Parent nodes: Integral
New Civilization
For the survival of the Earth (not humanity mind you, humanity will survive, but the Earth as a living being), it is necessary that the current destructive materialistic society, based on throw away consumerism, built on cruelty and oppression of sentient rights (towards animals), the destruction of nature, and the exploitation of third world peoples and the under-privelaged everywhere, be replaced by a more wholesome society, a totally new civilization.
This will have to involve initiatives and principles like
spiritual participation
new model for business and capitalism (and not, as some suggest, a rejection of the capitalist system).Whether this actually comes to fruition will depend on various factors, the main one being whether the new memes be overcome the entrenched old ones before most nonhuman life on Earth is destroyed and the remainder becomes an impoverished but nevertheless flourishing biota described by paleontologist and science writer Peter Ward in Future Evolution (this may already be foregone conclusion in any case)
The following is a number of links, topics, quotations, etc, along with, where relevant opr where I have gotten around to adding it, my own opinionated commentary.
The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community, by David C Korten. This is an extraordinary book. It looks at the way that the last five thousand years have been ruled by an exploitative and hierarchical form of culture that Korten calls "Empire", or "Dominator Culture", presneting both the whole psychology of it, and a bit of cursory history. Most attention is given to the failure of the "American experiment" through corporate plutocrats, religious theocrats, and neoconservative militarists. Although these are usually associated with the "right", Korten argues strongly that "Empire's" values are as detrimental to conservatism as they are to the reform left. He then provides a case for the alternative, which he calls "Earth Community" -- a people-centered, community-based future, along with practical steps as to how to bring this about. Sure, his typology is really simplistic, us and them sort of thinking, and I don't buy the primordial cooperative society (not matriachy, but similar) thing that he adapted from 
Riane Eisler, and his alternative big stories or myths to replace the current literalist christian and materialistic consensus, while a decent start, is preliminary at best, as he himself fully admits. He seems to get a lot of his ideas here from Deep Ecologist Joanna Macy and neo-teilhardians like Thomas Berry and Brian Swimme (The Universe Story or Great Story). But on the whole this is a marvelous, optimistic book, that doesn't shirk from looking at the ugly cause of Empire, while at the same time embracing the future in a very positive way. His alterantive story is in fact very much the alternative one now, and is what was also presented at an ecology workshop I went to, a sort of pantheistic science story. According to Korten, and to the conference I went to, these communities, and these organisations, are already emerging now. The process of change is underway.
However what I am interestied in lightworking, and really radical moral reform. Because it's all tied together, you can't separate animal abuse from human abuse, or eother from environmental abuse. But this will require a change of consciousness and lifestyle on a very fundamental level. Significantly, while environmental and human issues get top billing in these initiatives, universal sentient rights still lags way behind. It truly is the last taboo.
But what of spiritual communities. Well, I'll look briefly at the two most esteemed "new age" communities - Auroville, and Findhorn.
Auroville - a universal New Age community established by The Mother For me, this is the spiritual teaching par excellence. And Auroville - the universal city established by The Mother on the basis of Sri Aurobindo's tecahings - is the attempt to put it into practice. But Auroville can only be as good as the aspirations of the people who comprise it. On the Auroconf mail list I have met many wonderful people, sincere devotees Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, and residents of Auroville. I myself have never been there, except very briefly when i was just a kid and visited India to see Sai Baba. However, a good friend of mine, someone who has travelled widely visiting alternative communities both here in Australia where I am, and world-wide, has been to Auroville and Findhorn and found both dissapointing. He told me that in Auroville it is all about personal politics, who has the best house, etc. I know from her Collected Works that The Mother was very dissapointed with the original Aurovillians, who, in her words "behaved like animals". This is because she established it with no rules. But very few are at her level. (need to add refs re rules on no drugs etc). Then there is the claim the Mirapuri people make about threats of violence made against them when they were part of Auroville, which forced them to relocate (need to find web ref). Is there smoke without fire. I don't know. For every negative statement, there are many positive. But I would hav eto visit myself. Pending that, I can only remain agnostic.
Mirapuri is the humanistic, european, free-consciousness City of Peace and Future Man in Italy founded by Cyberartist, CyberMusician and Futurist Michel Montecrossa, on the basis of the worldpeace ideals of Sri Aurobindo and Mira Alfassa (The Mother), and with guidance and comission from The Mother.
Mirapuri's first satellite Miravillage has been established in Germany.
Homo-Integralis - Institute for Integral Consciousness-Research and the Future of Man - (in German), affiliated with Mirapuri - English page -
I actually get a much more positive vibe about Mirapuri then I do about Auroville. Genuine insight? Or Intermediate zone? I don't know. Again, all one can do is remain agnostic, until more facts come to hand.
The Findhorn Foundation - Findhorn is a small village in northeast Scotland between Inverness and Aberdeen. It was in the Findhorn Bay Caravan Park that the whole New Age movement was initiatiated in the early 1960s through an extraordinary cooperation between the human and devic kingdoms. See The Magic of Findhorn by Paul Hawken for an entertaining account of the early years, and The Findhorn Garden by The Findhorn Community for the "official" account. A brief history of Findhorn from when it was founded by Peter and Eileen Caddy and Dorothy Maclean in 1962 to its growth to a major international centre of spiritual education and personal transformation can be found here.
I mentioned my friend who has travelled all over the world, been to alternaticve centers everywhere. He was dissapointed with Findhorn, which he said had too much personal politics. I haven't been there. I don't know. If you have any anecdotes or any experiuences with any of these, or any other, alternative communitiues, please contact me
My Proposal for a New Spiritual Alternative Community. Well, if there is nowhere else suitable, and nowhere else local, maybe it is meant for me to initiate my own? So far, no takers. We will see how the future turns out!
My suggestion for an online Integral Gnostic Community. This was actually inspired by the failure of the Integral Movement (see below)
We Change. org is about promoting and enabling this change, one human being at a time: changing ourselves and changing the way we relate to the world for our own benefit and for the benefit of the whole humanity.
Earth Vision - a new site centered around deep ecology and spiritual ecology, via distribution of ebooks in a not-for-profit-operation (ebooks for sale, but minimal traffic in that regard, enough to support activities). It is the premise of EARTH VISION that in order for humanity to cherish nature, humanity must first recognize nature as a reflection of the very soul of its own being. See also the links (LYNX) page. One ebook is available free.
Paragonian Business Academy - Building the Infrastructure for the Sharing Economy
Cenocracy (Going Beyond Democracy) - Cenocracy means New Government. History may well record it as Cenodemocracy, which means New Peoples Government. It is based upon a new philosophy of developmental biology
News for a Synergetic Earth CommUnity of Minds : Working Together Future Positive Time-binding Trust - The Knowing Unity - an inspiring website with extracts, links and on-line books (including Edward Haskell's Full Circle) by Timothy Wilken
Culture, Networking & Environment
- links for transformation
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