MatriTalks 11
COMMUNITY
FIRST!
Questions
& Answers
with
Han Marie Stiekema Sermes
The street is a Community, the people only
don't know it yet.
Q. What totally surprises me, is the emphasis
you are laying on the community. Most spiritual groups consider personal liberation as the
foremost important thing.
A. To distinguish these two is
based on ignorance. What is awakening all about? First you become your inner observer.
Secondly this inner quality is extending itself toward its environment, to begin with your
own body. The surprise is this. The more your inner quality is growing, the more it is
including aspects of your immediate surroundings. Hence, from the very first moment the
"vertical" is translating itself in the "horizontal". What in turn
surprises me is, that some groups seem to be able to separate these dimensions.
Q. Compassion right from the start, rather than
the outcome of a long process?
A. Absolutely. From the
first moment your chair, the floor, the table, the flower are becoming part of your
extended Space, compassion is born. Compassion is the quality of Space embracing its
content.
Q. It seems a lot of bogus talk about
"duality" and "non-duality" can be thrown into the waste bin.
A. Indeed, these are just
tricks of the mind. In practice, if there is nothing (thoughts etc.) anymore between my
expanded awareness and the tree, the tree will get the flavor of ("my")
eternity. Concepts, like "my awareness is the real thing, while the tree only belongs
to the world of impermanence" are becoming ridiculous. The Reality is, that both
people and trees are continuously embedded in the Divine without interruption.
Q. Thus community and spirituality are just two
sides of the same coin?
A. The visible world is the
content of Consciousness; Consciousness in its turn is the content of the Cosmic Vacuum or
the Great Mother.
Q. You emphasize a special relationship between
the Mother and the community. How can this be understood?
A. The visible world, in which
we all live, is the Material Body of the Mother. The entire universe - "Web of
Life" - is born out of Her Womb. Hence, She is also called the Weaver. This "Web
of Life" consists of the interrelationship of the entire existence: bacteria, plants,
trees, rivers, clouds, oceans, the atmosphere, animals and humans. The earth can be
considered a living organism, in which everything is interrelated. The Motherly Principle
can be thus considered the Origin of life, as we know it.
Q. Like "Mother Earth?"
A. "Mother Earth" is
the daughter of the Cosmic Mother.
Q. I more and more get the impression, that
from the very first moment you take the Mother as a starting point, many things fall into
place.
A. The explanation is simple:
She is All-Embracing. The wondrous "Web of Life" is being born out of Her Lap,
while continuously returning to Her. Moreover, She is governing the interconnectedness of
all things and events. Hence, the Mother wants Her children end their ordeal of
individualism and materialism, by becoming part of Her Body again. Therefore, personal
awakening is not enough. The alienation - your existential suffering - will only be lifted
if you start joining the Mother's Body: "Heaven, earth and the (new) community",
once again.
Q. I think people will like this idea
very much. However, they certainly wonder how to reach that goal?
A. The step to be taken may
indeed a huge one. How to transform a life, embedded in convenience, that is conditioned
by individualism and materialism? We are all caught in a system of collective
self-addiction. Escaping from it seems almost impossible. Moreover, all situations are
different. It makes it very difficult to provide a general advice for all. One thing could
be of great help though. Lucky are those, who already have felt the negative consequences
of a life in modernity. It will be those who will be looking for an alternative first.
Q. First going back to the Source, after that
step by step developing a new strategy?
A. You should first look for a
common source of inspiration. For some it will be health, for a second spirituality and
for a third political action. We favor going back to the Source - the Great Mother -
first, because through Her you may reconnect to primordial energy, necessary to support
you on your way toward a new future.
Q. In concrete?
A. Further fragmentation will
be suicidal. So, we have no choice, but moving in a new direction. This is supported by
observation of civilizations. Take the Roman Empire, for instance. While the official
culture was more and more disintegrating, dominated by greed, decadence and discord, the
new impulse of Christianity was very much based on selflessness, sharing and community.
The criterion was a common Source of inspiration, hope and perspective*, through which
everybody felt inspired. In our case it is the Return of the Great Mother, which marks the
end of the past era and the beginning of a new. Through surrendering to Her, our sorrows,
worries and fears will be disappearing. By trusting Her, we are receiving a new meaning in
life. Eventually, we discover Her secret of regeneration. From that moment on we are
receiving a surplus value in life, spontaneously sharing it with everyone around us.
* Obviously this elan existed only in
the very beginning of Christianity, soon being followed by deterioration e.g. addiction to
power.
Q. Is there a sequence of steps people may
take?
A. First taking refuge in
the Mother (A New Spirituality), then developing A New World View based on
"feminine" values, while eventually making concrete steps toward A New
Community.
