What Does “Heaven on Earth” Look Like? Is There a Stairway to Heaven Right Here and Right Now?
As a small boy, I read beautifully illustrated children's bible stories with huge color plates, showing beams of light coming out of the clouds from a wonderful place called “heaven”. In church, I can remember similar beams of light coming through the stained glass windows while the windows rattled to the deep bass of a Bach Fugue. I haven't been to a church service for some 40 years, though I still love the ambiance of ancient cathedrals, especially St Paul’s in London and our local Cathedrale St Jean here in Perpignan in Southwest France where I now live.
But I digress. Back to heaven. So, it turns out, if you are a good Christian, you are promised everlasting life in heaven. If you’re bad, you go to hell. This carrot/stick incentive system worked more or less well until we re-discovered science in the first Renaissance and the Enlightenment. I believe Muslims have a similar idea, though apparently in Judaism there is no heaven or hell- just “now”. And Buddhists believe in reincarnation, which is, imho, pretty cool.
Since I was a teenager, the thought that it might be possible to realize heaven on earth, seemed much more attractive to me than having to wait to find out if heaven even existed after one was dead, especially as I got into my existential phase. A stubbornly rebellious and idealistic streak that insisted things could be much, much better than they were in apartheid-era S Africa, where I spent much of my youth with an enlightening six years in Canada sandwiched in between, has never left me.
Right now, I am occupied with developing and scaling up a digital platform called the Balancer, a ‘Better World’ app and analytics suite that makes it easier to make better choices to effectively bring about the positive impacts we care about, whether “we” is you and I, as conscious consumers and citizens, enlightened enterprises or governments and NGO’s. The Balancer is available on the iOS AppStore (Balancer = Positive Impacts) and soon on the Android PlayStore. If we all made the positive impact we care about, we could turn our current global crisis around on a dime, and start walking the stairway to heaven, as Led Zeppelin made clear several decades ago- or at least that’s how my teenage self understood the lyrics.
So, today, I sit here, almost 64 years young asking my significant others: “Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m 64?”, and asking myself these seven questions, which, for me personally, and hopefully, many of you, might define what “heaven on earth” looks like:
HEAVEN QUESTION ONE — VALUES & VISIONS
What is Required to Create Open, Regenerative, Inclusive Societies? What Are Our Priorities?
The OECD tells us that almost 30% of the value generated in modern societies comes from social capital- in other words, a feeling of solidarity with others, the ability to trust one another, a degree of transparency with low/no corruption, and a feeling that we are part of a system we can trust. This includes feeling secure and being able to interact in society without fear of harassment or intimidation. Instead of “bowling alone”, we enjoy the company of others, whether families, friends, colleagues or even complete strangers. And we care for and about each other both in small and big ways.
The values and visions we each have about what a better future might look like, and our collective “Imaginarium” where all of these values and visions open up possibilities and opportunities for us, form the core of what “heaven on earth” looks like for each of us, and for our society. In some places, like Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan and many others torn apart by war and famine, heaven is anywhere else. In others, flush with abundance, heaven takes a variety of forms depending on whether you are, for example, a Technophile, who believes science and technology will eventually solve all our problems, or an Ecophile, who believes that we need to get back to nature, and in some cases, demand steady-state or negative growth economics.
A sub-question, (or perhaps THE question right now), is whether our priority as a society and global civilization is wellbeing or GDP. The Covid-19 crisis has thrown this choice into stark relief and demonstrated forcefully that there is not much GDP without wellbeing, which one would have thought fairly obvious to a five-year-old, but evidently not some of our global “leaders”. Without wellbeing, it is also difficult to have the thriving, ethical cultures that would lend themselves to creating open, regenerative and inclusive societies.
ETHICS
Strong ethical sensibilities, close communities, and equality in diversity also lend a hand here. We find these emphasized in the UN Sustainable Development Goals 4, 5, 10, 16 and 17, and in Pathway One to a Thriving Future from my book, “Making Good Happen” (https://amzn.to/343WvP) illustrated below.
