Planetary Birth

Image of the Week
Image of the Week
UN PARTO PLANETARIO

Si tomamos lo que está pasando al planeta como si del parto de una nueva humanidad se tratara, no es que estemos muriendo; más bien nos encontramos en un estado que, aunque natural, comporta peligros. Acabamos de nacer y todavía no hemos abierto los ojos. Sin embargo ya somos conscientes de que si no cambiamos nuestra manera de actuar, si no ponemos freno al crecimiento demográfico desenfrenado ni acabamos con la contaminación y la guerra, terminaremos autodestruyéndonos. Es evidente que estamos llegando al tope en ese nivel de consciencia y desarrollo que habíamos alcanzado en el vientre de la madre Tierra. Es evidente que nos estamos quedando sin energías fósiles. De forma espontánea estamos empezando a poner límites a nuestro crecimiento demográfico. También estamos intentando coordinarnos a nivel mundial para gestionar una ecología que resulte sostenible; para que todos los miembros de este cuerpo planetario reciban el alimento que necesitan; para gestionar con mayor eficiencia los residuos que generamos; para impedir que más especies se extingan, etc.

Estos llamados “problemas” no indican que algo vaya mal, como tampoco lo indica el crecimiento que experimenta un bebé dentro del vientre de su madre durante el último mes de embarazo. El dolor mismo que ese estado ocasiona resulta vital para que el alumbramiento se dé. Sin la presión de este dolor, jamás pasaríamos a desarrollar todo nuestro potencial. Las crisis que experimentamos son las que nos hacen evolucionar. Son indicadores de avance en nuestro camino evolutivo. Nos fuerzan, bien a que evolucionemos de manera consciente, o a que involucionemos y nos autodestruyamos. Hay una gran diferencia dependiendo del código memético que elijamos utilizar para evaluar nuestra condición actual.

La metáfora de un parto aporta bastante luz.

Si cuando a un bebé le ha llegado la hora de nacer pero permanece en el vientre de su madre, morirá. Ese vientre habrá sobrepasado su capacidad para albergarlo. … Si la madre no supiera que se trata de un alumbramiento, pensaría que se está muriendo, y su reacción al ver a su recién nacido sería ¡de horror! Sin embargo, dado que ella sabe que está pariendo, entiende lo que significa el dolor y está programada hormonalmente para amar a aquel bebé desconocido. Sus pechos se llenan de leche y ella, de manera espontánea, experimentará un amor incondicional por la criatura. No porque cuando crezca se vaya a convertir en abogado o en médico, sino porque está VIVO, y ese es su VALOR.

Sin embargo, ya que nunca hemos sido testigos de las “crisis” en el proceso de parto de otro planeta, mucha gente cree que vamos camino de la extinción, o que somos sus causantes y un fracaso como especie. Cuando seamos capaces de ver nuestro potencial para la vida, no nos volveremos a equivocar. Pero necesitamos adoptar un nuevo código memético que nos sirva de guía, pues de otro modo, como afirmaba Teilhard de Chardin, podemos sentirnos decepcionados por nuestra especie y perder el interés por nuestro porvenir.

Si de manera conjunta somos capaces de abrir nuestra mirada, descubriremos que ya poseemos la capacidad para resolver cualquier problema, así como de poner en marcha nuevas habilidades que antes escapaban a nuestra imaginación.

De hecho, ya estamos empezando a hacerlo.

Así que la humanidad se encuentra en una encrucijada. O bien podemos unirnos de manera consciente para funcionar en sintonía con la Tierra, o bien podemos seguir funcionando con nuestros patrones inconscientes de confrontación y consumo. Si de manera consciente y colectiva elegimos funcionar en sintonía, podremos avanzar por el “sendero fácil”, el cual representa un futuro positivo en el que la humanidad es consciente de su propósito y su poder, y hace una transición relativamente fluida hacia su nuevo estado evolutivo.


--Barbara Marx Hubbard
Seed Questions for Reflection

How do you relate to the author's use of the birth metaphor to describe the present human condition? The author implies the need to hold and nurture that which is being born, bearing all the pain that comes with such a holding, and at the right moment, let it separate naturally without holding on to it - how can we bring such an attitude to all that we are creating? Can you relate a personal experience where you felt that you were giving birth to something sacred?