Q. It would be practical, if people could find
an opportunity of meeting each other, in which they could inspire e.g. support each other
mutually.
A. First of all, the fire
of inspiration has to break through, subsequently what you say is certainly the best thing
you can do. What about our Home Meetings? Wouldn't they
be suitable to your purpose? As you know, the Home Meetings are especially designed to
creating a context for Mother Worship, in which "dying to the old" and rebirth
play a central role. The meetings themselves could function as a forerunner for later
initiatives to come. The aim should be Matri-Communities (Mother Communities), developing
all kinds of spiritual, health and community initiatives.
Q. Apart from that, what could we do?
A. Again, the common Source of
inspiration is decisive. Be a Light to each other; share your experiences with the Great
Mother with everyone, who want to hear it. Organize small meetings with exchange of mutual
needs. Do a Personal Health Plan together. Start a "PR" action on the internet.
We will be available to you all the time.
Q. You say: "The Mother is
the Origin of the Web of Life", the latter meaning the Community of humans, animals,
plants, rocks, rivers and clouds. This is a much broader concept of "community",
than is commonly understood.
A. Indeed. The world as a whole
is the Mother's Community. It is Her Material Body, after all*. Once you feel you have
gained enough strength and momentum, the incentives may become focused on the habitats of
people first. The Community - the living body of the people - should become the foundation
of society, e.g. should reclaim its rights and responsibilities it once had. This implies,
that the Community should be self-governing, consisting of organically organized layers of
sovereign bodies, to begin with the individual, the family/group, the street, the
neighborhood (district), the commune, the county, the greater region and the
Commonwealth**. Microcosm has to reflect macrocosm.
* About the socio-political
structure of the future communities, see "Vision
Quest" and "Sociocracy"
** Our model is also called:
"Community Democracy".
Q. Society to be re-built from
scratch?
A. The drama of modernity is,
that the whole of society is disintegrating. The cause is "to have as the inability
to Be". Long ago our context of life - Heaven and earth - was destroyed by
Christianity in order to make people subordinate to the church. Once alienated from its
Source people had no other choice but to fall back on their ego's. From that moment on
"having" had to compensate the lack of Being. Because the former can never
satisfy the latter, having became an obsession. It has led to the current cancer growth
called global "market economy".
Q. In which governments protect
big business from its citizens, instead of protecting its citizens from big business.
A. To regenerate the Community
will be an arduous task. You have to overcome many hurdles. There is a long history of the
state destroying the Community, in favor of its own greed for power, while nowadays big
business purposely and ruthlessly promotes the further fragmentation e.g. disintegration
of society, obviously to their own benefit. To a family/group of five you sell only one
sofa, freezer, car etc.; to five singles five sofa's, freezers and cars though. It can't
go wrong, really!
Q. What could we do to stop
this?
A. The multinational
corporations are ruling society. They dominate the government, the media, the educational
system, the "job market" and the international finance system. Profit and
economic growth rule the world. It leads to extreme selfishness, greed, apathy,
alienation, isolation, vulgarization, burn-out, resentment and hatred. Governments are
only treating symptoms, obviously to hide their true intentions from the public. The
outrageous thing is that they know (use) it, thus being responsible for the rapid
deterioration of society. Therefore, the only way to "saving the world" is to
reclaim the Community as the rightful Self-sovereign foundation of society.
Q. A bottom-up society rather
than top-down.
A. The bottom-up structure of
society corresponds with A Feminine World View. It is putting actual Communities in the
center. The Community being Self-sovereign choosing its own representatives. The latter
having a mandate of the former, while the citizens obey its self-chosen government e.g.
the rule of law. Moreover, the Community have been always the domain of females. They bear
all responsibilities through which life can unfold, maintain and develop itself. It is the
women, who are spinning the web of life. Therefore, they should regain their power. In
former days, it were the tribe mothers, together with her sisters, daughters and cousins,
who governed the Community. In the same way women should seek solidarity - in
collaboration with men - in order to "govern" the street, the district etc.
Q. It would be nice, if we weren't alone in
this regard.
A. With the Mother you are
never alone. The more desperate you are, the more She is going to help you. With the
Mother in the center of the New Community, every obstacle can be overcome. She is giving
you all the strength you need. She is the All-Powerful, the One Who is breaking down every
self-centeredness, greed, ugliness and sickness, while giving birth to the new, the fresh,
the beautiful, regeneration and joy. She is "on your side"*
* PS. She is on everybody's'
"side", but manifests Herself more frequently to those, who are surrendering
themselves to Her.
Praise the Mother!
Back
Next
| HOME
| Autobiography | Personal
Reactions | Picture Gallery | Poetry | Q & A online
| MatriTalks |