As
common as the idea that reality is connected to consciousness may be in theory,
few of us go through life with a viable understanding of what this might mean
in practice. Perhaps this is because so many facets of western culture
reinforce the sensation of separateness and undermine feelings of connection in
ways both subtle and overt. Competition, individualism, and selfishness in
their most extreme forms are advocated as survival skills. The world comes
complete with distinct borders, countries, religions, teams, traditions, and
national identities that make it seem as if we humans have more differences
than commonalities.
But
on some level, many of us have a hunch that this isn’t quite right. Our complex
biological sensory systems tell us that being included and cared for feels
better than being alone and left out. We experience empathy and compassion for
complete strangers who are suffering. If we’re very fortunate, we may even have
been in love, in which case we have unquantifiable yet very powerful evidence
that profound emotional connectedness is a very real phenomenon – we feel
another person’s pain, we experience their joy in sometimes all-too-tangible
ways.
As
humans we arrive preinstalled with sophisticated organs of perception – and yet
somehow we’ve come to trust external sources of knowledge more than our own instincts.
It’s my hypothesis that our collective guts can only handle so much conflicting
data before they begin to pipe up, creating a subtle but piercing kind of dissonance
that is hard to ignore.
How
much conflicting data does it take to produce extrasensory feedback loud enough
to produce a global cacophony? A rough estimate: about 300 years’ worth. During
the early Renaissance, art, science, and spirituality were practiced as
interconnected parts of an overarching, holistic philosophy of nature. By the
17th century, Bacon, Newton, Galileo, Descartes, and others had introduced
the idea of a universe made of separate parts connected by generic, impersonal
forces. Rather than simply accept the “scientific method” as an important new way
of collecting information about the workings of the world while continuing to
embrace the notion that intuition and imagination serve different but equally
valid functions, a battle of the paradigms ensued that still rages to this day.
Since
the 1700’s, in the “western” world at least, our formerly holistic vision of
the cosmos has been undermined by learned separateness. But the internal data
we’re receiving tells us that the old notions of mind vs. matter, science vs.
art vs. religion, observer vs. observed just aren’t holding up. Meanwhile, current
breakthroughs in science are also suggesting that things may not be as they’ve
seemed – multiple, even seemingly opposed scenarios can exist simultaneously,
things that appear incompatible may be different facets of the same jewel – separateness
is truly an illusion.
I
believe that the OCCUPY movement, in concert with other uprisings in progress around
the world, marks a new kind of Renaissance, one of collective recognition of
the importance of interconnectedness – between disciplines, cultures, and
communities – and of consciousness, in the sense that individuals are realizing
the power of personal and collective participatory action, intention, and
collaboration.
The
monumental challenges that humanity faces today on a global scale are the
result of 300 years’ worth of compartmentalizing and un-holistic thinking –
when the earth’s “resources” such as ancient forests, oceans, rivers, oil and
coal deposits, creatures, and even human beings are seized and exploited for
the convenience and profit of the few without regard for environmental or moral
costs, when pharmaceuticals are developed for outrageous profit without regard
for the true causes of disease, when people are told that peace is not possible
without war, that our planet’s biosphere is too large to be disrupted by the
follies of man, that health care and education are too costly while “defense”
and tax breaks for the rich are imperative, that we should fear rather than
love our neighbors, that our voices and actions are too small to make a
difference…
Not
long ago a select few in control of the largest media outlets had the power to
manipulate prevailing thought. But 2011 has been the year of radical, world-shifting
information-sharing and citizen journalism. Armed only with small electronic
devices connected to a common network, we developed ways to pool our resources
in the form of information and ideas. Radical rejection of helplessness has
been the catalyst for individual and collective action. We learned that “occupying”
has both physical and mental components – we can occupy any location at any moment
simply by refusing to participate in a broken system to the greatest extent
possible. By taking personal responsibility for social and environmental
justice in every facet of our lives, from how we acquire food to where we shop
and bank to the quantity and quality of the resources we consume, each of us
can help create the sustainable, healthy, and just society we envision.
It
is at the precise moment when existence seems the most futile and absurd – when
we have nothing left to lose – that extreme anger and frustration can suddenly
morph into a radical sense of freedom that fuels empowerment and a commitment
to act.
In
the past year we have not only borne witness to the release of Wikileaks, the
start of the MENA revolutions, the rise of the Indignados in Spain, Anonymous, and
so much more – as a result of social networks many of us have been active
participants in these historic events. We have offered support and held space
as our friends and colleagues have been beaten, arrested, and oppressed, and as
they have succeeded in toppling tyrants and putting their oppressors to shame. The
chills we feel when physically participating in – or experiencing virtually – a
radical act is evidence of the veracity of our connection. It is also a healthy
symptom of the re-infusion of our existences with meaning.