Author, Scientist, Former Astronaut, International Speaker.

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Opening in 2008, Montesueños

"Democracy is not a spectator sport!"

Artist:  Meredith Miller

July 2008 Update: A Big Milestone Achieved

After 22 months of construction chaos in the expanded cottage below*, it’s actually done and we have suddenly doubled our space for retreats here at Montesueños: we now have eight bedrooms, seven bathrooms, two full kitchens, two fireplaces, conference and eating space for up to 100, a lot of breakout space, and expanded lush gardens. What I’m learning from this is that the “evolutionary architecture” process is chaotic throughout, and seems to be getting nowhere for the longest time. Then a day arrives (none too soon as the guests started arriving even before we finished construction and furnishing), when suddenly the results are unveiled—like a painting.

The catalyst for this giant leap was the first Phoenix Gathering between June 8 and 15 (www.wakingthephoenix.org). We put up and fed 25 people!

Meredith and I were also active participants in this gathering. It was an intensive dynamically-facilitated dialogue about solutions to “the crisis of civilization.” This was a tall order for a newly-convened group so diverse in culture, age and gender. Participants flew in from India, Ireland, Argentina, Mexico, Canada, the U.S. and other parts of Ecuador. The motivations and commitments of everyone were impressive, all of us making some money-and-time sacrifices (this event was unfunded), each of us having a burning desire to address the overarching issue of sustainability. While the results of this unprecedented experiment in democracy were not yet fine-tuned into a crisp consensus, we did create many new ideas and valuable contacts and follow-up plans.

The following slide show gives a good impression of what happened here during the Phoenix Gathering:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lub/sets/72157605852263976

We see this as the first such gathering of many that will be held here and elsewhere, always improving on the process, ambiance and content so as to become a fine art.

The fact that we were able to pull off the dual experiments of the Phoenix Gathering and Montesueños itself is testimony to the hard work and dedication of our staff, especially the Macas family from our local village of San Jose-Vilcabamba.

Four years from the day we committed to buy this property, we have just officially opened for retreats, workshops, special events, concerts, sabbaticals, residencies and apprenticeships. Soon we will be posting our 2008-09 programs and we also welcome suggestions on how you’d like to get involved.

* I dubbed the place The Pig Sty. Being more forward-thinking than I, Mer called it The Doves Nest. Over my prior objections, that is now the official name.

2008 Message:

Phoenix Gathering 08: What is the Biggest Problem(s) and What are the Solutions?

I feel that the biggest problems we face on our planet today include elite rule, unbridled corporate capitalism, pollution, war, the voracious consumption of natural and human resources, and a huge deficit of truth and vision. I’m sorry to say my native country, the USA, leads the way in adopting these insane and immoral policies.

Unless, as a world community, we can choose leaders who have our best interests and those of nature at the head of the agenda, we will continue to put up with unmitigated greed, corruption, militarism, repression and a total lack of sensitivity towards health and the environment. We the people will need to take our power back, and that probably means a revolution towards a global green republic. Go to Washington, bang pots, and demand change! The default position is to form distributed enclaves of vision to keep the torch burning for now and for future generations until the madness subsides.

My main areas of expertise are energy and planetary science. I am aware that outside-the-box solutions do exist to the sustainability dilemma. I have traveled the globe documenting the works of some of the best researchers, and have given thousands of lectures, written dozens of articles and books about these subjects through the decades. I am aware of (violently suppressed) breakthrough clean energy technologies that could change the world. We could restore abundance and sustainability to the planet using an intelligently-managed program of new energy solutions. These ideas are scientifically feasible and could be wisely developed if we so choose. I am aware that we could reverse pollution, climate destabilization and deforestation. We can preserve, restore and sustain the biosphere, depopulate sensibly, and have clean water and abundant food for everybody. We could keep most of the hydrocarbons, water, soil, uranium, metals and other valuable nonrenewable resources in the ground.

But we need to become more educated about the possibilities of doing all this for what these possibilities really are, free of the cacophony of vested discourse. Even the progressives have not sufficiently grasped the seriousness of our problem at its most basic level, nor have they (we?) begun to understand the most radical and lasting solutions. Just about all public discourse is myopic. We ourselves need to be visionaries and be open to consider wise and intelligent dialogues such as those planned for our first Phoenix Gathering.

Mapping out and implementing the most significant solutions will require the utmost of courageous action and compassionate of strategies. For example, the development of “free energy”, whether it comes from the vacuum of space, new forms of hydrogen and water, or cold fusion devices, will need a careful look. We must examine the full range of long-term energy options for their full life-cycle environmental impact. We need to cut to the chase on these matters and not be swayed by this or that promotion or fad or preconceived notion that our future must be the way things appear to be now.

