by Zamir Dhanji
• It is possible that the next Buddha will not take the form of an individual. The next Buddha may take the form of a community – a community practising understanding and loving kindness, a community practising mindful living. This may be the most important thing we can do for the survival of the earth.– Thich Nhat Hanh
In Africa there is a saying: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” We live in a time where we must go both fast and far, meaning that we develop ourselves individually by realizing ourselves as Divine consciousness and then extending the benefits of this realization to the needs of our community. This community extends not just to our immediate family and friends, but to our workplaces, to the people we meet on the street, our city, our region, our country and our planet. We are, in fact, one great organism made of many cells.
According to the Maya, December 21, 2012 represents the end of a cycle of 5,125 years and the beginning of a new cycle. It is not an end in the ultimate sense, but the end of a process that has been unfolding – growing, maturing and decaying – so that another order of experience can emerge.
At the end of a cycle the Maya would spend the day in prayer asking the Great Spirit, the source of time and measure, to bless the next cycle to be more beneficial for all of life than the one that came before. Through the power of prayer and intention, they knew they could influence the coming cycle in a positive way, planting it with seeds of goodwill that would be harvested over the course of time.
We have an opportunity to come together in a sacred way this winter solstice with those that we love and care for – our communities – and use this day to pray for a better dream. This play of light and shadow upon the screen of the world, which we call life or reality, is responsive to our intentions and imagination. We are called upon to forgive the dream that has not served us and to replace it with one that will support the evolution of our consciousness both individually and collectively. This could mean forgiving the dream of separation and embracing the dream of our unity, of releasing the ambition for personal salvation at the expense of our communities and instead earning it through heartfelt service to our communities.
Our generation of selfless servers must unite in our efforts to love the world as our own body and ask ourselves: how far and how deep are we willing to go in this transformation? If we are to be entrusted with the empire, how do we prepare for this great responsibility? What is the vision of the next cycle we are willing to work towards in ourselves and as a planetary body? How does this look practically and are we able to create a roadmap broad enough to allow the details to be filled in through the implementation process itself?
Now is the time to ask ourselves these deep questions and come to this new cycle prepared to live the answers we have discovered within. Our knowledge is only as powerful as its practice in our lives and my hope for 2013 is that together we develop the courage, wisdom and perseverance to let go of what no longer serves us as we work towards a better dream for ourselves and for all of humanity.
All my relations.
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Zamir Dhanji is a local artist, visionary and community builder who chooses to give a voice for peace with the song of his heart. To receive notification about a Vancouver 2012 event with the above intention, please visit www.treeuth.com