How do 20,000 people with children survive as a cohesive community in the wilds? Group co-ordination is required, as are many agreements about how to keep our food and water safe for consumption, our women and children clear of danger. Learning how to keep the peace is essential. And all it takes, oddly enough, are two things humans posses in ample supply: common sense and imagination.

Common sense says, people are just people, we all have basic needs. Take care of basic human needs and the rest is up to individual freewill. Common sense also tells us that one person's freedom ends where it deprives another of his or her freedom. But we need imagination to apply common sense at large gatherings. And we need common sense to temper imagination. We need the ability to perceive reality without the blinding veil of mental concepts that also makes good use of the gut feelings that come through our solar plexus. Common sense is the radar that helps us navigate without getting sunk by hidden dangers under the surface.

In many ways, the gatherings described above can be seen as a collaborative experiment in right-imagination or right mindfulness as taught by the Buddha. These events have shown me what is possible for humanity. By combining common sense and imagination we can live in harmony. We can evolve systems that care for our basic human needs by applying our collective imagination tempered with common sense. To do this we share a code of ethics that comes from our prayers to bring the peace of Heaven on Earth, and that code of ethics comes from the Code of Life.

The Code of Life is in our DNA, in our blood, in our cells. Expressed in the highest values humans share in common, the Code of Life defines the ways of the physical universe: the parameters and principles by which matter and energy manifest. These principles have evolved human consciousness; they completely compose, support, and sustain human consciousness. They are fundamental truths of the universe that existed before humans, and will continue when humans are gone.

The human heart pulses through an alliance of forces that rule stars as well as atoms; forces that create complex human organisms and develop within them a capacity for consciousness. Whether conceived as deities or "the one true god" by human definition, these forces are everywhere, in everything. The principles they enforce permeate our experience: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Evolution meets humanity head on with these principles, challenging us to recycle our traditional values and beliefs.

Although humanity's moral and ethical codes have their roots in history, the current values of humanity are in a vast transition. Our 21st century world is an ever-accelerating whirlwind of change. Mayan prophecies suggest an exponential acceleration in human evolution at this time. Humans are discovering more in all dimensions because of this accelerated growth of knowledge and technology, a phenomenon we must understand as both internal and external.

Julian Huxley said, "In mankind, evolution is conscious of itself." What if the goal of evolution is the consciousness possible in the human cerebral cortex? What if our consciousness-of-self is what gives evolution the resource to achieve spiritual awareness? Tielhard De Chardin believed the conscious unification of spirit and matter to be the purpose of evolution. He suggested humans are not only capable of this consciousness individually, but also collectively. "It is the Spirit of Evolution which, suppressing the spirit of egoism, is of its own right springing to new life in our hearts, and in such a way as to counteract those elements in the forces of collectivization which are poisonous to life." De Chardin suggested that the human capacity to gather information and to reflect upon us, individually and collectively, creates a collective consciousness that will eventually lead individuals to see themselves as a cell in the collective body of humanity.

Silenced by the Church for his radical views, De Chardin wrote letters, which were passed around underground and eventually published. The "mystical body of Christ" and the "second coming" or "paroushia" as De Chardin called it, are all the same thing. He believed the second coming meant individual enlightenment and awareness of the Christ within, coupled with an awareness of the same Christ in others, in humanity as a whole, and in all life on Earth. Tielhard de Chardin's mystical understanding of evolution shows western mystics how to embrace evolutionary theory as something spiritual rather than materialistic. The transformation of the world is the same as the transformation of each person, and changes are crucial and profound in both. We are evolution conscious of itself, evolution seeking fusion of spirit and matter. This understanding ennobles our spirit, and transforms the context in which we live.

It is July 4, 2004. Twenty thousand people sit silently in a forest meadow for the annual prayer gathering. The silence is awesome. Birds sing in the trees. The breeze of early morning rises through the grass. A profound stillness begins to envelope my heart, but I am struggling with anger. Two old friends sit near me in the circle, the very two my anger has grudged throughout the last year. I judge them for betraying the trust of friendship and being malicious. I feel like hitting, hurting, berating, screaming, and yes, even that old feeling inside of wanting to kill haunts me as I try to pray. I am suddenly aware that my struggle is exactly what humanity, as a whole, needs to heal to bring peace to the world.

