postcapitalism muse-collaborators playing in concert

What would you think if I sang out of tune

Would you stand up and walk out on me?

Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song
And I'll try not to sing out of key

Oh I get by with a little help from my friends -John Lennon and Paul McCartney

I'm focusing on being clear on my intentions today. So I shall be taking my magic markers and butcher paper and charting mind maps and creating havoc. 

You may wonder how in the heck I am surviving without visible means of income. Short answer: Oh I get by with a little help from my friends.

Somehow over time, and quite organically, a small circle of artistic friends (my family helps too) emerged. When one of us is strapped for cash, another has just sold a painting. We share.

I keep feeling this clarity of an art colony that keeps appearing like a mirage in the desert of my soul and it's not going to be be based on your typical transactional economy. It's a leap beyond even the most conscious of capitalists.

We see all types of law of attraction courses and gurus talk of attracting money. For me and I'm finding a few others, that system is obsolete. I'm creating something altogether different.

I tend to ask questions like, "If I was dropped (and hopefully not on my head) on a virgin planet with some friends, what would we create?" We are not beholden to laws and scriptures and traditional systems and the ruts of "this is the way things have always been done." A fresh slate. What then? What would we create?

I walk into a cafe yesterday in San Francisco after scouting for a room to rent. Absolutely no one peers up from their laptop. That type of silence doesn't hum like that palpable diamond Silence hush that animates life.

(Hu)Man as an island onto himself holds no appeal for me. So, when I think of Abundance, the qualities of unity, exuberance, friendship, mutual inspiration and community appear, rather than what my bank statement shows or what type of car is parked in front of my mansion.

"A live concert is exciting to me because of all the electricity that is generated in the crowd and on stage." - Elvis Presley

These are just a few snippets from a few tales that have kindled my thoughts along these lines. They all underscore collaboration with other kindred souls working playing in concert. 

"With an average life expectancy of 78 years for men and 86 years for women, Okinawans are among the world's longest lived people. More important, elders living in this lush subtropical archipelago tend to enjoy years free from disabilities. Okinawans have a fifth the heart disease, a fourth the breast cancer, and a third less dementia than Americans, says Craig Wilcox of the Okinawa Centenarian Study.

What's key to their success? "Ikagai certainly helps," Wilcox offers. The word translates roughly to "that which makes one's life worth living." Older Okinawans, he says, possess a strong sense of purpose that may act as a buffer against stress and diseases such as hypertension. Many also belong to a Okinawan-style moai, a mutual support network that provides financial, emotional, and social help throughout life." - "Secrets of Long Life," National Geographic, November 2005 (via my post, "For Every Lynch Mob, There Are a Hundred Moais")

images Photo of spontaneous a.m. jamming at a cafe during the Cajun Zydeco Nights Festival in France; Eurydice, by Timothy Lantz (musing about music and sound a lot)

Envisioning a stone soup economy...

The Wisdom Of Sharing Stone Soup

There are many variations on the story of stone soup, but they all involve a traveler coming into a town. The inhabitants try to discourage the traveler from staying, fearing he wants them to give him food. They tell him in no uncertain terms that there's no food anywhere to be found. The traveler explains that he doesn't need any food and that, in fact, he was planning to make a soup to share with all of them. The villagers watch suspiciously as he builds a fire and fills a cauldron with water.

With great ceremony, he pulls a stone from a bag, dropping the stone into the pot of water. He sniffs the brew extravagantly and exclaims how delicious stone soup is. As the villagers begin to show interest, he mentions how good the soup would be with just a little cabbage in it. A villager brings out a cabbage to share. This episode repeats itself until the soup has cabbage, carrots, onions, and beets-indeed, a substantial soup that feeds everyone in the village.

This story addresses the human tendency to hoard in times of deprivation. When resources are scarce, we pull back and put all of our energy into self-preservation. We isolate ourselves and shut out others. As the story of stone soup reveals, in doing so, we often deprive ourselves and everyone else of a feast.

This metaphor plays out beyond the realm of food. We hoard ideas, love, and energy, thinking we will be richer if we keep to them to ourselves, when in truth we make the world, and ourselves, poorer whenever we greedily stockpile our reserves. The traveler was able to see that the villagers were holding back, and he had the genius to draw them out and inspire them to give, thus creating a spread that none of them could have created alone.

