UFHD
Principle of
DYNAMICS
“Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.”
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
video from: https://vimeo.com/303755572
READ and LISTEN along the Principle of DYNAMICS
”The universe is in a constant state of flux. The only constant is change.”
In case one has been living under a rock on Mars this past year, we will certainly be aware of flux. It has also made us acutely focused on the need for change. The 22nd of April each year is designated as Earth Day. Instead of celebration it instead features frustration and protests about the stubborn denial and inaction on climate change by most governments.
©️New York Times
Of course, anger is really just the clothes that powerlessness wears. We saw in part one of the series, The Principle of Unity (click here if you missed it) that most of us have a split of cognitive dissonance when it comes to ”saving the planet”.
If we continue to destroy our own microbiome by supporting and consuming the products from the industrial farming of plants and animals; by filling the hole of disempowerment and low self esteem through consuming products we don’t need with money we don’t have; by simply ignoring the split inside ourselves that has allowed us to be numbed into distraction, inaction or indifference – then we have unwittingly become part of the problem we feel angry and powerless about.
We are, instinctively at least, aware of the Principle of Dynamics. We know deep inside ourselves that things need to change. If they do not, stagnation sets in – which leads us to to another aspect of the Principle of Dynamics:
”Stagnation leads to disease or dysfunction.”
To understand this at a more directly personal level, let us zoom in for a moment to the microcosm of the body. In traditional Chinese medicine, health is defined as ”the free flow of Chi”. Dis-ease then, is some hindering or stagnation of that energy flow.
We have all experienced some form of this at one time or another. Everything from and overly full stomach; to constipation; laboured breathing in colds and flu; numb legs from sitting in one position too long; all the way to blood clots, strokes, heart attacks and cancerous tumors. When flow slows or stops, even for a short time, we feel our very life force is threatened.
Ley Lady Ley: the dynamic meridians of Mother Earth
Our bodies are made in the likeness of where they come from – the earth. They are the material ”space suits” that enable us to experience life on this planet. As we saw in the Principle of Return (click here) they are really just borrowed and will eventually be returned back to her.
The meridian flows through the body also flow through the body of the planet. These points and lines have variously been referred to as ”power grids”, ley lines, ”the crystalline network”, sacred sites or places emitting ”positive green” (1). Our collective practices have put enormous strain on this meridian system flow too.
Roll with the changes
So much for the diagnosis of the problem. What hints might the Principle of Dynamics give us regarding a solution?
”The easier it is for each part of a system (and the system as a whole) to adapt to change, the stronger and more resilient it becomes.”
It seems to be part of our ongoing cognitive dissonance that, despite knowing that everything is changing and will change again in the future, our first reaction is often fear and resistance.
The Principle of Dynamics encourages us to embrace change instead. Every individual’s ability to adapt to change also creates opportunities for everyone else. We have had an ”interesting” year in terms of change. Strangely though, as we overcome shock and fear and embrace our situation, new ways of seeing and doing things have emerged. Here are a few examples:
Being isolated at home has, paradoxically, caused us to become more globally connected – anyone who experienced their first Zoom meeting in the last year raise your hand; not working for a while has helped us reasess how we would really like to work in the future; for some urban dwellers, drasitically reduced traffic has meant the return of wildlife not seen for decades or, as the smog clears, views not seen from inside the city for years.
Playing nice
The Principle of Dynamics also shows how we can work together for mutual benefit. We don’t need the sand box tantrums and opposition. If we play nice, we benefit twice. We may even be overlooking the benefits of our seeming opposition to one another. Over to you again, Principle of Dynamics:
“Self-regulation & self-organizing: Cooperation exists at every level, and even when it appears as competition or opposition, a greater harmony is at play. Conflict at one layer of the web is, in fact, a stabilizing factor towards harmony when viewed from another vantage point.”
Nature has always known this but for us newcomers it is this: We really need each other. “It takes all types to make a world.” as the saying goes and even if we could control everything to our personal taste, the system would stagnate. Again, nature already knows this. We are still (re)learning it.
Under the ground there is some serious networking going on at the mycelial level that would rival any stockmarket floor. Trees who’s branches and leaves stretch into the sunlight deliver sugars and carbohydrates to life at ground level and below. Water can be transported back to trees and plants out of reach. In the meantime, everything that dies on the surface is broken down by our fungi friends and others to sequester carbon once again for the next cycle of life.
Like us, nature needs to know what is needed. A healthy diversity and (seeming) opposition always keep things dynamic and updated. This is why the Principle of Dynamics also reminds us to:
“Accept Feedback
The ability to accept feedback is essential for a dynamic system to maintain equilibrium. To remain dynamic, a constant interplay between the tension of opposites allows the system as a whole to maintain stability.”
We need to listen to a wider range of ideas than just the economic one percent that has disproportionately driven our decision making for too long. It is not just “…the economy, stupid!”. We need to look at all the dynamics at play.
©Tom Toro
How ‘rich’ are we in?…:
- Fresh drinking water
- Food availability and distribution for everyone. Forget Covid for a moment – more than 7 million people needlessly die of starvation every year and we already have the ‘vaccine’ for that
- Clean soil and organically grown foods with plural culture farming that remove the need for toxic and expensive chemical additives
- Education – particularly when it comes to understanding the natural systems of the world in which we live and how to work in harmony with them
- Energy production that does not pollute or drain existing resources
None of the above are far-away ‘pipe dreams’. They do however take a certain level of conscious will and choice to act. Like the dynamic systems of nature, we do not need to see all possible outcomes in order to begin. We just need to work together. With that in mind, we leave you with a final word from the Principle of Dynamics:
“Even if it is unclear of the immediate purpose of something, the process of evolution remains clear…evolution is co-creation.”
