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My magical friend & mentor FireHawk Hulin passed along this fabulous video from the Symphony of Science, which samples media snippets from the brightest scientific heart/minds of our time. The message is simple: "we are all connected", but there couldn't be more crucial knowledge for us humans to carry as we go into our next decade.
The power of this symphony's lyrics is literally stunning, and I find myself fascinated by the last line of one stanza - "we are a way for the cosmos to know itself" whose implications are still reverberating ...
The beauty of a living thing is not the atoms that go into it
But the way those atoms are put together
The cosmos is also within us
We're made of star stuff
We are a way for the cosmos to know itself.
Many people have asked for more details on the First Peace work I experienced in New Mexico ... so I thought I'd show rather than tell you. The venerable RainbowHawk has created a series of paintings that illustrate the Eight Universal Principles of the First Peace. These powerful images tell the story better than I ever could, and I've added some of the words that accompany each principle in the First Peace Circle Handbook.
But first, a little background; the concept of "First Peace" comes from a quote by Black Elk;
" The First Peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of people when they realize their relationship, their oneness, with the Universe and its powers, and when they realize that at the center of the Universe dwells Wakan Tanka, the Great Spirit, and that this center is everywhere, and it is within each of us. This is the real peace, and others are but reflections of this.
The second peace is that which is made by two individuals and the third is that which is made between nations.
But above all you should understand that there can never be peace between nations until there is known that true peace is within the souls of the people."
The Eight Universal Principles are the foundation for the consciousness of the First Peace, so by working with them in our own psyches we truly begin to seed lasting peace in the world.
With this universal principle is the call to realize that, as humans we are a manifestation of light in human form, a manifestation of the Divine, and as such we are called to develop this consciousness that has no restraint or boundary.
E-Learning guru Jay Cross has written a fascinating post about an Aboriginal painting (note: not the one above) that he saw during a recent trip to Australia, and his reading of the imagery - comparing it with social networks and the politics of change.
But the fun doesn't stop there! Jay's readers continued to analyze the image in their comments and some valuable insights emerged. The whole post was an excellent example of both the power of art to convey meaning and the way we evolve meaning through the power of networks.
I've just heard that John O'Donohue, the great Irish poet/philosopher that I have quoted here so often from his fabulous book on Beauty, The Invisible Embrace, died unexpectedly on January 3rd.
His friend David Whyte has written a beautiful memorial, including a poem he wrote for John.
My sorrow at this loss is beyond words.
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