Two weeks ago I attended the annual Pachamama Alliance (http://www.pachamama.org) luncheon fundraiser. Lynn Twist, (author of Soul of Money,) a co-founder of the organization and fundraiser extraordinaire, presided over the event and did a wonderful job of luring people to invest in the enormously important work of this organization. There were about 1200 people there – literally the who’s who of sustainability and solutioneering in the Bay Area and beyond.
The Pachamama Alliance is led by Executive Director David Tucker whom I had the pleasure to meet a couple of months ago at a meeting hosted by the Institute for Noetic Sciences (IONS http://www.noetic.org). IONS is catalyzing an alliance among some organizations that share a common purpose of advancing a wisdom civilization. Collaborating in this meeting space was my first opportunity to really learn about the work of the Pachamama Alliance and going to the luncheon was really a confirmation of the amazing impact their work is having on the world.
There is a myth of the reuniting of the Condor – the bird of the people of the south and the Eagle – the bird of the people of the North. Where the eagle represents the mind, the condor represents the heart. The coming together of these two worlds represents the opportunity to rekindle a fresh dream for humanity that blends the indigenous and modern worldviews. This vision holds the collective vision for the Pachamama Alliance, which is connecting the indigenous people of the South American rainforest to the modern people of North America. To fulfill their purpose, Pachamama Alliance seeks to create transformative experiences for people living modern lives so that they can connect more deeply to the people and natural world of the rainforests. Even though we seem distanced by geography, we are in fact intimately connected – so Pachamama invites us to sense our soul connection by Awakening the Dreamer. This is the title of an innovative program that they run that creates a 1 day experience for people living in the modern world to grasp global events and indigenous epistemology in such a way that they become open to the new possibilities of humanity.
I love how the indigenous technology for living – for connecting to the spirit worlds, to nature and to community is being brought to the West through this organization. It reminds me of the famous insight Einstein had that problems cannot be solved with the same thinking that created them. Pachamama Alliance is really getting at this leverage point for change by systematically changing the way people are thinking and helping individuals open their hearts and surrender more deeply to the possibilities of connectedness, which lies at the very core of the opportunity for bringing systemic change that not only heals the enormous ecological crises but creates the conditions for supporting authentic expression of all human beings.