To help us all make better choices to make good things happen more often, we need to develop our personal and collective ethics:
Ethics in Education– Educational and lifelong learning systems need to focus on developing high integrity, transparent and fair ethical values that help build strength of character and a sense of purpose. Resilient, balanced and culturally appropriate leaders are vital to ‘raising the bar’. (UN Sustainable Development Goal 4).
Thinking Systemically, Creatively and Critically- Citizens of the future will need the ability to create holistic value through their own lives and work, as well as in their organizations and institutions. The arts, humanities and cultural activities are as essential as the sciences, engineering and managerial talents in this regard.
Empathy & Thriveable Technologies- Digital technologies and media should be designed and evaluated based on their empathy and relationship building qualities, especially when considering the risks of artificial intelligence and the dangers of objectification, narcissism, manipulation and the spread of dysfunctional ideologies and memes made possible by digital technologies and media.
These three ‘must-dos’ are vital in developing conscious consumers, constructive citizens, and activists along with apps and systems for a better world. In the language of business and economics, we must regenerate our ‘relationship capital’.
Our ethical choices impact those around us- our family, friends, colleagues and much more. In other words, our choices shape what kind of communities we live in, whether local, virtual, whether communities of practice, interest, or meaning.
COMMUNITY
To develop thriving communities we must walk the pathway towards three further attributes of a heavenly society:
Quality Education– Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. Basic education is a key focus in developing countries while ensuring lifelong learning and skills development is critical in developed countries due to the rapid obsolescence of knowledge. (UN Sustainable Development Goal 4).
Promote Community Harmony & Vitality- Appropriate high integrity leadership, convening and facilitation need to be properly resourced to ensure that community issues and challenges can be dealt with effectively and fairly. Partnerships for the SDG goals can help ensure this joined-up approach delivers what communities need and aspire to. (UN Sustainable Development Goal 17).
Ensure Trust and Openness- Transparency and accountability are essential to ensure open, trusting communities where corruption, war, and crime are things of the past. Peace, justice and strong institutions are key to ensuring we live in thriving communities. (UN Sustainable Development Goal 16).
Harmonious, open communities can ensure opportunity for all and become desirable places to live, work and enjoy life. In business and economics, our goal is to regenerate our ‘social capital’ which makes all other good things possible in our socio-economic systems.
EQUALITY
Finally, to develop organizations, economies, and societies that offer equal opportunity and social justice underpinned by fair and free markets, we must build on the good work being done in:
Reducing Inequalities between and among Countries– The international community has made significant strides towards lifting people out of poverty. The most vulnerable nations — the least developed countries, the landlocked developing countries and the small island developing states — continue to make inroads into poverty reduction. Yet creating equal opportunity for all is still a major challenge that needs much more work by all governments and organizations. (UN Sustainable Development Goal 10).
Gender Inequality- empowering all women and girls is an essential foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world. Providing women and girls with equal access to education, health care, decent work, and representation in political and economic decision-making processes will fuel sustainable economies and benefit societies and humanity at large. (UN Sustainable Development Goal 5).
Fair and Free Markets- Balanced globalization is possible with fair economic and trade policies. Overcoming short-sighted nationalism and beggar-thy-neighbor policies is a necessity if we are to ensure fair and free markets that can power a green inclusive global economy where everyone is a winner. (UN Sustainable Development Goal 16- Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions).
Although all of this is important in building future societies where humanity and the natural world can flourish, there is a fundamental choice to make or a “trade-off” as economists call it, between the wellbeing of a society and the desire for economic growth at all costs.
HEAVEN QUESTION TWO- HEALTH/WELLBEING: Human Development — How can we Meet the Basic Needs of All?
Once we can agree that wellbeing is more important than GDP, we see that it is difficult to ensure global wellbeing unless the basic needs of all are met. Again, Covid-19 has made this very clear as we see how rapidly an invisible virus can spread around the globe, without discriminating between rich and poor. In fact, we could defeat Covid-19 in developed countries in 2020 only to find it re-entering in 2021 through developing countries experiencing their own epidemics. We’re all in this together.
