World Interfaith Harmony Week, the first week of February. This resolution was first observed in 2011 with participation increasing annually. …There are so many additional areas where the UN can be a catalyst for Interfaith action. …One issue that threatens the fate of our planet is nuclear weapons. …Interfaith action is needed on this critically important issue. There are many political steps that we can take. Many religions have institutional policies calling for the end of nuclear weapons. … ….Awareness, political action and prayers are needed. May the UN be a catalyst in your work. May Peace be in your heart, your home, community, nation and in the universe. May Peace Prevail on Earth!

Monica Willard is Main Representative to the UN for the United Religions Initiative and has chaired the UN’s Dept. of Information NGO Conference and numerous other UN committees and initiatives.

from The Temple of Understanding’s Interfaith Leadership Vision

By Grove Harris

…Standing up, linking up, speaking up, and acting up. We have to do it all. We work in coalitions at the United Nations, using the human rights frame towards social and environmental justice. …We can be peaceful warriors; we were born for this. …The SDGs offer an interconnected framework for change, but have not gone far enough in redirecting us away from the unsustainable growth model. All solutions depend on stopping the explosion of our over consumption; it is a prerequisite for changing course. Everything needs to be respected for its contribution to the full cycle of life, and evaluated for the damage it does. Cradle to cradle thinking is required of us at this time, as is change in our consumption patterns.

We listen to learn, in particular from women…. …The interfaith movement has the opportunity to acknowledge its limitations and to look forward to an increased relevance [to] the world… …The spirit of love may indeed provide the key to the transformation we so urgently need at this historical moment. We can shift from the golden rule to the platinum rule, where we listen to others speaking with their own authority and autonomy, about how they are impacted.... …We must rise up in this creative moment, to address the deeper systemic concerns, and seize the opportunity of the interfaith movement as an umbrella for the collective influence of the many religions, which are among the largest multinational organizations in the world. Our challenges cannot be solved on the level on which they were created and there is never enough to satisfy greed. We can focus on the primal needs that peace requires: clean water, women’s rights, food sovereignty, and health. We can trust that love and spirit will augment our efforts beyond our limited vision. ….

Grove Harris MDiv is an eco-justice and religious diversity advocate who serves as Representative to the United Nations for the Temple of Understanding and served as Managing Director for the Pluralism Project at Harvard University.

9

Preview Linking

Up

from Linking Up and Lifting Up: The Convergence of

Science and Spirituality to a Wholeworld-View

By Jude Currivan

…new scientific discoveries at all scales of existence, and across many fields of research, are showing that our Universe is innately interconnected and exists, and evolves, as a unified entity. …This emergent understanding is converging with what spiritual traditions and inner practices have revealed for millennia; that separation is an illusion. And crucially, as perennial wisdom teachings have also told us, that mind and consciousness aren’t something we have but, as now being progressively corroborated by science, are literally what we and the whole world are. Its ever more compelling indications are concurring that our Universe isn’t a great ‘thing’ but, a great and finite ‘thought’ in the infinite, and eternal, mind and awareness of the Cosmos. …At this pivotal time, with a likely global breakdown co-existing with the potential of a breakthrough, the evolutionary impulse and opportunity is for us to wake up, grow up, clean up and show up. …The unified reality of our Universe is being revealed as emerging from more fundamental realms. Growing scientific evidence is showing that universal mind, articulated as the 1s and 0s of digitized information, and represented as dynamic and relational patterns and processes of semiotic in-formation, literally in-forms the formation of our Universe. …In addition to being innately in-formed, the evidence is mounting that the appearance of our Universe is also holographically manifested… …As we each respond to its inner and outer call to wake up, grow up, clean up and show up, its innate urge for coherence additionally nurtures, inspires and encourages us to link up as evermore conscious co-creators of the reality we choose to experience.

Globally, change agents and grass roots movements are progressively active in standing alongside indigenous elders and spiritual teachers around the world, who have been our collective guardians by continuing to experience and embody such unity awareness until we’ve been ready to re-member. It is they who have told us that if humanity is then to lift up to the potential of our cosmic destiny, that: “we’re the ones we’ve been waiting for.” The choice and the opportunity are ours.

Jude Currivan PhD is a renowned cosmologist and archeologist who is author of The Cosmic Hologram.

from UNITY

EARTH Convergence

By Brian McLaren

…It feels like humanity is at an adolescent stage these days. In the US, we elect a Barack Obama and then a Donald Trump. Europeans create the EU and open borders, and then Brexit happens and there’s talk of the whole thing crashing down.

