as my teacher would always say "Energy follows our attention and intention." Where is your energy taking you?

Where Are We Going?

(posted July 2006)

It is all over the news; corruption, environmental destruction, genocide, brutality and the many other plagues of humankind. Is that who we are? Is that where we are going? Although we can never turn a blind eye to injustice, I think we need to be fair in assessment of our evolution. In this piece I want to look at the positive signs that surround us. Yes there is chaos; but just as the Phoenix needs the fire, we can use that chaos to create beauty.

Personally I feel humans are slowly wiping the sleep from their eyes and stretching their bodies to greet the new day. Now just as in this reality, some people rise early before the sun and others hide under the covers until well past noon. This is true in the mythic reality as well. While some had their eyes opened in the 1960’s or earlier, others in our culture may take many more life times of sleep before they are ready to Awaken. But what I feel is happening is that we are approaching that critical mass; the hundredth monkey if you will, that will speed our evolution.

One of the most promising signs I see on the horizon is the death of religion. Yup, that’s right, I am happy to see big religion bite the big one. Will this happen overnight? No. Will they give up without a fight? No again. But what I see is the death of religion and the control and lies it represents and the birth of spirituality. Now I am not talking about enlightened religion such as that championed by the Dalai Lama, but instead those that aim to keep their followers in ignorance. For although religion is about control and dogma, spirituality is the quest for Truth and connection to the Divine. People are discovering the Truth behind the lies that unenlightened religion has perpetrated for thousands of years. And that Truth behind the mask is true beauty. Look at the teachings of Christ. While Christianity is losing its control, the beauty in the teachings of Christ and the sacred feminine are finally being heard in the mainstream.

I also see that we have an abundance of teachers on this new path. What is more is that they are more accessible. While I have tears running down my face every time I watch the atrocities committed towards the Tibetans, we now have the beautiful teachings of Buddhism and its teachers spread to the corners of the world.

We have a sharing of teachings that is unprecedented in history. We have the Dalai Lama leading teachings around the globe; Ammachi giving her Darshan blessing as she travels; the Hopi sharing their teachings for the first time; the mending of the sacred hoop by bringing together all nations on the Red Road, the reawakening of the Celtic path; and the interest and preservation of shamanic paths.

Not only are their more paths up the mountain, but we have amazing teachers showing us the commonality of all paths. Joseph Campbell, Tom Harpur, Ram Dass have all been vocal in helping us find the Truth behind the window dressing.

Our vocabulary is changing to keep up with this burgeoning growth. Even to have words like “Spiritual Journey” in our lexicon is refreshing.

It is not just the vocabulary though; it is new ways of approaching needs and challenges. There has been an emergence of environmentally friendly ways. Some of these methods have been a return to grass roots while other come at us from the world of high tech. Yes we have environmental destruction on a perverse scale, but I am confident we can reverse this course. Sometimes you have to stand on the brink before the need comes to alter course.

Governments are corrupt; but we no longer just believe what we are told. The glimmerings of intelligence are in our eyes. Brutalities are being committed around the world; but more eyes are focusing on the injustices. We have more illness in our world but also the development of more healers and healing systems coming online. Yes we have big scary genetic manipulation of our food and depletion of our soil, but we also have a return to organic practices. Greater resource destruction, but more voices for sustainable living.

One of the most intriguing developments according to many spiritual teachers is right in front of you. No, not my web page (but thanks for thinking of me), it is the internet! Yes there are some scary and nauseating things on the net, but what were you doing looking for them? Hmmm? Think though how the internet shrinks our world. Ideas, information and people are instantly accessible. This includes spiritual teachers and concepts.

My personal belief is that the psychotropics of the 1960’s cracked open enough “eggs” to shake us awake. It made us push our chairs away from the table and say “No more GM foods for me mom, I want a serving of Enlightenment” Since then we have been floundering, but I feel we are flopping our way towards awakening.