[Sam Guarnaccia]

Intolerance: I share with Kyle the deep regret that there isn’t the ‘perfect’ word in perhaps any language, but ‘we sort of know what we are talking about’, and most agree that the narrow condition pointed to by the word ‘intolerance’, is largely the result of a stunted world-view. To his suggestions I would add the sense of ‘welcome’ and ‘invitation’, openness, expectation, wonder, excitement. We (Paula and I) don’t ‘work in the classroom’, unless you think of all the many contexts in which we mutually impact each other as a giant ‘classroom’ of sorts. And it is, in some ways.

I work primarily with music, first as an expression of the sublime beauty of the ‘Natural World’ (itself a term with huge dimensions of ‘interpretation’ and understanding) and of our ‘interiority’, our integral perception of being alive. But because of the elaborate poetic narrative of the Emergent Universe Oratorio (http://samguarnaccia.com/about-emergent-universe-oratorio/), the underlying ‘story’ enveloped in the music, both poetry and story intertwine with the music to ‘amplify’ and expand the experience of language (text). But so far beyond and deeper than the metaphorical symbolic use of words, is direct experience; and beyond that is an experience of experience itself, the enveloping oceanic becoming we feel when, as a child or adult we leave the book on the desk and wander into the sunlit garden and wonder at a butterfly alighting on a flower. Our first kiss, falling in love at age 15, looking up at the Milky Way in the desert, –fill in the blank–and listening to great music have the ability to completely bypass the analytical mind and release us to our deepest self. Only the ‘malignant narcissist’ is as nearly immune to this ‘flow consciousness’ as any living being can be.

The great axial shifts in collective cultural consciousness (world view) have always happened in the ecstatic embrace of either scientific ‘discovery’….or philosophical ‘breakthrough’….or some combination of forces that engage the profound emotional element of ‘understanding’, of self concept. Never have facts alone, not even alternative ones!, generated the great transformations of consciousness necessary for our survival, much less for the thriving of humanity in the whole Earth community. At its best, music presents our huge brains, that strive continually to make sense of a messy world, with the opportunity to go beyond surface detail and experience the enchantment of deep relations. And intentional, experienced listening (unfortunately a rarity), is an experience of cosmic participation in the indescribable diversity and beauty of the bewilderingly complex tapestry of life. And it is free!….as well as liberating.

Children of course, at least those who are not born into an immediate struggle for existence, have few if any barriers to complete ‘tolerance’ of diversity, and more than tolerance, are capable of CELEBRATION of those ‘distinctions’ that are barely noticed, but rather are elements of enrichment of experience, wonder, and the future capacity for disciplining the analytical, judgmental, limiting and controlling adult obsessions…..and the capacity for and openness to the Great Story of our Deep Time unity within the Universe.

[Sam Guarnaccia]

Dear Jennifer and all, Here is the draft, with some ‘suggested edits’ from Paula,  followed by some thoughts from me: all respectfully and lovingly submitted in the hope that some words or phrases might be helpful or useful.

 

Based on: DRAFT (9-18-15)   PRINCIPLES of DEEP TIME EDUCATION Deep Time Education connects us to our primal desire to answer fundamental questions: “Where did we come from?” “Where are we going?”  “What is our purpose?”    “How do we belong?”  It orients us to our largest context, a vast Evolving Universe; grounds us in our Matrix, the Earth Community; evokes a deep experiences of Awe and Wonder; provides a means framework for good decision-making (perhaps the word “framework” rather than “means” would be more accurate for process of discernment? E.g. Understanding our place in the Universe gives us a more accurate framework for discernment.) through Reflection and Discernment; guides us in our Actions; and cultivates Passion and a sense of Place and Purpose. DTE recognizes that the science-based grand narrative of the Universe, infused with the humanities, constitutes a Cosmology (Origin Story) for our time, fulfilling the function that creation stories have served for cultures in the past.   DTE recognizes the importance of deep time Understanding as the basis for Action.   A flourishing future for our planet will be more likely if our Action is informed by an understanding of our Context, Matrix, experiences of Awe and Wonder; and a Reflection and Discernment process.  DTE is not new.  It has been practiced for decades in many settings at different levels and by different names — Montessori Cosmic Education, Universe Story, Journey of the Universe, Environmental Evolution, Big History, Deep History and others.  Our goal on the DTJNetwork is to explore what is already being done in so many remarkable ways, connect different efforts in a continuum across all age levels, and to evolve a comprehensive approach. What follows are Principles, some or all of which, are shared by those engaged in this approach to education.  We welcome your thoughts about these Principles on the Forum topic: Principles of Deep Time Education.

