We have just begun private Beta testing for a new online gifting exchange that I call The Gifting Earth. I see gifting as a replacement for Market. As capitalism has been the engine of Market. Gifting is the engine of Co-Operation. Whereas the best strategy of capitalism has been Buy Low Sell High, the best strategy of co-Operation is to Be Love, Do Good, and Have Everything.
Timothy Wilken
Be Love, Do Good, Have Everything is a phrase I put together. It was created after reading an analysis of being, doing, and having called The Order of Creation by the enlightenment teacher Ilchi Lee, he wrote the following in 2005:
The Order of Creation
If asked what would make you happy, how would you answer? This type of question is often answered with a formula that follows the order of “Have→Do→Be.”
If I HAVE this, I will be able to DO that, and then I will BE happy.”
The problem is that such an order makes your happy state of being dependent on a transient circumstance (having or doing something) and so contains the seeds of its own failure.
Allow me to reverse this formula. The way to “make yourself happy” is to be happy. The formula thus goes in the direction of Be→Do→Have. We begin by being in whatever state we wish to attain.
Being is a more awakened state than having. To be is to exist in a space of pure choice and creation. It is a state of immense power. “I am happy. I am generous. I am …”
These statements are declarations of self-evident truth. Once you decide to be, and to allow that beingness to permeate every cell of your body, then your brain has the potential to create every experience and manifestation related to that state of being.
The natural instinct of a healthy brain, moreover, is to take action. If we know we are something, the our brain will lead us to take the appropriate action→Do. If we are happy, then we will act like one who is happy. These steps create a powerful virtuous cycle. Being happy leads to happy actions, which create greater happiness.
The subsequent state of “have” is almost incidental. The awakened soul has already achieved its purpose just by beginning from its chosen state of being. Yet, beautifully, having is also a natural outcome of consistent habits of being and doing. A woman who is happy will laugh a lot and live with vitality. Inevitably, she will have warm relationships and bountiful opportunities that reflect her habits of happiness.
Beginning from a state of true beingness, then, is to succeed before finishing, and to plant the seeds of havingness, which an enlightened soul does not even require.
Source: Human Technology
After reading this, I realized that some people use other orders of creation.
DO→BE→HAVE, if I DO what my parents say, then I can BE accepted, and then I will HAVE a good life.
Or, DO→HAVE→BE, if I DO Graduate School, I will HAVE a better income and more respect, and then I will BE Happy.
After some reflection, I found myself in agreement with Lee’s recommended order: BE→DO→HAVE, but then I asked myself, could a universal formula be created that reflected co-operation and interdependence, and that also might inspire future humanity? After, further reflection I came up with the phrase: Be Love→Do Good→Have Everything. I have found it so appropriate that I use as part of my signature.
This phrase also seems to form the perfect strategy for following Jesus of Nazareth’s Golden Rule, and for participating in a synergic gift economy.
What do I mean by HAVE EVERYTHING?
It is simple really, if you choose to BE unconditional LOVE, if you choose to DO only GOOD, then you can TRUST that others will choose to insure that you HAVE EVERYTHING that you want and need.
Within a synergic community, humans seek to have Win-Win relationships with each other. They believe in helping each other. They recognize their mutual INTERdependence. They know that sometimes they will need the help of others, and sometimes others will need their help. They choose to WORK TRUST each other.
A synergic help exchange is not a barter system or “tit for tat” exchange system. It is not charity. I give to others and trust that when I need help, others will gift to me.
This is not a philanthropic gift. Philanthropy is defined as the act of donating money, goods, services, time and/or effort to support a socially beneficial cause, with a defined objective and with no financial or material reward to the donor.
The Rules of the Synergic Help Exchange are few and quite simple.
1) Do Only Good.
2) Be as kind to yourself as you are to others within the community. Act with responsible generosity.
Be as generous to others as you can be, but remember to take good care of yourself and your family. Do what feels right, but be responsible in your offers of time and resources.
3) If you become a member, you will always have a dual role. You will be both a GIFTor and a GIFTee.
In your role as a GIFTor, you will register your offer of GIFTS to others within the community. In your role as a GIFTee, you will also register your NEEDS for what you would like to receive as gifts from other members within the community.
4) The GIFTor is always the ACTive partner in a synergic help exchange. GIVING is a verb. The role of GIFTee is always the passive part of a synergic help exchange. Receiving is passive. A GIFT is a noun.
5) As a GIFTee, your list of NEEDS is made available to all GIFTors. Those GIFTors who have GIFTs that match your NEEDs are notified of a match. If they are interested in helping you, they will make you an OFFER of Help.
6) As a GIFTor, you decide when, where, and to whom you will offer your GIFT. All GIFTing is voluntary.
7) As a GIFTee, you will be notified when an offer of a GIFT has been made to you, then you will have the opportunity to look at a description of the offered GIFT, and the history, profile, comments about the GIFTor offering the GIFT. You may accept or decline the offered GIFT. All receiving of GIFTs is voluntary.
Visit The Gifting Earth