Raising Consciousness

There is a clear indication on the planet that the world is on a perilous collision course -- from ozone depletion to climate change, rainforest destruction, and environmental pollution. The global ecological crisis is compounded by the recent devastating social, economic, and spiritual challenges, which prove equally daunting.

But it seems there is a countervailing set of indicators that shows that we humans may be waking up to our predicament, we are beginning to consciously organize ourselves to respond to the challenges we are facing. 

There are numerous social, political and scientific domains that have indicated a new global culture and consciousness have taken root and are beginning to grow in the world.  They believe that a significant shift in consciousness as distinct and momentous as that which occurred in the transition from the agricultural era to the industrial era roughly three hundred years ago, is occurring. 

Because communications technologies are a powerful force driving the emergence of this new epoch, it would be convenient to call it the "communications era." But that name would be ill-suited since the most distinctive feature of this era is not technological change, but a change in human consciousness. This change in consciousness has two primary features:

• First, there is a further awakening of our unique capacity to be self-reflective -- to stand back from the rush of life with greater detachment, observe the world and its workings non-judgementally. 
• Second, from this more spacious perspective, the Earth (and even the cosmos) are seen as interconnected, living systems.

It is impossible to estimate with any accuracy the percentage of the world's population moving toward a reflective/living-systems way of life. In the US, a conservative estimate is that 20 million people -- 10 percent of adults -- are consciously exploring new ways of living that seem consistent with this paradigm. While this group is a relatively small percentage of the US population, they represent an important harbinger of changes in global culture and consciousness to come.  This brings reason for optimism for the future of our planet and it's people.  Let's hope we can all stay the course.