1. CONTEXT Orienting to a Vast Evolving Universe

DTE orients us to a Vast Evolving Universe by: *Exploring cosmologies (creation stories) and their value to cultures; how cosmologies serve as a lens for viewing the world, filtering what we see and shaping our concepts of the Universe, Earth, human relationships, personal and cultural identities, and guide our behavior.    *Teaching a scientifically based grand narrative of the Universe by linking together physics, chemistry, geology, biology, anthropology and history. *Exploring artistic expressions of cosmology and their evocative power. *Understanding principles of “Emergence” and patterns of transformation that may serve as templates for understanding evolutionary processes transformation – is understanding “evolutionary processes” better than using the word transformation again? underway today. *Understanding the history of transformation of our Universe characterized by increasing Differentiation (Complexity), Interiority and Communion. Cite Thomas Berry  *Becoming present to the Universe as a single evolving entity that is “unfinished.”

2. MATRIX Grounding in the Earth Community.

DTE grounds us in the Earth Community by: * Situating the Earth Story inside the larger narrative of the Cosmos * Restoring a central value of nature for its own sake, and in sustaining humans and shaping cultures. * Weaving humans into the vibrant processes of Cosmos and Earth.  * Taking a systems approach to our interdependent Earth Community. * Understanding the need for balance and reciprocity, relational resonance, or mutually enhancing relationships (cite Thomas Berry) with others and the Earth as a whole.

3. AWE and WONDER Experiencing ourselves as part of the larger whole.

DTE recognizes that profound experiences of Awe and Wonder are primary to education leading to intense engagement, respect, humility, gratitude, love, sense of purpose, compassion, cooperation, and caring for the future.  Experiences of Awe and Wonder happen when we: *Realize our dependence upon a spectacular sequence of thresholds that preceded the evolution of humans, and our interdependence with the ongoing processes of Earth.   *Become present to the unfathomable mystery of existence. *Overcome feelings of separation, loss, and suffering, and know that we belong. *Know who we are, where we come from, and our purpose (or “ how we fit” Rather than “purpose” which is a more loaded word). *Experience the Universe/Earth as a communion of subjects, not a collection of objects cite Thomas Berry. * We make the connection between the creativity in the Universe and our own creativity.

4. REFLECTION and DISCERNMENT Integrating Understanding and Experience; and Making good choices.

Reflection and Discernment are processes in Deep Time Education for integrating Context, Matrix, and experiences of Awe and Wonder.  This integration can serve as a basis for intention setting and making good choices.  It’s based on an understanding that we can intentionally enter into—and help direct— “Emergence,” the creative process of the cosmos for bringing forth the new.  There’s an understanding that Emergence exists in the Universe as a whole and humans are part of a larger creative process.  *Reflection is a process of integrating different ways of knowing derived from understanding Context and Matrix, and experiences of Awe and Wonder. *Discernment is a process developed in contemplative traditions and cultivated in Mindfulness for being fully present to what is “trying to emerge” right now.  It involves deep listening to the heart and asking questions such as “What’s dying away?”  “What’s trying to be born?”  A heart-based practice is different than the practice of Mindfulness. For a practice of connecting to the heart the work of the Institute of HeartMath on heart/brain coherence should be included. (www.heartmath.com)   *Discernment can also be an intellectually rigorous process used for assessing different options with regard to: (1) their alignment with “Emergence” and the three governing themes of differentiation, interiority and communion; and (2) the scope of beneficial outcomes (individual, family, community, bio-region, planetary).   * Discernment can be used at individual and collective levels, and is now being used more widely in global networks for collective intention setting thus creating fields of connectivity.  There’s an understanding in DTE that human organization and collective intention itself is evolving and will influence our future. 

