Topic: Are we there yet?

[erik]

Today, I met an old friend and we had a long talk about the state of the world. We both are actively engaged with the tonal world and develop continuously insights into how it works. As we work in different fields, we always compare our observations and analyse things from different angles.

It seems obvious that chaos is on the rise. Chaos in minds, in cultures, in religions, in societies, in states - everywhere, literally.

Hence, I remembered this statement of Theun Mares (I guess, I posted it before, but could not find it):

http://www.braveworld.cc/warriors/
Know that for age upon age the great wheel will spin out the web of destiny – ages in which both the lesser and  the greater sons of spirit will play their part in the design of the pattern… But this design must show the cause of duality, and when that day dawns, the ancient battle must again be engaged – this time with full knowledge of the pattern. Thus will it become known as the last battle, which in truth has always been the one and only battle, and which will have been fought again and again.

In the Last Battle the sons of man will remember what it is to be man, and therefore will do battle with the sons of mind. Great and fierce will be this struggle, and terrible the chaos – men, women, and children turning desperately this way and that, not certain with whom to cast their lot, as both mind and man battle for survival.

One must win and one must lose. Oft will the pendulum swing violently from one to the other, and back again, every swing warping the weave of the pattern.

But in the middle of the middle, when the battle is at its most frenzied, there will come from out of the darkened valleys of the land seven Atl’aman who will walk through the midst of the battle, untouched by the chaos on either hand. These sons of men, although their eyes flash with the fierce passion of their home-world, have tongues that demonstrate the gentleness of their hearts.

On instruction from their lord, Atl, the seven will take their place on the front of the battle, and beckoning all of man to follow, they will lead all the sons of men into the Last Battle, against the sons of mind and the ancient darkness.

Seven Atl’aman leading an army of untrained men and women against the ancient darkness which has been preparing its warriors for ages upon ages. The Lord Atl and his aides are standing back watching, for Atl will not interfere in this battle. The odds against the seven are well-nigh impossible! How can this be? I know not. My vision fades into the blackness of the ancient darkness looming over all! I cannot see! I can give no guidance!

I see only the seven Atl’aman standing fierce and proud – determined to uphold the sacred trust! And standing thus the Spear of Destiny flies true once again. And standing thus the Sword of Power again rings with the One Truth and again flashes forth the blue flame of the One Power. But, by the holiest of holies, I can see no more for the blackness descending over all.

Fight Atl’aman! Fight like you never before have fought!

Fight! Fight! Do not forget the sacred trust!

I can no longer see to guide you, but hold onto the sacred trust, for it surely will guide you! By the holiest of holies it must guide you!

It must!
It must!

You cannot fail! Not now!

Atl’aman you must not lose! Fight!

This ancient and perpetual battle is escalating at an incredible rate.
Yet, we will have to dive very deep before even a microscopic opportunity would avail itself for mankind to remember our true nature.

[Michael]

There you go, and to think we thought things were on the cusp of a new enlightenment back in the 70s.

[erik]

I thought we were coming out of the woods in the beginning of 1990s. Cold War was over, Soviet Union collapsed, all sorts of ancient teachings were going public...and 20 years later it looks as if there has been too much of absinthe on sale. 

[Michael]

The big question is whether we are watching a cyclic movement that readjusts each generation, or is this different. I think it is a smaller cycle, which has sped up due to technological factors, as Fritjof Capra believes, although the generational element is always so strong. Nonetheless, I also see there are some larger influences playing into this pattern, like climate change. That will have major repercussions in the next five to ten years.

But behind that again, is a drawing down into materialism. An aspect of that is the battle Mares speaks of. Not so much, that the mind is actually material in its thinking capacity, but that the modifications of the mind have been spun into unpredictable directions by the deepening materiality of our lives. All of which causes our species to lose that instinctive human capacity, and replace it with a default to ideas, often promulgated by vested interests.

In the Foundation I manage, we have a workshop which takes four days and five nights. What we find is that everyone enters in with their identities that they use to help them navigate the world - they all have their defensive personas, and barrows to push. By the end of the second day, I am often exhausted, which I came to realise was due to the pressures of this struggle between personality shields. But it always seemed to break on the third day, after which people came to relate to each other as human beings first, and advocates for whatever, second. Then there developed a wonderful sensation of discovery of our human essence - we seemed to even like the people we knew we disliked. A precious and strange experience.

But now we are trying to bridge to a younger generation, and they get bored with sitting around talking for four days and nights. So we are looking at how they operate: constant internet connection and interfaces. They are also change agents in the world, but they connect constantly across the nation or world, and feel most comfortable with that cyber reality. I, on the other hand, feel the two approaches are incompatible, which ultimately means our workshops will forever be contained to over 40s.

[erik]

I couldn't tell whether we see something that occurs in some form in each generation or not. I have tried to look at different generations and identify their characteristic features and there seem to be some specific undertones. One thing that catches the eye is the 'relative weight of ideas' in each generation. The more one goes back in time, the less importance all sorts of ideas seem to have. The harder the life, the more one has to concentrate on the things at hand, and the less space there is for (frequently utterly useless) philosophy.

Conversely, younger generations are increasingly hooked up on computers and losing touch with nature. Believe it or not, but already there are kids who think that ham is produced in supermarkets and is not related to living animals. There are kids who are afraid of forests and everything that is in there - mosquitos, bugs, etc. In other words, they are deliberately disconnecting themselves from some aspects of the real physical world, or at least from the unpleasant aspects of it.

So there we are: evolving virtual reality and high levels of welfare substitute/overshadow the unpleasant aspects of life/world. Moreover, the environmental cost of such existence is already either at unsustainable levels or just about to reach it.

Is it a smaller cycle or something of more fundamental nature? I wouldn't know. It rather looks like Atlantis where they were keen to control the world and shape it in accordance with what they desired. Our world looks like an attempt to create an artificial cozy (yet unsustainable) world within/on the larger world.

Hopefully, the fall from the grace and reconnecting with the real physical world would not be too steep.