inspired by the Baha’i Prosperity of Humankind, by the Universal House of Justice, 1995, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, The Association for Baha’i Studies
by C. Jenny Walbridge, 2021-23
“Thriving” is better than being “prosperous”—the metaphor is more biologically alive. And let’s see if we can make ourselves “humanKind” instead of just humankind! Celebrating the Earth is our future direction: along lines that serve nature & humanKind’s real needs—liveliness and joy!
- We are developing in our collective mind, based on the stages of growth of a single human woman. Right now, we are in stage 4, Metapause, and we need to get to stage 5, Quintessence, for best health. (*see “The Ages of Humanity and Our Future,” Matriotic section of this website)
a) peaceful human interaction is not yet the norm
b) when we get to the next, fully globalized stage, that will take care of the future— 1) all will have learned how to have a really good time, including me!
2. Note: the following is tricky. I wrote it several years ago, but have changed my mind about it. I now think there are lessons learned from patience; forbearance; acceptance; courage; endurance; faith; fortitude; gratitude; hope; modesty; self-discipline; and tolerance, but not suffering. Suffering is not one of the Virtues Project Virtues Cards 100 featured virtues. I originally said, “There will be lessons learned from suffering, which will have its place in our experience of life (like Springtime hunger, injuries, and learning– also a great delight).” Now, I think learning is important, and can happen without suffering. Injuries, I now also suggest, must bring healing or are not fortunate. Yet hunger which is satiated is a profound natural tool.
- talk therapy and other therapy will be available for all—and possibly practiced by all
- education will be free and pervasive; we will figure out how to let all teach what they can (“Teach and learn diversity at Sidewalk University!”)
How do we get there?
- Move the people emotionally and physically using more mature body symbolism*—drumming, other (dance; exercise; work; stretching) movements and rhythms, such as capoeira
- advancing being civil, “work as a form of prayer” (as the Baha’i prophet Baha’u’llah said) and play, too!
However, regarding prayer, I use the spiritual that goes, “Climbing up the mountain, children, /You know I did not come here for to stay/If I never more meet you again, I shall see you at the judgement day!” I alter it to say, “You know I did not come here just to pray…”
- The arts! In the artistic opportunities afforded by this process of change will global re-embracing find its purpose: to discover and dig out channels for creative streams and rivers of heart and mind that will revitalize the minds and hearts of humanKind, so our virtues can flow unimpeded and the future projects of people and planet can be illuminated.
4. Minister(s) of Movement will help folks from all cultures live longer and shape up, through tv and in person! The Ministers’ tv shows will record and catalog their collaboration with workers of today, in order to modify their movements necessary for getting work done, turning it into play. Robots could be used to take on numbing, bodily-destructive jobs. Instead, people could work at more creative pursuits discovered and invented through the processes of examining current work movements in current landscapes and systems; jobs will emerge through positive modifications suggested by workers themselves and architects, artists, filmmakers, etc., in order to meet the increased and full potentials of citizens as we are connected to the whole world’s population in powerful but gentle manners —becoming more civil-eyed, advancing civilization in inspiring ways. The Alexander Technique and Feldenkrais can be utilized to bring more healthy movement to citizens; one result of this would be to prevent obesity and other health problems. These efforts would foster healthier, happier, more productive workers, as labor and global/community strategies would be redesigned to the ends of joy, pleasure and aliveness!
Play is how we do the work we need to do—
- “Victoria Concordia Crescit” (victory through harmony, Arsenal English League soccer team’s motto),
- 1) not conflict, but concord
- 2) still interacting, though—yin and yang, differing kinds of power
- Playing builds health, such as physical development—strength, flexibility, fitness, and
- it grows psychological virtues, too!
- such as a sense of self-worth, and inner strength, flexibility—for now & for the future, plus
- it builds relationships, and
- heals!
Fair play is pleasurable—as the biological being naturally strives to thrive—or bloom —in the many ways that help her or him to become more alive. “If not fun, why done?” I ask. We just need to play “together!” whatever that may be or sound like; I posit that that signifies we work/play “to get Her”—to understand who? Our planet? Just guessing.
The projects that need to be done for us to live in the next stage of maturity need the full rainbow of available bodies and minds to complete—think of playing music—every note is necessary for the full power of the piece to be heard; all people need to play their “instrument.”
We must find ways to hear the smaller cultures, as Pope Francis suggests in Querida Amazonia, and the poor, in Laudato Si’. Baha’u’llah suggests a process of “consultation” be used for universal decision-making. It does not include debate; I have a problem with the no-debate part. Yet the Baha’i idea that the product of consultation will not belong to any one entity, but the whole group, is worth asserting (Peace, p. 19).