5. ACTION and EVALUATION Participating in Evolution

DTE recognizes that an understanding of Context, Matrix, experiences of Awe and Wonder, and a process of Reflection and Discernment can lead to beneficial Action. *There’s an understanding that a flourishing future depends on our cosmology—our understanding of our origin, and right relationship with Earth/Cosmos and each other. *Action in “alignment with the grain of cosmic evolution” furthering the three governing themes of the universe — increasing differentiation (complexity), interiority and communion — will generally lead to better outcomes.   *The Earth Charter principles are consistent with Deep Time Education goals for Action: 1) Respect and Care for the Community of Life, 2) Ecological Integrity, 3) Social and Economic Justice, 4) Democracy, Nonviolence, and Peace.  * Evaluation has to do with ongoing assessment of Action in the light of Context, Matrix, Experience, Reflection and Discernment. 

6. PASSION, PLACE, and PURPOSE Transforming into our deeper identities inside an Evolving Cosmos.

DTE recognizes that Passion and yearnings for a sense of Place and Purpose are core human desires and have a place in education. Orienting to an Evolving Universe, grounding in the Earth Community, experiencing Awe and Wonder; and Reflection and Discernment powerfully and naturally lead to Passion for life and an understanding of Place and Purpose. These are core human needs: belonging, significance, to be understood, to be heard.  DTE should help to meet those core needs. *We transform our small selves into our greater Selves as part of the flow of cosmic evolution, Earth’s ecosystems, and human societies. * We experience Passion as a zest for life that motivates, sustains and guides us. *We understand chaos and destruction inside the larger context of transformation.  Individuals and communities can live more easily with uncertainty and pain. *We see humans not as accidental beings in a vast alien universe but as part of a 14 billion year process of Emergence; we see that we are embedded in, and draw nurturance from, the Cosmos and Earth communities. *DTE recognizes that Passion and a sense of Place and Purpose flowing out of Context, Matrix, and experiences of Awe and Wonder, can have profound therapeutic affects. *The Universe/Nature/Humans/Ourselves become inherently valuable. We feel an innate and inescapable responsibility to make something valuable of our lives.

7. FRAMEWORK and CONTINUUM Structuring Deep Time Education.

Deep Time Education works as a continuum across all levels, tied to planes of development over our lifetimes.  It flows from level to level like a spiral moving toward higher levels of Understanding, Experience and Action.  It’s a model for lifelong education. DTE is a trans-disciplinary and interdisciplinary approach that passes from whole to detail, relating all subjects to the larger context of an Evolving Universe and to each other.  Narratives of the largest context, the Universe, are followed by successively nested narratives.  DTE is intergenerational in that each generation inherits a shared cosmology from the previous generation, incorporates new discoveries, and shares it with the next generation.  DTE understands that education happens in all parts of life—family, school, work and recreation. More Coming with your input . . .

 

  Sam Guarnaccia -Notes: Education–from the Latin educere, meaning “to draw or lead out”… is NOT the accumulation of information, though flow of quality ‘information’ is necessary for living systems……but should be understood as a transformative process that enables us (children and adults) to be attuned and aligned with our local ecosystems and the wider cosmic story. This makes possible creative  and affirming interaction with the entire Earth community.

 

Shift from ‘knowledge as power’ to ‘knowledge as love’. True knowledge as ‘wisdom’, is not taught, but ‘caught’!….and absorbed into our being. Children ‘naturally’ have this ‘animistic quality’ or ‘ecological ego’ of holistic being, a form of consciousness which needs e-ducation to persist into puberty, adolescence, and adulthood.

 

Mimetic learning, a cognition integrated with the whole body, is based on “participatory consciousness” rather than having a ‘detached mind’, a purely analytical tool. Learning with the hands, crafts, music, theatre….produces emotional identification with others and the world. We become the other.

 

Exploring new ways of learning, including ‘intuition’, a holistic form of cognition that is different from ‘discursive/analytical/reductionist’ thinking. It is NOT irrational, but a direct learning of what is implicit. Most of what we perceive never becomes fully conscious, and ‘intuition’ embraces these diffuse perceptions and helps us integrate them……a process similar to ‘emergence’.