I know I am responsible for my experience, and that blame does not serve anyone. I begin to accept reality. I feel an opening in my heart, the light of peace relaxes me. I am aware that in oneness is diversity and within divinity is all possibility. I remember my commitment to revere the divine in everyone. I let go of judgments, realizing that discernment is more appropriate. This is helps me accept and love my friends despite my dislike of their behavioral choices, which have shown me I need to stay safely out of range.

I begin to imagine integrity as a code of ethics. Evolutionary forces seem to coalesce with my prayers in this meadow. I feel human, archetypal, and spiritual currents moving between the people in the circle and all across this planet. My turbulent emotions calm down and I feel peace again.

Evolution meets something new in the human cerebral cortex: imagination. Every law, rule, religion, belief, and value originates in the imagination of the human mind. Through human imagination and human belief, evolution deals its hand. People who lived a hundred years ago would have been stunned into disbelief if a time travel machine allowed them to drop in on your typical day. How shocked might we be if the same time machine could afford us a glimpse of what will be a hundred years hence? Imagining this, I see two clear scenarios, both of which demand a better code of conduct for humanity.

The first scenario is apocalyptic, wherein the world is almost destroyed and human life takes a giant evolutionary step backwards. The second scenario is the utopian vision: humanity working in natural harmony with each other and the Earth. Innumerable scenarios exist between these extremes, but all point out the need for a better code, one that diverts our current path toward global suicide.

This is not the first time in human history the demand for a code of honor has been felt. A similar demand brought forward a code of decency and respect known as Chivalry at a time when armored men on tall warhorses could hack up anyone standing in their way. To kill and ride out of town with whatever they could claim was all too easy. Men would plunder, pillage, rape, burn, murder, scorn, torture, and enslave in the name of "might is right." Chivalry emerged to extol the merits of using force judiciously and only to defend oneself and the helpless. As a set of principles to which a man could aspire, it refined men's behavior and defined Knighthood, a societal position of honor.

The emerging code of humanity likewise requires we summon chivalrous refinements of character, such as gallantry, courtesy, and respectful attention to women and children. The new code is different in many ways to Chivalry, however, and must be designed for our time. Blind obedience to any church is no more appropriate than blind obedience to a liege lord. Devotion to divinity within each person is preferable to blind obedience to organized religion. This is a radical change we would do well to recognize, for it is a radical change in our understanding of the Code of Life. Compelled by the evolutionary forces of fusion, humanity must reject the divisionary and separatist aspects of religion. Respect and tolerance for all religions is now required. This revolution in our thinking, attitudes, and beliefs is the result of humanity reflecting on the historical abuses by and of religions. Propelled by the urge toward unification that is motivating us to live more harmoniously, humanity must now use imagination to find religious tolerance, rather than continue the "holy wars."

Involution evolves and evolution involves. As we process our inner experience, we become more involved in the collective human experience. Involvement happens through awareness that is gained by reflection on our collective experience. Imagination allows us to consider our options. Without imagination, we have no choice but to keep repeating the same mistakes. Imagination is evolution's way of using the human cerebral cortex to achieve the prime directive of conscious unity. Imagination empowers consciousness to reflect upon what has yet to be experienced and made manifest.

Evolution meets imagination with common sense. Without common sense as a reality check, imagination would run off on any number of tangents. Common sense not only means common to all but accessible to all. This is why the new code is based on the Code of Life. The Code of Life can be found everywhere and all Creation recognizes its principles.

The New Chivalry reveals how to communicate; how to speak and listen, with respect and attention; it shows us the heart of consensus. Communication can solve any problem. Consensus, and the circumspect point of view it brings, allows communities to get needed support to solve their problems. This takes time to learn, but the "how to" of communicating clearly and learning to listen with compassionate consideration is essential to this emerging code.

The New Chivalry reveals the way of peaceful non-violence. It shows how to achieve peace and non-violence in words and deeds. It shows how to start with ourselves and create a peaceful life experience. It identifies the problem areas needing attention that bring distress and turmoil within us, the exact problem areas that erupt violently in our language and behavior toward others. It does all this by revealing the natural love in our heart, the affection that inspires our respect and consideration for others.

Through love, the code reveals how we can experience our world and ourselves in a healthy, happy, and harmonious manner. When we love someone enough to learn not to hit them angrily, not to threaten them, not to sexually abuse them, and not to yell at them; then we feel like changing. Unless we really feel the love within us, we will not change our harmful behaviors for long.

