March is Women’s History Month, and March 8 has been designated “International Women’s Day.” So in the spirit, I offer the following thoughts:
In 2009, at the Peace Conference in Canada, His Holiness the Dalai Lama said,
“The world will be saved by the Western Woman.”
Yep. He actually said that, or at least that is how his statement has been recorded. And I believe I understand what he wanted to express with this statement. While I generally dislike generalizing (hahaha), I have to say the particular section of humanity that I believe HH was identifying are those with the time and resources to imagine, initiate, and enact a substantive shift in current cultural, political and economic paradigms and the values that propel and empower each. He was calling out individuals of privilege to step up and into the responsibility that their situation demands – whether that privilege was earned or inherited, bestowed or inborn, whether it is in the form of material wealth, or time, or education, intelligence, talent or a mix of some or all of the above. HH was reminding us that with such gifts comes responsibility.
We are in a time of marked change, of transformation. We’ve all heard the words, the intents in their various forms: “shift the paradigm,” “e-volution not re-volution,” “make America great again,” “new world order,” “materialism and post-consumerism,” “global economies,” “Gen X, Y, Z…” — the memes that are bandied about by press, protesters and pundits alike. Are we moving into a deeper polarizing duality or towards greater unity? Articles and books are written. Podcasts abound. YouTube is a veritable wonderland. There are hundreds of courses, seminars, and webinars. We can learn to meditate, eat healthily, exercise efficiently, and relax like a Yogi. Hell, we can each become a yogi.
Yet part of me thinks, “Blah, blah, blah” — too much talk and not enough action — not enough paradigm-shifting, compassion-based, action-oriented initiatives. IMHO. And due to recent events, I must hasten to clarify that I am not inferring violent action here. No.
Those women HH, the Dalai Lama envisioned over a decade ago, are out there now. I’ve read their books, sat in their lectures, and exchanged emails with two or three. They are extraordinary and ordinary all at the same time: mothers, employees, divorcees, civil servants, daughters, engineers, philanthropists, artists, and thinkers. Each has her original perspective, wisdom, and ability set, which is an essential ingredient in the Dalai Llama’s recipe to save our world. And by “world,” I do not mean our culture or country; I mean our planet.
Here are some of them, in no particular order or hierarchy: Margaret Wheatley, Joan Borysenko, Lynne McTaggart, Marjorie Hines Woolacott, Theresa Dintino, Pat Mitchell, Jean Shinola Bolen … And what about Mackenzie Scott, power sisters Susan and Anne Wojcicki (YouTube and 23&Me, respectively), Sallie Krawcheck (Ellevest) or (dare I propose?) Emma Walmsley of GlaxoSmith Kline. These are each powerful and influential women of vision from all over the spectrum — the spiritual community, sciences, the humanities, and, of course, business and economics. These are just the ones I’ve encountered along the way. Imagine who else they each know of might name and enlist!
And now there is a woman in the White House. She joins the many other women who hold positions of power around the globe, who, like KH, also have chosen the devices of governing and politics as their avenue for influence and societal impact.
To realize the Dalai Llama’s words, wouldn’t it be great to start by just getting my above-listed names altogether with our new VP, with the intention to seed the shift to global operating principles of just and sustainable human activity on our planet? To actively paint a picture, design the plan of a new ethos for our shared world. One that looks at a post-materialistic world — one perhaps based on the Charter of Compassion, one that recognizes not only sexism and racism as perpetrators of oppression all over the globe but also speciesism, that outdated yet deeply imbedded assumption that the human is the only conscious and sentient being on the planet. The species who believes it has a right it is to wield dominion over all others?
Imagine considering the evolution of consciousness, compassion, and beauty as the primary yardstick of healthy success. In the US government alone, how would such agencies as the CDC, NIH, or the EPA change as a result? The Dept. of Education? Of Defense?
And then let us reach out to and collaborate with the other women in positions of influence on our planet. To mention a few:
Angela Merkel, Germany
Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand
Sanna Marin, Finland
Katrin Jakobsdottir, Iceland
Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan
Sheik Hasina Wajed, Bangladesh
Simonetta Sommaruga, Switzerland
Ana Brnabic, Serbia
And this is not a complete list. Imagine: women creating a new yardstick by which humanity measures and evaluates itself.
Do we dare?
Yes!! We do dare