Dialogue with a friend and colleague on Facebook: Thanks for your questions re 'what is our collective destiny' anyway? And also the article by Derick Jensen...I have followed his career and his writing for many years...and he is kind of an example of what I am talking about...when he actually found out what was happening to our eco-system on earth, he became extremely angry about it..advocating the kind of violent solutions you would resort to if someone was 'raping your mother.'

After a while, he changed his approach to something quite a bit more evolved, in which he began exploring the possiiblity of moving from a different place, without being dominated by either hope or fear. I respect his passion and intelligence a lot, and I am very interested in his evolution…

He has actually transformed the whole level of his consciousness, which is where I tend to be focused. My understanding right now is that without profound evolution and transformation of consciousness, we will never be able to collaborate successfully. We will either regress to some kind of patriarchal/dominator structure, or we will get stuck in a model based on consensus and equality, that makes it very difficult to take collective action. Without attaining a certain level of development on the level of consciousness, it seems to me that we will continue to fall into these extreme positions.

Working together, from a place of mutuality, transparency and equality---you don’t get there just be deciding to do it..Otherwise we would have done it by now. If I still need to look good, if I am afraid to admit my own mistakes and take responsibility for the consequences, if I cling to me own points of view, if I feel the need to defend myself in the face of attack, if I am unable to celebrate differences---I cannot really participate in the next stages of our evolution..Because that will require a kind of awareness and a capacity for collaboration that is totally new. It feels to me a lot like really growing up. No more temper tantrums, no more entitlement, no more inability to listen to other points of view. Emerging from our chronic position of self-preoccupation into another world--where we can take care of our own needs in a way that allows us to be present to the needs of something much much larger.

love