Sustainability Part VI: A View From The Mountaintop

On the eve of his untimely death, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke the prophetic words, “I've been to the mountaintop. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.” Dr. King’s promised land was a vision that he held with determination regardless of whether it would be realized in his own lifetime.

The physical world today is not well with the environment damaged and our institutions and infrastructure outdated. We need radical new ideas – coming from a higher consciousness. It’s a spiritual solution where we respect our home on this planet – in harmony, not domination and with a long-term view considering our legacy. Liberation comes in realizing that all things are one thing and the solution is in integration, not a singular revolution. It’s an evolution as we embrace the world as it is and change from within.

The nature of consciousness can be described as a movie reel, where there are multiple frames with a space between each – much like a series of “on” and “off” switches. We have the tremendous opportunity in each of these “off” switches to shift our perception and dream an entirely different reality. As attitudes and outlooks begin to shift, old institutions and ideas that no longer serve us begin to fall away and new, productive, efficient systems and institutions begin to emerge which will carry us into the future.

I envision a holistic and integrated solution where our economy relies less on mass consumerism and more on services that enrich our experience; corporations and governments are reorganized as "living" beings with a "soul"; and we each individually live from our purpose, creating cottage industries organized in village communities.

Just imagine, we have the potential in our lifetime to realize the dreams of those great visionaries from the 1960s – and even more.

You might say I’m a dreamer … but I’m not the only one.