This Sunday, June 27th, we will host a live video web chat with Brian Keane, Director of Land is Life. A man who has dedicated 20 years trying to get us to listen to the elders, to the people who have a proper relationship with the earth, with the sky, with the air and with the water. These people can help us now with this crisis in the Gulf, and they could have helped us long before....

Our response to the Gulf oil spill disaster has not been deep or complete. It has been from a place of policy and economics. We have sprung into action and forgotten to deal with the symbolic, spiritual and emotional nature of this crisis. I have seen no mainstream press organizations, the companies that caused the situation or the government communicating what it means to take FULL responsiblty for causing all this suffering.

It is easy to blame, but what is my role? Since we are not separate, I need to take responsibility for causing all this suffering. I have not spoken out enough, I have not listened properly, I have not respected our Mother, I have used resources mindlessly and I have forgotten to be thankful. But MOST importantly, I have been afraid to use my power to protect.

This crisis in the Gulf is a wake up call to me. It has awoken the "No" inside me. It has gotten me to a place where I will not rely on others to do the right thing in my home, my neighborhood, my community, my city, my country and my earth Mother. I will stick my nose in it and maybe make people angry or uncomfortable, but if I do not do this, then who?

There have been some people and organizations I think have responded fully and I thank them for it, like James O'Dea and Spirituality & Practice. They have expressed a full and appropriate response -- grief, sorrow and asking for forgiveness. Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee also is right to remind us of the importance of the symbolism of this experience.

On Sunday I plan to ask Brian how the indigenous people are responding to the Gulf oil spill. Then I am going to listen. I am going to listen with my heart and allow myself to feel the pain of my own and our collective forgetfulness. I am sorry it has taken us so long to get here. What I mean to say...is I am sorry it has taken me so long to get here.

How does technology and the Internet express Oneness? I was watching clips from the upcoming ONENESS: The Big Picture (premiering on May 9th) and Deepak said "The Internet is the emergence of something so powerful but we have not realized it's impact."

This feels very true and I think the proper respect is due. If I write an email or a blog from my heart, it seems to have much more of an impact...people respond in kind. It is like the actual energy of my intention comes through my writing, or more like it, this web of light that connects us. This is Oneness, is it not?

I recently went to a conference called Wisdom 2.0 Summit where they were exploring how we use technology to connect in ways that are beneficial to our well-being and useful to the world. I have to say that having lived and worked in both fields -- technology and spirituality (is this a field?...not sure what to call it, but I do work here...) I was prepared not to be impressed with the level of consciousness there, but I am happy to report that I was wrong. There are people at Google, Twitter, Facebook, Mashable and Zappos that seem to have a deep connection to their responsibility to the whole. I almost cried I was so relieved. I mean if you look at the Huffington Post, they have added a religion section and are dedicating themselves to supplying the world with great wisdom teachers and this is a mainstream political publication!  They recently posted a story called "The Internet as a Living Symbol of Global Oneness" by Sufi teacher Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee. In this article he said, "I believe that the Internet is a gift we have been given. It provides an image of how the energy of life can flow freely in a way that defies the barriers of nationality and geography. Yet sadly because we are so immersed in the surface activity of this technology, in its tools of commerce and communication, we do not realize its deeper, symbolic dimension. A symbol is a connection to the sacred ground of our being which alone gives real meaning to our daily life."

I would love to hear Deepak comment on this.... I would love to hear how he honors this connectedness in his communications with life and community. I hope to ask this question on Mother's Day, May 9th when we host a live chat with him. I am certain mothers care about this issue because it is part of a larger issue. How do we live a life that honors life....

For all of you who have seen the Global Spirit program "From the Heart of the World," you might find interesting this recent update from the director, Alan Ereira:

"I thought you might like to know that have just returned from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, where I was suddenly summoned at the end of April.  I was called to attend a large gathering of Mamas at one of the highest sacred places - a place where I had never been, and where outsiders are not normally welcome.  There was a most remarkable speech, spoken by a very senior male Mama and echoed almost simuItaneously by four female Mamas ("Sagas").  They were, in effect, the voice of the Mother behind his words.  I was allowed to film this on a mini-HD camera.
 
The speech was a statement of their present situation, which they regard as critical ("as serious as the Conquest itself").  They high sacred places are being fatally damaged by soldiers and guerillas, and as a result the life-essence of the planet is failing.  In order to make what is in effect a last-ditch effort to save themselves and the world, they are undertaking a fundamental re-organisation of their way of communicating with the outside world.  They believe that it is still possible to turn things around, and intend to do that over the next four years.
 
I was asked to give a full description of what has taken place with the film and my assessment of it.  I was then told that it is a high priority that I should make a new film with them, to bring Younger Brother to a fuller understanding of their own vision of reality.  They have been preparing for this work for some years, and have trained their own media unit(!) to work with me.
 
The plan they have been discussing is quite astonishing, and I am now waiting to hear exactly how they want to proceed."

If you'd like to respond to Alan's message, please leave a comment below!