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While falling asleep one
evening during the summer of 1995 (shortly
after relocating to San Francisco), I thought
of an intriguing phrase - "Gaian Buddhism."
The phrase so thoroughly captivated my
imagination that I went to the San Francisco
Public Library the following day to research
whether "Gaian Buddhism" had previously been
used by someone else. To my surprise, I found
that it was used as a chapter title in the
book, Dharma Gaia.
After
reading the book, I had an interesting idea:
organize a group named the "Gaian
Buddhist Society." I thought about
the idea, discussed it with some friends, and
researched the possibility of the viability of
a "Gaian
Buddhist Society." One notable result
was a putative logo:
Further
consideration, however, convinced me that the
locution "Gaian
Buddhist Society" included inherent
difficulties; the semantic connotatons of both "Gaia" and
"Bhuddism" were (it seemed to me) potentially
emotionally
provocative. Yet, by the following summer (1996),
I thought of an alternative phrasing that
seemed neutral regarding semantic emotional
connotation:
First
Global Society. I subsequently
convinced myself that "First Global Society"
was a suitable nomenclature for what I had in
mind.
I then embarked on an earnest
effort to develop the idea. After several
months, I managed to think of an interesting
organizational structure. Included in my
effort was research regarding similar
organizations. I discovered that the Foundation for Global
Community seemed to have an interest and
orientation similar to what I was considering;
so, I attended some of their meetings in Palo
Alto. By the autumn of 1996, I had worked
through the logistics of organizational
design, and implemented a web site. At a
Foundation for Global Community meeting in
November, 1996, I made a brief announcement
regarding my intent and efforts, accompanied
by the following graphic summary:
I was unprepared
for the reaction that followed; it seemed as
if I had stirred up a hornets' nest.
Consequently, I relinquished my participation
at the Foundation for Global Community, but
continued my efforts with First
Global Society.
From 1997 to 2002, I devoted
considerable time to developing some of the
ideas portrayed in the above illutstration.
Not surprisingly, things changed over time: the
logo, for example:
Likewise, the
form of the First Global Society
web site
changed over the years (although its
content remained relatively constant):
The
First
Global Society web site is no
longer active, but if you're curious about
its content, you can expore archived
versions at the Internet
Archive.
Perhaps the most significant consideration
in the (now superseded) First
Global Society web site was
the topic designated Which Future?, which you can
view by clicking on the following image:
When I
originally (circa 1995-1996) conceived of
the idea of a Gaian Buddhist Society
and
(subsequently) First Global Society, it then
seemed possible to me that Cosmic
Evolution was a viable option for
our future of our species. But now I more
realistically expect that we should plan for
Planetary Senescence (as explained
below).
Initially, the First
Global Society was conceived
as comprising two complementary aspects:
7th Generation
Syndicate |
Club Global Village |
Within that conception, the 7th Generation
Syndicate was conceived of as
encompassing the active membership of the
First
Global Society, and Club Global
Village its Internet-linked
constituency. I later reformulated 7th Generation Syndicate and Club Global
Village, respectively, as Global League
and Global
Ganglia. The relations are
schematically depicted in the following
illustration:
My conception of the 7th Generation Syndicate (Global League)
and Club
Global Village (Global Ganglia)
was influenced by the explanation of identity articluated by Richard N. Adams
in The
Eighth Day (pp. 145-146):
The identification and
the differentiation of any set of
people or relationships as a
social unit must meet two
requirements. First, the
definition must be by some
individuals who are interested in
relating themselves to some others
such that the behavior of each
will be contingent upon that of
the other and that taken together
the total set of relations
manifests some kind of
organization. Second, the members
of the collectivity who are thus
identified do, in fact, act in
some conformance with the
definition. This second is
necessary, since the only
information an observer--including
the members of the
collectivity--may have about the
organization must derive from the
behavior of the members. The first
is necessary so that everyone will
know how they should act. The
members must have mental
models--descriptions--of what the
society is all about or else they
will be unable to act in
accordance with their own
definition. Thus individual
cognition is an essential
component of societal definition
as a dynamic factor in both
forming and reinforcing the
energetic behavior that
constitutes social activity.
The interaction of
these two requirements produces
self-organization. Definitions are
made and then their makers try to
work in accord with them.
Self-fulfilling prophecies thus
serve to produce behavior that
does, in fact, conform to some
degree with the definitions.
