From Mandala to Mars:

The Inner Space Program Needs New Stars

Fade In:

A tiny blue ball hurtles through infinity with a bunch of noisy kids playing grown-up who wreak havoc at the steering wheel while their non-existent parents are away.

Welcome to “Life On Earth, a tragicomedy”.

If this film scenario weren’t so true it would be a heck of a lot more interesting to view. But at the rate we’re headed in this race against Time we might erase the entire Race with our powerful yet misguided ingenuity which evaporates into dusty moments in time. If you’re a Buddhist maybe the dusty analogy is fine. But for most of us held hostage by ego-systems which love to compete with the eco-system, forgetting our precious love story between Nature & Human Nature has become an unintended crime.

Sustainability. It’s a funny word. All our history of discovery and monumental legacy … all our desire for lineage and longevity … all our wars fought for Democracy and Humanity … all of this “doing life” was supposed to be about doing something enduring and meaningful. Now we’ve trumped ourselves into an exhaustive, existential mutation that’s become a life sentence about redefining our reasons-for-being in the first place.

What is this time-steeped storyline we’ve created for a planet of 7.7 billion, all of whom wish to star in their exquisitely unique performance? Who in heaven are we and why on earth are we here? What compels us to both connect and disconnect from each other and Self perpetually, in ever more “sophisticated” rungs of the purgatorial spiral?

Historically we’re a paradox; a communal species reliant on each other for survival, yet a competitive one driven to conquer (or strategically expand depending upon how strong the winds of ego-system blow). The notion of Community is only skin deep, steeped in eons of separation and tribalism in which each vie for dominion over the other in a very human conundrum about self-preservation, self-aggrandisement, and self-worth.

Self. Other. Our dual nature has become a duel, struggling to come to terms with these co-existing warring partners who make strange bedfellows indeed. This is the ultimate pre-arranged (inner) marriage and paradoxical nature of our Human Nature.

Despite Evolution suggesting we’ve indeed advanced and made peace with our species, there still remains a huge missing piece. Us. The daunting Peace Process between a Palestine and Israel is no different than the vexing Inner Peace Process that’s been insufficiently addressed in a civilisation ever stressed.

An absentee partner whose presence has been eclipsed by ego now needs to be welcomed to the table. Cultivating a caring, respectful relationship toward Self becomes the root system for an outer world reflective of its blossoming inner. Home is ultimately within. This is where we reside, take refuge, become inspired. Inside is what drives profound regeneration, or drives us profoundly crazy. Inside is what determines Act III — or the possibility of prolonging Act II with constructive drama rather than destructive dramatics.

Climate Change has brought us to our knees. Changing the Emotional Climate can bring us to our senses. And for all our adolescent bravado disguised as adulthood and debates about if Climate Change exists … delay tactics are senseless when faced with hard “Adolessons” that demand a speedy new paradigm — from the insight out.

The rebranding of “Global Warming” to that of “Climate Change” ushered in under V.P. Dick Cheney may have set off a cheney-reaction that’s now spawned an inaccurate discussion. In a sense Climate Deniers are right:

• The climate IS always changing. But the size of the earth is not.
• The Climate IS always changing. But so is the population, popping up and urbanising in all sorts of places it previously hadn’t or shouldn’t, due to vulnerable eco-systems that can no longer support our ego-systems.
• The Climate IS always changing. But we haven’t, failing to adapt to its change by denying the dance’s natural rhythms and insisting that we lead instead of our Mother (Earth).

So maybe Climate Change should be rebranded Human Change as deep-dive we go … into another burger-coalburner-coalburger-skyscraper-whatEVER kind of tango that now morphs into a rapping foxtrot, stepping on each other’s frantic toes because we’ve accelerated and intensified a naturally ever-changing Climate. In fact the dance has become a limbo with the bar fast descending upon us.

If there were far less of us, we’d be less at the affect of the effect we’re having on our troubled relationship to the planet. But slowing that motor is like trying to rewrite Act I when we’re already veering toward Act III and then some.

Maybe Mankind is just a one-act Mandala. Can that be okay for our ego-system?

Animals have no ego. They come and go. They don’t think about becoming extinct (as far as we know). We are different, which makes all the difference. Everything is not meant to endure. But whether or not the weather becomes an important enough reminder to realign our emotional temperature to that of the earth’s, is up to us.

