What's happened to religion?

Had an email from a friend yesterday talking about a recent Dawkin's program on religion, morality and sexuality. His point was that 'religious peoples' behaviour when it came to the so called sexual 'taboos' was exactly the same as the non religious. The only difference being that 'religious' folks lied about it and felt guilty! Whilst I could see where they were coming from, it made me feel very sad to see how easily the flaws in all the major religions, where politics, power and control are often more of the driver than a simple love of God and life, so easily puts people off the idea of religion itself...that very simple  relationship between a person and that amazing intelligence which both created and maintains life, including our own!

The Human Deal

Had a get together last night with some good friends. We were discussing what is the basic deal for humans on earth - good question!  What are some of the issues that face us all, whoever we are and wherever we are born?

Some of the ones we talked around were these:-

1. We all find ourselves alive on the planet in a time which is teeming with possibilities but also full of problems.
2. We are all born  knowing nothing ... like an empty computer!
3. We start to fill up with information ...and this can either lead to a life which is refining itself or getting more crude, more course...the choice being up to us ( given personal circumstances do make this easier or harder)
4. Somewhere along the line, we decide if  life, in our view,  is a one time shot, or is this life part of a spiritual journey - and this  makes a huge difference to how we live our life and think about absolutely everything!

5. As people, no-one is an island unto themselves and to think so, is to cut ourselves off from the sense that we mix and merge with the influences of other people, different energies and influences all the time  .... and this is a fundamental part of what we are and who we become.
It was a great evening and felt really refreshing to be spending time together casting our mind over some of these really profound questions ! 
Love to hear some thoughts from other bloggers!

Collaboration, not Competition, We, not I

        
Saw another inspired TV program the other evening  (Yes,  TV?? Strange but true!!)  The hub of what was being discussed was again about finding new templates for a more humane tomorrow.... two phrases really caught me 

"Collaboration  rather than Competition"
"We, rather than I"

Those mind shifts could really make a difference!

Evolution or Extinction

I saw a fascinating program on one of the less popular TV channels the other night ...an interview with a chap called Dr Robin Wood.   The central theme of his chat was that humanity is facing a simple choice ... evolution or extinction !  I was caught by the fact that there was a TV program  bringing up such profound questions and wondered how many people around the globe also feel that not only are we are facing such a critical turning moment in history  ... but that we have a part to play in influencing the outcome.  Robin is pioneering something he calls Renaissance 2, and asks us to imagine living in a Solar Civilisation powered completely by renewable energy, with people living in resilient habitats in tune with nature, operated by enlightened enterprises, wise culture and conscious, integral leadership aligned with a full spectrum of healthy values. He believes that crisis catalyses evolution through creativity and that this is the best time ever to be alive. He likens the time we are in today to the extraordinary fertile flowering of art, literature, music, science and learning which began to blossom around five hundred years ago and is very much looking at the practicalities of new business models, new ways of living which will not only have economic success but which would incorporate the fundamental values of humanity and spirituality.

There is a lot one could debate about this, but there was one feature which I found very significant...which is that thoughts and ideas which began as philosophical and perhaps a little flowery, idealistic and very 'fringe' back in the sixties are now being translated  into very practical ideas about pioneering a new culture - a new civilisation. Only 50 years later!  It made me ponder just what does it really take, to make that next evolutionary leap and just what might be achieved in another fifty years ! 

Third Vector

I'm working at the moment on a small video about Aboriginal Culture for our Templates for Change You tube Channel.     I was really struck by a quote from one of the Aboriginal Elders when asked about reconciliation with the current state of affairs and population in Australia.  They said that it was impossible to talk about reconciliation when there had never been any agreement in the first place...the one implied the other.
I found that really profound ... and in many ways it applies to so many of the stand-offs in the world today, whether it be in politics or religion.
They went on to say that the way all the Australians could come together, was through a common healing and purpose ..and the way that could happen was through a shared concern and nurturing of the planet..which would in turn look after, heal and bring them all together.  What  a gem of wisdom !  Perhaps, it is in the finding of that 'third vector' - rising into the  the bigger picture, shared values and  importances  ... that the reasons behind old  battles could be left behind and a better future forged.

Crop Circles

I had dinner with friends on Saturday and one of the many subjects that came up was Crop Circles ... one of those modern day phenomena which seem to keep happening  .....and with increasingly  detailed artwork and beauty  .. they sent me a link this morning with beautiful shots by Steven Alexander, taken over a few years in the south of England....and the photos really are quite extraordinary! The one attached is from July this year in Wiltshire. We all know that some crop circles are hoaxes  ....  but even if 10% were genuine, they still present us with a great and rather inspiring mystery!  
Of course, many people dismiss them all as human  hoaxes  and I can understand that in some ways. . .  they are pretty unbelievable ....and yet the growing intricacy and sheer beauty of them makes it more unlikely that anyone could produce them overnight! And if they are man made pranks, then how come with all the satellites around the planet, that the authorities who have access to satellite photos, do not expose them as such? Others like myself, recognise them as intriguing and mind provoking . . and one big question, of course, is where do they come from ?  Could it actually be some kind of non human intelligence making contact with us? As one person put it "a fax from the universe" !!  If so, could they be looking for our response, to gauge how we  respond to their 'communications' ?

I thought twice about whether to blog about this  ...  crop circles seem to be so 'out there', left field and whacky !!   Yet, they do keep appearing ... and having looked at hundreds of photos of them today, I honestly can't dismiss the possibility they do come from 'elsewhere'...wonder what other people think about them?  Wonder what they really are?

Lifting the Clouds of Limitation

In Sebastian Coe's closing speech at the  Paralympics he spoke of how the games had  "lifted the cloud of limitation"  I loved that language and thought that the Paralympic  athletes had set us a great inspiring example.   The impossible becomes possible, with imagination, dedication, bravery, determination and a lot of hard work. 
And of course, behind the clouds, the sky is always blue !