Instead of habits or mindsets being updated, they can be completely shared or surrendered through the process of playing and communicating with others from around the world, i. e. while not sitting around in chairs!
- people will learn to live in the present when we all are connected in step with world communicating. Today, all cultures have some abstraction that prevents fullness of life. Our minds will change in a healthy way, and life will be more fun, as the weaknesses (or non-living-in-the-present aspects) of everyone’s differently-undeveloped minds are sloughed off. Then we can let the Holy Ghost tell us what to say in every moment, (Bible, Luke 12:11-12) engaging in movement instead of non-living in the death-state of stasis (The Mystic Spiral, Journey of the Soul, Jill Purce, 1974, NY, NY: Thames and Hudson, p. 21).
- Let’s try a world language, using funny and interesting expressions from different peoples, and
- How about an Earth flag, on the moon and our planet!?!
Unity (so important to Baha’u’llah and the Baha’is) will be exhibited by the human species. This will prove satisfying (fun!), growth-inducing (exciting!) and the most creative (stimulating!) path for all concerned (all humanKind). But unity, being a symptom, not a solution in itself, is a manner, not a goal. Unity is formed of diversity—the active harmony of opposites (see 3b, 3c, above). I think this is what the Baha’i “unity in diversity” concept (Prosperity of Humankind, paragraph 14) refers to. Imagining events for celebrating, encouraging self- and world-improvement, is appropriate for all human beings, now!
- using drumming with the hands, handshakes, handprints, etc;
- utilizing footprints; healthy shoes; foot massages; back rubs, etc: ways to touch each other, emotionally and, perhaps, physically (see my Synchronicities section, “The Two Meanings of ‘Moving'”)
Good neighborliness on a cosmic level!
a) The Library of HumanKind, a video recording of each person alive—starting with the eldest and most compromised in health (like we did with the vaccines).
b) More photos of embryos—especially human ones (women will be in full control of their wombs, of course!) and other inspiring images, including
c) photographic Earth globes could be in public places such as schools, government buildings—athletic facilities—and libraries.
d) English speakers can use the Virtues Reflection Cards, a presentation of 100 different virtues, by the Virtues Project International.
The nitty and gritty that I see may make some wince at first—it is really new! We can imagine, however, for example, what feelings we will develop by working and playing, utilizing our full potential, with other people, not just going to some job each day and stagnating in traffic there and back. What about having a new relationship with authority—being it?
- I want to observe that serving is Godliness in many religions. Baha’u’llah said that working is a form of prayer. Could we consider sex as a form of prayer? Pope Francis says, “Give Us This Day Our Daily Love” (the title of his book)—what is he talking about? In On Care for Our Common Home, he praises loving gestures. Could the Pope not be appreciating sexuality?
- Pregnancy encourages the concept of mates. Yet if it is desired to be avoided and can be (see my website in the Feminist section—“Conception” for a mention of pregnancy alternatives), the beauty of God’s gift to us of one night stands could perhaps be indulged in. I remember reading in The Clan of the Cave Bear, by Jean Auel, a fictional custom of prehistoric folks of having the young tribe members have an initiation sexual encounter so that they would learn the sexual ways from an older tribe member. That sounds like a wise idea to me. Also, see Madeleine L’Engle’s The Irrational Season, poem “Lovers Apart,” pp. 50-51.
- There might be other healing purposes for sexuality, too: it can be a form of massage, after all!
- In a globalizing world, with images shared on screens, and words able to be exchanged, could humans be insensitive to the soulful beauty of other people? Using loving gestures, if we got to meet them, would God, speaking of God, be angry if we refused to appreciate them?
- And would our mates want to deny us fulfillment if we would do the same for them?
- Coupling becomes immature if it prevents people from expressing their adoration, living joyfully—in many ways—I think. One woman, for example, has been married to a second spouse for years; they’ve been a couple for three decades. It is a gay coupling, in which she says, “I married a person, not a gender.” I feel that in the world of today, any love is good love. My poem, “The Third Sex,” presents the gender of “God” in a way that enlightened me when I wrote it.
The Third Sex
Calculate the appearance—colored clothes and something hair—
Strike up a conversation if you want to take a dare.
Your instinct’s right, because you can’t just look inside the pants—
Your body wants to party, not analyze the dance!