To love God by praying before statues is easy compared to loving God in people. The devotion required to see God in each person and in all things is challenging, and stretches the soul to embrace what is hardest to accept. When we revere the essential "Buddha nature" in even the most unenlightened; we can accept that our own evil exists within the omnipresence of God. To deny evil is to empower it. When we face evil in ourselves and in others, we loosen its stronghold. Facing evil can only be done by simultaneously facing divinity. It is the divinity within us, struggling with the bestial values and beliefs of our ancestors that can imagine new ways to ensure survival now.

We, as the human part of evolution, must learn to control our childish tyrannical behavior before we destroy ourselves. In the Pathwork lectures, Eva Pierrakos said, "Humanity has now left behind infancy and childhood. It is just about coming through its adolescence, but is not yet a mature, adult entity." Humanity is changing its values, seeking more mature freedoms, and learning about self-responsibility and partnership. As a race, we are at war with ourselves, divided by contradictory views, confused by philosophical and cultural splits. As Pierrakos points out, "The organism which, in perfection, could and will function harmoniously, in union with itself, must be at war with itself as long as it is divided within by unrealistic concepts, wrong conclusions, self-centered and infantile pursuits, limited outlooks, lack of concern, subjectivity and unfairness due to blind, isolating tendencies; the individual human body, soul, and spirit is identical with the body, soul and spirit of humanity as a whole."

According to Pierrakos, the abuses of humanitie's collective past, need to be healed as well as each one's personal past. Humanity must consciously examine the ugliest memories it has sealed behind denial.

To enter into this global self-examination means accepting that history has been rewritten by each conquering culture to show their version of the facts. To do this we must be willing to see our favorite superstitions revealed as just that: superstition, not fact.

Awareness is now demanded by mama evolution, awareness that both takes responsibility for the past and looks to the future. When we wake up in an auto going downhill out of control with no one in the driver's seat, pointing the finger of blame or trying to escape will not work. Times like this demand fast action and force us to mature, first by recognizing that we have the ability to respond and second, by choosing to respond with swift, decisive action.

The only way I know to feel responsibility is to tune into love: love for myself, divinity, humanity, those dear to me, and Life on Earth. Love is not lust or selfish pleasure. It is an experience that reaches into my soul, stretches deep into my body, and erupts in my heart with tears of bliss. Love makes me feel like saving the world.

The challenge to all humanity is to love more than ever now. This love is not the "gimme" type of love, but a giving that spontaneously springs from the heart. This love needs no forcing, coaxing, cajoling, or manipulation. This love knows no fear. This love accepts the challenge of bringing true and lasting peace among the nations. This love rolls up its shirtsleeves and exuberantly exclaims, "We can do it!"

Humanity is not "you" or "I", humanity is "WE". Humanity is not divisive, but inclusive. We all share in this adventure, within each of us is the source that manifests this moment in time and space. Humanity is a parade of diversity we all walk in, as well as a parade of resources we all check out in time. Human nature is humanity's nature; it is "our" nature. This human nature is parading now toward changing values. This human nature is you and I and everyone else lifting our eyes toward those banners that lead the parade, and saying in our hearts with them:

"We are the sources of all movements, the mothers of all gatherings, and the creators of all religions. We have spawned the visionary bohemian rhapsody of love, freedom, and beauty throughout the world. We bring joy everywhere with our entertaining way of enlightening everything on our path."

"We have opened the hearts of children who seek the truth about Life and Earth and Spirit. We have shown them how to follow Spirit where it leads and to give thanks for what we can share together. We have brought the elders of the ancient ones to speak to our children and we carry their teachings everywhere we go. The Mayan calendar, the Hopi prophesies, the legends of indigenous Americans, Revelations; all these tell of and prove our existence. We are here now to point to the light in each and every human, we invoke its activation; we beseech and coax and cajole and urge it to come forward in all its brightness, and shine."

"We are the drummers, the artists, the musicians, the feeders of the poor and homeless, the gypsies, the eccentric and colorfully dressed, the monks and priestesses, the goddesses and the highest of the holy laborers. We can leap in divine bliss as we dance through our lives. We are the result of humanity's deepest prayers, we are the children of light and peace and love."

"Love, and the oneness it pulses with, is our heart beating with the eternal prime directive of evolution. We are pointing to this Light of Love, and inviting humanity to join in the greatest miracle of love that has ever happened: Peace on Earth."

Now we begin to express the love of which humanity is really capable, Love incarnate.