by Palden Jenkins
Published in Southern Crossings magazine, Australia, 1993.

During the buildup to the Earth Summit in Rio, there was a parallel buildup of feeling. For some this was conscious, and for most it was unconscious yet destined to surface at a later time. This feeling arose out of the undercurrent of knowing that we have gone too far, that we have already probably wrecked our world more than it can handle. This feeling was fuelled by a deadly mixture of secret dread for the future, resentment over past dishonesties and delusions (such as the safety of nuclear power or the importance of beef farming in Amazonia), impatience at the slow and inadequate response by governments and society to the environmental crisis, and confusion over the sheer complexity and inter-relatedness of the problem as it currently presents itself.

So, in recent years people have suddenly started rushing at the situation, like Parisians to the Bastille, to try to get some changes started before it's too late. It is as if people are staving off an underlying guilt. We should have started this process at least 25 years ago, when we discovered what was happening: the mid-60s book-title, Silent Spring, summed up what we then learned, and the catchphrase All You Need is Love summed up the way forward. The dangers of our time were clear to see for anyone who would look. But humanity reacted in fear, bought more guns, built more bulldozers and cars, and got stuck in for a final fling – before it was too late. Now, the writing is no longer on the wall: it is knocking on our front door. We're being asked to make a contribution to saving the world. Everyone.

Does that mean I can't have sugar in my coffee? Yes. And if we leave it much longer, no coffee either. We can't have that! Oh, well, perhaps the problem will go away. Someone will fix it. No, they won't – This Is It. Shock and horror – why didn't they tell us before? They did – you didn't listen. You continued fighting wars, mining the debt-mountain, enslaving yourself to Toyotas, Polaroids and Mastercards. Silence. Well, I was only trying to fit in with what seemed required of me... wasn't I?

So a new form of moralism is growing: Thou Shalt Not pollute, over-consume, expand, eat beefburgers, pay low taxes or fornicate without contraceptives. But there's a problem with this. There's no question of the basic truth of what we have wrought in our world – although there is a lot of discussion about what precisely the consequences are – and there's no question of the need to change our ways in order to survive – although there is a debate about how much change, at what cost, and who pays.

But there is a danger that we fall into the trap of thinking that the problem lies in our environment. People's concerns and feelings get projected onto the natural environment – and it deserves it, and it is good that this is so. However, nature shows the symptoms of the problem, while the problem itself does not lie with nature. We stand a chance of depriving Gaia, Mother Nature, of her intelligent child, humanity, – and of most of her other children too, her flora and fauna. In doing so we would remove her primary soul-purpose. Nevertheless, she will continue, adapt, and make use of the strange nutrients which have become our poisons. Her programme and purpose might be set back, but Gaia will carry on. No, the problem lies within us, in our own inner ecology, and as a reflection of that, in our social ecology.

In the rush to construct new regulations, structures, treaties and funds for environmental change – biodiversity parks, waste-pipe filters, recyclable everythings and infinitely-extending government grants – we run the risk of overlooking the social, psychological and spiritual changes which must go with them. Even if we go eco-fundamentalist, we are still motivating our exploration of the New Unknown from an outward- oriented viewpoint. And this, ever since we were Cro-Magnon people some 35,000 years ago, has been at the root of our problem.

It has taken toxic environmental realities, surrounding us, to make us aware that we have created a problem – even though the environment had to shout, burn, dry out, shake and die to get us to listen. Even though our innermost hearts have known for centuries that we're doing it all wrong, we have needed blatant evidence before our eyes, and impinging discomfort, to bring the message home. Yet, at the core of the matter, the soul of humanity is also crying out, pleading for its incarnate members to take heed. "This isn't what we came here for!"

The purpose of humanity, given free-will to play with, apart from building hovels and empires across Gaia's skin, was surely to learn from life? Surely the purpose of humanity was to add a new dimension of creativity and consciousness to that of nature, enhancing it to a new level of possibility? Was it not that we were to create anew, to dream up creations which Creation itself hadn't thought of? Wasn't our purpose to support our Mother, to enjoy her company, to thrive from the provenance she would reasonably give forth, and to return provenance to her? We had no need to fight one another, to pillage Earth for more than it could give, or to crowd the family home.

Yet we did it. The first thing to appreciate is that we have now given ourselves a big and difficult learning-experience – and that we need to forgive ourselves for that. This learning-experience is the horror of what we have created. We've screwed up, and we know it. It is not God or Nature judging us for our errors: it is we ourselves. For it was precisely that feeling of guilt, that feeling that we have done something 'wrong', which, perversely, has motivated us to perpetrate even more 'wrong', to cover up the previous 'wrong'. The world has thus become devastated.

We developed this tendency of building guilt, layer upon layer, very early in our history, covering up our ills with increasing layers of complexity – even to a point where we have persuaded ourselves that this was is the norm. The Christian theology of absolution of sins even gave us the impression guilt was forgivable and that our actions made little or no difference in this world. Although, paradoxically, from a God's-Eye viewpoint, there is no right or wrong, there are only outcomes. And even a compassionate God cannot save us from the fate we have created – until or unless we learn. God no doubt takes responsibility for his- her-its side of this mistake – presumably there were evolutionary possibilities which were not seen when the early issues of creation of humanity were being sorted out. But the big question is, will we take responsibility for our own side of the Creation bargain, the Covenant we undertook by getting involved in populating an earthly paradise?

The ecological movement is, in a sense, deeply motivated through guilt – and fear. These are working positively at present, motivating a reform of our ways. Yet this conscience borne by environmentalists of all leanings is not a wholesome motivator. It is an expression of guilt felt on behalf of humanity, which is busy shirking its responsibilities.