I work in the world of religion, and I think you can take the adolescent formula and multiply it by ten or twenty. Members of a religion can act like they’re living on 2120 or 2220 one day, and the next, other members of the same religion act like they’re living in 1820 or 1920.

I believe religion at its best works as a culture’s moral imagination. It asks, “What kind of world is possible next? What are our next steps to grow toward that better world?” This is a progressive, prophetic, or evolutionary way of understanding religion. … Something is happening among us in this progressive multi-faith movement. We are like a vanguard within each faith community, and we are hearing the same message and “singing the same song.” …Visionary, creative, progressive leaders across traditions are coming together as never before. We are discovering a common vision of a future defined by the common good and undergirded by common values. We envision each of our traditions transitioning to a new phase of maturity in which we are neither enemies nor competitors to one another, but neighbors, colleagues, and friends. We each bring unique treasures to the table, treasures our counterparts need, just as we need the treasures they bring. We are finding ways of being genuinely ourselves while at the same time welcoming and appreciating one another. …What counsel might the progressive multi-faith movement need at this moment when it is so greatly needed?

I would offer these seven:…. …Human civilization is going through a turbulent adolescence. People like you and me, as creative and forward-leaning leaders rooted deeply in many faith traditions, can embody maturity, wisdom, and generosity.

This is our calling. This is our privilege.

Brian McLaren DD, American pastor, author, activist and speaker is a leading figure in the Emerging Church Movement often named as one of the most influential Christian leaders in America.

10

Preview Lifting

from

Up

call to love in action

By Jonathan Granoff

This is a call to all who love the planet and all its inhabitants. Let us together bring love into action. This is a call to bring that love that has no borders, that emerges from the heart and soul, into personal, local, national and global action. Love is a power and source, easily understood yet forever deep and mysterious. Its profound ability to open meaning, heal, awaken insight, and gift life with grace is beyond any measurements. It is priceless and cannot be bought or sold. ….love is real, essential, powerful, and supreme. When awakened it can change everything. …Globalization reminds us that we are in fact one human family and the living ecosystem of the planet is our shared home. We cannot find security by attempting to dominate each other, nor by trying to dominate nature. Learning to live in harmony with each other and nature is not an ideal; it is both a moral and practical imperative. …We can change the entire way nations act by demanding that every person running for office answer these questions. How they are answered will impact every life, every family, every nation, and every community. …If several billion people demand answers to these questions the political actions of the nations of the world will change.

1) What are your plans to address crushing poverty and ensure sustainable livelihoods and productive, just employment?

2) What are your plans to protect the global commons such as the oceans, the climate, and the rainforests—the living systems upon which all civilization depends?

3) What are your plans to eliminate nuclear weapons?

If we answer these questions correctly, our responsibilities to generations to come will be fulfilled.

This is an authentic expression of love in action.

We ask you to share this Call to Bring Love Into Action!

Jonathan Granoff JD is a renowned peace activist, American lawyer, writer and lecturer, widely known as President of the Global Security Institute.

from

The Power of Love

By Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

UNITY EARTH holds the essential vision that we are one living, interconnected ecosystem, a living Earth that supports and nourishes all of its inhabitants. If we acknowledge and honor this simple reality, we can begin to participate in the vital work of healing our fractured and divisive world, and embrace a consciousness of oneness that is part of our spiritual heritage. Whether we speak of the unio mystica of the Christian mystics, the unity of being of the Sufis, or the unity of existence of the Upanishads, we are recognizing a primal truth that is at the foundation of all of life: spiritually and physically we are One Being.

Oneness is not a metaphysical idea but something essential and ordinary. It is in every breath, in the wing-beat of every butterfly, in every piece of garbage left on city streets. This oneness is life, life no longer experienced solely through the fragmented vision of the ego, though the distortions of our culture, but known within the heart, felt in the soul. This oneness is the heartbeat of life. It is for each of us to live and celebrate this oneness, to participate in its beauty and wonder. And through our awareness, and actions born of this awareness, we can help to reconnect our world with its original nature. …Love will remind us that we are a part of life, that we belong to each other and to this living, suffering planet. Love will reconnect us to the sacred ways known to our ancestors, as well as awaken us to new ways to be with each other and the Earth. We just need to say “yes” to this mystery within our own hearts, to open to the link of love that unites us all, that is woven into the web of life. And then we will uncover the love affair that is life itself and hear the song of unity as it comes alive in our hearts and in the heart of the world.

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee PhD is a celebrated Sufi leader, author, Jungian scholar and, among other initiatives, founder of Spiritual Ecology.

