Martin Luther King )r. Special Edition_____ January 19, 2000 ® t (c $ Io rtla n ì> © b s e ru e r "A CALL to a c t io n C19 WHOLENESS IN LAW AND GOVERNMENT B y S ylvia C lute = — Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream o f a gentler world, one in which the dignity and rights o f all are protected. His vision is becoming manifest through a greater awareness o f wholeness and the interconnectedness o f all creation that has emerged in many disciplines. It has become a defining characteris­ tic o f such diverse fields as quantum physics, the environmental movement and medicine. Lagging behind, how­ ever, are law and government which continue to support and promote sepa­ ration am ong people, often serving the interests o f one faction at the expense o f another. The failure o f those who design and implement our laws to recognize our source in wholeness becomes increas­ ingly apparent as science surges for­ ward and the hoi istic movement grows. If transition to the new order is to be achieved in orderly fashion, it is im ­ perative that the profound implica­ tions o f the wholeness revolution on relationships among individuals, fami­ lies, communities, nations, and the world as a whole be addressed by legal scholars and practitioners. It is herein that the design for new concepts o f justice will be found to serve the people o f a new millennium. Present scientific knowledge indi­ cates that beyond the physical phe­ nomena o f the universe exists an infi­ nite unified source o f existence, a wholeness more vast than the sum o f all the parts contained within it. Physi­ cist Fred Alan W olf suggests that all external events are part o f one con­ sciousness. Moreover, a growing num­ ber o f scientists believe it is from this field o f unified consciousness that we create the physical world w e experi­ ence. In other words, w e create our reality and control our destiny by our intent! W olf writes: If you have fearful images, they tend to com e into reality; whatever you can imagine begins to appear as if w e called it into experience.. The Universe says w hatever you create as imagery, so will it be. Why? Because at the core o f the universe, at its most fundamental level, it is not solid stuff. It is not hard reality. It is capable o f forming reality into what­ ever our images produce. All political and social systems are produced this way. They are all magni­ fications o f this basic misunderstand­ ing o f the nature o f this hidden aspect o f reality. If people could compre­ hend the imaginal element in all mat­ ter, then what they envision would eventually com e to pass. . . It may or may not com e to pass at this instant, but it begins to manifest at the level o f dreams. Modem medicine has come to ac­ cept this power o f the mind in altering physical states, after many experi­ ments have proven it to be so. Imagine the power o f the collective conscious­ ness if w e could intentionally share thoughts o f peace and joy and design public policies based on wholeness! We are all literally part o f one great body, like a quantum soup, with no empty space between the bits o f mat­ ter as had always been believed - at least in the W estern World. More­ over, our existence on the physical plane mirrors our existence on the nonphysical plane. As above, so be­ low is now scientific, as well as reli­ gious, doctrine. This new view places the age old theme, “all men are created equal,” in a new light. Equality does exist on the non-physical plane, although it can never exist, literally, on the physical plane. But when all is said and done, the new physics indicates the non­ physical plane is where reality actu­ ally is. Imagine a world in which those in government protect the dignity and equality o f the soul o f every citizen! Isn’t that, after all, what our laws and public policy should do? The truth o f this is found in the fact that the power o f a people lies not in its physical might or the bombs con­ tained in its arsenal, but rather springs from the spirit. A nation is a gathering o f individual souls that, together, form the co llective consciousness o f a people. W hen unified in a collective intent, there is nothing that a people cannot do and no tyrant that can subju­ gate it, as evidenced by the fall o f the Berlin Wall. A nation can no longer be seen as separate, disconnected parts or as merely the product o f its laws and institutions. It must be seen as the unfolding o f every element o f the whole, the totality o f relationships, process, constant motion, attracting and repelling, transforming, accord­ ing to the consciousness o f its people. If this prem ise is accepted, is not every aspect o f the whole critical to what becomes manifest, and there­ fore every citizen warrants attention? This view mandates protection o f the dignity and rights o f all, just as King envisioned. With our new understanding o f our relationship to one another in the quan­ tum field, the Biblical teaching, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is more accurately stated as, “As you do unto others, you do unto yourself.” An attack on another is an attack onour self. Until every onewins, no one does. When we judge other guilty, at the most fundamental level, it is a judgm ent