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November 13, 1998
San Francisco to Hawaii, Second Attempt. Update #53
53. Date: Fri, 13 Nov 98 19:33:18 GMT
Latitude: 22 degrees 23.734 minutes North
Longitude: 149 degrees 14.130 minutes West
Wind ESE, Force 1-2
Heading: "nowhere"
Today we dropped the reins and let Moksha out to graze on a quietly undulating ocean, allowing ourselves to gently drift NW at half a knot. After realizing our southerly efforts were coming to nothing due to adverse wind and current, we decided to spend the day polishing up filming for the Classroom Expedition, taking the waterproof video camera out to get more outside shots of Moksha steaming about on the ocean and generally resting up to make the most of a change in the weather when it comes.
Today is the last day of the Classroom Expedition. The topic is 'Human Evolution and the future of the planet'. It is really the crunch time when participants are encouraged to individually make a form of silent resolution to either being 'in' or 'out' of where our rather destructive species is headed; either being a part of the solution by cultivating some degree of mindfulness in relation to oneself and the outside world (the core theme of the whole curriculum); or being part of the problem by choosing to blunder through life: deaf to that inner voice within every one of us, prompting, if we listen hard enough to it, to follow what we feel to be of deepest importance in life; blind to the effects of our actions on our surrounding environment and dumb to speaking our truth.
The psychologist Carl Jung spoke of a 'common human heritage' which he called collective unconscious inherited through our genes from our ancestors that lays down the pattern, the blueprint of our thinking; fundmental ideas by which the human race has shaped its destiny, ideas of courage, honesty, self-sacrifice, true love, etc. Although some aspects of this common unconscious may differ from culture to culture, the consistency that these same themes keep recurring throughout time and space suggests that at a deeper level the contents are common to us all.
The Global Learning Exchange activities, including the Classroom Expedition, are founded on such a belief; that no matter what language a person speaks, what colour their skin, what religion they uphold, what blood line they inherit, they are - when all is said and done - of the same 'stuff' as the rest of us. That is why when a 16 year old in Guatemala watches a film made by a 16 year old in San Francisco about who they really are and what's important to them, or a 13 year old in Hawaii receives a photo album from a 13 year old in England about who they really are and what's important to them,what the recipient is really seeing under surface cultural differences is just a reflection of themselves.
At a heart and gut level we all want the same fundamental things in life; health, happiness, love, friendship, peace, basic living needs met etc.If we can realize this essential truth about our species and have the strength to assume a personal responsibility to each other regardless of how far we live apart and whether or not we have ever met in person, all the world's problems are already solved. Community starts within each of us and moves outward from there to eventually embrace the whole world. It could be thought of as a reality already presently in existence, just waiting for humanity to move into when each of us is ready...
-Jason
Lewis & Smith,
The Moksha crew
Posted on November 13, 1998 7:41 PM