“The 500 Year Delta” is
a book about the changes we’re moving into at this point in history - the splintering of social, political and economic organization; the collapse of producer controlled markets; and the shift from reason to chaos based logic. The book targets businesses, but being an analytical person I enjoy the perspective of futurists who step back, look at history, study trends and attempt to project where we are headed.
Published in 1997, the book provides ideas and strategies for moving into an unpredictable future and the increasing chaos of everyday life as we move into the “Age of Possibility.” What caught my eye and got me thinking was the following: “In Chaos you cannot do, you cannot plan, you cannot reason to an end point. In Chaos you can only be.”
That sounds like the same concept that Eckhart Tolle is teaching us in “The Power of Now,” that we learn from Eastern philosophy or when learning to meditate. Stay in the present moment, let go of the past, don’t fear the future, just ‘be’. Let all thoughts go, tune in to your intuition, flow with events and trust that the Universe will support you.
As I look around the world it certainly feels as though we are moving into Chaos. Global warming, floods in the Midwest, fires in the Far West, earthquake in China, collapsing housing and mortgage markets, rising energy costs, falling stock market, continued unrest in the Mideast, and on and on.
In Chaos you can only be.
When the levees break, the ground shakes, the bills pile up and the future is uncertain it is not the time to chew over past choices or to quake over what might happen. Just be, be present. Then when the Universe presents an opportunity, and it will, you will be ready to respond and move with the flow, even if it takes you out of your comfort zone.
The “I Ching” says: “Out of Chaos, brilliant stars are born. Before a great vision can become reality there may be difficulty. Before person begins a great endeavor, they may encounter chaos. As a new plant breaks the ground with difficulty, foreshadowing the huge tree, so must we sometimes push against difficulty in bringing forth our dreams.”
Spiritual techniques and practices are for much more than reducing stress and deepening spirituality; they also teach us essential skills as we move into this new age of possibility.
As I often say to myself and anyone who will listen . . . it is in the imperfect that I find perfection and in that perfection, the perfect flaws . . .
Likewise, it seems that chaos is the womb of order, and order the womb of chaos . . .
As always, thank you for the gift of thoughtful pause that you offer. Ashe.
Posted by: rose | July 01, 2008 at 02:30 PM