Duane Elgin: Three Areas of Oneness

globaloneness project Three Areas of Oneness There are three areas of oneness that I see in the world. The oneness of the earth, and the demand that we live sustainably on that earth. Duane Elgin, San Rafael, California, Author - Promise Ahead, Awakening Earth, Voluntary Simplicity Two, the oneness of the human family, and the requirement that we live compassionately with one another if we're going to live peacefully on this earth. And three, the oneness with the universe, and the challenge of living at one with the sacred system of which we're an integral part. We're beginning to see that the world is an integrated, living system —not just the human system, but the earth system of water, and air, and earth— and so, we have to learn to live sustainably within the earth system, and we need to learn to live compassionately within the human system. Right. And then thirdly, we need to live at home within the cosmic system—the universal system, because that's where we come from, and when we die, that's where we go. So there are three systems that we are—like it or not—always at one with. The earth system, the human system of life and the rest, and the cosmic system—the universe as a whole. So those are three domains of oneness that we are beginning— see, as a species, for the last 35,000 years, we've been pulling back from nature. We've been differentiating ourselves. We've been cultivating our capacity to stand apart from nature, to know or empower our uniqueness, and we've been doing that as hunter-gatherers, as farmers, and then as industrialists for 35,000 years. But now our power is so great that we are really on the verge of undermining the ecological foundations for the foreseeable future. So we have to turn, then, from separation to communion, to connection, to union, to oneness with the earth, with one another, and with the universe. So this is an extraordinary transition, I feel, in the life of the planet. It's not just a uniquely challenging time. I feel there's only one time, probably, in the life of a planet where a species comes to full wakefulness and dominates the life of the entire planet and begins, then, to create climate change, species extinction, and all the rest that will forever change the evolutionary direction of the planet. And that's what's happening in our lifetimes, right now. www.globalonenessproject.org