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Add Your Reflection

10 Past Reflections
JO
Nov 11, 2012
 I hear you. 
GA
Nov 10, 2012
 oops..misunderstood the term "memetic code"....yesss...we definitely need to be revamped on our coding....:)  we are the ones in urgent need to be GMO-ed not the rest of the species....
CD
chris douglas
Nov 8, 2012
 The birth process is a very painful, yet also a very beautiful event, as is the process of dying. I say this from my own experience; from my experience of birth and dying as a spectator. Barbara's use of the metaphor is valuable because I an all of us need to be aware that we are not spectators.
TH
Nov 7, 2012
 Beautiful script! What date is the election for the members of Congress?
TH
Nov 6, 2012
I don't know about otherworldly explanations. It seems to me that what the author is trying to say is very much about holding the present global crisis in a helpful perspective. This is what is required by the circumstances; not denial, not explanations. The simile with birth is a valid one because birth is a critical moment and the beginning of a new growth. Most important, birth, and the growth that follows, is a natural, organic process. In Alan Watts words, one does'nt come into this world, one grows out of it. So that humanity is in that critical condition, at that turning point, about to give birth to a new process and grow out of its old paradigms ...or perish. The process of growing more conscious does'nt go without hurts, without pain. It does'nt happen without some pressure, be it the pressure of one's own discontent. It does'nt go without anxiety as one knows that one is going to face the unfamiliar, that the outcome is uncertain. ... View full comment
JP
Nov 6, 2012
 I am going through the pain for  more than a month since the day my wife passed away. It was a sixty plus years of loving and fulfilling relationship.  I need to feel the pain in order to heal myself and allow the birthing and emerging of my evolving self. The loving connectedness we have had between both of us is providing me the nurturing energy that I need to continue living fully. This openness and not holding onto the past that is no more in and with me is liberating and refreshing. I see the parallel between the  individual death-pain- birth and rebirth cycle and the collective death-birth-rebirth and evolutionary cycle.How do we remain connected with the past without being bound by it is a challenge.This thought provoking reading is  inspiring and enlightening for me. Gratefully, Jagdish P Dave
NA
Nov 5, 2012
 How do you relate to the author's use of the birth metaphor to describe the present human condition? Birth, life and death apply to all aspects of nature including cultures, planet and stars.  There is also potential for premature self-destruction of this earth by humans, like children playing with a gun - if our selfishness based limited intelligence does not evolve in to unselfish wisdom of peace and Natural harmony, before it is too late. The author implies the need to hold and nurture that which is being born, bearing all the pain that comes with such a holding, and at the right moment, let it separate naturally without holding on to it - how can we bring such an attitude to all that we are creating? The right moment for birth of wisdom may not happen naturally, in time.  The birth of ‘wisdom and tolerance’ may have to be self-induced. There are nuclear weapons with intolerant groups that can result in global catastrophe.  There is a need to kno... View full comment
AM
Nov 5, 2012
 Every time we love someone/something . . . every time we give someone/something a "second look". . .  every time we take the time to read something (and then reread "that something") to gain further understanding of someone/something . . . every time we give someone/something a second chance . . . recycle, re-purpose, re-shine, renew, rediscover, re-ANYTHING/ANYONE . . . we are working hand and hand with God in giving birth to something sacred!   This is why I love all things Heaven!  In it, in Him, we are born again and again and again in Spirit, Truth and Love.    (We are all "sacred works" in progress . . . no one greater, no one less than, we are ALL equal in value and gift!)  Thankful.   
DD
Nov 2, 2012
Birth typically is messy, scary, exciting, and painful.  After a long period of  pregnancy, an enormous, critically important, life changing event occurs in a very short period of time.  It's  primitive and intimate.  It's awesome.  It's a time when the process typically goes well, but sometimes not.  It's important to be patient, alert, responsive.  It's a time for helpers to stay out of the way and let nature take its course, and be ready to act quickly if intervention is needed, and do just what is needed, not more and not less.  The author's use of the birth metaphor to describe the human condition is appropro.  The critical issue is what sort of birth will happen.  On the one hand, given what mother earth has eaten and suffered, the baby could be a sick fetal pollution syndrome baby, and could die or have all sorts of health problems.  On the other hand, human life is very resilient and the baby ma... View full comment
CP
Nov 2, 2012

 I do not experience it at the feeling level but I think I am born and I die each moment.  When we notice our present experience, we become more conscious.  When one is open one has a greater chance of noticing one's present experience.  The poet John Keats said we are open when we make up our mind about nothing. A personal experience where I felt I was giving birth to something sacred occurred the first time I sat to meditate.  Tears came to my eyes. I have since learned that everything I do, all of life, can be a meditation.