Four Faces of the Future!
Using an adaptation of Ken Wilber’s four quadrants, what will be the new mindsets, behaviors, cultures and systems of the emerging civilization of compassion? To get us started, I will share a few vision elements, and then it is your turn.
Individual Mindsets
Most individuals will exhibit a common sense of mutuality and interdependence. An awareness of our planet’s fragile ecosystem will be widespread. People will understand whole systems and think in integral patterns and processes. Intuition will be as important as rationality. Individuals will value integrity and kindness above all else. Education will have expanded people’s understanding to include vast stretches of time and space. Individuals will grasp that they are each unique and unrepeatable and have special capacities to be developed and shared with others. People will think of themselves as citizens of the universe, the Milky Way galaxy, our solar system and planet Earth.
Individual Behaviors
People will tend to act responsibly toward each other and the natural world. Leadership will have become servant leadership - facilitative, interactive, dialogical, participatory, profound, inspirational and authentic. Teamwork and collaboration will be common practice. Individuals will be genuinely interested in other people of different mindsets, life styles, cultures and religions and desire to learn from them. People will gather in beautiful, green public spaces for social and political discourse and to share their insights, creativity, knowledge and questions. Almost everyone will be engaged in spiritual practices such as meditation, contemplation, yoga, visualization, journal writing or community celebrations.
Collective Cultures
Cultures will have evolved to assume sexual and gender equality and human rights as the natural order of things. Equality and justice will be held as universal values. Care for natural systems of water, air, soil, plants and animals will be deeply ingrained in the collective psyche. New stories and myths will have been fashioned from empirical observation and analysis of the evolution of the universe and life on Earth. There will be many powerful symbols of unity, compassion and understanding. The historical religions will have evolved to honor each other’s profound insights of reality, human nature, love and truth. Many heroines and heroes who helped humanity realize a civilization of compassion will be celebrated widely. Happiness and wellbeing will be understood as the birthright of every living creature. Great celebrations of life on Earth will take place frequently.
Collective Systems
Renewable energy will be the law of the land and climate change will have been mitigated. Governance institutions, policies and systems will be highly responsive, accountable and transparent to citizen participation and opinion by virtue of respectful face to face dialogue and consensus building and through the Internet and social media. Education, health care, water and food will be universal rights, as will other basic necessities of life. Economies will be designed to provide needed goods and services for the wellbeing of all people and nature. Money will have been reinvented as an instrument for universal wellbeing rather than for individual power and control. The family will have evolved to embrace different possibilities for localized commitment, care and nurture. The justice system would have shifted its orientation from judgment and punishment to accountability, reconciliation and rehabilitation.
Yes, may it be so!
What stands out for you in the above? How does it make you feel? Based on these elements what story would you tell about a compassionate civilization? What are any implications for your life and work having read this?
What are some of your own vision elements of a civilization of compassion? Please share here or with your friends, colleagues or family members.
One of my questions is, how can I embody a future vision in my present life and work?