Dear Astana Forum members, As we have not been able to download the software here in India--perhaps because it was dangerous-- I will not try to participate in the online forum. However, I do want to make one strong request: There are already many good ideas being put forth about organizational matters for the next two forums. However, the main question is still unanswered: What is the theme and purpose of holding these forums?
Bob Chase, at the end of his excellent organizational suggestions, hoped that “we will have created something that has the potential to change the world.” But all the mechanics and five-star hospitality and big names will not change the world. Our theme should be something significant, transformational, and suited to today’s needs.
I suggest that we try to make the so far rather vague idea of “spiritual culture” more practical by contrasting it to the economic and psychological depression in the world, demonstrating that people can live “rich” and happy lives without necessarily having a lot of money or possessions, if they are inwardly rich and if they cooperate with each other to create a more positive society, from the local level on up. For instance, Sallie McFague, the Christian theologian from Vancouver, recommends that we look at the systemic structures separating haves from have-nots and “suggest some visions of the good life that are not consumer dominated, that are just and sustainable.” Chandra Muzaffar, President of the International Movement for a Just World and First director of the Center for Civilizational Dialogue at the University of Malaya, says that “The unjust global economy and the greed that is inherent in it can only be ‘subverted’ through a profound spiritual transformation of the self.”
If something like this were to be our theme, then we should keep it in mind in all arrangements, keeping them as simple and genuine as possible, rather than spending a lot of money on showy things that won’t change the world. Here at Gobind Sadan, we live simply and collectively, honoring all spiritual traditions, and we feel that we are in paradise.
Since I can’t join you online, I wish you all the best in your discussions but urge that you take my suggestion into consideration.
With love from India, Mary Pat Fisher