‘Hurricane Katrina’ -Peace Takes Courage

A 15-year-young visionary woman is moving people to action with the powerful videos she creates such as this one. Visit http://www.PeaceTakesCourage.com

It is no surprise that she is home-schooled. Most of the public school system and authorities here in Austin rebuked public school children here last year, when they defied orders to stay in school and instead took a stand and walked for something they believed in. What were they trying to teach our youth? That it is more important to subvert your mind and conscience to the will of authority and majority? There exists today a grand illusion that training our youth to be “good” and fit within the system is the best we can do to create a world that really works. We train them to be good, rather than allow them to develop their natural greatness.

Visionary educators are now and shall soon be creating education systems that develop our youth to be conscious visionaries who stand for and create a world that works for all of us. Some such visionaries will be at our March Boot Camp, and I can hardly wait…

All too often we find ourselves taking positions about the things we care about, concluding which strategy is right and which is wrong. Who doesn’t want peace and progress for example? While so many of us stand for such values, we become divided on how to attain them. One subject that divides so many of us is the issue of government’s role in binging about a better future.

I find Michael Strong’s writings at FLOW are always inspiring. As I see it, Michael is helping to debunk what I see are longstanding myths, such as it is governments that possess the most power to bring about positive change in the world.

We see it so often. Someone becomes impassioned about a cause, and immediately they turn to the government in hopes that a new law or regulation will enforce the positive change they seek. Eventually, such change agents tend to become resigned and cynical, as they witness goverments, especially democratic governments, operate via compromise. Still, political battles are exciting and a source of energy for many change agents, who although they see little forward progress from their government, enjoy the stimulataion of the competitive, political arena.

While we do need visionaries in politics, who can revolutionize our systems in a way that really works, the sad reality is that many brilliant, passionate change agents and would-be visionaries become bogged down in the political quagmire, and gradually devolve into positionary thinking. Postionary thinking makes them less and less compassionate, courageous and able to think in a visionary way, and they gradually become more a part of the problem than a part of the solution. FLOW is calling such change agents to step forward and “criticize by creating.” For we can bring about the positive change we seek in the world, and we have more power to do this outside of the political arena than we realize.

I recommend that individuals who notice their spirit and vision being sucked into the downward spiral of positionary thinking, 1) enroll in the Visionary Mind Shifts course (free), and 2) start reading Michael Strong’s writings at FLOW.

Those wishing to discuss FLOW ideas, should join their community at Zaadz.

“In 1974, I found it difficult to teach elegant theories of economics in the university classroom, in the backdrop of a terrible famine in Bangladesh. Suddenly, I felt the emptiness of those theories in the face of crushing hunger and poverty. I wanted to do something immediate to help people around me, even if it was just one human being, to get through another day with a little more ease.”

Thus begins the story of Mohammad Yunus, the 2006 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. In his Nobel lecture (watch the video and read the transcript here), he tells his story of how he came to found Grameen Bank and pioneer micro-lending to the poor.

The prevailing assumption of bankers and capitalists at that time was that the poor were not a good credit risk. Over the last 30 years, the Grameen (meaning “village”) Bank has given out loans totalling $6 Billion (US) to 7 million poor people, and the repayment rate has been 99%. Yunus proudly asserts that Grameen Bank routinely makes a profit, is self-reliant and has not accepted donor money since 1995. And, according to an internal survey of borrowers, 58 per cent have crossed the poverty line.

These results have say something about who we are as human beings, and what is possible for humanity going forward. Mohammad Unus sees a future where poverty only exists in museums! The path to get there lies, he sees, in questioning our assumptions about who we are as human beings and using free market principles to help the poor lift themselves from poverty.

“I am in favor of strengthening the freedom of the market. At the same time, I am very unhappy about the conceptual restrictions imposed on the players in the market. This originates from the assumption that entrepreneurs are one-dimensional human beings, who are dedicated to one mission in their business lives − to maximize profit.”

“…Human beings are a wonderful creation embodied with limitless human qualities and capabilities. Our theoretical constructs should make room for the blossoming of those qualities, not assume them away.”

“…By defining “entrepreneur” in a broader way we can change the character of capitalism radically, and solve many of the unresolved social and economic problems within the scope of the free market.”

In his speech, Mohammad Yunus introduces the concept of a “social business,” as a free market solution to end poverty, and as a vehicle for young revolutionaries to change the world.

