Greater the Crisis, greater the opportunity for Wisdom (& Humanity)

What’s happening in the world seems to be asking only one thing, to react and in the worst possible way, with unprecedented consequences; what if it was instead inviting us to respond, in the most active and radical way: from fear to love, from dark to light. What if this tension was a tipping point for creating a new reality, and engaging in a new Dialogue on humanity?

Since the morning after the conflict burst out, I have been visited by a recurring thought, I have reluctantly listened to and then dismissed and pushed away, as irrational, and counterintuitive and hard to process. And it has turned up again and again, and again, demanding increasing attention.

And so here I am sharing a few inquiries as a collective reflection in these tragic leadership times. I am also inviting you to join in a Wisdom Meditation Marathon (details at the end of this article), as a first movement of a two-step journey from head to heart and to hand, guided by Silence and Dialogue into Action.

STEP 1

Bigger the Fear larger the Love (response) needed – transmuting fear into love

Who or whatever started the conflict in Ukraine, frontier between West and East, intended to throw over the world a veil of Fear, and trigger a default reaction to fight, flight or freeze (in panic).

• Even from a distance in the comfort of our homes, many of us experience these days in our own way that over-reacting impulse that kicks in with fear, affecting different levels of our life. We may inquire to what extent that fear reaction will serve us, in the end. And if not, what else is possible?

What if the world was capable to pause in silence, choose an intentional response, rather than a default reaction dictated by Fear, and respond from a place of Wisdom (here defined as love in action)?

• There’s an energy we can tune-into and dial up or down to shift how we react or respond. It has a frequency that operates within an emotional spectrum – where its opposite poles reflect two primal emotions, we all experience as humans, and from which all other emotions are derived. One pole is Fear and the other extreme, defined as the absence of it, is Love; all human emotions fall within this spectrum, as nuances representing the energy frequency between these two poles.
• The ability to move along this spectrum requires turning up or down a dial to increase or decrease the volume of love, to compensate fear with love; namely, to compensate one extreme you have to turn the dial towards its opposite pole.
• A response to any situation is ultimately about a choice of Love, an intentional choice sourced, to some degree, from Fear or Love, as the absence of it.

?I believe the ultimate purpose of leadership is to reduce fear and uncertainty; if that is true, it implies that it is in essence about amplifying the volume of love into the system, and transmuting fear into love.

?So, what if we all chose to pour love into the system in whichever way, metaphorically or literally, we feel called to? Instead of seeing fight and weaponry as the only practical solution. What could become possible?

The world will never be the same – unlocking the heart from dark to light

“The world will never be the same” is the new mantra we hear, anticipating even bigger catastrophes.

It is becoming evident, that if we zoom out in perspective to a larger picture, this conflict, as now incarnated between two opposers or opposing countries, it is also the reflection of dark shadows we refused to face, integrate, and heal.

• ?In particular, it is showing a contraction, a fracture of increasing polarization and dualistic view: between good or evil, right or wrong, me/us versus you/them; in the end a separation between our head, heart and hands, as dis-integration between what we think, what we feel and how we act that perpetrates inconsistency and destruction rather than harmony and creation
• A conflict emerges as we fail to read multiple signs of a crisis, and that potential information now becomes a situation to notice and pay attention to – it appears that this time it will no longer be possible to ignore the noise of that fracture, and turn our back, waiting for normality to restore.
• We reached a tipping point; the system is cracking with possible unprecedented impact we can experience on our skin, as this conflict is touching us already, at economic, social, and spiritual level.

And yet among the many fractures and atrocities, light keeps illuminating a pathway through the cracks.

What if “The world will never be the same” might mean we will be capable to mobilize our heart individually, collectively, globally to sense and integrate the opposites? What if we let the heart act as a bridge between our head and our hands, between the past and the future, between visible and invisible information?

It seems to me that this movement from dark to light, is underway and somehow shifting world leaders, institutions, and citizens’ awareness.

• Probably for the 1st time ever (something unimaginable until just a few weeks ago), beyond divisions and oppositions of the past, the European Union is showing an unprecedented unity and alignment of vision, values, and goals (with strong support from United Nations, echoed also by primary country and religions’ leaders).
• A rapid mobilization of funds for lifesaving humanitarian operations and stunning episodes of civilian society engagement at all levels are responding to Ukraine refugees with outpouring of solidarity. Amid horrors and chaos, volunteers from far and wide, and from all walks of life, are extending their heart and hands to supply help, in neighboring countries, to those who are running away, shattered by war.

A new language – across borders and religions

A new heart-language is taking shape in the world's consciousness, moving beyond an anachronistic rhetoric of aggression and war, to foster unity, compassion, and spirit of service and inviting to a dialogue informing more wisely collective actions, across borders and religions.

• “Humanity cannot afford to be locked in a mindset that dredges up the worst of last century”, has stated the United Nations Organization, calling “for immediate priorities to lessen pain and suffering and ignite the power of love, humanity and compassion […] instead of war which sows death, destruction, and misery” […] There is an “urgent need for global solidarity is to invest in peace and silence the guns”. [UN]
• ?“This is the time for solidarity and reception – founding values of the European Union” – “We need to create the conditions for dialogue, there’s no alternative to peace”. [EU - Mr. Draghi]
• “We are united in firmly condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine […]. Liberty, democracy, human dignity – these are forces far more powerful than fear and oppression.” “Putin’s aggression against Ukraine [...] has united freedom-loving world.” [US - Mr. Biden]
• “Fraternity is more durable than killing, hope is more powerful than death and peace is stronger than war […] Those who make?war?forget?humanity. War is a contradiction of creation. There is something like an ‘anti-sense’ of creation; that is why war is always destruction. For example, to work the land, to look after children, to raise a family, to make society grow: this is building. To wage war is to destroy. It is a mechanics of destruction.”[Pope Francis]
• It is “a moral obligation to make every effort to extend dialogue” [Israel - Mr. Bennet]

Most heads of states and primary religious leaders (Pope Francis, the Grand Imam, the Dalai Lama, etc.) indicate dialogue as the necessary path towards finding a solution to the conflict.

