Vol. 1 No. 3 November 2001Greetings!!
This issue is dedicated to those of us committed to create a better world. It is also an invitation to engage in dialogue, learning, design and action. These are turbulent times during which, now more than ever, small groups of committed people can change the world. Syntony Quest affirms this belief, and our work continues to be challenging, meaningful and relevant for today and tomorrow. We need your support and your talents. Please join us!
In partnership,
Kathia & Alexander LaszloAren't we humanity?
The action imperative
Syntony Quest spotlight
Get involved!
We want to hear from you...by Alexander Laszlo
alexander@syntonyquest.orgThe world-changing events of September 11, 2001, began with a terrorist attack that took the lives of well over 5,000 civilian citizens of the United States of America, destroying and crippling the country's most important financial and military buildings in the process. These kind of events represent a major challenge to those who wish to pursue a syntony quest. Indeed, they call upon humanity to act in one way or another. The challenge is tremendous, for it requires us to deal with shock (which all too easily degrades into outrage and indignation). Undoubtedly, when we act from a place of fear, our actions are irrational and inhumane.
How do we respond in ways that cultivate life-supporting patterns of existence and promote peace as a dynamic process? Should we "fight back?" Should we "turn the other cheek?" How do we bring our syntony sense into play in times of such turmoil and confusion?
Clearly, when something or someone threatens and intimidates us (either individually or collectively), we must find ways of being strong and keeping from being attacked again. But being strong does not necessarily mean being forceful. This may sound weird, but just think about which is stronger; the young bamboo or the old oak? The oak may appear stronger - it is so tall, so wide, and so thick, while the little bamboo is hardly more than an oversized blade of grass. However, when the tornado comes, which one will be left standing? The bamboo knows how to yield, how to bend and move with stress and how to let pressure slide right off. The oak knows only how to fight for its position, to seek unyieldingly to maintain itself, and it cannot accommodate other possibilities for how to be in the world. As a result, the bamboo bends low to the ground... and then returns. The big oak only falls.
It's a simple little story, and as with all such parables, it captures neither the richness nor the subtlety of situations sparked by events like the 9-11 attack. However, the knee-jerk reaction to attack in return doesn't demonstrate much sense of syntony - or of the evolutionary consciousness upon which it depends. The whole attitude of "attack" (and all its manifestations in battle, war, or any other such armed and/or military confrontation) needs to be reconsidered. "We must go to war" was all too easily proclaimed, but seldom did I hear the suggestion that "we must go to peace." And why not? In national press conferences, representatives of the US government made statements that conveyed the following message:
Osama bin Laden rejoiced at the destruction of lives and of vital portions of our country. He is our
enemy because he wants to destroy us and our way of life. He has admitted that he wants to attack our
country again. He wants to take away our freedom by forcing us to live under the threat of imminent
attack. He wants to intimidate us and make us live in fear, but we will not permit him to steal our great way
of life from us. His is the face of evil, and his cult must be stopped and completely destroyed.Now, seriously, what kind of 1984ish doublethink[1] is this? Let's just think for a moment that you and I were citizens of Afghanistan, and that we were living in Kabul and we heard the reports of people who had been killed by the massive bombing attacks that were decimating our country. Could we not hear and believe the following type of statement by our leaders:
George W. Bush rejoiced at the destruction of lives and of vital portions of our country. He is our enemy
because he wants to destroy us and our way of life. He has admitted that he wants to attack our country
again. He wants to take away our freedom by forcing us to live under the threat of imminent attack. He
wants to intimidate us and make us live in fear, but we will not permit him to steal our great way of life from
us. His is the face of evil, and his cult must be stopped and completely destroyed.If both sides are saying the same thing, and each is calling the other evil, then is this not blind retaliation (returning "like for like, especially evil for evil," as my dictionary defines the term)? Mohandas K. Gandhi was right: an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. And so was Einstein: we cannot solve a problem with the same thinking that gave rise to it. And yet, we don't listen to them, we don't learn from them, we simply act the way we have always acted - like giant oak trees, seeking to dominate the world by the sheer force of our own brute strength.
How can we stop the madness in times like these? Not by showing them that we can blow them to smithereens (for they will come right back to show us how they can attack us with terror). Is it not insane to practice this form of deliberation on the national and international level? Who are we attacking? Are "they" really "not us"? Are we not humanity? Why are we doing this to ourselves?
You know, when I see how we build our societies, creating social and physical infrastructures by which goods, information, energy, and relationships are shared, and how each people does this in their own way of celebrating what it means to be human, what it means to be alive and in society, I marvel at the shared expression of our species. But when we drop bombs and kill each other, destroying so much of what we have built and created over the centuries, I must say that I am at a loss to explain the behavior of this species. Indeed, I don't feel part of it. Or rather, I am ashamed that I am.
And we bomb the earth, as if we are all that matter - no, as if the extermination of those "other" selves - the evil ones - is all that matters. The plants and animals, the ecosystems and life support systems, the natural beauty and intrinsic value of anything and everything else is not even considered. How selfish can we be? How can we act (and re-act) with such hubris?
What attitude will skew the probabilities either toward or away from socially desirable and evolutionary sustainable futures for humanity and the rest of planet earth? Depending on what we decide, the paths diverge - that, after all, is what the notion of a bifurcation entails. The quality of our future depends on whether we choose to adopt an evolutionarily conscious stance that promotes harmonious dynamics ... or an unreflective self-righteous stance that promotes aggressive retaliation. There are alternatives to attacking those who attack us, but in thinking through them, we need to consider which ones make syntony sense.