laid upon ourselves. H ow ca n se ek in g re trib u tio n through our criminal justice system be reasonable if we are all in the same quantum soup? When we “get tough on crime” by treating men and women behind bars as though they were no longer human, denying them exercise equipment, meaningful work, and most o f all, a journey to selfesteem, isn’t it machismo o f a passing era that spoils the quantum soup? Aren’t we com ­ pelled to focus on rehabilitation, now that we know we are literally all in this together? In tort law the end result is a money judgment that, in theory, is supposed to return the injured party to their former state something we all know it does not do. But if the end result that we sought was healing between the injured party and the wrongdoer, something that impacts the non-physi­ cal more than the physical, it is pos­ sible that both would end up more healed than they were before the in­ jury occurred, i.e. a win/win solution without attack or retaliation. Perhaps this is why win/lose is so unsatisfac­ tory and mediation often feels more congrutnt with our true nature. In mediation there is less attack, we come closer to a win/win situation, and sometimes a healing even occurs. In my novel. Destiny, I set out Seven Spiritual Principles for Gov­ erning a People that I believe are con­ sistent with this new understanding of wholeness. Through this, it is my dream to contribute to a collective conscious­ ness that manifests a new world order based not on fear, but on love. The new physics teaches us that our oneness in the quantum realm is actu­ ally our reality, not our physical state that gives rise to the illusion o f sepa­ ration. Alone we are all lowly, but together we shine with brightness so intense that none o f us alone can even think o f it. The law must come to shine in this brightness. Herein lies the civil rights movement o f the 21 * century. May leaders with the courage and vision of King step forward to lead us from the chaos o f separation to the truth o f our nation’s motto - E Pluribus Unum. The Many are One. IN THE SPIRIT OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. JOIN REPRESENTATIVE DEBORAH KAFOURY IN BUILDING TOMORROW'S LEADERS. " A n d so we shall have to do m ore than vote; we shall have to create leaders who embody virtues we can respect11 Phone: 503-281 -3960 e-mail - kafoury.rep@state.or.us THE SEVEN SPIRITUAL PRINCIPLES FOR GOVERNMENT By Sylvia Clute : : z . ---- • The Fist Principle, F E A R SH A L L N E V E R BE U S E D T O M A N IP U ­ L A T E T H E P E O P L E , addresses the destructive nature o f fear when used as the basis o f our public policies. Indeed, many political consultants advise can­ didates to play on the fears o f the voters to stir them from complacency. But this self-serving practice destroys the very system it seeks to control. Fear used as a political weapon produces hatred, greed and social decay. It di­ vides a People, one group against the other, instead o f promoting harmony andpeacewithinaNation. Itsm isuseby those who govern will destroy a Na­ tion, lead to war within, and eventually without. Its use to manipulate the very people who are to be governed is the greatest offense a leader o f people can commit - sedition o f the worst nature. The Second Principle, JU S T IC E S H A L L BE D E L IV E R E D W IT H ­ O U T JU D G M E N T , must be under­ stood in light o f the distinct difference between justice and vengeance. In our minds, the desire for vengeance is seen as good, because w e believe it is just. This mistaken belief then undergirds the legal system, for all laws are set up to protect the continuity o f the system in which the lawmakers believe. O ur focus has been the material world for so long that when hurtful acts are committed we focus on the body that carried out these acts. But it is the mind that tells the body what to do and the mind is guided by the beliefs the mind holds. Therefore, to change how one acts, w e must change the beliefs the mind holds, not punish the body that carried out the acts, as we have done for so long. There is only one way to change beliefs and that is by extending love, not by attacking. All beliefs are real to the believer, so in the moment the hurtful acts were committed, that per­ son believed what he or she did was justified. In their mind, what they did was just. If we were to see as God sees we would see that those who commit crime actually believe themselves to be so despicable they desire their own crucifixion? And that the State blindly participates in their plan! So in the end, it’s the crim inal's plan, not the State's, that is actually being achieved. Because o f our investment in fear, w e lack re­ sources to build school where children can be taught love. Is this a price we are willing to pay for vengeance? In the end, the one who judges cannot escape the penalty he imposes upon another. When one commits a wrong, it is a cry for love. You must see your fellow citizens in their perfect sinlessness and proceed from that point. Only then can justice be delivered without judg­ ment. The Third Principle, T H E EQUAL­ ITY O F E V E R Y C IT IZ E N SH A L L BE H O N O R E D , is an old theme, “all men are created equal,” seen in a new light. The crucifixion