‘Sacred Silence’—The Stillness of Listening to Humanity

The greatest power of social transformation lies in our shared humanity. However, to capture this power requires bringing others, even from across widely different cultural worlds, into our very self—to truly listen, suspend the noise of our own inner dialogue of consciousness that otherwise gets in the way. This is the spiritual power of ‘silence’. Chapter 17 demonstrates the power that lies within our immediate social world if we truly listen. It is here that we can bridge ‘diversity’ and employ this community-focused cultural center to ‘connect with’ and ‘empower’ others’ diverse cultural worlds and meanings. The strategy to expand the power of this dynamic of change, even out into the global community, is then indicated through the concept of ‘global localism’—building action at the local level and then finding ways of linking more broadly from this base. Lessons are developed from broad exploration of the power of ‘silence’ in and across societies, and in learning from history.