11/2/2006Sempiternal Harmony Might Peaceful Coexistence Be Possible? Or In Closed Minded Camps, How...

11/2/2006 Sempiternal Harmony

Might Peaceful Coexistence Be Possible?

OrIn Closed Minded Camps, How Can Liberal Thinking Aide The Establishment of Peaceful Coexistence?

A presentation at the Currents of Thought, a Cultural Symposium held in Wilmington, NC, November 4, 2006 by Eric H. Bruton, Jr.


• Is there anyone here who believes that peaceful coexistence is possible?

Given the traditional and historic mindset we live with, it seems apparent that a new paradigm

in thinking is required for it to happen.

Liberal Studies is a potential discipline for this shift in thinking.


Spirituality, Medicine, Psychology, Reason• Spiritual Resource - World Scriptures – A Comparative Anthology of

Scared Texts, Andrew Wilson (ed.) is a good source for awareness of spiritual similarity.

• Medical Resource - There is a body of research on human mirror neurons that lead to compassion and seems to lead to physiological proof of human capacity for compassion. Ref. Internet & Nova

• Psychological Resources - The work of C. G. Jung relating to archetypes and their effect on the human psyche along with that of Joseph Campbell and his commonality of myth, show natural human needs and concerns. Man and His Symbols. C.G. Jung., The Power of Myth. Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers., and Parallel Myths., J. F. Bierlein.

A brief look at birth parents.

• Common sense, reasonable proof of the family of human kind.


Are We Related?• Intuitively speaking, might it be

possible that we in this room are related?

Despite major cultural, geographic and racial differences, there is a strong probability that a chain of common genetic DNA flows through all of us. We are the family of human kind.

Number of parents in a generation (PNG) = 2G

[where Generation (G)=((Year of Birth – Year in History)/Average Generation)]

We must share physical commonalities


• The original research on human mirror neurons established that basic learning in primates took place through mimicking the behavior of others. This Italian study kicked off additional research projects.

• Subsequent studies extended this idea to human beings. • It was further established that the area of mirror neurons in the human

brain is also a likely repository for our ability to empathize with others which is at the heart of our capacity to be compassionate.

• Baring abnormal mental development associated with chemical deviation or normal outside cultural influences from teachers (of all forms), all human beings have the physical capacity for compassion.

Medical Sciences Show Similarities


Our Brain Is Hardwired To Be Empathetic

•"It seems we're wired to see other people as similar to us, rather than different."•Mirror neurons might help explain not only empathy, but also autism and even the evolution of language.

Vittorio Gallese University of Parma

You're walking through a park when out of nowhere, the man in front of you gets smacked by an errant Frisbee. Automatically, you recoil in sympathy.

You're watching a race, and you feel your own heart racing with excitement as the runners vie to cross the finish line first.

You see a woman sniff some unfamiliar food and wrinkle her nose in disgust. Suddenly, your own stomach turns at the thought of the meal.

Ref: http://www.apa.org/monitor/oct05/mirror.html

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3204/01.html

http://www.apa.org/monitor/oct05/mirror.html


When one recognizes the truth, does it matter where it came from?

Between the time of the first shaman mystically working spells around a campfire and modern religious practitioners believing in mystical understanding, many great spiritual leaders have brought divine inspiration to their particular portion of the world. Their teaching reflected the cultural, spiritual and scientific knowledge of their time and location. The lessons they taught contained some universal truths understood by all the great teachers. Two examples of rules that lead to a peaceful and orderly society are the prohibition from killing and theft.

Spiritual Similarities


The Rule of Reciprocity, (The Golden Rule) is found universally in all religions. (WS, p98)

The importance of interaction with the divine to establish guidelines that define a group of people. An example here would be the importance of differentiating between a societal accepted good path and an improper one. (WS, p129-130)

Other examples for orderly society include:

Whether it is Lukchook Moogy, the Inuit village shaman, or Buddha telling the community that incest will lead to a great sickness of the mind, the truth can be understood.


Clarification of terms Religion / SpiritualityReligion / Spirituality

For purposes of this discussion religion is an organization represented by a body of texts and traditions around which individuals gather to fulfill common goals and exercise similar beliefs. Traditionally, religion has

segregated people into “the chosen” and “the evil outsiders.” Religion is often expressed in physical terms through scriptures, traditions, myths,

symbols, etc.

It is highly advantageous for people to live in groups. The underlying transcendental dimension of religious belief helps to bind them together as well as promote the general welfare of the group.

Alice Kehoe (“Understanding Religion from am Anthropological Perspective”) sitting French Anthropologist, Emile Durkheim

The term spirituality relates to an individual, primal awareness of extra physical, extra sensory knowledge. It might be called metaphysical

understanding. The main thing here is that it is personal.


The benefit of religious tolerance, as it allows for the input of spiritual truths, is a greater awareness of the Universal Divine that flows through all people.

The key to religious tolerance is individual spiritual awareness of the similarities and the exercise of respect for the traditions of others.

Here the wide open minded study of philosophy and religion, when viewed as a means rather than an end, can bridge the canyons of religious misunderstanding.


If worshiping people believe their God is the one all powerful creator of the

universe, might it be possible for them to believe that people of other religions

worship the same Divine Power but with a different name?