o f Christ teaches us much about this concept. Each o f us is equal in our power and freedom to elect what our intent shall be and to choose the outcome o f every experience. I believe that it is this equal­ ity that is referred to in the Declaration o f Independence. T h e F ou rth P rin c ip le , T H E P O W E R O F T H E PEO PLE SH A LL BE IN V IO L A T E , hinges upon the dis­ tinction between power and control. A leader who believes the power o f the People rests in the physical domain has an intense need to control all that sur­ rounds him. Hemanifestsfearby build­ ing armies to impose control over ev­ eryone he deems a threat including the People themselves. The whole Universe is available to us ifw e but recognize our power. To do us, however, w e must understand that this power exists only in the Oneness. If w e were in fact separate, such power could not be ours. The power o f the People is inviolate because in coming together, the whole is far greater than the sum o f all the parts. T h : Fifth Principle, C H A N G E O N L Y C O M E S FR O M W IT H IN , assures that each o f us does our pait in bringing the Nation to unity o f con­ sciousness so that peace and prosper­ ity may flourish in an atmosphere o f love. The way in which our Nation will change is through each o f us, changing from within.On this mission to heal our Nation, the first step in such “un­ learning” is to witness your choices. Before acting, you must ask if your choice is based on the perception o f separation. If you experience any fear, you will know that it is, for only your mind can produce fear. It does not arise from a threat outside o f yourself. The process o f correction is nothing more than the determination to change your mind. As the Fifth Spiritual Principle is learned by greater numbers o f citizens, change will occur within the Nation with increasing speed, until it appears effortless. The Sixth Principle, L O V E IS T H E O N LY S O U R C E O F P O W E R , is at the root o f this new way o f seeing. We can witness the power o f love and jus­ tice only if w e abandon the belief that any ofG od’s children merit vengeance. When we extend love, we are exercis­ ing our power to co-create with God, and that is our only assigned task. T h e S ev en th P rin c ip le , E PLU R IB U S UNUM - T H E MANY A R E O N E , is one nation’s motto, adopted at its founding over two hun­ dred years ago. Just as individuals have a spiritual presence, I believe Nations do as well. Wherever a collective con­ sciousness exists, it must have a pur­ pose. Before the American Revolu­ tion, some theorize that this laud was carrying out the purpose o f the British Colonies, i.e., uniting peoples o f the world by developing a common lan­ guage, uniform laws, and even similar religious traditions. But the American Revolution marked the end o f that ep­ och. From that moment o f its founding, the United States o f America was meant to foster a major step in human evolu­ tion. All citizens are equally endowed with the right to life, joyous and com­ plete in every way; to forgiveness and recognition o f their total innocence; to perfect peace; and to love. This is the only justice Heaven knows. The laws and governments o f Nations must be employed to facilitate the realization o f such justice. We know that spiritual symbols were made an integral part of the very structure o f government by our Founding Fathers, many o f whom w ere Freem asons. T hey follow ed closely the precepts used by the Medi­ eval stone masons in building their majestic cathedrals - physical meta­ phors o f the spiritual realm. The three branches o f government, the execu­ tive, legislative and judicial, for ex­ ample, reflect the “Rule o f Three.” an important element in construction, be it on th e sp iritu a l p la n e o r the physical Just as the mind mast be trained to use the body only to communicate love, so it is with Nations, as well. The labor o f our people, our natural re­ sources, the material wealth o f our Nation must be used only to communi­ cate love. It is in so doing that such a destiny for our Nation can be achieved May these Seven Spiritual Principles for Government guide us in just such a journey. Neil Kelly Company Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “Everybody can be great., because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart fu ll o f grace, a soul generated by love. ” Martin Luther King, Jr. Neil Kelly Company 288-7461 www.neilkelly.com O re g o n I f o \ o If DI \ I lO l'M I \ | Helps Oregon businesses create economic opportunities by focusing on ... DI I’ \R I Ml \ I Business development efforts at the local level Business finance and business retention services The Oregon Emerging Business Initiative, which helps growing companies become competitive Support for the Small Business Coalition Outreach to minority- and women-owned businesses Facilitation o f workforce training programs in company, industry and education settings Improved competitiveness o f Oregon companies through industry development grants For more information, contact 1 -800-233-3306, or write to Oregon Economic Development Department 775 Summer Street N.E. Salem, Oregon 97310 Fax: 503-581-5115 Web Address: http://www.econ.state.or.us