Dear President Obama

The Afghan War

2009-12-14T12:09:00.000-08:00

The full text of President Obama's speech accepting the Nobel Peace Prize can be viewed at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34360743/ns/politics-white_house/. In the letter below I make several references to the content of his talk.

Interestingly, on the day before the event, visible in the skies of Norway where he was accepting the prize, people were amazed at a very strange phenomenon in the sky creating a spiral of light and then a dark centered circle. Official sources later decided it was a Russian missile that went askew.

Dear President Obama,

Hearts all over the world were sinking as you tried to buoy them up with philosophy at your Nobel Prize acceptance speech. The mood of the world would have been wild celebration had it been given one year ago despite the lack of on the ground achievement. Then, you were the bright light that was bringing a whole new kind of political vision and action to the world from the most powerful position in the world. Now, through a long series of decisions capped by announcing at West Point that you are sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, the mood has changed drastically, my own as well. You characteristically, humbly and honestly expressed your doubts about the rightness of being awarded the prize,

Progressive blogs and websites are half-filled with the writings of those disillusioned, angry and betrayed. The other half are filled with the righteous scolding of those who “knew all along”, that your very own campaign statements revealed, your politics were exactly what we are seeing. In my circles, (all people who worked for your election), it is common to hear sneering and cynical references to you. But beneath the cynicism and anger is grief. Something many of us hoped for seems gone.

While it’s possible to over-dramatize this, it’s also easy to underestimate the consequences of this mood shift. Rational or not, it is palpable and real, even if covered over. Something has died and most Americans don’t deal very consciously and appropriately with disappointment, let alone death. Denial, anger, withdrawal and cynicism are common defense mechanisms against grief. But they are not great rallying forces for dealing with the onslaught of the mad-dog right wing or advancing a truly progressive change in the U.S. and the world. The heart has been taken out of the movement that grew up around you as you offer us a philosophy that rationalizes among other things “just war” rather than “ending the mindset of war”.

I don’t buy into the cynicism or the sneering judgments of you. My own experience with even local politics informs me of the incredible subtlety, complexity and seduction of the trade-offs that appear necessary to stay relevant to the issues about which we care. Not the least of these is future elections which will determine the longevity of our efforts. Jesus admonished those who would throw stones to check first for their own purity of mind and action. Who among us has not compromised on truth when we sensed we might lose the position we’ve worked all our lives to attain, especially one that we continue to hope will do some good. It is true as well, that you didn’t so much misrepresent your views and plans as allow us to mis-perceive them.

We all have different roles to play. Yours, as not only “head of state”, but “head of empire”, has its own rules, constraints and demands. I continue to believe that you are attempting to do good while I very strongly disagree with so much of what you are doing including the choices in the people with which you surround yourself. Good people can see things very differently. There are good people who believe American military action in Afghanistan is the right thing even though they know that the American empire mostly seeks to profit its ruling elite. There are good people who hear your words and see only a cynical attempt to rationalize a deal you’ve cut with that elite. There are those of us who hear the one within you who truly believes we need to heed the teachings of Martin Luther King and Ghandi, that “the love that they preached – their faith in human progress – must always be the North Star that guides us on our journey.” There are those of us who, even across what appears to be a great divide, join you when you “reach for the world that ought to be – that spark of the divine that still stirs within each of our souls”.

There are still so many challenges ahead. Along with death comes rebirth and renewal. I choose to strengthen my resolve not to put my faith in leaders but rather in that divine spark within everything that exists and to allow that to guide me towards alliances and actions that move us towards a more just and peaceful world. I do feel that you have made a drastic mistake, a terrible miscalculation, but I will be praying for and with you from the other side of the barricades as I stand and march against yet another war, heartbreakingly, “Obama’s war”.

May the divine spark within you guide you,

Alan Levin

2009-10-18T16:26:00.000-07:00

(This portrait is by visionary artist, Alex Grey. Please see: alexgrey.com and the note below about his work.)

Dear President Obama,

Few artists tap into the inner consciousness of our lives and portray it so creatively as Alex Grey. I don’t know if you have seen his portrayal of you that so clearly honors your global vision and the hope of the people of the world that you will indeed be a beacon of peace moving all nations towards a higher ground of harmony.

While there is so much controversy about your being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Alex’s vision of you illustrates what I think the Nobel committee sees and supports in you. You are the President of the United States, the red, white and blue, and yet you hold and are guided by a planetary vision and allow this to speak through you.

Those of us who seek to expand our consciousness and feel the beauty of the whole earth as one inter-related family of beings, including Mother Earth, pray for your continued strength and clarity. We pledge to continue to build the grass-roots movement that gives you the backing to bring about the shifts in policy that will allow humanity to live sustainably with all other life on earth.

in peace,

Alan Levin

P.S. From Alex Grey's website: CoSM.org. "The mission of the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors, CoSM, is to build an enduring sanctuary of visionary art to inspire every pilgrim's creative path and embody the values of love and perennial wisdom." To see more of the profound and sacred art of Alex and Allyson Grey, please go to http://cosm.org.

Dear President Obama,

2009-09-27T17:15:00.001-07:00

I have a need to speak with you and this is the only way available; to send the message out to the universe of the world-wide-web and hope that if enough energy gathers around it the message will get to you. In any case, it is directed to your deeper nature, your Soul, and I am certain it will find its way there.

