Toward the end of our last class meeting, we were told to be on the lookout for examples of synchronicity, the “meaningful coincidences” that Jung claimed were caused by unseen (and mostly unexplainable) connections between all human beings and the universe at large. I’ve long been a believer in synchronicity, so looking for the happy accidents of fate comes naturally to me. And as I thought about the seven weeks that had passed between our first and second class meeting, one interesting coincidence stood out.
In my first reflection video, I discussed global wicked problems (such as poverty, climate change, plastic pollution, etc). I talked about the general unease I feel when contemplating such problems and wondered if this course would give me the tools to understand those feelings (and possibly even point to a course of action for engaging with those problems). It was a bold and blatantly idealistic hope which I didn’t realistically expect to be fulfilled. But as I reflect on two of the required readings for this course, I begin to see glimmers of how to deal with the feelings these issues raise and even possible frameworks for dealing with the issues themselves.
The first book that hinted at ways to deal with global problems was Eckart Tolle’s The Power of Now. Tolle talks about the interconnectedness of all things and says that every human is only a temporary expression of the one evolving consciousness. But we don’t realize this oneness because the egoic mind convinces us that we are singular, unique, and separate from the world around us. Tolle maintains that it is precisely this imprisonment in the “egoic state” which causes all suffering. According to Tolle, the way to escape this imprisonment is to cultivate what he calls “presence,” which is rising above thought and realizing that you are not your mind. The mind is only a tool which has a nasty propensity to dwell in either the past or the future, which (according to Tolle) don’t really exist but are constructs the mind uses to order (and control) our lives. Only by quieting the mind and stepping outside of concerns about the past or future will we ever experience the “now” (which is the only true moment we ever have and is where all life really occurs). It’s also in the “now” where we become aware of the consciousness that flows through us, animates us, and connects us with the rest of the universe.
There are many more subtleties and nuances to Tolle’s description of the “now,” but a key element of his book is that identification with the mind and its fixation on the past and/or the future is the cause of all human suffering. Being able to quiet the mind, attain presence, and live in the now is the way to end personal suffering and connect with the one evolving consciousness. From this perspective, all global wicked problems (which are intricately knotted webs of dysfunction caused by identification with and pursuit of the priorities of the egoic mind) are symptoms of our separation from the universal consciousness. By Tolle’s reasoning, if a significant percentage of the global population dis-identifies with the toxic egoic mind and reconnects with the universal consciousness residing in the now, then most human suffering (and by extension the global wicked problems) will cease to exist.
The second book which explicitly dealt with a perceived link between global problems and individual development was Otto Scharmer’s The Essentials of Theory U. In his book, Scharmer lays out an intricate framework for articulating and then solving leadership challenges in both business and government. A key component of Scharmer’s approach is something he calls “the social technology of presencing”. He goes on to define presencing as, “a heightened state of attention that allows individuals and groups to shift the inner place from which they function.” This heightened state is “a place of silence” where an “inner knowing” connects with a “future possibility” that “wants to emerge.” In many ways presencing bears a striking resemblance to Tolle’s reconnection with the universal consciousness. And like Tolle’s concept of presence, Scharmer’s social technology of presencing carries with it the potential to solve global wicked problems.
There are, of course, several significant differences between Tolle and Scharmer, most notably in their proscribed paths to reaching the inner place of stillness where experience of the now is possible. Tolle’s path is highly individual, relying on an ever-increasing awareness of the present as glimpsed through momentary gaps in the mind’s near-ceaseless chatter. Scharmer, on the other hand, lays out a very specific series of steps (conveniently arrayed along a “U” shaped path) for descending into a state of presence and then emerging with a plan of action for change (I can imagine a particularly snarky conversation between Tolle and Scharmer in which Tolle argues that Scharmer’s method is nothing but the egoic mind’s preoccupation with the future attempting to access and control the universal consciousness. But since Tolle isn’t prone to either snark or argument, this exchange would probably be nothing more than a series of knowing smiles. I digress…).
So after expressing a concern for global wicked problems (and the feelings of helplessness associated with their contemplation) in my first reflection, I come across two books that deal specifically with personal perceptions of the world (and perceived reality) and how the ripple effect of altering those perceptions can solve global problems. While this coincidence could possibly be ascribed to a cleverly designed syllabus, I prefer to see it as an example of synchronicity. Perhaps the universal consciousness is throwing breadcrumbs in my path…