Are you like one of the villagers, holding back? If you come forward and share your gifts, you will inspire others to do the same. The reward is a banquet that can nourish many. - by David Chamberlain, "The Wisdom Of Sharing Stone Soup", Exquisite Safaris

And lastly, this excerpt found via Amazon's SURPRISE ME! feature from MacHaelle S. Wright, the founder of Perelandra, in her book, Behaving as if the God in All Life Mattered: 

"As the planting progressed during the spring, the overall energy of the garden changed dramatically. Every time a vegetable was added, I could feel a shift in the energy. The cumulative effect was an energy that felt strong and extraordinarily vital.

In early June, in my capacity as "creator of the garden," I led a ceremony at Perelandra. I declared all of Perelandra a sanctuary for devas and nature spirits, a sanctuary where they could function in partnership with me in peace and together we would work toward full balance - whatever this meant. With that, I invited any devas or nature spirits who wished to join us. As soon as I finished my declaration, many different wildflowers popped up in the woods, and empty flower pots that I had prepared for outdoor annuals were now filled with annuals.

Very soon after this, the intensity of my education was stepped up. I was told by the Overlighting Deva of the Garden that it was important for me, if I wished to continue in my position as an equal partner, I needed to understand what was happening around me and the role I, as a human, played in it.

So I continued.

MANIFESTATION: the act, process or an instance of manifesting; to make evident.

MANIFEST: readily perceived by the senses and especially by sight.

I experienced three different dynamics of manifestation.

The first one is a common experience among us all. I need something. I state my need. Lo and behold, a big truck rumbles down the road and just as it passes the property, the very thing I need falls out of the truck. Or somebody walks up to me and says, "I think you should have this," and hands me the needed item. Or, we need a new car and only have $100 to spend. We open the Sunday paper to the "For Sale" section, and there is the perfect car and someone needs to get rid of it quickly - for $100.

I needed hay for mulch. The drought had eliminated everyone's first cutting of hay for the season, and the farmers were holding onto every available bale for the next winter. I was told to state precisely what I needed and to picture it exactly. The devas spent time with me on the concept of clear statement and clear imagery. I was told that although this area of manifestation was the one most readily available to us, we generally botch the process by our lack of clarity. We are beginning to catch on to the idea that we have the power to draw our needs to us. But we have not bothered to discipline ourselves enough to use this insight as a consistent tool - our biggest breakdown being clarity. There is a vast difference between stating, "I need some hay" and "I need one ton of grade B mulch hay."

I didn't know the precise tonnage I would need in order to get through the growing season, so I used other means to achieve clarity. First of all, I was told that when considering manifestation, I was always to contact the deva directly involved with the item requested. In this case, it was the Deva of Hay. (Yes, Martha. There is a Deva of Hay.) I got the insight that I would need hay for two growing seasons - since the drought would cause a hay shortage for the next year as well. Using this information, I asked for enough hay to keep the Perelandra vegetable garden spread six inches deep for two full years.

With that stated, I was told to release myself from the process - meaning I was not to be anxious or worry about whether my request had taken effect. I was to continue my usual daily routine assuming that this particular need would be met. I was to relax and, especially, I was not to use logic to learn where the hay would come from, for that would only place limitations on the manifestation process.

Within a couple of days, a neighbor called and gave us the name and telephone number of a local farmer who had a huge pile of damaged hay that he wanted to get rid of.

The hay lasted us exactly two years.

Clarity of thought, word and visualization were the key points emphasized while I explored this first stage of manifestation..."

Bonus: Although definitely not my vision, but a real-world example nonetheless, the Mondragon Cooperative system of Spain makes for an interesting case study: 8th largest Spanish economy, complete with their own schools, medical facilities and credit union.

Comments

[mystic7]

I think you're on to something. Many of the futurists and thinkers I've listened to say that artists and other creatives are going to be some of the most sought after types on the planet. It's happening now and will only accelerate in the next couple of decades. Many American cities are trying to figure out ways to attract these kinds to their area with art districts and such.

[Loofa]

I like your vision for this community and would love to be collaborating in such a thing. For a long time, I've had a similar vision; I suppose my inner skeptic convinced me that it was unrealistic, though.