If we wish to ensure wellbeing, lifelong learning and fulfilling lives for humanity and ensure the well-being of humans and all living systems on earth, we must deliver:
Good Health and Well-being — Ensure healthy lives and promoting well-being at all ages is essential to sustainable development. This includes reducing the incidence of specific diseases typical to developed and developing nations. (UN Sustainable Development Goal 3).
End Hunger, Achieve Food Security & improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture- One in every nine individuals around the world today experiences hunger, despite the fact that enough food exists to feed every individual. (UN Sustainable Development Goal 2).
Clean Water and Sanitation- for everyone. (UN Sustainable Development Goal 6).
These three ‘must-dos’ are strongly linked to achieving goals in the other seven areas we are exploring here, as well as ensuring that we tackle the sixth mass extinction of species underway caused by dysfunctional agricultural, food, healthcare, water and sanitation systems and failing conservation policies.
In the language of business and economics, our goal is to regenerate our ‘human capital’ for sustainable populations which includes the health of the natural habitats humans rely on to survive and thrive.
HEAVEN QUESTION THREE- FINANCES: What Does a Post-GDP, Thriveable Economy Look Like?
So, let’s assume we’ve individually and collectively learned to make healthier, fairer choices that are ethical and help build stronger, more equitable communities, on our stairway to heaven. How does this translate into economics and business, the way we create and receive our daily bread and offer the milk of human kindness to others?
We should all have the opportunity to find good work, exchange our labor and goods in fair and open markets and live in socioeconomic systems with good governance that reflects those healthier, more ethical, equitable and decent virtues that creating heaven on earth demands.
To ensure fair, accessible and transparent financial systems and markets we need to walk down three pathways:
Value for Money– Instead of buying brands and products based on the cheapest price alone, we need to highlight the advantages of buying and producing sustainable goods and services that offer longer-term value for money. This also includes providing appropriate basic goods and services that are accessible to the disadvantaged and the poor while living within our planetary boundaries and ensuring that basic social needs are met. (This expands on UN Sustainable Development Goal 1- No Poverty).
Healthy/Fair Profit- Excessive profit-taking by organizations and privileged individuals has resulted in rising gaps between rich and poor, with middle-classes stagnating everywhere. This has led to major social unrest and conflict. Healthy profits are still required to encourage investors and innovators to develop and grow what they care about, but we need to reinforce our institutions responsible for creating level playing fields for individuals and organizations. (UN Sustainable Development Goal 16- Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions).
True Future Value- Global investors are beginning to recognize that balanced growth and investment yield superior, more stable returns over longer periods- they are investing in the future and ensuring the resilience of their investments. Investors that do well by doing good are vital partners in delivering the UN Sustainable Development Goal 17- Partnerships for the Goals. With the appropriate financing mechanisms and resources, delivering balanced growth becomes a reality.
These three ‘must-dos’ are crucial to ensuring fair, accessible and transparent financial systems and markets. In the language of business and economics, our goal here is to manage our ‘financial capital’ in regenerative ways, ensuring that everyone has some form of basic income and a cushion to help them spring back from hard times and the outrageous slings and arrows of misfortune that pierce us all from time to time.
Okay, so far, so good. We’re on our way to a better future, for sure, as we move along the three pathways to a thriving future outlined above. What would this look like, however, in actual, practical terms in ways that we can visibly see in front of our eyes?
For instance, what would this look like in nature, in our rainforests, coral reefs, grasslands, farmyards, mountain ranges, wetlands, and seas? How would they be different and in better shape than they are today?
HEAVEN QUESTION FOUR- SUSTAINABILITY: How Can We Ensure a Flourishing Biosphere?
Many of us take good food, wide-open spaces with fresh air and lots of natural beauty for granted. A few billion of us never get to see a truly wild natural environment outside of a park or some trees in the city or an urban slum. Whether our connection with nature is strong or tenuous, there is one thing we know for sure: we cannot survive without it, as we are a part of it.