Societal definitions at some
point, usually at the outer
limits, inevitably set some kind
of exclusivity. Individuals are
defined as being included in or
excluded from some defined set.
Fundamentally involved
here is the process usually known
as "identity," the psychological
combination of some cognitive
markers about things in the
external world associated with
emotions of favor and disfavor,
preference and rejection. The
individual's identification with
others who manifest certain
features provides the psychosocial
basis for the operation of any
"society." It is the necessary
prerequisite, or minimal
concomitant, by which individuals
divide the world into the wes and
theys, the I and other. No human
association exists without it, and
it may become complex even in
simple societies.
In the contemporary
world, identity is clearly
recognizable in the nation-state,
but it is equally important in the
remnant bands of collecting and
horticultural peoples who do not
recognize any more inclusive
grouping. It is also found in
ethnic or religious groups that
claim precedence and autonomy over
nation-states. The mental models,
the concepts of membership, will
in most cases vary with the actual
collectivity of human beings who
seem to occupy the space. As we
will note shortly, the definition
of identity given by a regulatory
sector of a hierarchical system
may differ profoundly from that of
the people who compose the various
subgroups that are included in it.
The imposition of the so-called
nation-state on the former
colonial areas of Asia and Africa,
and indeed on Europe, has almost
everywhere failed to represent the
identities present in the
populations. Processes of
self-organization are caught up in
these diverse and often
conflicting definitions of just
what it is that should be
reproducing. The Basque want
reproduction, whereas the Spanish
state sees it in terms of Spain.
People will try to reproduce
themselves and their social order
in terms of what they perceive to
be their identity.
The process of social
formation thus always returns to
the individual since each person
must to some degree have his or
her own self-definition. Given
self-definition, individuals then
further define themselves as
members of collectivities in
accord with their self-definition.
If a society is composed only of
people born of a given set of kin
groups, then the individual must
define himself as having been so
born in order to be a member.
Groups so defined can then be
expanded to include nonhuman
energy forms so that certain
symbols become emotionally
included. A household may include
the pet dog as a beloved member;
the lineage may treat an ancestor
as being actively present; a
public-spirited individual may
declare himself a "citizen of the
world," a "brother to all people";
or a totemic group may include the
totemic animal, perhaps a badger.
Identification is the product of
mental models, but only of mental
models that interplay with
society.
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My intent with the 7th Generation Syndicate (Global League)
and Club
Global Village (Global Ganglia)
was to encourage an active membership whose
identity included an encompassing "cosmic"
consciousness and regard for the future of our
planet (I've recognized a kindred awareness in
Paul Harrison's Scientific Pantheism).
But recruiting members has been a weak point
with me. Over the years since I conceived of
it,
my initial objective of developing the First
Global Society on a membership
basis lagged.
Nevertheless, in addition to my initial
supposition of an active membership premised
on identity, I had also considered the prospect of
organizing a "discussion group" of about a
dozen individuals to collaborate in better
understanding our contemporary historical
context. The germ of that idea is circled
below:
Although I hadn't initially crystallized a
detailed conception of what I initally
intended with "understanding," the idea
eventually acquired form as the Understanding in Time aspect
of the First
Global Society, represented in
iconic form as:
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A
recognizable influence on my formulation
of Understanding in
Time was Howard Bloom's chapter
on
Pythagoras (Chapter 16:
PYTHAGORAS,
SUBCULTURES, AND
PSYCHO-BIO-CIRCUITRY,
pp. 151-163)
in his book The
Global Brain. When
considering Bloom's account of the Faustian introvert, I
identified. Influenced by Bloom (and others), I
considered assembling a group of individuals who I
felt were suitably qualified to participate in
a webinar via the Internet. During the
subsequent years, I invested time and funds -
purchasing
books and organizing study materials. Understanding in Time
eventually assumed the form of a putative
three-part collaborative effort. The three
“modules” were eventually designated:
Coming of Age in an Evolving
Universe |
Our Kind - Evolving |
Energy, Organization,
Planetization |
The series
content was comprised of both printed
publications and online links. I acquired
about a dozen copies of many of the listed
publication titles that were intended for
eventual use by "qualified" individuals
participating in the series.