As if Human Beings haven’t enough trouble managing their own mess let alone that of the planet’s other inhabitants (and those who-knows-whos in our stratosphere beyond), we now face another unpleasant facet of our Global Selfie. Amidst multiple critical issues on terra firma like the Environment, Economic Disparity, Education and A.I. / Cyber Security, none is more mesmerising and potentially paralysing than the newest star of the show, whose futuristic reality has created a Climate of Unreality that’s further raised the bar: Space Wars.

At the Munich Security Conference Leaders of Nations addressed this in a riveting debate which delved into the dynamics of debris and territoriality. As in Space Debris. And Air Rights in Space.

Rogue Nations. Terrorist Organisations. The Travel Industry. The Telecoms. Governments. And the powerfully wealthy entrepreneurs. This coveted cast of characters all have stakes in a hi-stakes territory story which has shifted the drama to the dark side of the moon — and the dark recesses of our nature.

Human Beings have mind-bogging power, and sometimes mindless creativity. Having barely explored the realms of Inner Space that inform Outer Space, we’re now tantalised by exploiting a “faster more efficient” planet; with promise of enhanced medical technology and internet speed on the one hand, and flotsam of polluted satellite waste and harmful radiation on the other.

If only our zeal were rated PG to guide this profound yet coltish energy (lest we get too far ahead of our ability — because increasingly it feels like the baby’s grabbed the keys to the Ferrari).

Scientific exploration is thrilling and necessary. But not without also tackling our underdeveloped inner landscapes whose wilfulness tries to undermine healthy discernment on behalf of a bunch of orphaned nations thrown together in the most dysfunctional global family ever. The very mess that put our planet in peril still propels us. In the race for habitable space, Climate Change is vital. And Changing the Emotional Climate is essential if we hope to avert MEteors that move at the speed of Air Rights.

Do we need sustainable satellites? Biodegradable ones? Hundreds of millions of broken pieces of unabsorbed “junk” orbit Earth’s outer atmosphere — a world-class universal mess we risk recreating up there because Industry is in a hurry to beat each other down here. It’s an alarming case of seize-or-desist. The speed for Air Rights risks robbing us of breathable air as unbridled fascination couples with ego to exert authority over desperately needed maturity. When urgently unregulated impulse outweighs measured enthusiasm the storyline falters, becomes untenable.

Exploring Outer Space is only worthy of our curiosity if accompanied by another thrilling ride which orbits it; a satellite to beam insight into our troubled patterns, our troubled selves.

A mindful thrill-seeker appreciates that the best adventures are inbred with skill and hopeful odds. It’s an inner teamwork of presence and push, exertion and yield. But this duo is rarely addressed in the corridors of power and the power-conferences they attend.

But back to Climate Change. Let’s say it’s still disputable. What’s so bad about a refresher, about making home improvements with our planet? We tune up our cars (those of us that have them). We reboot our computers (those of us that have them). And we boost our immune systems with excercise, vitamins or periodic check ups (most of us have immune systems, but sometimes they become immune to the wrong things — and we go numb).

Even if Climate Change was a hoax, it’s spawning such clever and healthier improvements to the global body — both literally and figuratively — that the primary challenge is in assisting Just Transition so “everyone” has a seat in this sustainable new game of musical chairs. And there will be losers. There always are. But maybe those numbers can shrink in this herculean new challenge worthy of true compassion and swiftly implementable solutions.

The creative new industries being generated by this shift need to stay deeply attuned to the growing work force being forced from their comfort zones — who need to be included and integrated with less emphasis on Climate Activism and more on Climate Compassion. Otherwise, Climate Change becomes yet one more distraction to avoid Changing the Emotional Climate.

So before we all space out, let’s tune in. To Act III. Could it catapult us into a sequel? Let’s see.

Fade In:

A small group of rich kids fly off to colonise their new red reality toy, bringing their (psychic) baggage with them while the non-existent parents are (still) away. As the tiny blue ball hurtling through infinity further fades into the solar system and with it, environmental Space Debris from failed or dead satellites and foolhardy overly-rapid plunges into 5G and other potential crises, the rugged-bleak terrain of their new truth approaches. And amidst naive glee they wonder … is this a mistake? Game on, or end game? How long before their humanness yearns for colour, odour, taste, comfort? And then … when they become irritable and begin to bicker and move into tribal communities as Humans are often wont to do … will history repeats itself with Earth:Take Two?

“From Mandala to Mars”, The Inner Space Program Needs New Stars

Fade Out.

The Inner Space Program informs the Outer. And Renewable Energy Begins From Within. So reach for those beautiful stars, and remember to welcome yourself home, Planet Person … to the very personal world of You :-)