To keep our biosphere in balance and ensure a habitable planet for all, we must learn to work with, not against, the web of life. Our very existence depends on flourishing agriculture, forestries and fisheries, and wild spaces.
Most of us are now well aware that we’ve already warmed our precious earth by more than one degree celsius, and that another degree of warming is almost inevitable this century even if we act now to reduce the harm from the climate emergency we are in. As things stand, Covid-19 has given us a short breather as we all stay at home, and in a relatively short time, we’ve seen how much cleaner the air, water, and land is when we are not going about business as usual at a frenetic pace.
The tragedy would be, however, if we did not use this opportunity to radically reconsider what is most important to us- do we really need more stuff, more flights to far-flung locations, more, more of everything? Or can we learn to live richer, fuller lives with less? To live a good life that does not cost the earth?
There are three important things we can commit to right now:
Climate Action in the Air, Land and Water– Reduce carbon emissions to achieve ‘net-zero or less’ greenhouse gas emissions so that we can limit global overheating to 1.5 degrees centigrade. (UN Sustainable Development Goal 13). This includes developing regenerative food and agriculture that can capture excess carbon in the atmosphere. (UN Sustainable Development Goal 15).
Clean and Affordable Renewable Energy — is critical for improving the health and livelihoods of billions of people around the world. This is also known as ‘decarbonization’ (UN Sustainable Development Goal 7).
Clean Water and Sanitation- for everyone. (UN Sustainable Development Goal 6).
In the language of business and economics, our goal here is to regenerate our ‘natural capital’.
HEAVEN QUESTION FIVE — EXPANSIVE:
How Can We Make our Human Habitats More Resilient and Thriveable?
While we humans are a part of nature, we are also unique amongst all species in our ability to consciously develop and use technology in creating a global infrastructure of buildings, roads, dams, railways, airports, bridges, temples, and every other imaginable form, using concrete, bricks, steel, glass, wood, stone, and plastics of every kind and description. This is why the age we live in is called the Anthropocene, where, if we survive that long as a species, future generations will be able to tell what our age was like from its infrastructure, some of it so huge it is easily visible from space.
Not only that, we’ve now connected almost all of that through computers and telecommunications with deep-sea optical fiber cables and satellites in the sky, 24 by 7, so that there is a record of just about everything that occurs in this global infrastructure, and a GPS coordinate for every item, package, and parcel winging its way around the world.
Until recently, this was called “progress” and “modernity”. In fact, the entire Bretton Woods financial and trading system conceived after World War Two was designed to facilitate this modernization and urbanization. We’ve expanded to fill the entire planet, although there are still some places one cannot get a decent mobile phone signal :-)
This process of industrialization and urbanization has not been kind to our planet, and humanity has become viscerally aware in the past sixty or so years of the damage we’ve done. The focus during this period of our expansion was on ever larger, heavier, longer, bigger, faster forms of the built environment, building monuments to our power over nature. We built gigantic exteriors, with a lust for conquest and domination built-in to much of it.
In the next stage of our human journey, if we are to have one, that is, our focus will be on designing conscious living systems that are light, empathic, connective and minimalist- think Scandinavian design rather than rococo gold leaf. Our expansion will mainly be inward, a journey into our interiors and the interiors of others, what philosophers call “intersubjective”, inner space.
To do this, we will need to redesign and replace fossil fuel-guzzling industries and cities with infrastructures powered by renewable energy, biophilic construction, and resilient design. We’ll need to upgrade the living conditions of a few billion slum dwellers with micro-housing and smart, energy-efficient, distributed grids.
To develop our human habitats in healthy, regenerative ways that care for future generations we must use advanced, ethical science and technologies to deliver:
Better Work & Economic Growth– Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all. We need to ensure this is done in regenerative ways that emphasize the quality of life rather than quantity of consumption. (UN Sustainable Development Goal 8).
Industries, Innovation & Infrastructure- Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation. Investments in infrastructure — transport, irrigation, energy and information, and communication technology — are crucial to achieving sustainable development and empowering communities in many countries. (UN Sustainable Development Goal 9).