We need to understand the pros and cons of each option and devise totally new social structures to manage the emerging technologies and approaches. We need to be honest in assessing what we really mean by sustainability. We need to understand that such “solutions” as carbon capture-and-sequestration, tar-sand extraction, biofuels, weather engineering, chemtrails, Star Wars technologies, HAARP, and many other misconceived macroengineering projects can only exacerbate our rape of the planet and not help the situation. We must leave no stone unturned in our quest for a healthy future for everyone. Are we up to the task? We have no other choice.

There has been much discussion about looking at the big question from the point of view of a new frame or new consciousness.  I agree, we do need to step back some, as well as look at things as they are, as they so clearly cry out for solutions on a purely physical/mental level as well.  It seems this is a "both/and" situation if we are to be as
all-inclusive as possible in our proceedings.

In researching my books on new scientific paradigms I became aware of and participated in many experiments which show that combined positive human intention (sometimes loosely referred to as "consciousness") can effect measurable and repeatable chages in the physical universe. This of course explains many of the paradoxes of quantum mechanics (the observer effect), the power of prayer, morphogenetic fields, and other experiments using devices sensitive to human thought and emotion.  I would call the power of conscious intention one of the more promising long-term possibilities--the act of creating groups whose combined positive intention really could change the world.

Our first retreat:  we are hosts of the first Phoenix Gathering on June 8-16, 2008, of twenty visionaries coming in from all over the world to address the big problems and big solutions to the crisis of civilization...and how to make the needed changes.  Results of this unusual dynamically facilitated conference will be posted soon after the event.

The second big question about HOW we can achieve our goals and who are "we"?  This will have to happen in stages, yet ones that must move along briskly.  Time is short.

I like the idea of local autonomy and local decision-making, to decentralize power, and to strip our global rulers of their power over us--powers that are also destroying our beautiful and bountiful natural environment.  Of all this, there can be little doubt. Therefore, it's time to compose a second, more forcefully worded, Declaration of Independence.  This will pave the way for a process of truth and reconciliation.  Nonviolent action should escalate if
negotiations for a transfer of power are resisted.

Yet we cannot leave out the global system either, and of course, that will be the most challenging part to achieve because of the long sordid history of "globalization" projects ranging from economic exploitation to wars and other internationally unacceptable practices. The proper Golden Rule needs to displace the axiom "he who has the
gold rules."  Recognition of designing some sort of global system that eliminates most all of the corruption leads to what one might refer to as a Declaration of Interdependence.  If properly designed, this could lead to a constitution for a global green republic (or global green democracy) whose powers would be limited to legislation passed by a council of elders representing local communities, regions and nations.  To accomplish this, we will need to be very careful to eliminate the possibility of elite rule creeping back in.  And the power of this new global group must be limited only to issues that affect us all.

So this first step is to make our declarations as clear as possible about the problems and solutions, upon which most of us would agree. They are obviously a large departure from our current reality.  These "self-evident truths" need to be declared without any secrecy.  We must be transparent, stand in our courage to make these things clear
regardless of attempts at repression.  We should unify with combined positive intention fearlessly.

How can we achieve this daunting task of transition?  First we can speak out and also go for some tried-and-true methods of nonviolent protest that will gain momentum and make a revolution inevitable. In increasing numbers, we should go to Washington, march, make speeches in front of the White House, bang pots, hang banners, strike
from our jobs, boycott the government and large corporation's products, dump the teas of corporate rule into the ocean, and demand change—and put the CIA, Pentagon, IMF, World Bank and all the bums out of business, we must start anew.  In our expression, we need to appeal to common sense, following the examples of truth-seeking and integrity and courage of Tom Paine, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, and Simon Bolivar.

But we also need to step outside the box of conventional thinking to envision radical, abundant, sustainable solutions such as clean energy and healing ourselves and the biosphere through our collective consciousness.  We need to go beyond the standard progressive technique into whole new territory, and we cannot be tentative about this.

Who are "we"?  This I believe should be a self-selecting, self-organizing process starting at first with small groups of people dedicated to the principles of true democracy, compassion for one another and for all of nature.  We will all insist on embracing the principles of freedom, justice, equality, local rule and global peace and sustainability.

"We" must present these things in a form that can be understood and agreed-to by many, so that through the sheer force of attraction, our numbers will grow and grow.

We thank Sean Sullivan for his expert webmastering of this site.

For the Earth, Brian.

P.O.Box 258, Loja, Ecuador.

E-mail : Dr Brian O'Leary