last couple of strokes

When trying to catch a wave, one has to first spot it, start paddling, then take three big strokes to try to meet the speed of the wave, and then you are being lifted by the wave. Then the job is to try to pop onto the board and ride it to shore.

The wave, as far as I understanding, is a consequence to the financial shock that hit the banks and economic core sometime autumn 2008. One of the biggest waves is flooding through the markets now, with eg 800k+ people in the uk expected to be unemployed this jan/feb. So, the wave is definitely here. Perhaps it is already too late. Certainly, I think we are being lifted by the wave, and my guess is, we needed to catch it by the end of this month, which means initial engagement with the powers that be needed to be done this week.

Because it is so late in the day when I got involved, as it were, I have had to develop a methodology that is in alignment with buddhist fundamentals. That is, from deep stuff within the self, to mindfulness and listening to one another in meetings, to awareness of what is without having to write endless reports about it, and to create simple and light opportunities for us to self-organise and manifest social movement. Most people are still under the delusion that they must create the movement. The principle learned is that there is movement, and this is obvious to us. The trick is to respond to it appropriately, collectively. That is, not creating another group or network or flag or whatever. That is, not writing a constitution or any documentation. That is, be fresh, be light, and connect with those who are already aware of the situation, already got their solutions and aware of the problems they are trying to solve.

The offering is simple, to avoid the problems. To work out the solutions as they occur. After all, we have so many skills, even to the point we are overskilled. We are over-informed. We have over-theorised. The time is ripe for action. The time is now, to catch this wave, concurrently.

So, given that I am not to use the phone here in the office because it is mainly an internal line, I am encouraged to go and visit the buildings where the decisions makers work. Of course, this approach is doomed to failure. There is no way I can just walk in and end up speaking to a VIP. However, I shall make it clear that I do not have the resources to phone, and the whole writing-up is self-defeating, and so I am in the rather innocent position of walking into their offices and asking to speak... to the queen, as it were.

What is my best approach? I am a maths teacher. I have learned about self-organising systems. And I have a solution to the nightmare that is the effect of the credit-crunch. It is not just a solution, it actually turns this social wave from a recession or depression into a social boon. And the way of manifesting it is simple. The opportunity will pass tomorrow, so it is up to someone there to listen and pass it up through the system.

These are my last few strokes, and I need to put into practice with absolute self-discipline the principles of action. No writing, no group, no proof. Engage people honestly, aware of who they are and the constraints of their post in the institution they are in. Point at what is, offer threshold 1, offer challenge to achieve trust for threshold 2, and idealise threshold 3. Honour the executive power of each person. Keep light, since the opportunity is nothing to mourn, it is something to respond to, this wave, which will lead to so much suffering unless this wave is caught, and perhaps in this manner. It is, after all, merely an offering.