The Signs of the 'Upwising' Are Everywhere! People Are Waking Up, Left and Right

"We don't need a new third party in America. We need a new FIRST party." -- Swami Beyondananda

I have good news, and I have good news.

The good news is we don't need a revolution in this country. We already had one, thank you. Some 237 years ago, a group of courageous visionaries declared that every human has the same right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and deserves -- actually, requires -- a governance and government that will preserve, protect and promote truth, justice, liberty and equality.

The other good news is, people are waking up left and right, and wising up to the reality that government of, by, and for the people is missing a key ingredient -- the PEOPLE! More and more of us are seeing outside the matrix of politics as usual, and past the divide-and-conquer shell game ... thanks to yet another piece of good news.

And that is, all of the bad news we've be hearing about recently -- from NSA spying on citizens, to CIA agents embedded in the New York City police department, to "gold collar criminals" continuing to get away with looting the commonwealth -- is actually GOOD NEWS because it is awakening a long-slumbering body politic.

Now that the whistle-blowers have gotten things started, the corporate state and its media apparatus are doing an excellent job of exposing themselves. The "irony curtain" -- the invisible wall of impropaganda that separates we the people from the truth -- is showing serious frays, as more and more otherwise mainstream citizens are catching glimpses of the emperor's bare buttocks.

The signs of the "upwising" are everywhere, and I will offer two recent examples.

A few weeks ago, I read an article on the progressive blog Reader Supported News, written by progressive activist Carl Gibson, entitled "Time To Abolish Left vs. Right".

Fundamentally, he says, we have a deeply UNITED body politic: "Americans of all ideological leanings are united in the belief that our current government, as it stands, is completely out of touch and needs radical change from outside the political system to do it."

Meanwhile ... in a TV studio way, way across the political spectrum, Glenn Beck seems to have been struck by enlightening. A paralysis of the vocal cords left him temporarily speechless, and he took the opportunity to step up in an extraordinary way. Robbed of his voice, he had to speak with just his heart and a bunch of flash cards, and in doing so reached out to all Americans, offering the same unifying message -- and for the same reasons -- Carl Gibson was suggesting over on the other side. In the tradition of spiritual-political epiphanies like the ones Malcolm X and Lee Atwater experienced, Glenn Beck seems to have upshifted his karma from divider to uniter.

Watch the video here and decide for yourself.

May the Fourth Be With You!

Now you'll notice that this message comes not on July 4th, but after. That's intentional. The founders of our country gave us July 4th, and after that ... it's up to us. It's up to us to leave the obsolete and stagnant positions of left and right and come front and center, and gather around the virtues and values that the vast majority of all of us hold in common -- and then together, find a new way.

As Swami says, "It's time for the red tribe and the blue tribe to sit together in sacred circle and talk until they are purple in the face. And then standing as One Purple People, the peeps will outnumber the perps."

To understand the importance of the word "sacred," we quote the Swami again: "Human nature abhors a moral vacuum." When secular society rejected religion in the latter part of the 20th century, the Baby Jesus got thrown out with the bathwater. Consequently, we have had a culturally divided body politic, each with a different idea of what "sacred" is. Without that fundamental heart-based coherence at the center, our institutions have been susceptible to the forces of heartlessness. That's how the unchecked, unbalanced and unmitigated power of money has established itself as the de facto ruler in this country.

We can look at all the specific policy remedies ... and ... without a unifying, inclusive, respectful sacred center, even the best ideas will devolve into the usual divisive debate. The wisest and most effective formulas for empowering diverse groups of individuals -- developed by Tom Atlee, Jim Rough, Joseph McCormick, Richard Flyer, and many, many others -- ALL begin the circle gatherings with either a prayer or a moment of silence to "condition the space" to receive a message that transcends ego and self-interest.

As we awaken to recognize that what we have isn't working, the natural tendency is to look out there for answers. It might be a more fruitful strategy for us to look "in here" for questions. If we don't begin asking new questions, how can we get truly new answers?

So ... as we begin this movement to "declare independence" from the two political parties and from governance that seems to be protecting itself from US, the most radical and generative thing we can do is to gather across the political, cultural, religious and economic divides -- in the context of sacred space -- and ask the fundamental questions about "who we are" and what kind of governance is required now in a world where our collective impact as a species is web-of-life-threatening.

• How do we effectively intervene in our dysfunctional and corrupt political system?
• What checks and balances are now required?
• Where is secrecy appropriate, and where is it not?
• What are the ethical and moral rules of governance that 75% to 90% of agree on, and how do we stand together to hold our government accountable to these?

Where and how do we gather in small groups and large to educate ourselves and one another so we evolve from disengaged and disempowered subjects to engaged, empowered citizens?

The "Fourth" is with us ... and now, together, we the people must become strong with the "Fourth."