Responsible Consumption & Production- Implementing circular supply chains that reduce material use and pollution, doing more with less. This includes educating consumers on sustainable consumption and lifestyles, providing them with adequate information through standards and labels and engaging in sustainable public procurement, among others. (UN Sustainable Development Goal 12).
These three ‘must-dos’ can lead us in a direction where we build regenerative infrastructures, habitats, and economies where ‘progress’ is clean, green and serene. In the language of business and economics, our goal here is to regenerate our ‘knowledge capital’ to ensure the products and services we develop can deliver balanced growth that meets the needs of all stakeholders.
HEAVEN QUESTION SIX — NO HARM: How Can We Redesign our Global Flow of Goods and Services so that there is not a Particle of Waste?
And finally, we get to “stuff”. This is a rather big, in fact, huge topic, given that most of human activity these days is centered around making, distributing, wearing, consuming, eating and throwing away stuff- or what the economists call “manufactured capital”. The factories of China and East Asia are churning out more stuff at a lower cost than ever before, 98% of which lasts roughly two years and is then thrown away. This is by far the most catastrophic and wasteful aspect of human existence and one which needs to change radically.
Most of our infrastructure capital and its intelligence in Pathway Five are hidden behind the surfaces of the roads, bridges, stations, airports, hospitals, shopping malls, schools, factories, power stations, offices and homes we take for granted every day. Infrastructure acts like our basic organ systems and skeleton that make it possible for our senses and limbs to engage with the world, which in turn makes Pathway Six possible.
Pathway Six and manufactured capital are akin to our skin, acting as the interface between us, others, the environment, and the stuff and systems we interact with. We see, feel, hear, smell and taste everything we interact with in Pathway Six — from the interiors of our homes, cars, public transport, to the interiors of our offices, factories and other places of work, to our computing and communications devices, to the clothing and accessories we wear and the people we meet and live/work/play with. A place of sensory delights, as well as unwanted substances, smells and sounds.
This is the world of designer and “women’s magazines”, interior decoration, the physical underpinning of the world of culture and the arts, our paintings, sculptures, musical instruments and all the toys and games we have or ever will play with. And when we travel we experience the vast investments in manufactured capitals superimposed on the backbone of infrastructures, from swanky airport and aircraft interiors to the more functional interiors of trains, stations, buses and taxis, and the insides of hotels and restaurants and resorts and…..
In fact, in hyper-modernism, in its most materialist forms, we can and do create our entire identity out of this world of manufactured capital, from the clothes we wear to the car we drive to the restaurants we enjoy and the clubs and concerts we attend to the devices in our pockets. Consumerist capitalism was in fact designed to make this world of effervescent novelty and rapid obsolescence the only game in town for the suburban and urban middle classes and elites. It is still today the dominant game being played globally by the rising classes and those in power. And that, right there, is one of our greatest challenges — how can we develop creative, more thriveable lifestyles that do not involve such conspicuous and wasteful consumption?
There are currently several ingredients that are coming together within Pathway Six, including:
- The Circular Economy — what began as the “cradle-to-cradle” movement and “biomimicry” is coalescing into an approach to design which demands that we reduce, reuse, recycle and upcycle all materials through regenerative design approaches;
- Redefining the Good Life — various movements against conspicuous, materialist, consumerist ways of living are also coalescing into a broad spectrum of alternative lifestyle and mainstream lifestyle choices;
- Sharing Economy — whether it be accommodation, ride-sharing, car-sharing, tool sharing or any other form of sharing, the sharing economy has become a major trend in the past decade.
- Thriveable Habitat Design— new ways of designing human habitats are also gaining traction, applying integral, systemic approaches to both urban and rural habitats that integrate wellbeing/healthcare, transport/mobility, sustainable business, natural resilience and research and education in the design approach.