[michael]

hello evelyn,

it's been awhile since i last wrote to you although i have kept up reading each new entry.

this post is wonderful. i sense a joy in your heart and i am happy for you.

i have been in silence for quite some time and have pretty much withdrawn from net activities that once were important to me.

what i know for sure is what is important to me should get most if not all of my attention. so i am writing and taking hanging out with my family and taking care of myself. i go to bed not worrying about anything and wake up and do not worry about anything. i am in the same financial place you are believe me and since i took my focus off of having no money and putting it into my passion which is writing novels the needs and desires i once had no longer seem relevant.

i have liberated myself from all need and desire. yet i am getting unexpected help from unlikely places.

without worry i am of clarity and joy myself and the sub depression and the profound sadness i have felt for years has gone.

even simple things like writing without caps and using declarative sentences and no commas or semi colons is freedom.

there have been some well known writers who i forget who wrote with two rules. the first was capitals and the second was periods. there logic was if you can't write without having to use crutches to be understood then you do not understand what you are writing in the first place.

i just modified it too all small caps to capture the ideas and the essence of what i am hearing in my mind. my purpose is to capture more.

i am telling you all this to demonstrate that you and i can do whatever we want and that just when we lest expect it and things are looking rather dire there will appear the help we need when we need it. this i have seen and experienced and it gives me great comfort to know and to be aware that all will be well.

hope all will be well with you too.

cheers,

~~michael

[Evelyn Rodriguez]

Mystic, It's the kids, the sunlight and all the shining ones in Nature to really watch out for... that's where most artists pick up their beatific visions and kaleidoscope dreams and recollections of the future. I mean pick up in the way tuning forks pick up each other, though. Sometimes we talk too.

Art and magic will just become a way of life, no need for segregated "arts" district. We live breathe spill melodies and colors of flagrant art every step we take when we connect to our deepest, inner, highest self of ourself.

Though having some frontierspeople in a town might be a rippling beacon of radical evolution if one abides by the "broken window" theory, for instance how NYC cleaned up from its previously notorious crime and apathy issues. Beaming Beauty, Light, Grace never bad for any economy. Yet me, I strive to make money completely extraneous in this 'economy'.

When I have extra food, I just share it, not sell it.

Loofa, You have no idea how big my inner skeptic is/was (it vacillates). Yet, I'm finding so much enthusiasm and like-minded kin that have already been thinking along exact same lines too. Things are really going to be hopping & soon for next few years, and what seems radical now will be quite natural. I look back at my own Silicon Valley America (uh, it ain't exactly Corporate Am either) life five years ago, and I can't believe how much has changed even on a personal level. In fact, to tell you the truth I look at some of the "systems" and "infrastructures" we have in place now, and wonder how the heck we ever wound up here. They seem so convoluted, they don't always gel with human and humane gut, heart and wisdom instincts.

[Evelyn Rodriguez]

Michael, that is delightfully enchanting news. I totally understand. Two years ago I skimmed probably close to 300 blogs. Last summer, unless I could manage to get an extension cord to the backyard garden, I couldn't be bothered to blog, maybe once or twice a week tops. I totally neglected email (kind of still do). Rather I spent most of my time with friends in person, or watching kids in the park, chatting at a cafe or chatting with the daffodils, and writing with pen and ink in journal. Many of my current friends (and this is coming from someone had worked in the Net industry since '94 & grad w/ a BSEE) either don't have email, a cell phone, or neither.

My text messaging (poetry)...spontaneous, real, flowing, loving, no caps, often no periods. Maybe one day the blog will read entirely that way too....just like the language of the fleeting echoes of our hearts and mind melded. An intermediate step before telepathy makes Internet obsolete, perhaps.

Namaste, my friend.

[mystic7]

If I was dropped on a virgin planet I'd seek out 800 of the most beautiful virgin/concubines and propagate a new race like King Solomon.

[Evelyn Rodriguez]

If you were dropped off on a virgin planet with a few friends is my premise...what then? Yeah, eight hundred friends will do too. Should be interesting what 801 people - with such a predominately feminine polarity creates. Though I'm more interested myself in what transcends race, gender, species. What would a completely balanced polarity, the child create -- the androgenous child that springs forth from the union of all opposites, all dualities, yin and yang, male and female energies.

