"The underlying philosophy of non-violence is that the people have more power than their government, but must connect with each other in order to mobilize that power."
The new paradigm's lack of rootedness in the current reality requires a system of communication and organisation which can enable and empower the paradigm shift to embed itself in the current reality in order to implement and direct the change that needs to occur. What is required is a system of communication and organisation upon which the characteristics of the New Paradigm can be built.
It's about "local empowerment with a global reach". It envisages a structure that functions on the local level with global functionality as well. by allowing for greater power and responsibility on the local level while maintaining a centralised control based paradigm that is purpose driven with more local control.
The structure itself is not the new paradigm. It will be used, under the correct conditions, as a foundation for the creation of entities and communities that will enable this new paradigm to emerge as a relevant influence on the current paradigm.
It uses the principle of "when the people lead, the leaders will follow". There is, without a doubt, enough will and creativity amongst all of us who envision another way of relating to the world around us to manifest the world in which there is enough for everyone's needs.
How are we going to bring about this transition? What are the steps to shift from this paradigm to that "new" paradigm? What are the structures that will support that? How will we embed our vision of a new world in the current reality that we live in? How do we root this idea in the world?
I have a concept, an idea of how we can begin this process. I have called it "The Tree of Life Network". I envisage a network of healthy, creative communities that are pockets of resistance to the current paradigm, effecting the change while being supported by a huge network of those who hold a similar vision. The communities are connected by affinity groups, all organised in a tree-like structure, in what is described as a local, distributed network.
This is a rough description of a structure that already exists, both in network theory as well as data base designs. For a more thorough explanation of this underlying form and how it works, I will defer to those who are experts in this field. A larger piece of work describing the Tree in more detail will soon be available on my website.
What I will mention now, is that the tree is formed from the people who are members of the network. It can manifest any structure of connectivity that they wish. Two examples of this are the internet and the net of Indra. The internet consists of a vast collection of objects (computers) that are all connected via a complex set of protocols and lines of communication. It does not restrict whatever structure wishes to appear, for it forms an underlying web of connectivity that can be activated along lines chosen by the people themselves. The net of Indra is a vision of living spirits described in ancient Hindu texts. It speaks of our existences as jewels that sit in a vast network of light. At certain points of intersection on this vast interconnected web, where there is enough energy, appear the jewels of existence.
This is not an absolute, one size fits all, type of solution. It aims at a decentralised system that focuses on empowering people's ability to cater to their local needs. It is made up of affinity groups that focus on their local community, not a centralised system with an overseeing power̵which is the kind of hierarchical systems we have at present.
The fractal nature of the structure manifests similarly at all levels. Like a crystal, this is how the integrity of the structure is maintained. It has many similarities to present infrastructures, but is better connected between each level.
We have to tap into the emotional/spiritual drive that will shape this, the heart that will shape the power, belief and desire into the will to manifest this web of life that contains the jewels of our existence.
The more people that act in a co-ordinated way to produce the kind of lifestyle they dream of, environmentally and in other areas, the more results we will be able to achieve.
One of the ways of achieving this goal is to create a network that provides products and services that honour the sacred path of sustainability by purchasing all that we can from the network. This form of empowerment has often been practised in a religious context. By placing it in a sacred context, it becomes able to cater to many more peoples spiritual desire.
Starting from a heart-open and earth-based center, we begin to nourish this "rising tide of consciousness", then by the actual planting of these seeds created in sacred space, we literally eat the words of mother earth.
A simple example would be to only eat food that is organic, thus supporting the organic farmers.
If everyone in the network ate only organic food, then a web of organic food producers and suppliers and consumers would naturally emerge in the network. As the energy circulated amongst this group so it would reverberate along larger and larger segments in the network. Once a certain momentum is reached, it would become a major player in this space.
In the more advanced version, it behooves the network to have its own legal, educational, and other practitioners, thus becoming more self-sustaining and harmonic.
The network has an inward facing aspect as well as an outward facing one. The inward facing deals with the inner workings of the network, and it has three levels. The inner level consisting of those who are fully embedded in the network. The second, of those that are actively supporting the network. Then the third is the interface to the "outside" world, which is called the outer face.
We will weave a web, a global village, within the infrastructure of the world as it is today. As each person is ready, he or she, alone or within a group, decides to join.
This web has already appeared. It is the the tree of life that hasn't yet emerged. The web needs coherence for the tree to emerge. With the right nourishment and intention, it will become a living system.
Once again the internet is an example of this. Although the channels of communication are directed and controlled, what is being communicated and who hears it is controlled for the main part by the participants of this communication.
The internet consists of a vast collection of objects (computers) that are all connected via a complex set of protocols and lines of communication. It does not restrict whatever structure wishes to appear, for it forms an underlying web of connectivity that can be activated along lines chosen by the people themselves.
The Net of Indra is a vision of living spirits that comes from ancient Hindu texts. It speaks of our existences as jewels that sit in a vast network of light. And at certain points of intersection on this vast interconnected web, where there is enough energy, appear the jewels of existence.
How the Jews managed to succeed after arriving penniless in a new culture. The rooted themselves in their own communities by only using all the services that the community offered them–exclusively. They purchased all their food from the community—as it has to be kosher. The education was provided by the community as they wanted their children to get a good Jewish education. (See the notes accompanying discourse on TOL). They taught them to read and write, to do arithmetic and to think critically, producing excellent doctors, accountants and lawyers, thus empowering them to both deal with the societies they found themselves in, and to be able to access essential services from within the community. In addition, when someone catered to a non-Jewish client, or worked for a non-Jewish employer, most of their earnings were pumped back into the community.
This enabled them to enrich their own communities, as more money was coming into the community then was bleeding out of it—that is, supply exceeded demand.
This structure has a number of qualities:
* It had a moral imperative that you could activate within the community. Thus there was recourse to a Rabbi who would make a moral decision about conflicts, rather than relying on an external legal process. If there was a need for that, then there were generally lawyers within the community who could advise the participants as well as the Rabbi.
* It becomes a self-sustaining and self-supporting structure that has minimal reliance on the greater surrounding community.
* When services were provided to the greater community, that energy would be used to enrich the Jewish community itself. This provides an example of the way in which we can extricate ourselves from our reliance on the old, current paradigm. A form of the "build it and they will come" principle.
Scientists have recently discovered that various complex systems have an underlying architecture governed by shared organizing principles. This insight has important implications for a host of applications, from drug development to Internet security.
The internet itself is a scale-free network in that some sites (starbursts and detail above) have a seemingly unlimited number of connections to other sites. This map, made on February 6, 2003, traces the shortest routes from a test Web site to about 100,000 others, using like colors for similar Web addresses.