Some of the key commitments we must make on this sixth pathway to heaven, and to stop harming people, animals and our environment, include:
Develop Sustainable Cities and Communities– Soon 70% of humans will call cities their home- and some 2 billion of them will be living in slum-like conditions. Cities consume most of our energy and materials and generate most of our pollution and waste as well as providing the bulk of employment in most economies. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. (UN Sustainable Development Goal 11).
Eliminate Waste and Pollution- Implementing circular supply chains that reduce material use and pollution, doing more with less. This includes educating consumers on sustainable consumption and lifestyles, providing them with adequate information through standards and labels and engaging in sustainable public procurement, among others. (UN Sustainable Development Goal 12- Responsible Consumption and Production).
Invest in Biodiversity- Life on land and below water is increasingly under threat from pollution (especially toxic chemicals and plastics), which is accelerating the sixth mass extinction. To stop this we must protect our lands and oceans through major investments in conservation and regeneration, not only in the remaining wilderness but also in all human habitats. (UN Sustainable Development Goal 14- Life Below Water and Goal 15- Life on Land).
These three ‘must-dos’ can help us ensure that we stop harming people, animals, and our environment as soon as possible while enjoying a life of voluntary simplicity and richness that is not tied to material consumption and the never-ending acquisition of “stuff”.
In the language of business and economics, our goal here is to regenerate our ‘manufactured capital’ (to ensure the infrastructure, products, and services we develop stop harming people, animals, and our environment), along with our ‘natural capital’.
Phew! That sounds like quite a tall order, not so? Yet, believe it or not, the journey is well underway in uncountable “pockets of the future in the present” around the globe.
What if there was a way to inspire consumers to make a positive impact by demanding the most sustainable products and services money can buy? Generations Z and Y (aka millennials) constitute an ever-increasing force in the global economy’s spending power. In the U.S., for example, the buying power of Gen Z has already exceeded $500 billion. Millennials account for about a quarter of the global population, and statistics indicate that Gen Y and Z spending power is strong and growing.
Let’s take clothing. Whereas Gen X and baby boomers grew up in a consumerist culture, Generations Y and Z have a pared-down mindset and seek long-lasting, high-quality apparel instead of disposable items. They want to know where their products are made, by whom, and with what materials. Before making a purchase, they may consider a product’s ecological footprint and full lifecycle, from design to production and shipping.
An impressive 87% of U.S. millennials are willing to pay more for sustainable clothing and many prioritize eco-friendly and ethical brands when making purchase decisions. On a global scale, a 2018 McKinsey study reported that 66% of global millennials are prepared to spend more on sustainable brands.
Consumer motivations are often very different, however, and what they mean by “ethical”, “sustainable”, “eco-friendly”, “green”, “healthy”, “equality/ diversity”, “value-for-money” and so on, varies dramatically.
For example, the rapidly growing vegan/vegetarian segment will apply a much stricter definition than “no-harm” groups campaigning for an end to plastic waste, animal testing, toxic ingredients, and materials. As any good marketer knows, people care about different things, differently, according to not only their voiced opinions but also their unconsciously held beliefs and predispositions.
Enter depth psychology and values-based approaches. Rebalancing the sustainability equation and bending its arc toward regeneration requires the ability to resonate with very diverse consumer values, consumers who get their information on handheld devices and through social media at high speed and who learn very fast from one another. To find, with pinpoint accuracy, the specific segments, and micro-communities that deeply care about something your brand can do that few others can. For businesses, being blandly and vaguely “green” will not cut it anymore.
HEAVEN QUESTION SEVEN — SPIRITUALITY:
Exploring the Mysteries of Life, the Universe and Everything- How can we Wake Up, Grow Up, Clean Up, Tune Up, Show Up and Connect Up?
We began this article talking about the concept of heaven on earth. What if heaven is not only a location, but also something that exists in our inner realm of consciousness? Something we can see and feel in the eye of our minds and spirits?