A principal challenge was
to identify and interest potential
participants. An initial Understanding in
Time prospect was
Timothy Wilken, who publishes the SynEarth blog. Timothy
featured a discussion of Understanding in
Time in
the following:
Understanding in
Time.
As part of my planning effort,
I attempted to construct a schedule for
updated (and augmented) lists of materials for
the three Understanding in Time
modules. The
result is represented below (click on the
image to view in PDF format):
One consequence
of developing the schedule was my realization
that a moderately paced implementation of
Understanding in Time
would likely
require 3 years (possibly more) of time and
effort by the participants. Who would have
the motivation and interest - or time? Even
though I had acquired copies of titles
included in the Understanding in
Time list, the 3-year estimate
urged me to
deliberate
further over
the detailed constitution of Understanding in Time.
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September 2001 |
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Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
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16 17 18 19 20 21 22
23 24 25 26 27 28 29
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Despite various
revisions, refinements and delays during the 5
years following my initial efforts with
the First
Global Society, I felt
comfortable with the emerging result. However,
the aftermath of 9-11 (September 11, 2001)
appeared (to
me) to have changed the global "rules of the game" that will
determine the fate of human society on our
planet. The U.S. "war on terror" and invasions
of Afghanistan and Iraq, with the accompanying
economic, political, and ecological
consequences, convinced me that the future
alternatives that I had conceived of in 1996 -
Cosmic
Evolution and Planetary
Senescence - were probably no longer
a valid dichotomy. By 2004, I'd concluded that
what I had previously distinguished as Planetary
Senescence will be our most likely
future.
In the wake
of 9-11,
the First
Global Society no longer seemed
appropriate in view of the apparent reality of
unfolding planetary geo-politics. After
reconsideration, I concluded that yet another
change in what was originally conceived as the
Gaian
Buddhist Society could likely prove
appropriate. Subsequently, the First
Global Society (intentionally)
morphed into the 4th Transition
Convention. Although much
of the content from the First
Global Society was retained, the
form and objectives of the
4th Transition
Convention were redefined.
For example, the new web site for the
4th Transition
Convention was redesigned to
emphasize overshoot of the human population
within the constraints of the finite physical
parameters of our planet. The 4th Transition
Convention web site can be
accessed by clicking on the following graphic:
One notable
difference in the change from First
Global Society to 4th Transition
Convention is a changed
emphasis regarding membership. An intital
consideration for the First
Global Society was to
influence individual identity via membership
models, as was intended with the Global League and Global Ganglia. With the
4th Transition
Convention, however, a more
fluid dynamic is envisioned, contingent on
the varied defitinions of "convention."
Consider the definitions from the Encarta
dictionary:
1 |
Gathering:
a
gathering of people who have a common
interest or profession. |
2 |
People
attending
formal meeting: the people present at a
convention. |
3 |
Meeting
to
select candidates: a meeting of delegates of
a political party for the purpose of
selecting candidates, or the delegates
attending such a meeting. |
4 |
Formal
agreement:
an agreement between groups, especially an
international agreement slightly less formal
than a treaty. |
5 |
Usual
way of doing things: the customary way in
which things are done within a group. |
6 |
Familiar
device:
a standard technique or well-used device,
especially in the art. |
The 4th Transition
Convention is not
intended as a membership organization, but as
a process.
The process
phases can be
extrapolated from the preceding sequence of
definitions for "convention:"
1 |
Awareness
of
the 4th Transition. |
2 |
Communication
regarding
the 4th Transition. |
3 |
Definition
and
development of indiviual roles, relations,
and responsibilities. |
4 |
Agreement
between
groups regarding the 4th transition. |
5 |
Selection
of
"best practices" for the 4th transition. |
6 |
Adherence
to
beneficial practices during the 4th
transition. |
Your act of
reading this blog is an instance of the 1st
phase (awareness). My efforts with this blog and
the 4th Transition
Convention web site
exemplify the 2nd phase.
In addition to the 4th Transition
Convention
web site, I
am still interested in the prospect of
(something like) a webinar with a group of
qualified individuals.
This synopsis,
like other things that I've been pursuing
for over two decades, is part of an on-going
effort. Yet, on occasion, it seemed to me
that I may have merely embarked on some sort
of quixotic quest. Perhaps so; but then, who
knows?
Postscript:
I eventually decided to author
this (Gaian Buddhism) web
site in a continuing effort to
live as a New Monastic
Individual. Who knows?
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