Clouds in My Coffee

Clouds in My Coffee

Culture

Nature is filled with examples of endlessly repeating patterns, where the whole is built on the balanced interaction of the parts. For generations, man has only looked at his “parts” – individuals. Now, maybe it is time to consider the whole – humanity. I feel another downhill day coming, and I dread going into work. Will I get a sudden escort out this morning like poor Erika? Our manager, Phil, wouldn’t want us to steal or damage anything, especially staff morale – as if there were any left! I’ve known Phil for 30 years; what’s happened to him? To the whole world? At least we still have some creature comforts, most notably – a gourmet cup of java to give me some courage. Watching that drop of cream in the coffee, the pattern of swirls within swirls, I can’t help thinking back to that 1972 Carly Simon song, “I had some dreams; they were clouds in my coffee, clouds in my coffee…” Clouds in coffee… swirls within swirls… patterns, unfolding within themselves, over and over, like variations on a theme. Isn’t this the way all of Nature is? Fern leaves, coastlines, clouds – each is composed of a geometric shape that’s repeated at a smaller and smaller scale, each shape nested within its larger counterpart. Isn’t there something to be learned at this time from this property that is so pervasive in Nature? Perhaps the world’s problems and solutions are hidden within these unique, yet universal, patterns. And perhaps we could unlock this universal secret if only we had a master key, the “fractal”! Patterns of Life This term,...
Global Mind Change

Global Mind Change

Culture

A visualization of a recorded talk given by the late Dr. Willis Harmanon how our problems, and therefore solutions, are al interconnected. Harman was a social scientist, academic, futurist, writer, and visionary, best known for his work with SRI International, for being President of the Institute of Noetic Sciences in California, and for his work in raising consciousness within the international business community. (Source:...
I Am

I Am

Culture

Any crisis creates an impression that a collapse is imminent, and then it seems that everything is going to be okay. Only through such gradual, step-by-step development do we become aware that we must change. Generally, it is necessary to understand that the collapse must be internal. It has to occur in our consciousness, in our awareness of how wrongly we treat ourselves and the world. It’s not in the fact that I was hit by a painful event, a disease, even death… All of this is necessary solely in order to pull us out of our own swamp of egoism, elevate us, and force us to start thinking. As a matter of fact, these particularly consistent acts—a sudden blow and its retreat until the next blow hits, then another blow and retreat—gradually pull a person out of himself. With each new step, we think it is all the same, but in fact, it is not so. Each new time, we process another type of egoism, its greater part. One blow to the ego, the second, and the third one, but we don’t feel the difference and don’t realize that each time, our egoism processes completely new states of understanding and existence. Egoism is diverse, and until it reaches its culmination, nothing will change. This is why we need to pass through so many small blows.  There is nothing accidental; nothing can happen out of the blue, by leaping over the states of internal development. We have to swallow every pill, which is the only way to learn. There is no other option....
The Farmer’s Story

The Farmer’s Story

Culture

Sometimes we feel that we’ve had enough and it’s time to make a revolution: change the environment and society. But it is not the same this time around. This time it is about evolution rather than revolution. We have been living in societies for thousands of years and had a social life because we were unable to provide everything we needed on our own. In fact, everyone wants a better life for himself, confident and peaceful. Everyone wants to be more successful than others. Envy and ambition rule, and push us to develop. Yet, while a person develops within society, his personal life changes through the society. One depends on the other. Today we depend on thousands of people around the world because of what we wear, eat, and generally consume; there is no country which did not participate in providing us with everything we have. And when it does not happen directly, it happens through another several countries: one country supplies materials, another supplies machine parts, and another produces the goods we buy.  Studies show that everyone in the world depends on everyone else. And in order for us to live well, we have to make sure that everybody around us also lives well, be it a neighbor’s family or another country....