Government and Global Ecology
"The dialogue project,” an art installation for world peace, is a portrait of past civilizations, their ethnicity and culture, presented as a witness to our Global dilemma. Creating a more educated or powerful self will not alone save our planet but rather move us towards recognizing that we share the same breath with all of creation. We will one day awaken to the fundamental reality that we are a creation intimately connected and breathing together without end. Compassion comes from the awareness that all creation is alive and we are interdependent, all part of one another, and involved with one another. Humanity will compete in a world where food and energy, ecological insecurity, and global poverty create pressure for our societies to develop and change. By embracing peace, cultural differences, practicing forgiveness, and reconciliation, with those within and outside our individual faiths, all global citizens can move forward towards the creation of a more peaceful, just, and humane society. President and founder of the Ethical Foundation George Russell.
In addition, this project encourages humankind to remember the vulnerable planet Earth and how it is being stressed to the limit as a result of what we believe. Our future, and that of our progeny, is dependent upon our planet’s resources. Our future depends on our searching for affirming solutions that honor humanity together with the environment, where collectively we use ecosystems responsibly. The faith communities, as well as those who govern, have a responsibility to themselves and to the world, to promote a common residence on earth that is decent, dignified, and a peaceful one, one where we live together with a new definition for what is ownership.
In the age of a globalized human community and a shrinking world, interfaith dialogue and action is no longer just a commendable endeavor but a historical necessity. “The Dialogue Project” does not communicate with words, but through the portraits of those who teach and remind us of the mysteries that are fundamental to our experience of being human. Inter-religious tolerance that encourages understanding, acceptance, respect, celebration, and action is essential to our survival. The faith community of today worldwide has a duty to develop new initiatives and agenda for cooperation throughout our contemporary society.
“The Dialogue” addresses today’s crisis in nature and in the human soul. It is my hope that this work will perpetuate the already popular worldwide conversation about the planetary crisis that faces humanity. I, like many others, yearn for an honest global ethic that will be honestly global for humankind and creation. We need to listen to and respect the planet because it is our source of life. The earth is a gift that ought to be cherished for all of our survival.
Spirituality
To each age of history, humankind has proffered its answers to life’s mysteries and challenges: yet they have often considered their answer as absolute and final. What we might have learned over time is that; nothing in this world is absolute or final. Religion might better encourage us to go beyond the borders of doctrine and dogma to promote a collective peace for all of us. We all stand on the threshold between a vanishing today and a newly appearing tomorrow. Human beings are potentially a unique species endowed with a heart and mind, where hope, peace, and justice flourish. For the world and its future, we have to develop a deep and sincere interfaith dialogue that focuses on relationships that lead to fulfillment, peace, justice, and integrity for all.
Traditionally organized religion has not encouraged its members to explore the archetypal patterns found replicated by past civilizations or the ritualized traditions they may have in common. Creation stories, rights of initiation, prayer, and meditation practices are all examples of what I mean. We needn’t come up with anything new, only to shift our consciousness and we will realize the comprehensive connection that has always involved all of us.
In one of the Qur’anic verses, we read: “Verily, God will not change the condition of a people, unless they change their inner selves.”
Thomas Merton says “My dear brothers and sisters, we are already one. But we imagine that we are not. What we have to recover is our original unity. What we have to be is what we are. When we're no longer trying to become somebody, when we've ceased struggling to be anything, we are able to rest in the truth of what we already are. The dignity of every life comes from the fact that every being is an expression of the universes evolutionary mystery.” Spiritual teachings of the world called this mystery God, Allah, Yahweh, Krishna, Tao, Mind, etc. They are words and not the reality; they are concepts not the experience of oneness.
Unless we begin to see ourselves connected with one another we will never come to live in peace. Buddhists’ have used the expression, “become the tree”. The concept is the same without the mind analyzing. See yourself as the tree and, all which is valuable in a tree, along with all of its functions and history, and its life-giving properties and beauty. If we can see it in a tree, we can see it in all of life. To see life’s interconnectedness, we come to see intimately what is peace and common to all.
Peace be with you, More about George Russell founder of The Ethical Foundation