We should be sensitive to the models for action that already exist in our culture. Two modes of framing action come to mind. The first was set forth by William Irwin Thompson more than twenty years ago. He called it “operational mind” which is the mind that organizes all information for material ends. It is essentially, he says, the mind of the engineer. Seeking exclusively material ends ignores indirect consequences, especially in the long run. It is focused, goal-oriented activity that excludes whatever does not directly lead to desired results.

Another view of how our 20th century minds work was highlighted in a speech by Vaclav Havel, president of the Czech Republic, in New Zealand in 1995. He recalled meeting Karl Popper, the important investigator of the logic of scientific theories. One of Popper’s statements apparently made a profound impression of Havel. As he said in his speech “One of the targets of Popper’s profound criticism....was a phenomenon he called ‘holistic social engineering.’ He used this term to describe human attempts to change the world for the better completely and globally on the basis of some preconceived ideology that purported to understand all the laws of historical development.....” (Art of the Impossible, p. 2-3) Both operational mind and holistic social engineering stem from a prejudice inherited from the Age of Reason, which assumes that direct action backed by rational systems are always available for solving human social problems. It is this kind of assumption that underlies the unthinking optimism behind those who believe that problems with technology can always be solved by more technology.

Joseph Jaworski’s Synchronicity is the story of a journey toward understanding over a period of some twenty years. Jaworski left his law practice to attempt to create the American Leadership Forum. In preparation, he talked to many people who were creative innovators in different fields. One of his interviews seem of particular importance, the one with renowned cognitive scientist and senior Shambhala teacher Francisco Varela. His talk with Varela takes place near the end of the book seems to me important because it introduces the spiritual level, which had been missing previously. Here is an excerpt from that conversation:

"What I want to describe to you next," said Varela, "is in the spiritual realm--spiritual because it has to do with human hearts. When we are in touch with our 'open nature,' our emptiness, we exert an enormous attraction to other human beings. There is great magnetism in that state of being which has been called by Trungpa 'authentic presence.'" Varela leaned back and smiled. "Isn't that beautiful? And if others are in that same space or entering it, they resonate with us and immediately doors are open to us. It is not strange or mystical. It is part of the natural order.

"Those that are in touch with that capacity are seen as great warriors in the American Indian tradition, or as Samurai in the Eastern tradition. For me, the Samurai is one who holds that posture in the world--someone who is so open he is ready to die for the cause. That capacity gives us a fundamental key and is a state of being known in all great traditions of humanity."

Later in the conversation, Varela warned, "There is great danger if we consider these people to be exceptional. They are not. This capacity is a part of the natural order and is a manifestation of something we haven't seen previously, not something we do not have. This state is available to us all, and yet it is the greatest of all human treasures.”