“Young people all around the world, particularly in rich countries, will find the concept of social business very appealing since it will give them a challenge to make a difference by using their creative talent. Many young people today feel frustrated because they cannot see any worthy challenge, which excites them, within the present capitalist world. Socialism gave them a dream to fight for. Young people dream about creating a perfect world of their own.”

The FLOW Movement being started right here in Austin, Texas is forming an idealogical framework to provide a global context for tomorrow’s young revolutionaries. Michael Strong, Co-Founder of FLOW, sees how these new ideas about human potential, entrepreneurship and free markets can ignite a spark in University students, giving them a viable way to literally change the world for the better.

Mohammad Yunus says that we have poverty, because we accept it as part of the human condition. Once we raise our standards and refuse to accept it, we will easily find creative solutions to eliminate it altogether. The human mind has incredible power to solve problems, but only the problems that we refuse to accept.

“We create the world in accordance with our mindset. We need to invent ways to change our perspective continually and reconfigure our mindset quickly as new knowledge emerges. We can reconfigure our world if we can reconfigure our mindset.”

Of course, this is what we are up to here at VisionForce.com. The visionary mind of the future is one that evolves continually in ways that empower the individual to stand for more, see more as possible and create more. Our free Visionary Mind Shifts course by email is an introduction to this kind of evolutionary consciousness.

Our Visionary Mind home study program takes you much deeper, having you question the biggest assumptions about human beings, which keep us limited; and having you experience your “inner calling” to stand for a better world–your call to “greatness.” You can dive more fully into your visionary mind, and accelerate your evolution with this program by purchasing your hard copy here.

And if you’re already deep in the game of world-changing and conscious evolution, or if you are committed to living as Mohammad Yunus has lived, we want you to attend this event and be one of the 30 to step forward this spring and create a future that really works for everyone. The revolution starts now!

Listen to this conversation with Kevin Koym, a visionary entrepreneur here in Austin, who believes that entrepreneurs are the revolutionaries who will solve the world’s problems.

This is the first in a series of conversations we’ll be having with Austin visionaries, who are coming together to create a radically different future than the one we’re headed towards now. A future that really works for everyone. What we talk about here directly affects your life and your children’s future. Download it to your iPod and tell us what you think. It’s about 50 minutes long.
MP3 File

A First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army has taken a stand. Ehren Watada, a 28-year-old Hawaii native, faces a court martial next month and up to 6 years in prison. He is the first commissioned officer in the U.S. to publicly refuse deployment to Iraq.

Here’s the link to the blog and audio. Overy 100,000 people have commented on this man’s stand. Many of his peers call him a traitor and a coward. Others think he’s anything but that. (leave your comments below)

It’s easy to take a position on this young man’s decision, and that’s one of the fundamental problems with the world we live in. Actually, the problem lies within our methods of thinking, our consciousness. Yesterday’s consciousness is insufficient for the world we face today with all of it’s accelerating change, globalization, the advancement of technology, etc.

Someone thinking with yesterday’s consciousness, the “positionary mind of the past,” rushes to judgment without much honest inquiry. Rather than look to understand the person or organization they judge, they simply attack. It’s usually in defense of a position they formed long ago.

This is a very emotional issue, especially for those who chose to stand for their country by risking their lives by fighting at war–even if they objected to the war. To be inspired by this man’s stand, it’s assumed they’d have to turn on their own stand. They are proud of the stand they took to fight, and feel that those who stand for their country by not fighting are invalidating or dishonoring them.

Some soldiers, in going to war, might judge those who don’t as cowardly. This affords them more pride and confidence in their decision, but the judgment itself is what devolves their stand into a position.

In our eagerness to stand for something, we too easily form a righteous position, from which we can no longer think honestly about the situation.

Isn’t honesty the quality of not refusing to look at or think about something, when forming one’s thoughts, words or opinions? Yet, when we form our thoughts and opinions with yesterday’s positionary thinking, those very opinions become walls beyond which we cannot see. Beyond the walls of our position, we can not see the humanity, the courage, the stand taken by “the other side.” And then we treat and speak to them as less than human.

Is it any wonder the world is in such a state of crisis?

What we’re lacking is a new form of consciousness. A visionary consciousness, the likes of which have been rare throughout history. Gandhi is a great example of someone with a visionary consciousness. What we’ll need going forward, however, and what I see is fast approaching, is a much more sophisticated and developed visionary consciousness–higher level thinking methods that facilitate visionary thinking and make it much easier and more common place.

Eventually, evolution to a new kind of thinking will occur. Indeed, it must if we are to survive and thrive in this world.

Some are courageously undertaking the quest to evolve their consciousness even now, and are seeking out training for living as a visionary. Of course, that’s why VisionForce exists–to facilitate this conscious evolution of consciousness.

And right now, we’re looking for 30. We’re looking for those willing to live their lives standing for humanity, including men and women who are standing for peace and freedom even now in Iraq–at war.

If you are willing to live your life as a visionary, as someone who stands, as a hero for mankind, we’re looking for you. We need parents, teachers, entrepreneurs, lawyers, politicians, activists, artists–we need you. Are you willing?

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke at a news conference today, announcing further developments with his country’s nuclear program.

Referring the U.S., he said, “If they fix their behavior toward us, we will have a dialogue with them because that’s a principle of our foreign policy. But you know, they have their own way of thinking. They really think they own the world, they always sort of look down upon you.”

Notice his last two sentences. The crises we face as human beings in this era is given by our level of thinking. While most of us intellectually understand Einstein’s observation that we cannot solve our problems on the same level of consciousness that created them, we collectively have yet to 1) emotionally/behaviorally understand these words, or 2) understand how to evolve to a higher level of consciousness.

What will it take to evolve our thinking to the “next level?” Consider that the level we’re at has prevented us from even glimpsing the level beyond it. And we’ve been at this “level” for thousands of years–or as long as there has been consciousness as it exists today, with a high capicity for self-awareness.Can we really be so blind as to not see how the context from which we see and relate to the rest of the world is feeding the problem? Can we really be so foolish as to think that in today’s world we can continue to force our solutions on the rest of the world with military might? Do we not see how our own thinking is at the root of the problem?

It is time for a distinction between two levels of consciousness. Let’s call them the “position level” and the “vision level.” Consider that most of the world operates most of the time at the position level. This level of consciousness has the qualities of being dualistic, defensive, reactive and primarily motivated by psychological fear (whether one is conscious of it or not).

[The ideas that follow will be grasped more completely by those in the Visionary Mind Shifts course by e-mail.]

Considering these qualities, it should be no surprise that one who is thinking on the level of position does not recognize his own thinking as the source of the problem. For one thinking on the level of position, the problems are “out there,” not within–in fact, that’s the mind’s fundamental use for a position, is to avoid the pain of looking within. Honest introspection and vision are obstructed by the position, for these qualities exist at the level of vision.

For many thousands of years, thinking on the level of position has “worked,” or at least been tolerable. The more one looks around and sees everyone else behaving at the same level, the less one questions one’s own behavior.

At the level of position, one finds a view of the world (or position) to stand in, and proceeds to defend from and attack others’ whose views threaten one’s own. Thinking at the level of position, one naturally tries to achieve goals or change the world by 1) converting, 2) compelling (forcing to submit; overpowering), 3) compromising with, or 4) killing one’s adversaries.

At the level of position, there is only one right way to view the world; and one’s job is to find it, believe it, obey it and convert or compell others to believe it–or at least obey it. Short of converting everyone to your worldview, as a positionary thinker, your next best option is forcing others to obey. If you have trouble with this and you have a moral problem killing them, you might try to compromise with them first. If you have more of a moral problem compromising with them, you try to kill them.

We can see the disastrous effects of positionary thinking around the world in politics, religion, education, parenting, romantic relationships, business and more.

In today’s divisive world of growing complexity and accelerating change, an “enlightened” positionary thinker sees compromise as a virtue. Such a thinker believes that it’s best if we all just give up a little bit of our position in order to have more peace and progress, and learn to tolerate each other.

There is a quantum leap from the position level of consciousness to the vision level of consciousness. And this generation will be known by our willingness to rise to this level of thinking, or not.

The vision level of consciousness is nondualistic, integrated, holistic, creative and primarily motivated by a force that we’re all familiar with, but to which we give different names.

This level of consciousness, as I see it, is not some esoteric state of enlightenment or greatness, given to or attained by a chosen few. It is available to all of us, regardless of our views.

Whatever your religious or spiritual beliefs, you can approach yourself, others and the world at the level of position or the level of vision. At the level of position, everything that you are trying to stand for is compromised and most often seems beyond your reach. People can’t hear what you’re saying, you are virtually powerless to inspire the other side. At the level of vision, everything you stand for is honored and seems to be within the realm of the possible. People can hear you, see who you are and you have power to come together to “make the impossible happen.”

Indeed, at the level of vision, the human mind’s capacity for creative thinking, problem solving and invention is much more accessible. Whereas at the level of position, we can usually see few alternatives, but convert, compel, compromise or kill.

In the realm of the hard sciences, we are relatively unencumbered by a positionary consciousness. Things like physics, chemistry and biology are relatively impersonal, and thus we are open to use the full power of our minds to understand these domains and create technologies such as satellites, cell phones and aids medication. Operating on the level of vision in these domains is generally much easier, although still problematic (Scientists subscribing to different theories often form positions, and then become limited in their thinking. Those who move beyond them usually come from new paradigms unburdened by the psychological limitations of those clinging to a long-held and time-honored position).

In the realm of economics or business, where we market our technologies to create wealth, some of us operate at much higher levels of vision. These are the entrepreneurs, the social entrepreneurs, the wealth creators. (For many of us, this realm is more personal and thus our thinking is more on the level of position, thus limiting our access to our natural creative capacities).

It is the realm of the softer (and softest) of sciences that we find positionary thinking most evident and pervasive. Indeed, our conspicuous impotence in this more personal realm has bred atrocious results, which we’ve quite shamelessly come to accept as the norm.

Growing crises with addiction, depression, suicide, domestic violence, lawsuits, overpopulated prisons, ecological disruptions, pollution, terror, war, genocide, hate crimes, corruption, etc., are the disastrous results of thinking at the level of position.

Defining the problem as “some people are believing or following the wrong doctrine” is positionary thinking. This kind of thinking leads to even more of the problems we complain about, as we ostracize, humiliate and antagonize “the other side”–or the opposition–the opposing position. They fight back and retaliate to defend their position, and the world we all share grows increasingly worse. This level of grossly irrational thinking is the norm at the level of position.

Globalization is one of the modern dynamics threatening and shaking the instutions of position level thinking that have controlled individuals for centuries. Most threatened are fundamentalist religions and people in positions of unquestioned authority. No longer are so many of the masses willing to simply follow and obey.

Indeed, no longer are individuals so willing to blindly accept some authority or ruling majority’s pronouncement of good and evil, and then be “good” followers. More and more of us are coming to see the great feat of our generation is to go beyond what positionary leadership deems to be good follower behavior, and rise to greatness.

Our task is to be willing to risk the esteem of those we deem to be our moral authorities or peers, to stand for a world that really works for all of us. Robert Kennedy’s words seem more appropriate now than ever,

“Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital, quality for those who seek to change a world which yields most painfully to change.”

The shift in thinking is one that awaits each of us as individuals. It lies before us as the moral imperative of our time. Who will we be now and tomorrow? Will we rise to a new level of thinking–a new level of consciousness?

The question is not just one for our leaders. No, each of us must choose to be the visionary leader we’ve been waiting for. Our personal failure to meet this challenge, is not just a matter of being able to live together in peace as a global community. No, it’s a very personal matter.

The challenges that we face within ourselves and the suffering that we experience can be shown to be but symptoms of position-level thinking as well. Greater inner peace, inner power, vision, natural passion, honor, courage and love are available to the person who thinks on the level of vision–or to one with a visionary mind.

This shift I speak of is a subtle one, yet one that changes (and I say WILL change) everything.

That’s why I’m so excited that our new home study program, Visionary Mind: Experience Your Call To Greatness is complete and available to the world. One day, perhaps, maybe one of these packages will find it’s way into the hands of the world’s leaders. In the mean time, though, let’s get it in the hands of our future leaders. That’s you, right?

Post your comments.

Hear the “news?” John Kerry (who ate breakfast a few tables over from me at the Four Seasons in Austin Sunday morning) makes a joke intended to slam Bush, Republicans slam Kerry, Kerry slams back…

When will the day come? How long will it be before we have visionaries as leaders? In some respects each man may be a visionary, but when will we all stop thinking, speaking and acting like positionaries? All it does is cause more of the same from the other side. This back and forth bickering, battling for positions, wastes all of our time… and our tax money. Perhaps worst is it sets an example for all of us, an example that says acting this way is socially acceptable.

Is this normal behavior for adults? For leaders? Here’s my prediction… America’s next president will be much more a visionary, and much less a positionary. America is tired of the positionary-think, demonstrated by most politicians. It’s based on fear, blame, pride, manipulation and propaganda.

Barack Obama from what I have seen speaks more more like a visionary than a positionary. Could he be America’s next president? Anyone who can communicate as a visionary, rather than a positionary, has an advantage I think. What do you think?

Post your comments.