A Call to a Global Wisdom Society
Wink Franklin, President of IONS | IONS Noetic Sciences Review | IONS Review #58 |(2 ratings)Since our founding almost thirty years ago, the Institute of Noetic Sciences has consistently held that the societal transition we are living through is profound, complex, and all-pervasive. Below the surface-level issues of the day are assumptions, beliefs, and deeper questions that must be explored and examined. Who am I? What is real? What is meaningful? What is human nature? What is right relationship? How shall I live?
Our individual and collective responses to these questions form the foundations upon which we build our daily lives and our societies. Recent violent events have deepened the inquiry and conversation of thoughtful people throughout the world. How does a civilized world deal with acts of terrorism? How do we understand justice in today's complex world? When is nation-state sanctioned force justified? What constitutes security in today's world? In the past year or so, I have been making the case that humanity's long-term growth trajectory is towards a global wisdom society—a society that values all cultures and traditions, and skillfully utilizes multiple ways of knowing for the greater benefit of all life. I have argued that the civil rights movement, the women's movement, the global democracy movement, the human potential movement, the environmental movement, and the global human rights movement are hopeful signs that we are learning to extend wisdom, compassion, and understanding to more and more of humanity. And as such, they have contributed to our present evolutionary opportunities for such a wisdom society to emerge.
We can and should be encouraged by the responses around the world to the tragic events in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania. Government leaders quickly put aside their differences and united in denouncing mass destruction and the taking of innocent lives. And, at least as of this writing, we've witnessed expressions of global solidarity. All over the planet, people paused for reflection, mourning, and comforting, and to engage in earnest dialogue about justice, violence, hatred, and love. All in all, we've seen a balanced and wise global response to date. A clear, profound opening now exists for us to take a quantum jump in the direction of a global wisdom society. Especially in light of recent events, there can be little doubt that our security, just as our prosperity, whether individual or collective, lies not in separation, isolation and fortification, but in tolerance, in coming together, in finding and understanding our common ground. And just as clearly, the path of our coming together involves continued refinement of our inner capacities to love, empathize, and forgive; to know ourselves with full integrity in light and shadow; and, yes, to know when and how to stand up for and defend our rights and the rights of others. And so it goes, an inner and an outer journey, individually and collectively on our long, sometimes difficult, but promising road to a global wisdom society.
More than any time I can remember, today we urgently need positive visions with the power to pull us all toward them. Historically, IONS has always been a place for developing and embracing such positive visions.
This article was based on remarks originally delivered at the "Spirit Rising" conference