There's a danger to this, for guilt (about the past) and fear (for the future) are elements of the shadow of the collective unconscious, and have a dangerous capacity to outwardly manifest what is most felt within us. If we fear catastrophe – avidly reading our Nostradamus books, praying to 'ascend' or subscribing to dire ecological-economic predictions – and if this fear is greater than our sense of positive promise and safety in the future, then what we fear will happen, and already is doing so. For underneath all the rush- hour traffic and consumer treadmill, the collective unconscious beavers away on its own novel – a tension-filled thriller.

Yet, the movement for change is also rooted in love. Love for life, love for humanity, love for nature. We humans get hit by love now and then, and that's just as well. Having children does it. And there's a collective dream for the future, which last germinated in the 1960s and lurks menacingly in the collective unconscious: a dream of planetary happiness, fulfilment, sharing and mutually-assured wellbeing, with a solid dollop of real human spirit at its core. By nature, such a state is eco-friendly. This bundle of positive energy, however it is seen and defined – and the sheer variety of experience within humanity is its B-point – also has manifestation-power. Out of the ashes of the past, we, and also our descendants, are fully capable of creating a world which surpasses all hopes and expectations, human or divine. A world where population doesn't mean destruction, where communities offer cooperation-within-diversity, where nature and civilisation support one another, and where awakeness and soul-purpose prevail. Do you truly believe this to be possible?

Love warms the heart, makes us feel included, safe, held, supported. It gives us an opportunity to love too. When you have it, it feels wonderful. Except, if we wait for another person to love us first, we'll wait forever, because they are waiting for us! And if we point at those others who aren't loving us – Hizbollah terrorists, rich Americans or the person down the road – they will just point back. And if we worry about our environment, without looking at our own egos, our shadows and our inherent nobility and grace, we will land up in a greater mess than before.

Environmental Protection Agencies won't crack this one – even though they can help, on the macro- scale. Marginal modifications of our behaviour won't crack it either: the problem lies within the roots and branches of the human race, and all of its productions. Even our welfare systems and religions. Even in our new foci of piety, the new age and environmental movements – both of which are indeed constructive, but yet they each omit to see the whole Big Picture. Nothing will change until we do. In reality.

How can we change? There are many big and little ways, many of which we know about, but perhaps we do not take them to their full potential. But one thing I do want to look at is consciousness, which lies within our thoughts, feelings and imagery. The new world we are stepping into is one where the inter- relatedness of consciousness and matter is to be demonstrated and worked with. In other words: realities are created from within, and our thoughts have direct creative power. As they always have done – but mostly unconsciously. What we are on the edge of will make the industrial revolution look small. We're on the edge of realising the full implications of the direct connection between thought and environment, energy and physicality.

If we give some time and energy to managing our consciousness, pulling it into shape, and learning how to make use of it, we will be allowing more space for the soul of humanity to rise to the surface. Which it already is doing, thanks to the utter ridiculousness of the world we have created, and the scraping and wrenching this has caused. But we need to be more conscious about it. In the dark night of humanity's soul, the human core is beginning to glow brighter. And light in darkness makes a bigger difference than light in light. We can help this process, and turn the human drift around.

This is nothing new. There have been spiritual teachings and enlightening influences since the year dot. But large-scale practice, by large numbers of people, would be new. Not only this, but we can be more specific about it too. Do you get frustrated, sad, behorrored and perplexed when you hear about the latest tragedy which crops up in the news? Whether it is a dying species, warring factions, disaster victims, politicians or the inner-city downtrodden, it is possible to do something, even at a distance. For, as was demonstrated in 1988-89, when there is no longer the underlying psychological support for something counter-productive, it has to go. And when there is support for something productive, it inevitably has to come into being – if that support passes through the 'critical mass' stage.

How do we build up critical mass? By giving consciousness to things. It builds up an underlying sphere of energy-support for progress. Thus, if you are horrified by what Israelis and Palestinians do to each other, or what timber merchants do to forests, give them some consciousness: visualise them tiring of hurting, developing greater understanding, making friends, and benefiting each other. Feel the feeling of resolution, forgiveness, peace and forwardness dawning – and then send it over to them. Do it more. Get your friends on the case, to do it simultaneously, wherever you are. For this is a question of building up a body of energy and vision in the collective unconscious.

If you are concerned about the dwindling frogs of the world, visualise holding them protectively in your hands. Visualise something arising which counteracts the toxins killing them or otherwise helps them survive, and imagine them growing back into balance and contentment, safely in their own slot in the natural matrix. If the ozone layer worries you, visualise it being knitted back together, and see CFCs getting eaten by masses of new ozone, or by the healing thoughts of millions. If you want government leaders to wake up, visualise them at their desks with a smile in their heart, understanding anew, and building the will to effect the changes which they already know are necessary to bring about.

Huh. Esoteric hogwash. This guy's building castles in the sky. It doesn't matter too much whether you believe in what I'm suggesting, as long as you do something. You can believe what you like: after all, world change must come about through our own free will, and it cannot be coerced, corralled or confounded. Structure your beliefs as you feel best: each of us has our own responsibility to Life. But if you're feeling frustrated, and want to do more about the lives of your grandchildren, then invest just half an hour, once a week, devoted to switching your attention to building an atmosphere for positive change. It makes a difference. You can feel it when you do it. It makes you feel connected. There is a much greater interconnectedness between our thoughts-feelings and the world out there than we have been bred to think. Try it.

TOP  NEXT  BACK  INDEX  HOME

Paldywan Kenobi's archive of articles

© Palden Jenkins, 1995. All of these articles are copyright. They may individually be copied and shared with others in a spirit of knowledge-sharing and fair play, but they may not be sold, printed or reproduced in quantity or changed in form without the permission of the copyright holder. Magazine and other editors may e-mail me for permission to reprint. E-mail: