The world as lover

Geseko v. Lüpke in conversation with Joanna Macy

Abstract

Our position in the world changes dramatically when we see the world as a living system and define ourselves as being part of an earthly body that is alive in the broadest sense. Once we have stopped believing in continued industrial growth, we will see the threat that living systems are exposed to, and we will realize the significance of the grassroots movements around the globe striving to achieve cultural change. This calls for a different culture of feeling. If we repress the pain we feel for the world, it will isolate us. If we see the world as an interconnected whole and ourselves as an integral part of this whole, then we will leap to a new level of experience and awareness. All major religious traditions have begun to turn their attention back to the roots of a holistic spirituality where the sharp line between the individual self and the surrounding world becomes just as blurred as that between God and man, inside and outside, heaven and earth. Instead of a purely inward-looking contemplation, this leads to a “social mysticism” in which meditation and social or ecological action are one. The scientific insights of contemporary general systems theory are particularly suitable for Western people to grasp the rediscovery of this interconnectedness. Psychologically, this change in perspective brings about a shift from feelings of isolation and fear to feelings of trust. It is a shift from an attitude of control to an attitude of acceptance. Crises and the uncertainties that go with them have the capacity to awaken us to the reality of life beyond control. When the uncertainty comes to the fore, we place greater value on relationships, can develop feelings of gratitude for our life in this world and welcome the opportunity to take part in the ‘great shift’ that lies before us, and can release the energy that is bound by fear and desperation to see the world with new eyes.