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Over here, Clemenza! Ever wanted to know about \\u2018General Systems Theory\\u2019 \\u2013 one of those subjects you always hear vague things about yet never quite know what it actually is? Ever wondered why we seem to love a good gangster? Well, then this is for you! To tell the truth, we would have picked this anyway for the podcast because the title was just so good! But it happens to be an excellent and very full short talk by Khemasuri on a growing area of contemporary Buddhist philosophical thought. This one requires a bit of concentration \\u2013 but it pays off with her passionately argued case for embracing personal responsibility and community engagement as a way of effecting social change in our troubled world. Just like \\u201cgoing to the mattresses\\u201d. But in a good way\\u2026

Talk given at the Buddhafield Festival, Devon, 2007

Contents

01 \\u2018Evolution or extinction\\u2019 by Sangharakshita (1971) \\u2013 this talk as a response; the Buddha\\u2019s basic teaching and experience; conceptual constructions of a specific time and culture \\u2013 \\u2018pratitya samutpada\\u2019 (\\u2018dependent arising\\u2019) and \\u2018general systems theory\\u2019

02 The difference between causality and conditionality; Cartesian thinking \\u2013 from the holistic to the mechanistic; conditionality through the whole of human culture and experience; properties of all systems; feedback mechanisms; systems evolving in complexity \\u2013 evolution and change; points of instability \\u2013 the possibillity of collapse; non-predictability and synergy

03 Repercussions for how we act; the Cartesian model of the world and its effect on behaviour; systems theory, actions and consequences; means and ends as the same thing

04 Social networks, systems and change; \\u2018event-triggering process\\u2019 \\u2013 shocks to the system and creative response; change with a community of individuals; the properties of a living community

05 What the Mafia can teach us about supporting change; Fritjof Capra\\u2019s ideas on the criminal underworld\\u2019s success; what the Mafia does well as a community; towards an ethical underworld

06 What we can do individually and collectively; the revolutionary nature of the \\u2018metta bhavana\\u2019 meditation (\\u2018development of loving kindness\\u2019); actions and consequences again; taking risks; different ways of doing community; collective change is not comfortable \\u2013 the validity of strong emotions

07 The importance of passing on knowledge and promoting another vision of the world; diversity; don\\u2019t leave your values and principles at home; acting from the heart; the \\u2018infinite game\\u2019; profound personal feedback from your efforts

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