Your desire reminds me of the true story of King Indrabodhi, which is highly relevant in terms of its parallels to the possibilities available on planet from present to the next 5 to 7 years. All these once highly secret Vajrayana teachings...all out in open to those with eyes to see, ears to listen. Interesting that Kalu Rinpoche calls Tantra, and Vajrayana the Path of Transmutation. Yes, so much so. A base material transmutes to gold, the way the obvious desires transmute to glittering diamond being.

This excerpt from the book, Luminous Mind, by the amazing Kalu Rinpoche.

"King Indrabodhi was an example of a person with superior ability, who lived long ago in Buddha Sakyamuni's time in India. A great king, he lorded over a palace and court where he continually enjoyed the sense pleasures. He was said to have an entourage of five hundred courtesans by day and five hundred more by night! One day, he was enjoying himself with them on the palace terrace when a flock of five hundred large yellow birds flew through the sky overhead.

"Strange, I've never seen yellow birds that size. Find out about them!" he ordered, his curiousity piqued. A minister who practiced Dharma said, "Your Majesty, those are not birds, but Lord Buddha traveling with his five hundred arhats."

"How wonderful!" said the king. "Invite them to come to the palace, if they would."

"Your Majesty, they live very far away. It would be a long and difficult trip for a messenger, but that surely is not necessary, because Buddha is omniscient. Praying to him is enough for him to come." [Actually, we are all hardwired to this same omniscience.]

The king ordered preparations to be made and had the palace terrace cleared for Buddha Sakyamuni and his attendents to stay there. A few days later, everything was ready for the great reception, and the king and his court gathered to pray to Buddha to come with his five hundred arhats. The banquet was served. When Buddha arrived with the five hundred arhats, the king prostrated three times before him and said:

"You are truly marvelous! Would you give me a teaching, that I too might obtain the same realization as yours?" Buddha replied: "Certainly!" and taught him the Four Noble Truths, explaining that all life is suffering and especially that since all sense pleasures chain us to samsara [illusory world, an earthly hell], they should be abandoned.

The king, somewhat disconcerted, said, "Yes, I'm sure that's all well and good. But it isn't for me. I'm not going to renounce the sense pleasures just like that. If you don't have other teachings, I'm afraid I won't be able to practice."

Buddha Sakyamuni, with his clairvoyance, had recognized Indrabodhi's superior capacity, and without letting the five hundred arhats and the entourage see anything, he produced the mandala of the yidam Guhyasamaja for the king alone and gave him four initiations, simultaneously allowing him to recognize the nature of mind, mahamudra.

At the very moment of the initiation, the king attained what in the universal vehicle is called the first bodhisattva level, Sublime Joy. After that, he practiced mahamudra in the recognition of his mind's nature, without distraction, over a period of twelve years, continuing all the while to enjoy the pleasures of the five senses and his courtesans.

After twelve years, the king attained the highest realization: the tenth bodhisattva level, the full realization of mahamudra. He then began to give the four initiations of Guhyasamaja and the transmission of mahamudra to the people of his kingdom. Very soon after that, the land became completely empty, since all his subjects proceeded to the pure lands. [Other dimensions, including 5th and 6th density and beyond...]

King Indrabodhi was a being of superior ability; this is why he realized mahamudra as soon as he received initiation. You might think this is just a story, a sort of legend, because it is difficult to believe that Indrabodhi might have had five hundred courtesans by day and five hundred by night, and once again, just as the mind can experience all kinds of joy and suffering and undergo all sorts of ordinary experiences merely by the power of thought, likewise, this same power of mind, when perfectly purified, makes possible things that normally are not. That is also why this story is true and possible."

[mystic7]

The 800 virgins pertained to planet 1. Planet 2 would be a different story-- I'd probably seek out a relationship with the Queen of Sheeba. Planet 3? Hmmm.. I haven't thought of that yet. 4,5,6... ad infinitum. I have a feeling though it would all lose its meaning quickly, like King Solomon said all is vainity and striving after wind. At some point I would probably come full circle and realize nothing could be more perfect than what and where I am now- even with all of its heartaches. Thanks for the story of King Indrabodhi.

[michael]

namaste. yes my dear evelyn. the stars have brought the light to show us where our spirits might find each other. the light within is that knowing between and within. i am in you. you are the light that lights my path. if there were nothing but this for eternity than i choose this for this is not a that which has to be defined. you and i between just know.

ah yes it is such a beautiful horizon,

~~michael