Forging a path ahead in today’s world

“Do not follow where the path may lead
Go instead where there is no path
And leave a trail.”

Our world today is presenting us with a bewildering mix of messages. Many are questioning the truth of the mainstream media, politicians are advocating minor tweaks to the path we’re on and seem not to have listened to the basic shift in the underpinning narrative that is currently underway. We seem to be at a critical turning point of some kind and collectively need to heed the advice in the Old Testament book of Isaiah that “ without vision the people perish.”

Sensing a path ahead that accords with the golden rule of “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” and restores beauty, goodness and truth to a world that seems to have gone astray is a challenge to us all and as individuals we could perhaps listen to the advice of the Victorian poet Robert Browning:

“ Truth lies within us all

It takes no rise from o
tward things
Whatever you may believe.
There is an in most centre in us all
Where truth abides in fullness
And to know consist rather in opening out a way
Whence the imprisoned splendour may escape
Than in effecting entry to a light supposed to be without”.

We need, as Browning suggests, to listen to the wisdom which id deep within each of us. However, we are also part of a collective path for humanity and conversations with others can be so very helpful as a way of finding other lenses to see through than our own. It is often a throwaway remark from a friend that can give us pause to think and our thoughts are more important than possibly we realise. Conversations with family and friends who have passed over now being termed  “ After Death Communication” indicate that our private thoughts can be seen from higher levels. My book “Awakening to a New Reality : Conscious Conversations Across the Horizon of Death is one account of this experience.

One of the evolutionary leaders, Barbara Marx Hubbard, now deceased, inspiringly wrote that sensing and following an as yet invisible path ahead first requires a change within ourselves in which rather than focus on our own set of opinions and needs at this third dimensional level we begin to recognise the need to support ta global  shift towards an awareness within  ourselves as ‘cosmic’ or ‘universal’ citizens.

“A universal human is one who is connected through the heart to the whole of life, attuned to the deepest intelligence of nature and called irresistibly by Spirit to creatively express his or her gifts in the evolution of society and the world. Above all, a universal human has shifted identity from the separated egoic self to the deeper self that is a direct expression of service. To become a universal human is to evolve consciously, choosing a path of development that has never been mapped before in a world that has never existed before”.

This encouragement to connect from our hearts with all life rather than our heads helps us remember that we are also connected with all expressions of the One life and need to have the courage of our inner-standing to go where there is no visible path and trust that this will open up a path ahead other way for others.

When Roger Bannister broke through the four minute mile limit that still remained a challenge to the athletic world he put a new marker in the morphic field and left a trail that enabled others to do the same.

Clearly Roger Bannister had a vision of achieving this and trained until he did it. So a new vision of what our path ahead might be is an essential first step if the forces of goodness are to take a lead over the forces of evils that are attempting to hold us back.

To start our thinking are some suggestions of what our vision might include:

Knowing  we are creative beings made of love and that each idividual is valued as a soul on a learning journey on planet Earth  and that love is the feeling that connects us with each other. We aim to live by the Golden Rule of ” Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” and that the ‘others’ includes all living beings. This means that the natural world is valued and schemes of regeneratrion are underway. collaboration has taken over from conflict and unloving competition so that war is not tolerated and any disputes are settled on a win-win rather than a win-lose basis. Money is seen as a medium of exchagne and no longer comodified as a producat for making yet more money.

Spirituality is emerging from both those religions that have taken a step towards universal understanding as well as from secular grouings that are ‘spiritual but not religious’. This brings a growing sense of the deep inter-connectedness of all life so that this underpins all relationships between communities, institutions and nations. The focus on the nation state no longer prevails and each community has a quiet centre for silent contemplation, uplifting idess and personal support.

Politics is organised from the grass roots upwards so that bio-regional assemblies are convened and politicians that sit on a national assembly are there to serve, minister unto, rather than dictate and control.In education at all levels learning hubs are generated and children are honoured as souls and creative beings  and guided gently , no longer rendered any harm.Older people are valued for the wisdom they bring and kept within a caring and compassionate and integrated community .Instead of consumerism , resources are distributed in a way that enables the need of all to be met locally,nationally and on a global basis.

On a wider scale there is a growing sense of our planet in relation to our place in the vast cosmos and the spiritual dimension of life is restored as a normal part of daily society.This means that love, goodness, beauty and truth are honoured in every transaction so that honesty and goodwill prevail and work is seen as ‘our love made visilble’ and is orgnised so that time for family and friends is given a high priority.Lastly all decision making at every level takes into account the likely needs of seven generations down the road.

Whatever our individual vision may be in order to progress this we will need the courage be willing to go ahead of the majority and remember the starement of the seer Pierre Teilhard de Chardin that once one person has taken a new step it is inevitable that evntually all will take it as well.

The first step is to make whatever move ahead we feel called to maake and at the same time to remember that we are entering an age of synergy so the time of the lone hero is gone and we now are benefited by working with others.

The second thing is to follow the light ahead as best we can sense it. We know that light is life, is Spirit, is God. As science and mysticism converge we are discovering that divinity is in all life, that matter is derivative of spirit, and that  planet earth is not just a speck of dust but the birth place of a species that has developed over millennia to be able to take this next step into the unknown. All forms of life are conscious but as humanity we have been entrusted with the capacity to know that we are conscious and it is for us to remember, as the visionary Sir George Trevelyan used to describe it, that we need to “become aware of our profound relationship with all the  kingdoms of nature. We are part of a single suite of ever mounting consciousness and realise that the inner core of a human being is spiritual in origin and has descended from eternal worlds to which it must return when freed from the drastic limitation of a physical body.”

The drive onward within evolution ever propels us forward. We are now recognising that the potential within each cell to cluster with others on the same wavelength is driven by ‘attraction’, or power of love.

Visions do not come upon us as a whole. No one in the 14th century stood up and said ‘let’s create a renaissance.’ What happened was a painter, a sculptor, a poet, a writer here and there began creating in new ways  and slowly these connected up and people began to realise that a new era was now dawning. So it is right now as one by one individuals pick up this new vision giving them a heightened sense of purpose in life, so they are each discovering an impulse within themselves to further one aspect of it of what is unfolding. Examples of this include someone who:

• During 20 years of teaching early years children in a Steiner school sees her role as preparing  them to live a happy soul -based life rather than train them to be an eventual producer or consumer within vast economic machine
• Sees his job as a strategic connector, linking together individuals and networks into larger clusters that by working collaboratively have the potential for a greater impact. He is also generative through giving the appreciation and support that affirms others in their endeavours
• Works for the mental health service of the NHS and is using nature as a therapy and is trying to introduce eco- therapy and eco- psychology as legitimate approaches to healing. This was actually recognised by an award for her work with post- traumatic stress in soldiers returning from the Falklands War
• Values restoring a sense of individual sovereignty so that we do not succumb too far to the consumer society’s need for us to obey rules and regulations that benefit a few rich elite rather than we the people. This involves clarifying the difference between what is legal according to man- made laws, and what is lawful – inspired by the common law of ‘first do no harm.’
• Has initiated an association for bringing heaven onto mother earth now.

All are being drawn by the sense of a new vision for a new era .. Our wise elder Dr. Anne Baring is encouraging:

“We are awakening to what I have called the dream of the cosmos: the dream of an enlightened humanity engaging in a new role on this planet, a role that is in harmony with the evolutionary intention of the cosmos and is no longer driven by the quest for power, conquest and control and the appropriation of the earths resource is for the benefit of the few”.

May we rise together and fulfil this founding dream.

A key question remains which is whether our society as it is today bears any relationship with the will of God?