Margaret J. Wheatley is one of my heroes. At a time when many are afraid of the truth, he tells it as it is. At a time when many people want to run away and hide, he invites us to step into our true warrior spirit in the tradition of Buddhist master Chögyam Trungpa. In my book, The Warrior’s Journey Home: Healing Men, Healing the PlanetI quoted Trungpa:
“Warfare here does not refer to waging war against others. Aggression is the source of our problems, not the solution. Here the word “warrior” comes from Tibetan pawo which literally means “one who is brave”. Polemics in this context is the tradition of human bravery or the tradition of fearlessness. Warriorship is not being afraid of who you are.”
In her powerful and hopeful book, Who Do We Choose To Be? Facing Reality, Claiming Leadership and Restoring Sanity Wheatley says,
“My ambition is that you see clearly to act wisely. If we don’t know where we are, if we don’t know what to prepare for, then whatever path we choose will make us wander in the desert, more and more desperate, more and more lost.”
I received my own awakening to the warrior spirit in 1993 at a Men’s Leadership Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana, sponsored by Wing span Magazine. As part of the conference offerings we were invited to participate in a traditional Native American sweat ceremony. At 4u when things got so hot in the shelter that many people had to go out, I was transported into a vision where I saw the sinking of the ship of Civilization and the launching of the Lifeboats for freedom.
Most of those on board would not believe that the ship could sink, they denied the truth and went down. A few people, who believed the truth of their senses and not the captain’s propaganda, escaped in lifeboats, joined together and created a new, more sustainable world.
For the past thirty years this vision has guided my life. Here are some of the things I’ve learned:
- “Culture” is a misnomer. Its proper name is “Sovereign Culture”.
As long as we buy into the myth that “civilization” is the best that man can strive to achieve, we are doomed to go down with the ship. In The Chalice & the Blade: Our History Our Future First published in 1987, internationally acclaimed scholar and futurist Riane Eisler first introduced us to our long, ancient heritage as a Cooperative Culture and our more recent Dominant Culture, which has been called “Culture.” In her book, Cultivating Our Humanity: How Sovereignty and Partnership Shape Our Brains, Our Lives, and Our Future written with peace activist Douglas P. Fry, they offer real guidance for creating a world based on cooperation.
- There is a better world, beyond civilization.
When they gave me the book Ismail, by Daniel Quinn, I have a clear sense of two worlds competing for our attention: A world of hierarchy and dominance (Quinn calls it a world of Receivers) and a world of equality and connection (Quinn calls it a world of leaving). In his book, Beyond Civilization: Humanity’s Next Great Adventure, he asks, “What is he doing? saving the world mean?”
Quinn goes on to say,
“Saving the world can only mean one thing: saving the world as a human habitat. Achieving this will mean (must mean) saving the world as a habitat for as many other species as possible. We can only save the world as a human habitat if we stop our destructive assault on the community of life, because we depend on that community for our very lives.”
- Humans are not doing a very good job as conservative members of the community of life on Earth.
Thomas Berry was a priest, “geologist” and historian of religions. He spoke eloquently about our connection to the Earth and the consequences of our failure to remember who we are.
“We never knew enough. Nor were we intimate enough with all our cousins in the great earth family. Nor could we hear the various creatures of the earth, each telling its own story. The time has come, however, for us to listen or die.”
- The truth is that too many of us haven’t heard and too many of us will die. So what should we do?
If the history of the many civilizations that have dominated the Earth over the past 6,000 years is any guide, most people will choose to “eat, drink and be merry” and go down with the ship. Few of us will be called to a different future. In her book, Who Do We Choose To Be? Margaret Wheatley reminds us of this
“Warriors appear when people need protection.”
His last chapter Who Do We Choose To Be? it is titled: “Warriors For The Human Spirit: It’s Just Our Turn to Serve”. She says,
“As Warriors for the Human Spirit, our only weapons are compassion and insight. We avoid using aggression and fear to achieve results. We choose to stand apart from the current destructive dynamics and create good human societies where we can, Islands of Sanity. We know that we are only a small minority, the few who answer the call and prepare to persevere and protect that which is most precious, that which must not be lost.”
- The hope for those committed to a meaningful future is to join the movement to restore sanity.
I recently interviewed Margaret Wheatly about her new book, Restoring Sanity: Practices for Awakening Generosity, Creativity, and Kindness in Ourselves and Our Organizations. You can see it here.
“Why not dedicate a book focused on awakening the human spirit in all of us, eight billion spirits and counting?”
says Wheatley. That’s how I do it.
He opens the book with a quote from Marvin Weisbord, author, consultant, and Organizational Development elder. “I used to ask, ‘What’s going on? How can I fix it?’ Then I realized that the right question was: “What is possible and who cares?”“
This is a very powerful truth. Many of us who work to make the world a better place have broken our minds, hearts, and souls trying to fix the unfixable. With wisdom (and age – I turned 80 last year) some of us have come to the conclusion that there are some things people have done to our injury and ignorance that cannot be fixed.
Many of the changes we have brought about, including climate destabilization, are not reversible. We will have to live with the consequences. But that doesn’t mean we can’t do anything. Here’s what Meg says to those who are ready to hear the truth and feel called to do something constructive:
“The perfect storm is here, created by the confluence of climate and man-made disasters, insatiable greed, fear-based self-protection, escalating aggression and conflict, indifference to the well-being of others, and continued uncertainty.” .
He goes on to say,
“As leaders committed to serving the causes and people we treasure, faced with this relentless tsunami, what are we to do? My answer to this is also stated with absolute certainty: We must restore reason by awakening the human spirit. We can achieve this only if we undertake the most demanding and essential task of our leaders’ lives: the creation of the Islands of Reason.”
In the rest of the book, you will learn the practices necessary to become Warriors for the Human Spirit. As my longtime friend and colleague, Clarissa Pinkola Estes says,
“Mis estimados queridos, My esteemed ones: Do not lose heart. It is hard to say which of the current outrageous topics has shaken the world and people’s beliefs the most. Ours is an age of almost daily shocked astonishment and often righteous indignation at the latest degradations of what matters most to civilized, visionary people.
“You are correct in your estimations. The glitz and hubris that some seek while condoning such heinous acts against children, the elderly, everyday people, the poor, the unguarded, the helpless is breathtaking.
“However, I urge you, I beseech you, most kindly, not to spend your spirit dry in mourning these trying times. Especially don’t lose hope. More precisely because, the fact is that we are made for these times…”
For those inspired by the call to meet, Margaret Wheatley explains,
“An island of sanity is a gift of possibility and refuge created by the commitment of people to form healthy community to do meaningful work. It requires rational leaders with unwavering faith in the innate generosity, creativity and goodness of people.”
If you would like more information about Margaret Wheatley’s books, warrior education and current thinking, you can contact her at MargaretWheatley.com.
If you would like to know more about my own books, training programs, and current thinking, you can contact me at MenAlive.com.
