In my city this weekend, the forces of darkness have gathered.

Right now, here in Portland, the “City of Roses”, scores of people pledged to violence have amassed themselves, each side completely convinced of their own righteousness and equally convinced of the evil of the other. Add to that a third force, wearing different uniforms and carrying different weapons… the one force that both sides hate.

One side wishes for a return to a past that never existed. The other side yearns for a future that is impossible to achieve. Face masks, bats and perhaps worse. With the media as yet another force, armed with cameras and hoping for a lot of blood. Blood sells…

In this madness, how do we, regular human beings, find our way? In the falseness and absurdities on all sides, where do we find the Truth?

Chris Hedges wrote an excellent book called “War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning”. I would take that a step further: VIOLENCE is a force that gives false meaning to an individual, a group, and even an entire nation. (As a former gun-toting revolutionary, I have the right to say this.)

This must stop.

For 30 solid years now, I’ve been saying the same thing: that the only way to resist the violence that lies at the roots of our society is with DISCIPLINED LOVE. A small group of people, trained in and practicing disciplined love, guided by the vision of ‘A World for All Beings’, can and will change the course of the world.

Malcolm Gladwell, in his book “Outliers”, says that it takes 1,000 hours of dedicated study and practice to become relatively efficient at something, and 10,000 hours (roughly 10 years, at 3 hours a day) to achieve genius level proficiency.  

How much actual learning and practice time do you spend PER DAY changing our global human societies? For most people in this society, the answer is less than 100 hours, TOTAL. (Few people spend more than 50 hours in Commonway course materials…) This is the reason why most people, when asked, haven’t the slightest idea of what it will take to transform our world. (And it’s the reason why my latest course, “The Essentials of Transformation”, is currently undersubscribed.)

How bad does it have to get before people realize that they have to get SERIOUS about the solution? As my mentor and role model, the late Czech President Vaclav Havel, said in his introduction to my book “Creating a World That Works for All“

… Can the persuasive words of the wise be enough to achieve what must be done? Or will it take an unprecedented disaster to provoke this kind of existential revolution – a universal recovery of the human spirit and renewed responsibility for the world?

Yes, most people are waiting for unprecedented disaster to strike, before they get serious about changing. As James Lovelock said, this is like waiting for lung cancer to show up, before you stop smoking cigarettes. Not a smart idea… 

Will the threatened/promised violence this weekend produce the “unprecedented disaster“ that will get people interested in committing themselves to the solution… the “universal recovery of the human spirit”?  And, if not… what WILL work for us to get serious about “disciplined love”?

Take the 6-month Commonway training,

Do your part to create ‘A World for ALL’…