 

Thomas Berry’s sketches of the backbone of a ‘new curriculum’ for the university, give a phenomenal format for understanding the categories of ‘education’ that must form a true COSMIC orientation/education. The ART/Music department: include the beauty and celebration of the natural world. Economics: Concept of the ‘Earth Deficit’…..See Chap.6  , Animal, Vegetable, Miracle– Barbara Kingsolver, superb American writer. This chapter could form a gorgeous pathway for young children into economics, if appropriately sampled.

Law: Protection of ‘Earth rights’, Water rights, etc. The LAW is not just a subject for adults, but is the way we have codified our relationships from the beginning. It is a living and beautiful thing…..and should be introduced from the beginning as ‘the way things work’.

Psychology: Dreams……and Religion: Cosmologies The Sciences: co-operation in evolution; symbiosis; ‘communion’ (Thomas Berry).

Philosophy: Aesthetics: All these great ‘domains’ of ‘knowledge’ can and need to be translated for the various learning gradients of younger to adolescent children, and for a truly Cosmic higher educational experience.

 

Finally: the Media needs to operate like a living system. The lies, disinformation and misinformation that form so much of the flow of ‘information’ in the public and social media sphere, in a ‘living system’ are called……POISON. All ages can and should learn from the beginning, how everything from atoms and galaxies, to people and cultures, develop and share data and relationship.  

[Sam Guarnaccia]

What a wonderful conversation!
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In the Universe Story, Thomas Berry and Brian Swimme say “Education might well be defined as knowing the story of the universe, of the planet Earth, of life systems, and of consciousness, all as a single story, and recognizing the human role in the story.” When I read Maria Montessori’s summary of the Planes of Development, three remarkable connections arose in my mind.
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The extraordinary theory of human development known as Spiral Dynamics, the work of Clare W. Graves and later, of Don Beck and Christopher Cowan, as a grand context in which to understand early, middle, and adolescent educational dynamics; Ken Wilber’s Integral work in the All Quadrant/All Level approach to understanding human development; and the phenomenal global treaty that articulates the ‘highest tier’, most developed, mature, and universal ‘constitution’ for human-Earth relations, the Earth Charter.
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Betsy Coe’s mention that Montessori is a ‘spiral curriculum’, is a good segue into Spiral Dynamics. Briefly, Graves definition of his ‘point of view’ is that what is called now Spiral Dynamics is: ‘The Emergent, Cyclical, Double-Helix Model of Adult Biophychosocial Systems Development.’ The fact that it is ‘adult’, is that all the data, and there is an enormous amount, is from adult studies. Nevertheless, the system of understanding is critical to having an adult population and ‘higher educational processes’ prepared to support and further the advances of successful ‘planes of development’ education.
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A few notes on Spiral Dynamics: The spiral of development proceeds by differentiation and integration… Memes:”a basic stage of development that can be expressed in any activity”…. not types OF people, but types IN people…..
Six-First tier stages: Beige—Archaic-instinctual; Purple—Magical-Animistic; Red—Power, Ego; Blue—Mythic Order (one right way, fundamentalism); Orange—Scientific achievement; Green—The sensitive self, pluralistic relativism.
Second Tier: Yellow—integrative; Turquoise—Holistic.
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The Prime Directive ‘The health of the entire spiral’ each MEME…‘each level of consciousness and wave of existence—is, in its healthy form, an absolutely necessary and desirable element of the overall spiral, of the overall spectrum of consciousness.’
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I would argue that the importance of the ‘consciousness’, and ‘spiritual preparation’ of the teacher, extends to the larger collectives of local…and global culture, and the ‘responsibility’ to recognize and support the healthy expressions of persons at all levels on the spiral.
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Some notes on Ken Wilber in A Theory of Everything: he discusses: ‘The Waves of Existence’ A cross cultural mapping of all the states, structures, memes, types, levels, stages, and waves of human consciousness…..Development as declining egocentrism From egocentric….to ethnocentric…..to worldcentric.
A ‘full-spectrum approach to understanding development Through waves of development, flow many different lines or streams of development.
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Movement through each wave is—transcend and include.
All Quadrant/All Level: Points of view—Modes of understanding—Perspectives. We look at the interior of the individual (UL-upper left); the exterior of the individual-(UR-upper right); interior collective (LL-lower left); and exterior collective (LR-lower right).
“reality is composed of neither wholes nor parts, but whole/parts, or holons.”
Second tier thinking: “HolonEverything flows with everything else in living systems; second tier stitches together particles, people, functions and nodes into networks and stratified levels (nested hierarchies and holarchies)….”….”that flow in a big picture of cosmic order.”
These integral and comprehensive perspectives all help us to ‘reinvent humanity at the species level’ (Thomas Berry), and to prepare us to receive and multiply the benefits of Cosmic Education in young people.
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The Earth Charter—a treaty of AQAL, level 8 (turquoise) understanding of substance and function. See: http://www.earthcharterinaction.org/content/
All the principles of the Earth Charter flow from the ‘highest’ levels of the ‘spiral’, of consciousness and responsibility. Using and teaching the Earth Charter principles and language, especially in Plane 3, is powerful.

