In November, during the time of the UN Climate Summit in Glasgow, GPIW and ITRI hosted a conversation with Charles Eisenstein, facilitated by Vibhuti Aggarwal and myself, Shashank Kalra of the India Youth Alliance. We were joined by 90 other co-travelers engaging in the inquiry of ‘Right Livelihood’. As a world we find ourselves in converging crises - where our existence as a species is in question. The industrial age gave us immense wherewithal to conquer and dominate nature and each other; we called it progress and development. We have reached a place where we are living alienated lives - disconnected from ourselves, others, and the natural world.
In this context, the search for right livelihoods that enables the young generation to regenerate human systems - to bring harmony within self, each other, and nature - is critical. There are no easy answers, in view of the increasing complexity and the system of exploitation that has penetrated deep into our psyche.
As we began the conversation, I expected to learn ‘what is right to do - to create a regenerative economy’ and therefore ‘what isn’t right’. The work of healing ourselves from the trauma, healing natural systems, healing social community and so on - I thought would be included in the ‘right’. And destructive and extractive industries like mining would be called wrong. However, Charles invited us into a different place.
He invited us to engage with the question of right livelihood from a different place - which is beyond right and wrong, because that creates polarization, where the right needs to dominate and defeat the wrong. This mentality of war, Charles shares, is part of the problem. He invited us to step out of the story of separation into the story of interbeing - based on the truth of the interconnectedness of all life.
We unpacked a bit further, where does our need to be right come from? Why does each one of us long to be on the side of right? It is our need for belongingness and acceptance? It is also a fear of not fitting in or else the mob might attack us? Imagine each person, no matter what the context is, trying to do what is right as per her/his point of view. This desire to adopt the acceptable position, Charles shared, is exploited by the authority in the form of obedience. One can see a similar tendency in schools, workplaces, families etc.
How do you honor the need for acceptance and belonging and yet not fall prey to obedience or fear of non-conforming? Charles invited us to tap into that sacred inner space to find alignment towards the work we need to do. In that process the question, ‘‘What should I do?" transforms into ‘What is mine to do this moment, this day, this year?’ For that we would need to trust ourselves, trust our body - the most amazing navigational system we have. And from that space - respond to the question, ‘What is mine to do?’ The invitation really is to connect to your true self – to know you are actually a divine being. Complete. Purna. “You are life, as sacred as any other life. Life strives to contribute to more life. In an ecosystem every life contributes to the whole,” Charles said.
But there is a trap - yes, the trap of money. How does one engage with the question of money? Money today is so deeply intertwined with the question of livelihoods. What you do almost translates to ‘how do you earn’. And money is tied to extraction and exploitation of the Earth and the people. It is also important to acknowledge that the legacy economy is in conflict with the emerging consciousness of human beings, an evolving consciousness that seeks harmony with oneself, each other and nature - and therefore Charles invited us to engage compassionately with ourselves in the questions relating to money. “Its not so much about source, but about purpose,” said Charles. “What do you want to create with this resource. See money as a tool.”
