I’ve just finished reading Jem Bendell’s book, Breaking Together – A freedom-loving response to collapse. It’s 500 pages of evidence about the breakdown of our global civilisation and eco-system. Not an easy read.
I didn’t like the book, but I do appreciate what Jem Bendell has achieved. As an author, I have some understanding of the hard work that goes into writing a book, but I can only guess at what it must have taken to write such a long book packed with research and factual analysis. I also have some inkling of the courage it takes to be the prophet of doom, saying the things no-one really wants to hear, speaking truth to power and revealing the deceptions and betrayals of the rich and powerful. It takes courage to leave a profession when the cognitive dissonance between your own authentic truth and the ideology of the institution has become too much to bear.
I read the book because I wanted to know the whole truth about our current crises and fill in the gaps in my understanding. I had to push myself to stay with it and I must admit, what kept me going through the first 280 pages of economic collapse, monetary collapse, energy collapse, biosphere collapse, climate collapse, food collapse and societal collapse, was my hope of getting to the “good bit”, the stuff about freedom. But I didn’t find much of that. I suspect the author’s intention was to undermine false hope and expose the psychology of denial, leading his readers to stand above the abyss with no escape, and stare into it.
Jem Bendell states this conclusion in the final chapter:
“Although many people are breaking apart into self-righteous factions, many people have been breaking together, whereby they allow the upsetting situation to break down their old habits, so that they become more open-hearted and open-minded in how they live their life, including the way they relate to other people. As a result, they are dramatically changing their lives to prioritise creativity and social contribution.”
He goes onto say that such “doomsters” are no longer waiting to be saved but move through their grief and live every day as a blessing, living according to their own values.
“It is precisely because these people regard modern society to be breaking down that they are living more freely. They need neither an underground bunker nor a fairy tale of a better tomorrow as they live, today, for truth, love and beauty.”
I go along with all of that. As a Lakota Indian Chief is reputed to have said, “it’s a good day to die” and that means it’s also a good day to live. Or as Eckhart Tolle said in The Power of Now, “The secret of life is to “die before you die” and to find that there is no death”. We can’t move forward into any kind of healthy culture until we have faced into our fear of death and accepted death as part of the natural cycle of birth, death and re-birth. But then, in my 70’s, it may be easier to accept death than it is for a 20- or 30- year old. At least I have had the chance to live and find fulfilment in my life.
I was surprised that “Breaking Together” didn’t move me more. It is, after all, about more than the inevitability of personal death. The devastation of the natural world, the threats to life on Planet Earth, the hi-jacking of a civilisation by the agents of “Imperial Modernity” and “money-power”, the callous killing of people, animals and cultures – these are huge and unpalatable facts to digest. The breakdown of civilisation gives rise in me daily to intense feelings of grief, rage, incredulity and helplessness – deep, raw, visceral feelings that have been with me now since the Suez crisis, when I was 13 years old, brought the USA and USSR to the brink of nuclear war and confronted me with the destructive potential of humanity; and since the 1970’s when the destruction to the environment became apparent. The grief, rage and heartbreak don’t go away and so I have needed to find ways to transform them.
Breaking Together has left me thinking about the psychology of denial and how it is encouraged in our world. Yet, when we step out of denial, how do we live with this terrible knowledge without collapsing ourselves? How can we stay sane, whole and empowered in the face of all the violence, injustice and destruction? How do we avoid settling for easy answers and escapist fantasies? How do we grow up to become sane, sober adults in the midst of so much insanity and insobriety?
There is no easy answer. But 42 years on a conscious healing path and 33 years of spiritual practice have given me some skills which I find helpful.
I agree with Jem Bendell that it is essential to face into our grief and loss, so that we don’t become stuck there, forever wandering in the shadows. My philosophy is that it’s important to face into, and give space to, the whole gamut of human emotions – grief, rage, disgust, incredulity, frustration, heartbreak, as well as empathy, compassion, joy in kindredness and love for the human spirit. When I can feel, experience and connect with my own human, bodily responses, and at the same time wrap them in awareness and ultimately unconditional love, it frees me to keep taking positive actions in line with my authentic truth and creative passion.
The second, related set of skills is to be in beginner’s mind. This means being willing to listen to and consider many perspectives without reaching for easy answers and then to choose to live from a place of not-knowing. This is supported by the inner realisation that I am part of a living universe which is infinite, eternal, intelligent and alive with possibilities. When I remember I am participating in a mystery which is beyond the understanding of the human mind, I am freed for a while from the limitations of, and clinging to, my personal story. And this freedom creates a gap through which the light of possibility can enter.
These two complementary sets of skills and – embodied presence and being fully with whatever arises – and beginner’s mind and being amidst complex, conflicting information and staying open-minded, are not easy to perfect. But the attempt is what keeps me motivated and alive. I see the practice as a continual balancing act with human nature on one side and spiritual nature on the other, while I walk a very fine line between the two. On the one hand, there is a danger that I may fall into the pit of human suffering and get lost there and on the other hand there is the danger of opting out into spiritual bliss and handing all responsibility to a higher power. From my point of view we are always free to co-operate with the natural and universal laws which support life and evolution.
I fail in my practice every day but it’s not about success and failure. I see it as a practice of lifelong mastery. It can take considerable strength and discernment sometimes to hold an emotion long enough to face it, know it, allow it to run through me, touch me and move me – without acting it out – and then to hold it in my transformational crucible and wrap it in love. The practice gives me a deep connection to and appreciation of the human condition, a way to heal suffering within myself, and a way to stay fully alive and authentic.
Being in beginner’s mind is a beautiful practice which requires me to step beyond the limitations of ego. I don’t need to be the one who knows or the one who can fix things. I can rest in not-knowing and non-attachment to results. This doesn’t mean I don’t care or I don’t take action. Instead, my actions become experimental and I am motivated by curiosity – what happens if I do this? There’s less personal clinging to results, it’s not “about me”. This is the freedom of response-ability.
Over the years, I’ve broken down these two streams of liberation – conscious healing and beginners mind – into skills that can be easily practiced, and they form the basis of all the courses I offer through Tribe in Transition. Freeing ourselves into fulfilled and response-able life within these very troubled times is not easy but the skills are simple. Look out for another message in a few days when I’ll be inviting you to join me in a Build Your Soul Sanctuary practice and/or in the Transformational Practice Community.
Image by Roberto Weigand.