[Sam Guarnaccia]

Dear Johnathan,
I just left a brief response on your ‘Draft’ page. I am going to forward Jennifer’s email to a dear friend in California, formerly the head of Early Childhood Education in CA, and a remarkable educator and human being. She will give us some wonderful feedback, and I will be happy to put you in direct touch, if you would like.
All best,
Sam

[Sam Guarnaccia]

Dear Rich, Cynthia, Orla, Jennifer, and Lawrence (ALL seems contrary to the essence of my brief offering to this wonderful dialogue!),
There is so much here, that brevity and simplicity seem the best strategy. Two things arise for me (among others):1. Fritjof Capra, in speaking of living systems (which CANNOT be understood by ‘analysis’ (taking them apart), talks about membranes, that they are ‘boundaries of identity, NOT separation’. This wonderful distinction is immensely helpful in a multitude of ways. Let it sink in as a paradigm for what some call ‘Natural Design’, the way life really ‘works’, by making possible RELATIONSHIP within an irreducible and inseparable unity. It is so beautiful!! What can I say?…..I tend to think musically, and this great mystery is what makes it all so gorgeous. So, the ‘problem’ of how we understand the ‘boundaries of identity’ in academia/education/culture, etc., can be elevated to an advantage. But then there is this: 2. Courage. It takes courage to break out when trapped (and we all are) within a limited system of understanding. It is easy for me to be courageous since my ‘future’ doesn’t depend as yours may, on writing a PhD thesis, and relatively easy for me to say that the expectations of ‘rigor’ from a ‘failed’ system should be dismissed in favor of courageously proposing a different kind of ‘rigor’, one based on the way the universe REALLY works. Your work is admirable, and the time is coming when exploratory creativity and emergent phenomena will revolutionize institutional learning. It is exciting!

[Sam Guarnaccia]

PS-Here is a link to the story and resources of the Celtic Mass for Peace:http://samguarnaccia.com/celticmassforpeace/about.php

[Sam Guarnaccia]

How beautiful to enter again briefly into this wonderful conversation! Thank you, ALL, for its richness.
We have just returned from a magnificent two days of reunion with John Philip Newell, in Charlotte, NC, where we celebrated together a ‘ritual’ of what is for us, a glorious collaboration. A few years ago we found each other and created A Celtic Mass for Peace. The Celtic stream of ‘spirituality’ is, as many know, phenomenally inclusive, Earth and Creation based, ecstatically connected to the inner wisdom traditions and embraced Christianity in Cosmic awareness. On Saturday evening at dinner, John Philip, Paula, myself, and Chip Edens, the unbelievably brilliant Episcopal Rector of this very large congregation, conversed deeply about…..everything. The next day, in the celebration of the Celtic Mass and following conversation with John Philip, both spectacular visual images of the Cosmos, the great standing stones and crosses in the open landscapes, and frequent references to deep time, the ‘Great Flaring Forth’, and other references to our vast evolving Universe flowed freely. This ancient ritual of sharing bread and wine, under the infinite sky, with hearts, minds, and bodies broken open, for the over 800 people present, was the kind of ‘ritual’ that both celebrates and births new possibilities for emerging ‘symbiotic/synergistic unity’ (Cynthia Bourgeault)……or ‘The Creation of a Self-Creating World’.
And having just heard Matthew Fox say: (paraphrase)……’our rituals must evoke BEAUTY, for if they do not, they will not serve us’…..reminds us that in every small daily practice, or in the great celebrations of ancient or emerging ‘traditions’, beauty can guide us as it does the surgeon, the mathematician, the artist.

