The Mysterious Paths by Which Intentions Bear Fruit

I am writing this post with my heart singing with amazement and gratitude.

After our first session at this retreat I’m leading at Esalen, some of the participants were talking about how the Pachamama alliance flew some indigenous people to a movie theater in the city and showed them the movie Avatar in 3D. Apparently they thought it was beautiful and all, but that the ending didn’t conform to their beliefs because it was resolved through overcoming the enemy by force and killing the evil person.

I said, “Hey, that’s exactly what I said in my book. Do you remember the part I’m talking about?”

(Here, I’ll quote it for you:)

“….So for example, in the movie Avatar, which closely parallels the situation of the Shuar, the fictional Na’vi overcome the spaceships and artillery of the human invaders with spears, bows and arrows, and large animals. When the chief human general is killed, then the victory is complete. There is no other way, since he is depicted as irredeemable. Fortunately, the Shuar seem not to be infected with the virus of the ideology of “evil.” They are not fighting the mining companies. They are fighting the mining.

I would have liked to see a different ending to Avatar. I would have liked to see the planet infiltrate the nervous systems of the humans so that, when they destroyed its world-tree, they themselves felt the pain of it, erasing the us/them divide that enabled them to see the planet as a mere source of resources. That is precisely the change of perception that our civilization needs to undergo. Because I don’t think that the Shuar are going to overcome us with their spears.”

Then I told them that when I wrote it, my secret hope was that James Cameron would read it and integrate that idea into the sequel. “Let’s put that intention out there,” I said.

I noticed that some of the participants had huge grins on their faces.

One of them told me, “Actually, when we were in New Zealand we met James Cameron. We gave him your book with a bookmark on that page. He said it was going to be the next book he read.”

I was nearly overcome with gratitude and wonder. I can hardly imagine how powerful that movie could be if it added this extra element of the worldview of interbeing to its message of the sacredness and intelligence and interconnectedness of all life.

I am in awe of the mysterious paths by which intentions bear fruit. I suppose it isn’t so unlikely that this has happened, but I have the feeling of being in the presence of a miracle.

p.s. The thought just occurred to me that someone might think I’m trying to take credit for this idea, should it appear in the next film. So, let me be clear: (1) I am sure James Cameron would have come to it one way or another, because it wants to be born in the world and will find its vehicle. (2) In any event, I hereby relinquish any claim to it, financial or otherwise. Everyone on the planet is free to use “my” ideas (they are not mine, they just use me to enter the world or be amplified), to adapt them, to evolve them, and to make them their own, without credit or acknowledgement. The water table of the Story of Interbeing is rising, bubbling forth now from many springs.