• UN calls for a cease-fire, and defines war as a distraction from the real problems affecting humanity, and stresses the importance of openness to dialogue.
• For Pope Francis, “we must unite in the effort to aid peace, to help those who suffer, to seek ways of peace, and to stop the fire”.
• For the Grand Imam and Sheikh Al Azhar, Prof. Ahmad al-Tayyeb, “wars will only bring more death, destruction, and hatred to our world. Conflicts can only be settled through dialogue”.
• The Dalai Lama and the Buddhist community describe war as outdated approach, indicate non-violence as the only way and call for “dialogue to resolve problems and develop a sense of oneness in humanity”. A dialogue space “where all opposites can rest in the infinitely tender embrace of a wide-open heart”. Learning to be present with it all “from the horror of hate to the wonder of beauty”. A “deep and true dialogue with respect for and appreciation of differences and plurality. We must take responsibility. We must ask: what is our role and our country’s role in feeding the demon of hatred and violence?”

So, dialogue has unanimously been purported as the real way out, however what kind of dialogue do we really need?

STEP 2

Emergence for DIALOGUE – as unfolding process towards an integrated world & humanity

Creating a new reality will require entering a new form of dialogue within humanity.

As the Greek word suggests (Dia + Logos), real Dialogue is pointing to our ability to go through and beyond the Word, into the real meaning, the potential presence within each situation, and understand what wants to emerge through us, and change in our relationship with that situation, individually and collectively.

• It is not only about broadening the attention, focusing on the why and not on what and how, as best practice in any mediation and conflict resolution. It also requires a deep capacity of entering silence, listening to the unspoken and connecting with something larger than our individual self
• It suggests engaging with a stream of meaning flowing among, through and between us, participating in dialogue, out of which a totally new understanding, deeper and not visible at start, can emerge and indicate where to go, and what action to take next
• The foundation of such a space is built on a mindful, equal, and non-judgmental approach, with no winner or loser – where opinions and certainties are willingly suspended and seen in an unattached way.
• Where individual voices are recognized to speak and act for the system, and if listened carefully, surface a variety of competing values they each represent. That enables for whole structure of defensiveness and division to collapse and gives birth to a sense of participation and sharing as one body “partaking of common consciousness”.

As the physicist David Bohm was suggesting, Dialogue holds the possibility “for a transformation of the nature of consciousness, both individually and collectively” as it allows to connect with a “shared meaning that is the ‘glue’ or ‘cement’ that holds people and societies together”.

?Silence, Dialogue and Action – to silence the guns

What if this conflict was inviting all of us to turn our gaze within, towards that shared meaning, and engage in a dialogue on how to source collective action from love?

Above for sake of simplicity, we defined Love as the absence of fear. And yet some of us might be asking, why all this fuss over love, what is love actually about in the end?

The foundation of life and the ingredient of anything we value the most, this appears to me what love is about.

• If we pay attention for a moment, deep below and underneath everything we look for in life, regardless of whether we call it success, recognition, happiness, or survival, it is ultimately love, or sourced out of love.
• We are born out of (an act of) love, we go through life searching for love and we desperately hope for some form of love on the other side, so we will be able to rest in peace.

Our awareness of Love is easier than we think. Silence within is all you need to begin.

• Just close your eyes, take a deep breath, and connect with whom and what you care most for in life. What is that to you? How does that relate with your encounter with love? How that changes if you bring to your awareness what you learned from Covid or from the Ukrainians?

If for a moment you trusted love as possible, within and around you - you being love itself manifesting through you in your own unique way - how would that change your response to your challenges? What could be possible then? If you stretched and offered this to the conflict, what could be born out of that?

?It seems to me that a new wisdom would emerge capable of shifting how we care about our Self, Others and the World. I believe it will lead to a shift to a deep Dialogue about the future of humanity.

?Entering such a Dialogue will demand a mix of trust in the unknown result of an unfolding process, and self-awareness of the gift of our presence we can bring to it – acknowledging on the one hand that the outcome of that process cannot be imposed, and on the other, realizing that the part we each play, no matter how small, if active and both engaged unattached will somehow contribute to the unfolding of a new reality.

I might in fact realize that holding those intentions has the power to shape my actions and show me how to best serve a greater potential for humanity that wants to unfold and lead through me.

In the end, if leadership is about reducing fear amplifying the volume of love into the system, leadership wisdom is about translating that love in action to elevate and shape new realities and illuminate our world.

So wherever you happen to a be leader in your own life, whether it is in the realm of your family, community, or team, organization or institutions ...remind that it starts with turning the gaze within, to your Self, and choosing to be the Light & Wisdom you want to see and shine in the world.

As a first step, join in a global movement of silence, to silence the guns, connect with wisdom and be ready to activate a new dialogue and actions for humanity sourced out of love. ?

Please join us in Silence:

for a 24-hour

Wisdom Meditation Marathon: Silencing the Guns

24th of March

15-min guided meditation every hour

(from 6:00am CET)

[Click here for instructions on how to join the global event or feel free to DM me]

Paolo Morley-Fletcher is a Strategy Advisor and Executive Coach. He advises leaders and organisations internationally, around Leadership strategy, Culture evolution and organisational Change.