A tale of two cities, and a vision of the choice before us.

Is 'conscious capitalism' possible, or is it an oxymoronic pipe-dream? This is a topic I've written about in previous blog posts, in Big Vision, Small Business, and in other articles here at Ivy Sea Online. There are justifiable reasons for thinking it's possible, and equally justifiable reasons for believing that it's not.

This article has four main sections:

• a look at two perspectives on 'conscious enterprise', based on two definitions of 'conscious' — the 'business-as-usual' type of 'consciousness', and one that is far older and more nuanced;

• a bow to the paradigm bridgers;

• a vision of the two choices before us;

• and some initial thoughts on what a truly conscious enterprise would have to include in order to be authentic, aligned, and more appropriate to the challenges of our times.

You can choose to read the article through — there is a progression from one perspective to another — or simply go directly to the section to which you're most drawn. What follows is the latter half of the article.

A vision of two options...

In a vision received during a meditation several months ago, the choice before us was made clear. I'll share it with you exactly as it was shared with me:

You are on a raft floating down a wide river. About a mile in the distance, the river disappears into a mist. Just before the mist, there is a bridge connecting the land on either sides of the river.

On one side of the bridge, there is a city. Dark, dank, tall and colorless utilitarian buildings, surrounded by hazy brownish smog. Emanating from it, you hear horns honking, harsh music blaring, sirens wailing, its people fearful, fighting to eke out a living or to survive in its streets. The anxiety and fear are palpable; you can feel it. Surrounding the city, the land is barren, punctuated only by one carefully engineered square of well-manicured, synthetic greenery. The sense of it is one of desperation, despair, deterioration, decay, detachment, disconnection, and depression. It's a death-centered culture.

On the other side of the river, there is a city. In contrast to the one that faces it, the air is crystal clear and the sky above it vibrant blue. Its buildings radiate an aesthetic beauty, and are designed to complement the natural surroundings. Greenery and color are woven throughout. It's people are healthy, cooperative, and expansive, rather than constricted by fear. It has none of the harshness of its alter-ego across the river. The surrounding land is healthy and vibrant. The sense of it is hopeful, vibrant, creative, colorful, interconnected, plentiful, balanced, truly prospering, and centered in joy and wellness. It's a life-centered culture.

On the bridge, you notice quite a few people, and you notice that they are reaching down to offer a hand and pull people from other rafts up onto the bridge. Some of the people on the bridge show the newcomers the way to the radiant, healthy, vibrant city.

And now, closer, you notice that just after the bridge, the mist arising is from a waterfall — where the river plummets into a gorge far below. You see that there are other rafts, having passed the bridge, and the people who chose to stay on them are now in a panic. It's too late. But the choice is still before you, and others on rafts who have not yet reached the bridge.

The choice before each of us is which of these "city symbols" we want to support with our thoughts, our intentions, our words, our work, and our actions. And do we want to be one of the people on the bridge, helping to lend a hand to those who may choose to get off the raft heading for sure destruction, and find their way into a healthier way of living on this planet.

Truly conscious enterprise is all about this choice. We do it, or we don't. We commit to one of these visions or the other. We begin experimenting with less literal intellectualizing, and embrace a more holographic, wholistic vision of the possibilities and tools available to us.

And we're headed for the fall unless we make the conscious choice.

One of our real-world Wise Elders, David Korten, writes in The Great Turning, "The Great Turning requires more than adjustments at the margin of Empire."

Another of our Wise Elders, Elisabet Sahtouris, points to the example of Nature for proof that, "From an evolutionary perspective, current global economics violates the fundamental principles by which all mature living systems are organized." In other words, it violates natural law, and is unsustainable. It is akin to a suicide mission on hyperdrive.

Though all is perhaps not yet lost. Sahtouris, Korten, and others, also see much hope in the models and stories of Nature and the larger, more embracing, full-bodied and interconnected wisdom of our ancestors.

This is the choice that we're facing right now, and it requires our conscious awareness, engagement, and 'mystic activism' right now.

As one of our favorite archetypal Wise Elders, the Jedi Master Yoda says, "Do, or do not. There is no 'try'." It's really that simple.

[Excerpted from "Is 'Conscious Capitalism' or 'Conscious Business' Possible? (And what would it have to look like to be truly authentic?)" from Ivy Sea Online. Read the full article.]

Comments

[thebizofknowledge.com]

I have to admit that I had never before encountered the concept of "conscious capitalism" before stumbling into this post. I am quite intrigued by this idea and find it most thought provoking!

[Tony Cuckson]

You are just the best writer and a great invitation to the heart.