I am fairly certain that at some stage in your life, you’ve asked one or more of the following questions: “What is the meaning of life?”; “What makes life significant?”; “What gives life purpose?”; “Is there a purpose for my life?”; “Where are we headed — and why?”; “What opportunities for adventure and exploration does life offer me?”; “How can we live our lives to their fullest potential?”; “How can we become all that we can be?”.
Everywhere we look, throughout history, we see humanity rising up to break our chains, escape our caves, explore the true, good and beautiful, and return to the marketplace to help others do the same. Except when they are not, which the French describe as “Metro, boulot, dodo”- roughly translated as: “Travel to work, work, travel home, sleep”. Then do it over and over again, then you die- or if you are lucky you have enough money to “retire”.
Modernity has hypnotized billions into various forms of “wage slavery”, where people live from paycheck to paycheck, unsure of how they would survive if they were to lose their employment, often working two or three part-time jobs with zero benefits. Sadly even this precarious form of existence has been blown up by the Covid-19 virus, leading to hundreds of millions of unemployed people around the globe in only a few months.
Religious and spiritual leaders have been a source of inspiration for billions, enabling them to have faith and hope in a better future despite hard times. For example, Pope Francis, in his encyclical letter Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home, announces his “concern to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development” (#13); to do so he declares: “We urgently need a humanism capable of bringing together the different fields of knowledge, including economics, in the service of a more integral and integrating vision”.
As the Dalai Lama puts it: “The smart brain must be balanced with the warm heart, the good heart, a sense of responsibility, of concern for the well-being of others”.
There are also billions, however, who are not religious. What about them? Surely we can “have it all” if we are able to not only experience heaven as an inner state of consciousness but also as a real place on earth near us? Perhaps consciousness is, at its best, causal, meaning we can make of our lives what we will if we develop our capacities and find the opportunities to use them to their fullest extent?
In practical terms, spirituality is not only a journey of exploration into the unknown and the mysteries of life, the universe, and everything, but also a set of practices and a way of living a better life, as illustrated in the conscious leader development framework below.
In this approach, the “Six Ups”, we begin by waking up our higher self; growing up our various senses and mental faculties through each of many stages of body-mind development; tuning up our various capabilities so that they are operating efficiently and on purpose; cleaning up the messes we are involved in; connecting up with others in collaborative work for personal, inter-personal and global thriveability; and showing up as fully alive human beings in heartfelt service to the planetary commonwealth of all beings.
Five years ago the Thriveability Foundation published: “A Leaders Guide to Thriveability”. In it I wrote:
“Imagine a world powered by renewable energy, where all human beings thrive in resilient habitats; where businesses operate in a circular economy that regenerates natural capital, without a particle of waste, and are led by enlightened leaders whose goal is to maximize the ThriveAbility of all their stakeholders; where each individual is empowered to pursue their passion and make a living in service to others; where governance systems are transparent, effective and wise in the ways in which they deliver their services to their communities and populations; and where inter-cultural appreciation and insight enriches the exchanges between the diverse worldviews and cultures embraced by humankind.
Does that sound like an impossible dream, or pie in the sky? The co-creators of ThriveAbility and the Balancer would point out that every single one of these ‘pockets of the future’ is currently observable in the present, right here and right now, somewhere in the world. It is just that the future is distributed unevenly, and sometimes hard to see when one is up to one’s neck in alligators and trying to drain the swamp.
Before we begin our exploration of the ThriveAbility Journey, let us take this desirable future scenario of a thriving human civilization on a thriving planet, and convert it into practical outcomes that are measurable and actionable”.
Worldcentric tools, such as the Balancer, enable each of us as citizens and conscious consumers, together with decision-makers in governance, business, and civil society, to design our lives, careers, and businesses so as to maximize the thriving of various stakeholders in and around our communities and organizations for the smallest ecological footprint possible. You can download your own personal copy of the Balancer (Balancer = Positive Impacts) from the iOS AppStore and soon on the Android PlayStore. If we all made the positive impact we care about, we could turn our current global crisis around on a dime, and start walking that stairway to heaven.
You will find Dr Robin Lincon Wood’s books on Amazon at: amazon.com/author/woodrobin