World Scripture – A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts,

Andrew Wilson,ed., Paragon House, NY, 1995, is a wonderful non-editorialized collaborative effort by religious scholars from religious traditions around the world. This kind of work can help enlighten people as to the universal truths present in all religious thought, including those considered primitive.


PsychologyMuch of our potential unity is based in our inherited common primal

struggle for survival.

“Dreaming is a shared human trait. C. G. Jung theorized that dream symbols derive from “the collective unconscious,” the part of the psyche that retains and transmits the common psychological inheritance of mankind.”

Man and His Symbols. C. G. Jung. (Article “Ancient Myths and Modern Man,” Joseph L. Henderson) Doubleday. 1964, p.107.

“There is a real connection between us at the psychic level that crosses vast cultural boundaries. Jung has stated that experienced investigators can see analogies between dream pictures of modern man and the products of the primal mind in its “collective images,” and its mythological motifs.”

Ibid. (Article, “Approaching the Unconscious,” Carl G. Jung). P67.


MythologyCommon motifs found in very different cultural groups.

“Hero stories share similar characteristics throughout the world. The hero is the one who comes to participate in life courageously and decently, in the way of nature, not in the way of personal rancor, disappointment, or revenge. The hero’s sphere of action is not the transcendent but here and now in the field of time, of good and evil.”

The Power of Myth, Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers, 1988, p.66

“…how is it that a human being can so participate in the peril or pain of another that without thought, spontaneously, he sacrifices his own life to the other?” “…such a psychological crisis represents the breakthrough of a metaphysical realization, which is that you and the other are one, that you are two aspects of the same life…” Schopenhauer

Ibid. p110.UPI/Bettmann Newsohotos (Ibid. 115)


Sacrifice MythologyCampbell tells two stories about sacrifice that seems to have sprung

into being about the same time as those represented in the Jewish / Christian theology.

1. In the Algonquin tradition a young boy has a vision of wrestling another boy with green plums. The boy with green plums tells the first boy to kill him, bury him, and care for the place where he is buried. The result is an abundant crop of maize that feeds the village. (Ibid. p104)

2. There is a Polynesian story involving a young girl, a great eel, her lover, and a disgruntled father who chops off the head of the lover. The girl buries the lover’s head, as he asked her to do, and a great coconut palm grows in its place. (Ibid).

When closely examined, these and other examples given in The power of Myth, Joseph Campbell, and Parallel Myths, J.F. Bierlein, Ballantine Wellspring, NY. 1994. illustrate cultural similarities. Notice the similarity of these stories to the sacrifice story of the Crucifixion.


Is Peaceful Coexistence Possible?

If two people can get along it is possible.


Is peaceful coexistence globally possible?

It’s all about positive open minded belief

It is like flying an airplane. If one does not believe she can learn to fly, it can not happen.

If a person believes it can happen there is at least a chance that it will.

Negative thinking can be a safe place to be but it cuts off the creative process. Few people have ever been disappointed by thinking that something will not work and then discovering they were right.

Positive thinking requires acceptance of risk while seeking solutions to problems like war, famine, epidemic, etc… It requires the belief that nothing is impossible. All positive thinkers are disappointed at times but they are the ones who have moved us out of the cold damp cave into shelters that keep us warm and dry. Positive thinking keeps us seeking extra terrestrial life. It is positive, open minded thinking that can find the solutions to peaceful coexistence.

As a Liberal Studies advocate which mindset is yours?

Remember that for thousands of years conflict was part of our ancestral life. Global peaceful coexistence will happen much sooner but maybe not in our lifetime.


How might it happen?1. One possible starting point is the understanding that politicians

have little interest in establishing peaceful coexistence on a global basis.

2. The movement toward global peaceful coexistence must start in the heart of each individual.

3. Each one of us should work with his or her own awareness of fault finding to reduce conflict in one’s personal life.

4. Associate with other people who are working for conflict resolution in their own life.

5. Try to find ways to forgive those whom you perceive to have hurt you in some way.

One By One The Fire Can Spread

6. People do not have to live with the same values to respect each other.


Let the Mystery of the impossible be your bliss and bliss your way of life.

Eric Bruton

Thank You For Considering This Idea

Questions?


Credits

Might Peaceful Coexistence Be Possible is a production of Sempiternal Harmony

Eric H. Bruton, Jr. Producer

Selections from:World Scripture – A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts. International Religious Foundation. Andrew Wilson, ed.

Paragon House, NY. 1995.

Man and His Symbols. Carl G. Jung, et al. Aldus Books Limited, London. 1964

The Power of Myth. Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers. Betty Sue Flowers, ed. Broadway Books, NY. 1988

Information about mirror neurons can be found throughhttp://www.apa.org/monitor/oct05/mirror.html

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3204/01.html

Photo Credits

Siberian shaman, The Power of Myth, p86. credited to the Smithsonian Instatution.

Tay Ninh, South Vietnam, p115. credited to UPI/Bettmann news photo.

Jesus Christ, Eric Bruton, photo of tapestry at St. Malow conference center near Estes Park, Co.

Sempiternal Harmony Meditation Shrine, Eric Bruton Collection.

http://www.apa.org/monitor/oct05/mirror.html

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