11

A Compendium on Universal Principles and Universal Action Steps from Around the Wolrd Edited by Rick Ulfik

I am inspired and excited to assist in bringing you this unprecedented collection of Universal Principles and Action Steps gathered from organizations, networks and NGO’s around the world. They represent some of humanity’s most profound examples of collective wisdom for a peaceful, just and sustainable world.

The goal of living in a world that works for all underlies the Universal Principles and Action Steps presented in the Compendium. That goal has also been at the heart of my work as Founder of We, The World (http://We.net) and Co-Creator of 11 Days of Global Unity (http://11daysofglobalunity.org). In fact, the 11 Global Unity Themes we developed, and their associated Action Steps, are actually designed to be a comprehensive blueprint to achieve a world that works for all.

Following is an excerpt of Universal Principles and Action Steps reflecting what you can expect from the diverse organizational voices featured in this upcoming Compendium. We are deeply grateful for your interest and participation in this historic project!

11 Global Unity Themes - 11 Ways to Transform Your World

11 Ways to Transform Your World Unity ·

Work to end racism and intolerance of all kinds

·

Encourage healing and reconciliation between conflicting groups

·

Use nonviolent forms of communication to increase connection and prevent conflict

Interdependence ·

Promote Conscious Interdependence acknowledging that we are all connected through the web of life

·

Expand awareness and action to protect and preserve our global commons (land, water, air, internet, DNA, etc.)

·

Honor indigenous wisdom

Environment ·

Protect eco-systems and biodiversity - end the Mass Extinction of Species

·

Protect and provide clean water for all

·

Address the Climate Crisis: from International Agreements to Local Policies

Economic Justice ·

Fulfill all basic human needs: Clean air, food, water and shelter

·

Conduct global financial reform

·

Encourage the creation of enterprises owned and run by the workers

Health ·

Support holistic, integrative, proactive and preventive health practices

·

Provide for universal healthcare worldwide

·

Promote the connection between individual well-being and societal health 12

Children and Youth ·

Encourage youth activism for a peaceful sustainable world

·

Promote Peace/Tolerance/Conflict Resolution Education programs at all grade levels

·

Advocate for the rights of the child

Women ·

End violence against women

·

Advocate for economic empowerment of women

·

Promote women’s leadership including full implementation of UNSCR 1325 to ensure women’s equal representation at all decision-making levels

Human Rights ·

End persecution in all forms

·

Promote civil rights and civil liberties

·

Promote Restorative Justice

Freedom ·

Promote public financing of local and national elections

·

End society’s usage of incarceration as a substitute for properly addressing Poverty, Drug Addiction, and Mental Illness

·

Advocate for socially responsible public interest practices in all media

Disarmament ·

Reduce weapons sales globally

·

Abolish nuclear weapons and all WMDs

·

Strengthen security through diplomacy, nonviolent conflict resolution and conflict prevention

Peace ·

Work to create a Culture of Peace

·

Promote the multilateral framework of the United Nations, its institutions and its legal instruments for resolving international conflicts

·

Establish departments and ministries of peace around the world

Rick Ulfik is founder of We, The World; WE.net; and the annual, internationally celebrated, 11 Days of Global Unity.

13

Contributors in the Upcoming Volume Include: Imam Allama Muhammad Ahsan Siddiqui We Want Peace on Earth! We Are One Family of Earth ICPH Vision 2020, Religious Pluralism, Peace, Interfaith Harmony, and Empowering Societies Robert Atkinson Humanity’s Coming of Age

Peter Blaze Corcoran and Mindahi Bastida Muñoz Following the Original Instructions: Education for Indignity, Reciprocity, and Harmony Jude Currivan Linking Up and Lifting Up: The Convergence of Science and Spirituality to an Emergent WholeWorld-View Stephen Dinan AMERICA 7.0

Michael Bernard Beckwith The Perennial Quest for Peace on Earth

Diane Berke First Remove the Log: Shadow Work in Spiritual Development Richard A. Bowell The Parliament of World Religions, “Waking Up and Growing Up” An Urgent Plea from the Future Ben Bowler The Road to 2020 and the Campaign for a New Earth

Gregg Braden The New Human Story: From Evolution by Chance to Transformation by Choice Sandra de Castro Buffington Calling All Master Storytellers: The Power of Story to Illuminate the Sacred, Awaken Humanity and Ignite Change!

Cynthia Brix God, Sex, and Gender: Transforming Patriarchy in Religion

Patrick Carolan St. Francis’ Ecological Paradigm

J. Calvin Chatlos The Human Faith Project

Deepak Chopra Science Is Ready to Accept Consciousness

Andrew Cohen Evolutionary Enlightenment

Duane Elgin SEVEN STAGES OF GREAT TRANSITION: A Pathway to a Sustainable and Surpassing Future Steve Farrell When Love Is the Way

Ron Friedman and Victoria Friedman Enlightened Meetings

Ashok Gangadean The Missing ((Logos Science))

Jeff Genung Buckle Your Seatbelt: Interspirituality Moving in Our Midst

David Gershon Peace on Earth by 2030

Sharon Hamilton-Getz A Call to Harmony: Design for Transformation through Co-Creative Collaborations Philip Goldberg From Inter to Trans, Me to We

Jonathan Granoff Call to Love in Action

Mussie Hailu The Golden Rule: The Pathway for Peaceful Co-existence, Interfaith Harmony and Human Dignity Grove Harris The Temple of Understanding’s Interfaith Leadership Vision

14

Kristin Hoffmann At the Core

Yanni Maniates The UNITY EARTH Vision

J. J. Hurtak and Desiree Hurtak Transparency and Change of the World’s Religions Into a Whole-World View of Spirituality Gard Jameson Illuminated Interbeing Inspires Dedicated Interdoing

Kurt Johnson Growth of the Global Interspiritual Paradigm in the Last Decade

Karuna, Denise Scotto, Kurt Johnson, and Shannon Winters The World Yoga Community, The United Nations, and Light on Light Magazine Victor H. Kazanjian, Jr. The Role of Imagination in Global Transformation

William Keepin Secrets of the Heart: The Inner Science of Divine Love

Loch Kelly Let’s Awaken Together Now

Doug King A Trans-Narrative Approach to a Post Religious, Unified Earth Maulana Wahiduddin Khan The Way to the Future is Together

Ken Kitatani The Forum 21 Institute and Ecological Civilization

Julie Krull Normalizing the Non-Ordinary: Developing Evolutionary Resilience Randall Libero Evolutionary Media’s Role in Creating a Brighter Future

Lynnaea Lumbard Co-Creating a Great Transition

15

Connie Baxter Marlow, Andrew Cameron Bailey, Sally Ranney, and Kevin Deer The Trust Frequency: Opening Our Hearts to a Higher Reality Mindahi Crescencio Bastida Muñoz Healing and Restoring the Balance of Mother Earth

Brian McLaren UNITY EARTH Convergence

Dena Merriam Overcoming the Illusion of Separateness

Deborah Moldow Recognizing the Secret Community

Gerald W. Neuberg Unity in Medicine

James O’Dea I Am a Peace Ambassador

Shelley Ostroff Eco-Governance and the Vitality Code: Applying Evolving Consciousness to How We Organize as a Species Terry Patten Translating Heartbreak Into Action

Mitchell J. Rabin Sacred Stewardship: Awakening the Soul to Action

Jon Ramer The New “Playing Field” is a Synergixed Field: Game On!

Greg Reitman The Moral Imperative: The Global Compass to Sustain Life on Earth Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswatiji Expanding a Sense of Self

His Holiness Bhakti Rasayana Sagar Swami Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and the Interfaith Community

Monica Willard The United Nations—A Catalyst for Interfaith Actions

Julie Schelling Global Transformation Begins with Interspiritual Transformation

Diane Williams Linking Up and Creating Synergies with the Non-Local

Denise Scotto Law as a Significant Tool to Design Solutions for Global Change Sw. Shraddhananda Saraswati A Converging Kind of Love in Solidarity With All Beings

Cathy Towle Presence, Compassion, and Connection: Wisdom Culture and Pathways for Change

David Sloan Wilson and Kurt Johnson Science and Spirituality Converge on Altruism Shannon Marie Winters A Gospel of the Interspiritual Age—From the Mystic Heart to Heaven on Earth Richard Yiap A Transformative Vision for the Future

Rick Ulfik Why Linking Up Is Essential for Global Transformation

Alison Van Dyk Temple of Understanding: The Road to 2020

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee The Power of Love

Andrew Vidich The Power of Inclusion

Cassandra Vieten Making Change

Charles Vogl Creating Real World Connection in a Digital Age

Neill Walker Road to 2020: Spirituality and Politics—Say YES to a Better Scotland Claudia Welss Noetic Intelligence

Ken Wilber and Dustin DiPerna An Integral Approach to Spiritual Transformation: Waking Up, Growing Up, Cleaning Up and Showing Up 16

57

We are ...ONE people ...ONE planet ...One family We are ONE.

THE

CONVERGENCE