METAPOLITICS, WISDOM AND THE INTERNET

by Prof. Arnold Keyserling and his American student, Ralph

Wisdom is the natural quality of old age. It develops through experience and social action, transforming consciousness into Awareness.

At the dawn of human history, in the clans and tribes, political authority was vested in the wise elders of the community. The elders were given the authority to guide the community because they understood the meaning of existence in all four worlds: the waking world of living people; the dream world of animals, plants and elemental spirits; the world of the dead; and, the world of the Ancestors who have attained immortality. In those times the teachings of Wisdom were founded on vertical hierarchies, absolute obedience to the master of initiations, and loyalty to the prevailing social-cultural tradition.

The nexus between politics and Wisdom has been lost for millennia. Politicians have not gained their authority from Wisdom, and wise men and women have seldom, if ever, been active in politics. Although largely cutoff from political power, the authoritarian structures in spiritual traditions still continued until recent times. Over the last 150 years, however, this hierarchy has crumbled. More and more people have had peak experiences on their own, outside of vertical organizations and established rituals and beliefs. These experiences have provided individuals with glimpses of the kind of holistic Awareness which is inherent to Wisdom. By the nineteen sixties, at the beginning of global civilization and the computer age, the spiritual hierarchies no longer had any real authority for most people. They were replaced by individual search for personal development. The search was based upon psycho-technologies and personal experience, rather than faith and submission to authority. The Human Potential Movement of the nineteen sixties and seventies spearheaded this spiritual revolution.

This revolution in the intimate sphere of personal growth has cleared the way for new developments in the world of community. Personal development is not enough. Both the individual Self, and the social functional Ego, demand our attention. We must develop both the personal Self and the community Ego. This development can only come by bridging the gap which naturally separates the Ego from the Self. The Self is situated in the Hara and the right hemisphere of the brain, and dominates in dreaming and deep sleep. The Ego is located in the head and left hemisphere, and dominates in waking and reflection. In consciousness these two sides - Self and Ego, cannot merge. If you are awake, you are not dreaming. If you are asleep, you are not experiencing thinking associations. In order to blend the Ego and Self, and understand the meaning of the four worlds like the elders of ancient times, you have to move out of consciousness into Awareness, into Wisdom. This happens momentarily in the peak experience, but it does not last. Ordinary consciousness returns and the division between Ego and Self returns. The four worlds separate. In order to permanently link the Ego and Self, and thus attain continuing Awareness, you need to transform all of your social functions in the world so that they embody your personal vision. Conversely you need to channel your personal development into action with others for the service of Humanity and the Earth. In this way the four consciousness functions merge. You are in contact with your dreams in waking life where you work to make them come true. Your thinking is in touch with deep sleep - Nothingness - and you can communicate with all worlds. The Ego serves the Self, but remains autonomous. The Self is vertical, but the Ego is horizontal, not submitted to hierarchy.

This revolution in human development triggers a change from Politics to Metapolitics, which means politics linked with Wisdom. This is a reawakening of the ancient traditions of the clan and the tribe in a new democratic form. The individual realizes their potential with others through self organized activities. Through the free flow of information on a global scale, and the voluntary assistance of friends, people will help each other to accomplish their life's work, to fulfill their meaning in life, and thus attain Awareness and Wisdom. Metapolitical actions groups will form on a local level, but will be based on world wide communications. Groups with complementary aims all around the world will naturally link up with each other and create ever larger synergies of effectiveness. The unique personal motivations and potentials of each individual will be transformed by such Metapolitical action into common intentions and group projects. Taking selfless motivations as the starting point, the many local cultures of the world should pass from ideologies and wars, into intentional harmony - a polyphony of global civilization. As Wisdom retakes its position in community action - in politics - the world will inevitably move from political and economic hierarchies, into synergetic webs.

People around the world are already busy spinning a global web of information and communication. Free people openly communicating with free people creates the Noosphere of the planet. This enables each of us to more easily find the tools necessary to create our meaning in life, and to network with others to carry it out. As we do this a new kind of ecology is forming, an ecology based on global information which links our Ego and Self to the Earth, instead of the heavens. This paradigm shift returns us to Metapolitical action based on the wisdom of the Earth and the Ancestors, and the necessity to fulfill our common human role as Stewards of the Earth. All of us have a common aim as human beings to protect our planet for future generations. This goal of a green Earth serves as the common ground linking the Metapolitics of striving individuals everywhere.

The God of the new Wisdom seekers reflects the historical evolution of Humanity. God is self organizing from Chaos, not predeterministic. He is not, but He becomes, just like the Jewish revelation of his name on Sinai: "I will be who I will be" - the eternal unconditioned future, not "I am that I am" the eternal conditioned present of Newtonian physics. The ideals of today are necessarily future oriented, and so we must act together to preserve a future for our planet. We are no longer masters of Nature, separate and apart from Earth - she is our Mother. We are a part of her, and we must act responsibly to preserve our future as a species with her.

Through Internet, the newly evolving computer communications and information network, each person is now able to create his personal way of knowledge - a path which leads to Wisdom and community. The Internet is the seed of the Noosphere, the natural forum of global Metapolitics. It is the place where the new civilization can flower, where people can learn from each other, and can assist each other in common projects to unite Self and Ego through service to the Earth.

(Taken from http://www.schoolofwisdom.com/internet.html )