Greetings, blessings be upon you. I come to you as one who prays for your protection and honors the deep wisdom you bring to this nation and world. May you continue to be a vehicle for the healing forces that the world so desperately needs and may you be strong in resisting the temptations to listen to bad advice. That is, advice counseled from cynicism and a lack of respect for the deep values about which you have written, spoken, and I sincerely believe, seek to live out in your term as President of the most powerful human-created entity this world has ever known, the United States of America.

In writing this letter I am offering up a prayer that the forces of goodness and caring, of loving kindness at all levels of existence, those who help us move towards a more peaceful and just world; that all of us who see a vision of the possibility of the human family as a caring community, hold you in the light of your intention to be a true teacher and healer of this world. Not the teacher and healer, but one among the many increasing in number during this time of great transition. We hold you in the light of your own Soul’s calling; the calling you so brilliantly embody and articulate in the shining moments when you speak to us and help reveal what is in our hearts.

While by age you could be my son, I see you as a brother. As your brother, I share in the pride so many of us feel when you address the people of this nation and the world. It's also as your brother that I fear for you. Your physical safety, yes, of course. But not just that. At that level, I fear not just because of my love for you, but in imagining the hell we would plunge into if anything happened to you. I and many others continue to envision and pray in a variety of ways to create a shield of radiant protection against such harm.

Yet, what I’m speaking of is the fear that with the nearly impossible tasks you face, you will lose yourself, that you will lose your way. I find it hard to imagine what it must be like walking through the halls of the Pentagon and Wall Street, command and control of an empire the likes of which the world has never seen. What it must be like to make choices within the tiny range of possibilities that one is capable of seeing in those dark halls; places where fear-based perspectives and intentions guided by lust for power and wealth preside and are then intellectually rationalized and “reasonably” presented as the only practical path forward.

My fear is that these influences as well as the armor you must wear in order to face your own decisions, often calculating the death of innocents, will take hold of you. Being in command of the armies of war must have its own inner torment. How must you shield your heart from the tragedies and suffering the appendages of our government bring about under your leadership, ?

To be sure, this letter is not only about fear, of which there is too much in the world already. I share the feeling of fear as a way of sharing my concern and support in the challenges you face. Likewise supportively, I want to offer a suggestion submitted with humility and with respect:

My suggestion is to open yourself to the counsel of elders, true elders on the path of life; ones who have learned to protect their psyches from the cacophony of useless and destructive noise that surrounds our planet. Open to the ones who themselves are attuned to deep counsel from within. They will recognize the mythic nature of your task and also the preciousness of your learning from failure. They see the beauty and goodness of what you bring.

While you have surrounded yourself with experts and players in the various problem areas with which you must deal, their very focused intellect may prevent them from holding the wisdom necessary to sustain your larger vision and purpose. Call upon the ones who will mirror back to you your basic sanity and also share with you their care-full counsel. Find the time and place to have regular encounters with them

It will take courage to form such a circle. You have already faced enough of your share of the mocking voices of cynical media punditry. Yet, your life and ours are in the balance and you can’t let your “handlers”, however clever they are in the political machinations of their game, keep you from your allies in Spirit.

I write this while many are losing their hope that you will really make a difference. In part, this was inevitable regardless of what you did. You warned us about making you an object of idealization. Yet, I would imagine that it hurts to see some of those who were your strongest allies claim that you have betrayed them. I hope that in shielding yourself from this hurt, you don’t swing over into not caring what they think or feel.

I share with them the following concerns. Escalating troop levels in Afghanistan.

Bankers making off with all that money while homeowners suffer. How do we understand this? Retreating in the face of the Israeli government’s intransigence on settlements. What must Israeli and Palestinian peace activists who are counting on you believe? Letting go of core elements of universal healthcare. Can you really hope to be the last President to reform the system if it is done in this way? These are the concerns echoing around progressive circles, among those who cried tears of joy at your inauguration.

As I see it, you have been placed in an ethical and spiritual bind that ordinary human intelligence cannot possibly resolve. The forces that oppose you are determined, focused and very dangerous. The problems you face are inter-related into an almost infinite complexity and only alignment with deepest wisdom will guide you and us through. Those of us still listening, hear you continue to articulate a vision of what is possible and I continue to feel that anyone really looking, will see the great things you are doing and setting in motion.

I respectfully suggest that you can do this; develop a Wisdom Council of individuals chosen for holding the consciousness of your deepest intentions, your core values. You know that there is access to understanding and guidance on a higher level than the human mind. Among those who hold this are grandmothers and grandfathers of indigenous peoples, women and men who work as teachers and healers, ministers of different faiths and spiritual paths, community organizers and non-violent activists, artists and others.

I hope someday you get to read this letter. I believe you will understand it and get what I’m saying. There are many like myself who experience tears when we contemplate this fact; that we have a President of the United States whose heart and mind are open to such a prayer as this.

May you be protected by your ancestors, guided by your deepest connection to wisdom, strengthened by your indwelling Soul and sustained by the heart-love of your family in which all humanity shares.

With deepest respect and blessing,

Alan Levin