Awareness.

The unaware are unaware that they are unaware. That being true, what does it mean to be aware?
A rabbit is highly aware. Sight and sound are refined so as to warn it of danger. A rabbit is frequently in flight mode. So we can be aware at a very basic level.
Moving up the scal , an animal that is able to feel human affection and love is aware of it. They feel the owner is looking at them or feel that they are coming home before other people in the family know that; (confirmed by biologist Rupert Sheldrake).
Humans show awareness when they take care near traffic, or previously when they were hunting or fighting. Heightened states of awareness cause a flood of adrenalin in the body to produce heightened reactions.
So what type of awareness are we talking of here when we call a political movement The Awareness party?
The Awareness Party is based on two basic awarenesses.
1. Our planet Earth is a living system. Everything about it is alive, the biosphere; the trees and plants, the soil and microbes. Everything is alive including us, and the water and the chemical elements from which we are made. Nothing is inert.
2. We are one. We are one planet with one dominant species; humanity. No divisions of colour, culture, country, or creed can detract from this.
Being aware of those two facts would make it impossible to have war, because the respect and caring we would have for our own species would remove the need to kill.
Being aware of the celestial being that is the earth makes it urgent that we look after ‘her’, and all the living communities on ‘her’. Humanity is one system, but from earth worms to cockroaches, we all play a part in the balance on earth (positive or negative).
Awareness is also a type of sensitivity. As we become more aware, our sensitivities become increased so we know that life is more than a physical journey from birth to death. We know, for example, that the way we conduct ourselves on that journey bears a part to play not only in our own happiness, but in those around us’ happiness. This makes many of us feel a certain responsibility first to ourselves, but also to our neighbours. Those of us who do not have to struggle to feed and clothe ourselves and who sleep in a warm bed at night probably realise that we are the privileged minority on this planet and so may choose to tithe a portion of our income, or regularly donate to charity in order to keep the flow of money moving.
To be really aware of who we are and what we are here for is usually considered to be a spiritual or religious journey that is very personal from one person to another. To be aware of a group consciousness and the similarities that we all posess is a different type of awareness again.
So to be aware can mean many different things to different people. What we can all agree upon, I think , is that we are a group of people, nearly 7 billion of us, on a most glorious living system, called earth, that is spinning in space inside a galaxy called the Milky Way. We have no means of leaving this planet for good, so we need to care for our larger home, just as we would for the apartment or ‘quarter acre section’ that we call home. We need to care for our human family, just as we would care for our close family.
So ‘awareness’ is an expansion of what we ordinarily do; an expansion of how we are when at our best and most compassionate; an extension of the small local picture, to the big picture of planet Earth.
Lisa Er
www.TheAwarenessParty.com