It’s dark and light in stripes in division on a horse—
Picture the zebra now—it’s an animal, of course.
Each one is different—you can see, they really are unique.
Straight markings are impossible—stripes show in curves, go peek!
All in order, some of them are sexy in one way,
Others in another. God makes them—it’s okay.
Humans have fingerprints and some realistic gripes
But when the zebra moves, you don’t think about its pipes.
Are there only two sexes? Well, ask a doctor—“No.”
How about three then, if there’s hermaphroditic flow?
I say we have some billions, and every person’s great.
Each of us is unique. Some will, maybe, mate;
Some of us have babies; some just clearly can’t.Sexual organs differ, like the leg that wears the pant.
Don’t cop out, friend, be truthful to your feelings for
A person, not a gender, ‘cause in bed there’s always more 5
And trans folks can be amazing, just like the others can—
Please remember the zebras before you make a ban,
‘Cause God creates with panache, sometimes in black and white, Somewhat he and somewhat she but always in the right.
If He makes us in His image, well, that means He’s more complex—He is also She and More—that’s how They stack the decks.
Each person gets a special mix of dark and then of light—
The feminine, the masculine—everybody’s right!
Wise one, know that we can live in peace together—
But we must be creative, like God Itself, no tether.
Open doors but also, sweetheart, look within, I say—
I’m ready for more tenderness, now and here, today!
On Some Baha’i Ideas: the written To the Peoples of the World, A Baha’i Statement on Peace, by the Universal House of Justice, 1986: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, The Association for Baha’i Studies; and Prosperity of Humankind, by the Universal House of Justice, 1995.
What is the role of general humanity in planning Earth’s future? What will true prosperity of humankind look like? Will peace only come as a last result? These are questions the Baha’is ask in two documents (listed above), both written by the Universal House of Justice.
Humanity, they report, is thought by many to be “quarrelsome” (Peace, p.10). However, as they also suggest, around the world, people and groups are promoting change for a healthier tomorrow (P of H, paragraph 11). Now is the spiritual springtime of the human species, they state, offering their ideas for the future. (Peace, p. 23). The House of Justice suggests that humankind is coming of age: our psychological state is progressing from adolescence to maturity, and with this aging comes greater ability for cooperation, harmony and mutuality (Peace, page x).
I concur, adding that since Baha’u’llah—the prophet of the Baha’is—began his contributions (1817-1892 was his lifespan), the female individual to which humankind can be compared is now in a metapausal state: she is finally halting her inward focus. She is starting to look around, having peopled the planet (and subdued it, if you are a Bible reader), and is reaching for world connection. I also agree with the Baha’is that peace has not been possible until now; we humans were not ready for it (Peace, p. x). Yet I additionally agree that it is inevitable (Peace, p. x); people can only turn towards each other and complete the work discussed in the Baha’i documents, as modified and added to by my ideas. My point is that it will be work—but it will be fun, as play, and, like Pope Francis says, we can sing as we go along (On Care for Our Common Home, encyclical letter, 2015, Washington, DC, United Conference of Catholic Bishops, paragraph 244).
No one knows how it will look for all people to be using our full potential, but both the Baha’is and I see that this is what the future will bring (P of H, paragraph 44). My perspective on mind may differ from that of the Baha’is in the eighties and nineties, when the documents I discuss here were written.
The Baha’is and I concur that our materialistic focus of today should change (P of H, paragraph 45). It has landed us with vicious circles and metaphorical systems (poverty, employment, sexism, racism, police brutality, healthcare, education). Meanwhile, we are plagued by a planetary pandemic and climate change, if we were doubtful that the world was interconnected!
Materialistic thought is also problematic in science. Failing to embrace the new worldview suggested by quantum mechanics—that time is navigable, and reality different from what we were taught it was, last century—means not discovering our full potential, as individuals and as a species. Embracing it will be change, which can threaten. Yet the Baha’is have attempted future imaginings, and so will I. “Only if humanity’s collective childhood has indeed come to an end and the age of its adulthood is dawning does such a prospect [(the task of creating a global development strategy that will accelerate humanity’s coming of age)] represent more than another utopian mirage. To imagine that an effort of the magnitude envisioned here can be summoned up by despondent and mutually antagonistic peoples and nations runs counter to the whole of received wisdom,” (P of H., paragraph 62). However, the enlightened of peoples around the globe (not necessarily the rich folks) have tried and planted the seeds of future tall trees of peace bearing luscious fruit that will sustain us!