[Sam Guarnaccia]

Thank you, Jennifer, for the evocative questions and reflection, and wonderful to have Richard and Linda’s wisdom! We resonate with everything said so far, and since we have no cable or TV service, watched on a streamed FOX app, and for the first time in a long time, were drowning in commercials. Along with the exotic ultra high tech production, at first felt somewhat ‘over-stimulated’, but as with others, got used to it. (Having said this…..I LOVE to be overstimulated, but like to choose the occasion). Because this is so critically important, it worried me that the profound insights of the Journey might be lost in the ‘super production’, in the ‘similarity’ to ‘all the other’ spectacles that have become common media fare (‘Avatar’ to phenomenal NG productions….). As a final ‘reservation’, I could have done without the invocation (in the introduction) of the HERO, especially of the scientist as American hero. OK, it is no accident that FOX got this magnificent vehicle for its agenda, or that the sponsor for Rachel Maddow’s show is an OIL company.

It is beautiful, profoundly important and effective in all the stated ways, though the hero vs. villain presentation, especially for young minds, perpetuates a ‘bumper-sticker’ history, the story of Separation, in a show designed to open the heart-mind to a NEW STORY. I would definitely use it in the classroom; any level, and it is fabulous that it is emerging now. I love Neil deGrasse Tyson’s exuberant and brilliant being, and am honored to know someone whose books and work he endorsed!
Thank you, Richard, for sharing your wonderful experience at the American Museum of Natural History. Can’t wait until the next one!

[Sam Guarnaccia]

Thank you, Jennifer for the topic, and Orla for your phenomenal comments! There is so much to say, but the first thought is of Thomas Berry’s saying that ‘we need a COSMIC LITURGY’, or as he said in Dream of the Earth (p. 215), “that we renew our human participation in the grand liturgy of the universe.” Liturgy and ‘ritual’ are not necessarily synonymous, but there is a resonance here. And resonance is an apt and pregnant word since music is so often a part of both. My ‘A Celtic Mass for Peace’ (http://samguarnaccia.com/celticmassforpeace/about.php) for instance, as an expression from the Celtic stream of ‘Christianity’, is often used in ‘liturgical’ settings, and is full of ‘ritual’ expressions arising form centuries of Celtic cosmology. But it is the MUSIC that helps create the space for the NEW awareness to emerge from the old forms.
From Berry’s ecstatic essay: ‘The Epic of Evolution’…..”This joyful fulfillment found expression in poetry and music and song and dance, a fulfillment that continues to find expression in our children running through the meadows……such is the beginning of education….of acquaintance with the universe……Ultimately it is the awakening of the universe to itself. This is the beginning of poetry and music and literature. It is the beginning of cosmology…”.
If all of our rituals, our Library, would pass this test…..that they would awaken us with “exuberant delight and unending gratitude”…..for “a universe where every mode of being is lived by a shared existence with all other modes of being….in the great community of life”, that would be a worthy standard.
One of the gifts of the Arts (particularly music) to science, the phenomenon of (at least partially) bypassing the rational mind, allows even us adults to ‘experience’ the Mystery with uncontrolled passion. When I practice the classical guitar, or sit at the piano to write, there is a great deal of ‘hard science’ going on, but within a set of rituals that create space for what Scott Peck once called…..’GLORY’. A mind set free. ‘Things’ happen……there is EMERGENCE….the appearance of unpredictable, surprising phenomena and understanding. Within the structure of ritual, there is the possibility of immense freedom.
Our project, the Emergent Universe Oratorio, a celebratory expression of the Universe Story, flows from these understandings.

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