Freedom and Buckminster Fuller?

When I launched myself into my "journey of Doing Bucky" (which became my passion) since 1994, ie R&D-ing Buckminster Fuller, I began to conduct my Bucky workshops, afterall, they said that the best way to learn something is to teach it to others, even though you may not really know it well.
I also initiated the activities of the weekly Bucky Group sessions.
It was the start of my new true journey in my life, a journey of real learning. I began not to JUST "study" Bucky only, I also went into studying the writing and thoughts of other eminent thinkers and doers, in the likes of people like Anthony de Mello, Krishnamurti, Charles Handy and many others (see my profile)

In due course, I have found that "teaching" Bucky is a challenge. Already studying him is a daunting task enough, can you imagine "teaching" or rather sharing his Thinking, Ideas and Philosophy?
If ever, I taught by lecturing about an aspect of his work, I will surely do one better than the doctor trying to cure you of insomnia. Trust me, I can put you to sleep in 2 minutes.

So I have been mulling over how, for example on How to share about the Generalized Principle of Precession, a principle by which Bucky lived his life. It is one of the 6 Degrees of Freedom and perhaps the most important Generalized Principle that Buckminster Fuller can share with us.

I realized I have to make a game out of this.

The 6 degrees of Freedom refer to the possible motions of physical Universe. How can I demonstrate them? Or rather how can I help the participants of my Bucky fun Workshop discover it for themselves? Then they won't fall asleep....ha ha

Got it!

Imagine. You have been a warrior, and one day you saved your King's life. Being grateful he decided to grant you whatever you asked for, whatever you value, ask and you'll be given it. You thank your King, and you asked him for some time to think about it. He said, take your time, you don't have to decide immediately.

But what to ask for? Hmm... you don't really know!
Ah.... I got it, you thought to yourself.........I will go to the town square and ask to wise old Man whose name is Bucky. He should be able to give me good advice.

So the next day, you went. Dear Wise old Bucky, you spoke, I saved my King's life and in gratitude he would grant me anything that I would ask for. What I should ask for that is really of value?

Freedom! That's what you should ask for!
Freedom? But I've been a Warrior all my life, I have served my King all my life, I don't know what freedom is. What do I do with my life when I'm FREE?

Yes, that is true, replied Bucky.
Then Bucky pulled out from his side, a small bag, and opened it.

Then Bucky said, "Your purpose in life is to live your True Purpose. However you can only live your True Purpose when you are living in Freedom."
See this object, go and find out what are it's possible motions, it's degrees of Freedom, and when you've finally found them, go and ask your King to grant you Freedom. That's the first thing you must do.

And you will know what to do with your life.......

Bucky added: "Do you know why you should ask for Freedom? Because that's your birth-right."

All the Great Teachers of humanity, from the ancient times to the 20th Century, from Jesus Christ to the likes of Mahatma Gandhi, they came to set us free. But it is true, 99.99% of human beings do not know how to be free. They fear freedom. They don't know what to do being FREE.

Like we are being set free from our slavish ways, from our earning a living, (which assume that we human beings are failures and must prove our right to live) by technology, and we are fighting it.

When you've discovered these motions, these degrees of Freedoms, come back and tell me what you learnt, then go and ask your King for it, then you'll can truly be free.

You took the object into your hands, thanked the Wise old Bucky and went off.



Participants explore the Object and discovers its Motions, it's 6 degrees of Freedom, and the significance of the Freedoms





Debrief:

One day, as I was conducting one of my my Bucky workshop sharing my perspectives of Bucky's "6 degrees of Freedom" which is basically, that there are only 6 Fundamental Motions of Universe, it struck me that Buckminster Fuller was aligning himself to the intentions of Universe.
He was trying to free Man from his old ways of living. He saw that Human beings were expanding his "to-ing and fro-ing," his range of travel on Earth. He saw the Cosmic Evolution was freeing man from his muscle bound work to that of using his Mind. How so? Automation was taking over the repetitive work that he was doing, like in the car assembly line of the automobile industry in the production lines of the factories. Bucky observed that Cosmic evolution seemed intent on freeing man from his robotic and slavish ways. Man as Bucky said was born with legs and not with roots.