So what are the alternatives? Well, according to the syntony quest, we first need to listen better. Then we will see how to change our way of thinking, shift our perceptions, transcend our ego-centric ethics. There is no "quick fix," and of course, that is what we itch for when we feel outraged. But if we scratch that itch we may well break out in hives. The balm for our irritation is to think creatively, collectively, and constructively. For example, in the wake of the 9-11 crisis, I heard suggestions to educate Afghan women and to feed the Afghan people. In other words,
In responding to terrorism we need to do something different.. something totally unexpected... something
that addresses the root of the problem instead of exacerbating it. ... We need to take away the well of despair,
ignorance and brutality from which the Osama bin Laden's of the world water their gardens of terror.[2]There are many alternatives to suggest. Where is our courage to try these sort of things when we are pressed against the wall? Why must we resort to the claw and the club to settle our differences?
Remember your humanity, and forget the rest. That's the advice Einstein gave upon the invention (and before the dropping) of the atom bomb. We don't have to wait any longer to follow it.
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[1] Doublethink: "To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them." (George Orwell, 1984, Signet Book, New York, 1950, p. 32).
[2] By eMail, from Kent Madin, Ulaan Baatar MongoliaThe Action Imperative:
Responding to times of evolutionary challenge and opportunity through the conscious creation of syntonyby Kathia C. Laszlo and Alexander Laszlo
kathia@syntonyquest.orgWe are living interesting times - times of uncertainty and times of possibility. These times call for reflection -- for questioning our assumptions and clarifying our values. And these are times of action -- of active participation and daily transformation. It is our right and responsibility to assume the role of change agents and syntony creators.
But, where do we start?
We invite you to join us in considering three possibilities. Each one represents a syntony path for navigating through these chaotic times of turbulence, and together they provide an answer (though not The Answer) to the question of what to start with in making an active response together with our drastically changing world.
1. What's the context?
"All things, material and spiritual, originate from one source and are related as if they were one family. The past, present, and future are all contained in the life force. The universe emerged and developed from one source, and we evolved through the optimal process of unification and harmonization" [1]
For us, this is a meaningful, embracing, and important perspective to keep in mind as the context for interpreting, understanding, and responding to both small and big challenges of our human existence.
To be syntony creators we have to "think big picture" -- that is, to take into account the largest context, both spatially and temporally. It calls for nothing short of evolutionary vision. When we engage with the world like this, we realize how insignificant is our human existence and how marvelous is the universe in which we are co-participants. As the pupil of Ishmael [2] was able to reflect: the world does not belong to men, it is men that belongs to the world. We are part of something miraculous, and we are more than spectators. But when we see our own brothers and sisters (though mainly brothers) acting with hate, fear, and mistrust, when we see them take away from others of the opportunity to live and enjoy life, when we see them follow myopic interest and destroy life itself... we feel like apologizing to the whole planet on behalf of our human family.
That is why it is important for those committed to creating syntony, to bringing about a peaceful and sustainable future, to communicate their values and perspectives and to collaborate with all other members of our family (and this goes way beyond just our human family) so that together we can be the change we wish to see in the world.
2. What do we need to learn?
"Contemplate the workings of this world, listen to the words of the wise, and take all that is good as your own. With this as your base, open your own door to truth. Do not overlook the truth that is right before you. Study how water flows in a valley stream, smoothly and freely between the rocks.... Everything - even mountains, rivers, plants, and trees - should be your teacher" [3]
We have to learn to relate in new ways. To do this, the best thing is to learn to listen much better to nature. Nature shows us how to relate by creating the conditions for healthy eco-systems to develop and evolve. By learning rhythm and balance from nature, we can have a better compass by which to chart our own courses of action. We use the notion of syntony, and as you know, it evokes conscious intention in harmony with evolutionary purpose. Think about evolution as the pattern (the "snail-trail") of nature. We've got to learn to read the tracks, to pick up the scent, and to sense the presence, purpose, and direction of change as it unfolds all around us, enfolding us with it. Evolutionary ears with which to hear the rhythms of change. Evolutionary eyes to read the writing on the wall. Listen. What is life telling you even at the very moment?
3. What is missing?
"The Art of Peace is to fulfill that which is lacking" [4]
In other words, what could and should be? -- in the spirit of George Bernard Shaw, look for what is missing, for what is waiting to be born. Prepare the ground for its arrival, and welcome future possibility by actively inviting it into the present. As the ancient saying goes, think as a person of action, act as a person of thought. "Don't just stand there, do something!"
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[1] Morihei Ueshiba, The Art of Peace, Boston, 1992, Shambhala, p. 15.
[2] Daniel Quinn, Ishmael, New York, Bantam, 1992.
[3] Op. Cit.., Ueshiba, p. 26
[4] Ibid., p. 91In order to think anew, we need to learn in new ways. That's why the work of Syntony Quest emphasizes lifelong learning -- learning everywhere, all the time, from anything and everyone. There is no roadmap for the future, and we need to develop the competencies necessary for the participative and collaborative creation of sustainable and evolutionary possibilities.
We want to share the spotlight with our partner Alike.com. Alike is an innovative high tech organization focused on empowering new visions of learning. You can learn more about the work of Alike at
http://www.alike.com.
Haidai Nguyen, CEO of Alike, combines his technological competencies and aesthetic sensibility to express in different ways subtle messages that go way beyond words. His visual poetry (http://alike.com/homeland/index.html) and haiku films (http://alike.com/haiku_films/index.html) fit our description of Art with Conscience -- that is, artistic expression that makes us think critically about the present and inspires us to imagine an ethical future.Support us with a donation!! You can send us your gift by mail (cheks or money orders payable to Syntony Quest, 1761 Vallejo St., Suite 302, San Francisco, CA 94123) or you can donate online H http://www.guidestar.org/helping/donate.adp?ein=94-3302598 ERE :-)
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Syntony Quest is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization seeking to
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is a publication of Syntony Quest © 2001.
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