Releasing Our Cherished Notions and Uniting in Radical Collaboration

In my previous article, we explored how we can embody genuine love by releasing and healing our trauma and grievances. Parallel to this important practice of healing our hearts, we must also consider how to liberate our minds from habitual thought-patterns and “cherished” beliefs that stall our collective realization of our inherent wholeness. 

The 7th Unifying Principle of the Holomovement is Unity in Action. This principle reminds us the Holomovement is an inherent expression of the endemic nature of reality and amplifies the pull of collaborative coherence that simultaneously awakens individual purpose to discovering how it can also best serve the good of the whole. Especially needed now in all interpersonal relationships, at all levels of society, are social justice principles that support the collective well-being, such as equality between men and women, balance between wealth and poverty, freedom from all forms of prejudice, and justice that is unitive, not punitive.  

Unity in action is only as impactful as the relationships we build. This is not “unity in action with only those in our sector or my political affiliation, etc..” Global transformation requires a cooperative network stretching out beyond our current silos of interest groups and individual efforts. This is difficult and challenging work when we all have deeply-held beliefs and ideas of what is right and wrong, what is to be cherished and the best way to proceed.

David Bohm’s work as a physicist inspired the Holomovement and its vision of our sociological embodiment of wholeness-in-motion, but his curiosity and beginner’s mind also give us an example of what is required of us within this transformative movement. He shares:

“What is needed today is a new surge that is similar to the energy generated during the Renaissance but even deeper and more extensive; … The essential need is for a “loosening” of rigidly held intellectual content … along with the “melting” of the “hardness” of the heart. … The “melting”  perhaps could be called the beginning of genuine love, while the “loosening” of thought is the beginning of awakening of creative intelligence.  The two necessarily go together.” 

Embracing A Beginner’s Mind for Creative Solutions

Our current cultural and environmental crisis certainly isn’t because of a lack of passion for changing the world. The challenge lies in the reality of maintaining momentum and cohesion within dynamic groups between and among so many diverse sectors of society. When we all have personal visions of humanity’s potential, real impact and action will only find coherence when we come to the table with open-minds, curiosity and a lightly-held notion of what is the right way or plan to proceed.

It is in our “loosening” of intellectual content and our willingness to drop our most cherished notions, whether these are intellectual, spiritual or political, that we can begin to radically collaborate in infinitely creative ways. As Joni Carley and Phil Collier remind us in their chapter contribution to “The Holomovement; Embracing Our Collective Purpose to Unite Humanity;” “Beliefs divide and values unite.”

Opening ourselves up beyond the habitual thought-patterns and beliefs sourced from our ego, and finding courage to connect to our larger human experience, we realize that one cherished value we can use as our North Star is that of unity for the greater good of the whole.

My dear friend, the late Terry Patten reminds us that “Our inherent desire to serve wholeness and health in part expresses something deep and transpersonal, our social mycelium ... Thus, although we certainly continue to be citizens of communities, cities and nations, we also become citizens of something broader and deeper."

Committing to Radical Cooperation

Masen Ewald, executive director for A New Republic of the Heart and contributing author to The Holomovement writes;  “If we truly commit to enact unity, we commit to do so within us, between us and around us—like the dimensions of our movements. However, seeing through our tendencies of separation and learning to enact unity is an ongoing challenge, with successes and missteps, and so we can embrace our commitment as practice. We are always learning.”

Make no mistake, this journey is a life-long practice in personal and collective growth. Even in this endeavor we can find inspiration from Bohm. William Keepin, PhD, physicist, environmental scientist and co-founder of the Gender Equity & Reconciliation International project writes of Bohm in his Foreword to The Holomovement anthology:

“For those of us who were privileged to meet and interact personally with David Bohm, two qualities stood out strongly: his genuine humility, and his deeply earnest temperament. Bohm most wanted to engage with others on a shared quest for truth, wherever it might lead. May we all adopt this same spirit of deep humility and earnest inquiry, as we embrace the wonderful spectrum of ideas...”

No matter how small or insignificant any individual may feel, we all contain an image of the whole, because we are the whole and it is us. Likewise, we contain the information stored in the whole. The whole flowing movement is holographic.  As with any holographic image, we see a new dimension that we never thought could exist.  Likewise, when we “witness” ourselves from a state of higher consciousness-- in meditation for example-- we create a holographic view of who we truly are.  We are neither the ego battling for recognition, nor our highest self that represents the ultimate destination of our soul’s evolution. We are the multidimensional interference pattern formed when the physical sense of ego-identity reconnects with the soul’s Source. We are the vibrational harmony heard when our base ego sings in tune with the higher frequency of our cosmic self.  

The Holomovement is the process of Source experiencing itself, appreciating who it is and how to evolve into ever higher frequencies of consciousness. Our work within the Holomovement gives us the opportunity to live in this ever-expanding, self-witnessing consciousness of our universe. To find and experience the truth of our wholeness, however, William Keepin reminds us that we must approach this endeavor “with a truly open mind and heart, and strive to suspend cherished beliefs and perspectives, even if only temporarily, in order to open to new ideas and perspectives.”