As I pack for the Pachamama Alliance Global Gathering I will be attending next weekend, I have joy where a purpose-sized hole used to be. The agenda for the Friday – Monday sessions popped up on the event website yesterday. The retreat will include talks from Lynne and Bill Twist, John Perkins, Paul Hawken and an evening session with Charles Eisenstein.

These people, along with the other attendees, are my heroes—Shambala warriors in a battle for environmental sustainability, social justice and spiritual fulfillment on planet Earth.

Lynne Twist’s story is incredible. She was already passionately involved in “The Hunger Project”, an organization committed to ending world hunger when she was invited by John Perkins to participate in a shamanic ceremony as part of a visit to Guatemala. With no “medicine” (no Ayuhuasca, tongue of toad saliva or the like), she went into an altered state and felt herself flying as a bird. She soared over and into the Amazon Rain Forest and began to see men with orange geometric face paint and yellow, red and black feather crowns on their head. Even after the ceremony and the visions, she was haunted by these painted men for the next several weeks as she looked at faces in meetings and just walking down city streets. She thought she might be going crazy.

John Perkins was familiar with a rain forest tribe called the “Achuar”, who wore this paint on their faces and fit the description as Lynne told him her dream. John invited Lynne to visit them, along with 10 other people, including Lynne’s husband Bill Twist. There, they formed the beginnings of the Pachamama Alliance. The Achuar told their visitors, “If you’ve come to help us, even though we invited you here, don’t waste your time. But if you know your liberation is bound up with ours, then let’s work together.” The Achuar explained that they could see that the “people of the North” were caught in a dream and Lynne, Bill and John developed the “Awakening the Dreamer” symposium and brought it to our modern culture.

For a great interview with Lynne and the full story, go here: https://consciouscompanymedia.com/personal-development/leadership/the-extraordinarily-committed-life-of-lynne-twist/

Also attending will be Paul Hawken, editor of “Drawdown”, the most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming. Paul is soft-spoken but when he speaks, I am riveted. He just tells it like it is and I find myself saying “of course”, “no duh” and “obviously” as he explains that we don’t have to live in a scorched planet destined to end in apocalypse but can create a world of beauty, purpose and soul–not by sacrificing but by thriving and having fun!

Lynne Twist on Project Drawdown:  https://youtu.be/m2H9VZjWRCk

And then there is Charles Eisenstein, who wrote “The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible”, in which he writes about “inter-being”, and how it is not some magic bullet or global movement that might save the world but small acts of kindness, generosity and realization that we are all in this together. His intellectual capacity is daunting but he does not use it to sound intelligent but rather to inspire greatness in others.

I could not be more excited to be attending and feel privileged and honored just to be in the room with these amazing presenters and my fellow “pacha people”. My payment for this privilege is to commit my life to this more beautiful world our hearts know is possible and to grow into what is necessary to do the inner work and outer actions to bring about that world.

My deepest gratitude to Rachelle who will be in China working during the gathering and to whom I owe this trip, and with whom I share my blessed life. She is spreading light and love throughout the world.

Join me on this blog as I attend the global gathering, and report and share what I/we discover. Go forward with love and grace.

-Todd

Your donation is super easy and will help with the trip costs! I am traveling from Malaysia to Petaluma, CA on a shoestring budget and would love your help.  Simply visit my campaign page and click donate. Any amount makes a difference!

Thank you to Olav Lejnieks, Katharine Featherston Banks, Kristi Bowman, Josh Wolf, Tasha Dowdakin, Odile de Troy and Barry Rigby for your donations.