Then I realized that man doesn't want to be Free. Not that he doesn't really want to, but that he doesn't know how to. He is afraid of Freedom. He doesn't know what to do being FREE!!

However when man is truly free, his Mind will be clear, he will discover his true purpose and live it.

Explain!
Some time ago, I watched the Movie "Shawshank Redemption." Great movie. What I liked about it?

It's the story of Andy Dufrane being convicted of murdering his wife (of which he was framed). Anyway he went to do hard time in Shawshank Prison.

There he met Brooks and Reds. They were fellow convicts who had been there much longer than him and knew the ways of prison life and how to survive the gaunlet of gang warfare and the brutalities of the prison guards. Reds, who became his friend, was "prison smart."

Reds respected Andy because in his own way, Andy though beaten up, was able to stand up to the prison gangs.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I take you to what I felt is to me the more significant part of this movie, the story of Brooks.

Brooks?
Brooks was the old man who had spent a good half of his adult life in prison. Prison became the only home he knew. He was made the prison's librarian, which Andy Dufrane initiated and set up for the inmates.
However, when it was time for Brooks to be released, he didn't want to leave, he had gotten so used to prison life, it was all he knew. The routine. To avoid leaving he tried to attack a fellow inmate with a knife, so that his release would be revoked.

However he was "saved" from his desperate attempt, and he broke down. The prison authorities were kept out of this, and Brooks was released.

Brooks however was a broken man. All he knew was the routine of prison life. Prison was security he had known. The outside world, the unknown, the freedom was tough. Brooks couldn't take the "verbal and mental" abuse from his fellow workers in a supermarket which employed ex-convicts. He hanged himself, at a half-way house for ex-prisoners.

Well, as I reflected, it struck me of what happening in the World today. Many of us living our life in our little prison called our "work", clinging on to the security of the known, but living lives of quiet desperation.

However Cosmic evolution, through technology, is changing our environment, and at the same time is freeing humanity. That's what going on.

We are being freed from the tyranny of organizational life, by technology. Why and How so ?
"Unfortunately" or fortunately, depend on how you see it, technology is turning our World of work inside-out. Or as some put it upside-down. What it means? Technology is wreaking changes in our work environment, relieving us from our muscle and brain work.

How do we earn a living? How do I survive? You ask. That's why many resist technology.

The "prison" of the life-long career is being obsoleted. But many are unprepared. Life in the "prison" of the life-long career was all we knew. We have become so conditioned to that "prison" life we don't know how to be free. It may be said that we actually fear freedom, because freedom is unfortunately the unkown.

Even the "core rules" of our lives are shrinking, in other words the "rules" of life are lessening. The "space" of our lives are expanding. This is the space of possibilities. We are moving into greater opportunity to live out our potentials, the possibilities, to have greater Freedoms

"So give us back our prison," our rules, our Cage, we don't mind of course, a golden gilted cage, though still a cage, we demand
Isn't this a real shame?


Dr. R Buckminster Fuller perhaps was a harbinger of this freedom to come. He demonstrated it, deciding not to earn money for a living, instead he lived his life PRECESSIONALLY, as a 55 year experiment with his own life, doing what he felt needed to be done, doing his True Purpose and trusting that Universe would support him. It's tough, not for the faint-hearted.

Remember the song? "Blowing in the Wind"

I would prefer this version now:
How many roads must a man walk down?
Before they call him a FREE man?.......
The "FREEDOM" my friend is blowing in the wind....
 the Freedom is blowing in the wind........

So freedom is being thrust upon us via technology. Today humanity is being emancipated by the evolving technology from being a brain and muscle automaton to Man as Mind, the freedom to create his own life.
From subconcious evolution to conscious evolution with his Mind.

However the old paradigm to hold sway over humanity. We're still struggling to breakout of our reflex-conditioned behavior.

Do we dare step into precession?
LIVING life in Freedom is living PRECESSIONALLY, and thus doing one's True Purpose. (Precession will be explained in detail in another chapter)

Do we dare to be FREE?