A WAY OF LIFE

Details: Created on Friday, 09 December 2011 20:09; Written by Marian Moore

KRYSAN

THE WELLBEING CONSULTANCY

"Co-operation: A Way of Life"

“Who could be so lucky? Who comes to a lake for water and sees the reflection of the moon.” ― Rumi.

LETTER 1

9 December 2011

Dear Friends

ADVOCATING CO-OPERATION

Looking back over my life, I've come to the conclusion that the pressure points have always come when my strong beliefs about co-operation (and unity) have collided head-on with people with equally strong beliefs about competition (and control). Here's a good quote from today's inbox about the nature of beliefs:

"Everyone is living in their own reality, continuously finding evidence to prove what they want to believe." - Alan Cohen

Holding this caution in mind, I'll set the scene for what is to come by asking you to take a look at this old copy of Cherry Knowle Hospital's Reality News. In its pages you might well discover why co-operation is at the heart of all that I do and ever have done. I hold my hands up to having a life-time's subscription to the allied belief that we are all connected.

Unshakable.

Unstoppable.

Unapologetic.

Now, click on the hyper-link below to download 'Toad Lane Onwards' for the roots of all this dogged determination. If nothing else, I rather suspect you'll love the advertisements for such staples as CWS polish, mustard, bicycles and flour. They are truly a blast from the past, harking back to a time when the Co-operative Movement was everywhere and England was seen as the cradle of co-operation.

I'll be back soon to take this discussion to another level and (ad)venture into a new age, a more complex era of human civilization where the value of co-operation is seen, not only as having worth as in times of yore, but as holding the key to the very survival of the planet.

Co-operation: A Way of Life. As the happiness movement spreads across the planet, could this become our reality - again?
Marian

REFERENCE - LETTER 1

ELLIOTT, S. R., (1937), England: Cradle of Co-operation, pub. London, Faber and Faber Limited.

REALITY NEWS ARCHIVE 2005

Read about 'co-operation as a way of life' in the North of England.

↓

Download Toad Lane Onwards.pdf

LETTER 2

10 December 2011

Dear Friends

RED ALERT

Fast forward to 2012 and it becomes more and more obvious that Mother Earth is in deep trouble. I sometimes think that we, the common people, will wait forever for the rich and famous to take the lead as agents of change.

And, we haven't got forever.

There's a growing urgency about this. Here's a way forward proposed by a gentleman and a scholar, Gregg Braden. Braden is also a scientist who is of the firm opinion that in order to address the great crises of our time, there are six important truths we must first consider:

Our ability to defuse the crises threatening our lives and our world hinges upon our willingness to accept what science is revealing about our origins and history.

The reluctance of mainstream educational systems to reflect new discoveries and explore new theories keeps us stuck in obsolete beliefs that fail to address the greatest crises of human history.

The key to addressing the crises threatening our survival lies in building partnerships based upon mutual aid and co-operation to adapt to the changes, rather than in pointing fingers and assigning blame, which makes such vital alliances difficult.

New discoveries of advanced civilizations dating to near the end of the last ice age provide insights into solving the crises in our time that our ancestors also faced in theirs.

A growing body of scientific data from multiple disciplines, gathered using new technology, provides evidence beyond any reasonable doubt that humankind reflects a design put into place at once, rather than a life-form emerging randomly through an evolutionary process over a long period.

More than 400 peer-reviewed studies have concluded that violent competition and war directly contradict our deepest instincts of co-operation and nurturing. In other words, at the core of our truest nature we simply are not "wired" for war! BRADEN, 2011

I tread lightly through this minefield of beliefs and indeed so should you. As always, caution is called for. But, Braden speaks sense in setting out to help us answer the over-arching question of who we are. With this as the determinant underpinning our behaviour towards our fellow man, I leave you with much to think about - particularly in connection with No. 3 above,

"The key to addressing the crises threatening our survival lies in building partnerships based upon mutual aid and co-operation to adapt to the changes, rather than in pointing fingers and assigning blame, which makes such vital alliances difficult". BRADEN, 2011

But, this is all I have space for.

I ask you again to take care; igniting the memory of our origins is a reminder of all that was lost and continues to be lost. A commitment to violence by our leaders, and others with a vested interest, is not the only pressure point threatening humankind.

But, there is hope.

Marian

REFERENCE - LETTER 2

BRADEN, GREGG, (2011), Deep Truth: Igniting the Memory of Our Origin, History, Destiny, and Fate, pub. USA, Hay House, Inc.

LETTER 3

ll December 2011

Dear Friends

CURRENCY OF CO-OPERATION

I've already spoken of Mother Earth, the mother on whom we depend for Nature and for Nurture. Her survival is rather obviously both a public and a private good. We are in a time of transition, with all that implies for instability in economic, political and social systems. But, there is an upside ...

Whilst we ignore 'vacuums in leadership' at our peril, we can help ourselves: we are not powerless. What better time than right now to examine where we - the common people - stand in relation to ushering in a new age, a new age aptly named the Age of Reunion by American author, Charles EISENSTEIN.

In The Ascent of Humanity, 'Eisenstein puts his finger on the core problem facing humanity, namely, separation'. He sees 'all the crises that humanity now faces are grounded in the belief that we are separate - separate from each other, separate from the biosphere that sustains us - separate from the universe that brought us forth'.

The Ascent of Humanity can be (and is) described as one of those rare books that move the goalposts for everyone rich and poor alike. Like Gregg Braden's book, it can be seen to combine bold, visionary thinking with brilliant scholarship. For instance, here's Eisenstein's prediction related to 'the currency of co-operation' in relation to work itself,

"Work will no longer be bound to the search for money, but will seek out ways to best serve each other and the world, each according to our unique gifts and temperament." EISENSTEIN, 2007

Equipped with a working definition of that which is entailed in 'the currency of co-operation', and with the caution that this book by Eisenstein is not an easy read, I take my leave from a discussion embedded in values from England's far distant past when the Rochdale Pioneers ruled OK across the land. Remember them?

Wake up.

Stay tuned.

Discuss, talk.

The Ascent of Humanity by Charles Eisenstein is easily obtainable as print copy from Amazon UK, and is even more easily got as a free electronic download from the author's own website.

I am,

Sincerely yours,

Marian Moore

REFERENCE - LETTER 3

EISENSTEIN, CHARLES, (2007), The Ascent of Humanity: The Age of Separation, the Age of Reunion, and the Convergence of Crises that is birth the transition, pub. Harrisburg, PA, Panenthea Press.

"God dwells in the space between our thoughts."

- Alan Cohen

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