Meetings > Meeting Notes > July, 2001
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July, 2001
We had quite a meeting last Sunday. We started with a discussion of networking. Important? Or is it sufficient to just sit and talk a couple of times a month? The general consensus, if I understood it right, is that it's great to learn from others outside as well as within the group, but we don't need another "thing we gotta do." Being is important along with doing!
Mary and Judy shared from their experiences at the Peace Conference (IONS, Peace Institute, and Fetzer Institute) in Dubrovnik, Croatia. A salient remark was: "That's a story that doesn't need to happen." In other words, let's daydream the good things, and not the bad (i.e., worry). We spoke about creating our own reality. How does that relate to finding ourselves in a world ruled by the "bigs" (business, media, etc.)? How do we resist the "ain't it awful"? One way is to think that if things are getting really bad we can just know that the old must be destroyed to make room for the new, the Wisdom Society we envision. But someone said: "maybe that is an old paradigm, and there doesn't have to be destruction for the new to emerge." Some of us wrote down "healing stories" and I said I'd compile them. Here are excerpts:
Healing Stories
Must there be destruction before re-creation? Isn't the theme of death and rebirth the theme of our existence? We are the seeds that we are sowing into the movement of one continuous life, one existence that has been before and shall be realized again from the ashes of these awful things today. Each of us is contributing to the great bounty that is the universe, and each day we cultivate and nurture the beauty of many tomorrows.
There are already very positive transformations in our society: smoking is now considered antisocial and dangerous, not sophisticated and attractive. Drinking and driving is "not cool."
As we move into greater chaos, extra energy is created. Latent potential emerges to create major changes quickly. At a bifurcation point small changes can have a major effect. As we move deeper into crises, there is more opportunity for individuals to influence the outcome.
Example from everyday life: Covering the gutters, with some fear on the ladder, and frustration when a piece slipped off: "What am I supposed to be learning from this? Shouldn't have started? More research?" Daughter holding ladder: "Maybe you're supposed to learn patience."
Another: After a school science contest an irate mother sent emails to the other mothers complaining, particularly about the winner. The conflict was resolved when the mother of the winner meditated on loving kindness.
A marriage looked as if it were ending, when the wife's meditation brought up so much Love that the problems were totally resolved.
As a visual image for a positive outcome: the Firebird Suite from the movie Fantasia 2000. Nature spirit rises from the water, turns the ground and trees green, makes the flowers grow. A volcano erupts and destroys everything; nature spirit weeps, but from each tear a flower grows, and she swoops and soars and turns the world lush and green again.
Respectfully submitted,
Dorothy Larco