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By Root 876 0

will gradually awaken a new consciousness and level of self-reflection. These four archetypes invite us to ask: Are we adolescents or adults? Heroes or villains? Sleeping or awakening? Biological or bio-cosmic? As we get clearer about who we are and where we are going, actions can then come quickly and easily, where before they were paralyzed by confusion and conflict. There may be no more important task for humanity than to cultivate archetypes in our collective imagination that, together, can serve as a beacon for drawing us into a promising future.

Cultivating Reflection and Reconciliation

The paradigm of a living universe will foster a new level of ethics as people recognize that our every action and thought is woven into the infinite ecology of the universe. In his Book of Mirdad, Mikhail Nimay describes this insight beautifully:

So think as if your every thought were to be etched in fire upon the sky for all and everything to see. For so, in truth, it is.

So speak as if the world entire were but a single ear intent on hearing what you say. And so, in truth, it is.

So do as if your every deed were to recoil upon your head. And so, in truth, it is.

So wish as if you were the wish. And so, in truth, you are.1

We each have the capacity to tune into ourselves and to know we are an expression of the living universe that manifests in a flow of immense subtlety and power. In our direct experience, we can consciously discern the subtle flow of the universe arising at each moment. We can see this dance of subtle creation outwardly, and we can experience our participation inwardly. As we awaken to the aliveness of the universe, the universe responds to us—the know-ingness of the living cosmos meets the knowingness of a unique human. In the exchange, there is a mutuality of knowing that brings with it an experience of belonging to the universe and being at home within its immense community of life. We know the universe and, simultaneously, the universe knows us.

Discovering that we are an inseparable part of the fabric of existence awakens our experience of compassion for the rest of life. We expand our empathy as we come to see ourselves as beings of cosmic dimension and participation. The compassion we feel becomes the basis for a higher unity that transcends our great diversity—racial, ethnic, sexual, generational, religious, political, economic, and more.

A world unconsciously divided against itself while facing enormous challenges—and armed with weapons of mass destruction—is a recipe for global ruin. Without unprecedented initiatives for global reflection, reconciliation, and healing, our efforts to achieve a sustainable and meaningful future will be frustrated by the wounds of the past. Irrespective of differences in gender, race, wealth, religion, and political orientation, we all participate in the deep ecology of consciousness, and this provides a common ground for meeting, understanding, and reconciliation.

Reconciliation does not mean past injustices and grievances are erased; instead, by being publicly acknowledged and remedied, they need no longer stand in the way of collective progress. When injustices are mutually acknowledged, it releases both parties from the need to continue the process of blaming and feeling resentful; instead they can focus on cooperative actions for building a better future. Reflective consciousness provides a “place to stand” for bridging the polarities that now divide the world and keep it from working as an integrated system.

With a felt appreciation that we share a common foundation of existence, the human family can bring a spirit of reconciliation to these key areas:

• Religious reconciliation. Throughout human history, many of our bloodiest and most intense conflicts have come from religious intolerance. Reconciliation means each of the world’s wisdom traditions is recognized and respected for its unique insights and contributions.

• Racial, ethnic and gender reconciliation. Healing the wounds of racism, slavery, genocide, ethnic cleansing, the oppression of women,