Whereas the Baha’is suggest that it will be slow (P of H, paragraph 3), global connection could just as easily arrive all at once. When people like me–artistic and female—are heard, change may well come instantaneously. The Baha’is assert that since individuals are reciprocal to global structures, transformation will occur at both levels together (P of H, paragraph 16). Also, they compare people to cells in one body—they cannot live without the larger, and the collection of them all—cells, or people—brings transcendental consciousness (P of H, paragraph 14). This is why, I reflect, we cannot know what true global connection will look or feel like; it will be an experience.
My personal understanding of humanity, from artist’s and anthropologist’s perspective, suggests that it will not necessitate building a “framework” (Peace, p. 10) for humanity’s development, erecting a “world super-state” (Peace, p. 18) with elected members (as the Baha’is have posited, P of H., paragraph 58) in order to proceed healthfully into the future. Instead, it will be a way for all citizens to participate on a creative level—to not work but play “together,” whatever that tune, or game, will turn out to be! The Baha’i prophet, Baha’u’llah, said that work is a form of prayer to God (P of H, paragraph 48). What is play? A prayer to the Goddess, to get her attention?
Aggression, the Baha’is say, will be replaced with love (if they are not on the same continuum, i. e., lust, as Konrad Lorenz, the ethologist, apparently suggested [Peace, p. 39]). Also, self-centeredness will morph into serving of others (practicing charity stimulates our brains’ pleasure centers, we now know), while from competition will emerge cooperation, and war will become peace. We may have needed to fight—especially to fight back—in the past. Look at martial arts, in which each combatant expresses him/herself in movement and both enjoy it, surviving to move another day, perhaps taking pleasure in fighting again—cooperating in the dance. (The Brazilian martial art of capoeira was permitted the slaves who invented it to be practiced, because it seemed like dancing, not fighting!) Yet the future will, I reassert, along with the Baha’is, bring peace: with its attendant sports and games that we create and play in order to move around, enjoying our shared world and each other.
Resistance is human: rather than saying “I can’t,” more benign is “I won’t,” according to Pete Shabad, Ph. D., in psychoanalysis. Play can create healing and growth, Donald Winnicott and others have said; I experience this with my talk therapist. As Jan Panskeep said, there are seven emotions of all animals—play is one (he tickles rats and hears them laugh!). These are relatively recent contributions to psychology that point to profound changes in Western thought; other cultures may have already integrated these ideas, but Westerners have been behind in certain ways. But knowledge is everyone’s birthright; now that we have pervasive communication for the planet, we can take the Baha’is and my advice and educate our peoples: the Baha’is call for universal education and I concur.
The Baha’is find it very important that in the future, science should partner with spirituality (P of H, paragraph 43). Pope Francis wants science to partner with religion, too, as he states in his On Care for Our Common Home, paragraph 199. In the last century, science was utilized for selfish gain (P of H, paragraph 37), while spirituality has been viewed as somewhat irrelevant in the world (Peace, p. 7). However, religion, as the Baha’is point out, is a part of cultural identity for many (P of H, paragraph 40). To involve the world spiritually, we must, as they assert, work (play, I say) with folks who are religious; the religions are not in conflict, but are complementary, they assert (Peace, p. 67). The ideas from the Academy for the Advancement of Postmaterialist Sciences’s Manifesto may help us unite science and religion, and deal with our future.
In the Manifesto of the Academy for the Advancement of Postmaterialist Sciences, they discuss the mind’s new territory. They state that “the nearly absolute dominance of materialism in the academic world has seriously constricted the sciences and hampered the development of the scientific study of mind and spirituality. Faith in this ideology, as an exclusive explanatory framework for reality, has compelled scientists to neglect the subjective dimension of human experience. This has led to a severely distorted and impoverished understanding of ourselves and our place in nature.” Please continue at https://www.aapsglobal.com/manifesto/
The Baha’i say that our purpose is to serve humankind. I suggest that our purpose should be to manage Earth–working/playing with all species, for tomorrow and today.
Sexy!
Our place in the world is erotic:
no control over the weather.
No control over the stock market—
No control over our feelings, our finances, our dinner’s quality
because it comes from polluted fields—they may be polluted, we don’t know,
just like we don’t know how our lover will respond from day to day.
Nature is sexy. We are part of nature.
But does our history from now on have to be so hurtful, just because we are trying to live the fact that the world is sexy? that we are not in control, that peoples get hurt because forces are so powerful, like sex?
Or, we prove that we can synthesize things; even though we are part of nature, we “are above it”—an abstraction good for who?
Make love, not war!