A silent but powerful transformation is taking place right now -- and it's happening on a global scale. There's evidence to support the belief that humanity is entering a new phase of evolutionary development. The transformation has many names -- among them: The Great Transition, The Great Turning, Awakening Earth, Global Shift and Conscious Evolution. I use a general term to bridge all that's going on, and call it the Consciousness Underground.
This underground movement is the most significant social, political and spiritual phenomenon of our time. Consciousness incubators are popping up at the grassroots level all over the world to support people as they transform their lives. Many are experiencing a new sense of life's basic and deep inter-connections. A heightened conscious awareness is enabling individuals and societies to shift their focus from materialism, consumption and competition to sustainability, cooperation and a less dogmatic, more fulfilling form of spirituality.
If all this is news to you, you're not alone. I call it an underground movement because it's been ignored by corporate mainstream media. They'd prefer to continue their more profitable preoccupation with crime, violence, gossip, entertainment and sensationalism. But the people and organizations doing the work of transformation are all around and can be easily found -- if you know where to look -- and providing you know about the movement in the first place.
I first learned about many of the concepts central to the movement in its present form more than forty years ago. An independent study one semester introduced me to encounter groups, which led to the human potential movement, Esalen Institute, eastern religious philosophy, alternative medicine and an assortment of wonderful odd-ball thinkers like William Schutz, Carl Rodgers, Fritz Perls, George Leonard, Rudolph Steiner, Virginia Satir and Ram Das.
Since then, I've watched what was once an amorphous presence on the fringes coalesce into a tangible force for change at the quantum level (literally and figuratively) of life on earth. The rational theories of science and the intuitive notions of spirituality are no longer considered diametrically opposed. Little by little, areas of compatibility between the two are being recognized. Beliefs and symbols which were once regarded as outdated superstition and impediments to progress are finding new life. Many are discovering more and more that ancient wisdom can be effectively applied to modern situations.
Perhaps it is fitting that a movement such as this is taking root as an underground activity. After all, what's at its heart is the realization that vast untapped potential and richness lies below the level of sensory and rational comprehension. The future will depend on our continuing to learn new ways of seeing and knowing. How exciting that this great pivotal shift is happening now, during our own epoch of human history!
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