Consider This
I’ve always been interested in how far we can go in reaching our highest potentials, and when I was a teenager I often wondered what new capacities we would develop. I first believed that it would be psychic abilities. I was very intrigued with all things paranormal and experimented and thus driven to develop my skills in this area. Later in life, I came see directly that the most important abilities we need to develop were not psychic abilities. Instead, I came to appreciate two particular capacities that I consider revolutionary and important for us to cultivate.
- The ability to hold a vast perspective on life that embraces both its timeless inherent perfection as the source of our own being, and its perpetual evolution which inspires us to engage with making the world a better place. This depth of perspective would inform how we live our lives and what we choose to prioritize as most important. Holding such a vast context would give us access to a greater depth of awareness where deeper values can emerge from within us.
- A renewed ability to come together with others, free from the egoic boundaries that still keep us apart, and inspired by a shared vision, passion, and responsibility for creating the future.
I always intuited that breaking boundaries within oneself and between others was an implicit step that needed to happen in order to successfully work together to create our future. It wasn’t until I started to directly engage with this myself and was personally challenged to let go of my own boundaries that I realized how profound it is, and how extraordinary is the potential that is released when these boundaries are transcended - even temporarily.
If we look at any area of endeavor, we can see that one of the main obstacles to progress is our inability to come together in a “bigger picture” particularly when we think we already “know” the answers. I have no doubt that really learning to collectively participate in creating a better future together is the crucial next step in politics, education, medicine, addressing the economic crisis, global warming, or any other issue we face, as we step towards that future.
So please consider this, and if you think there are any new abilities which you feel are emerging that we don’t yet know about, please share these below.
For fascinating, thought-provoking content on “Envisioning the Future” and possibilities ahead, I recommend the June–August 2009 issue of EnlightenNext Magazine http://www.enlightennext.org/magazine/current
Envisioning the Future
What today’s brightest minds have to say about the road ahead
We live in one of the most tumultuous and exciting times in human history. With our cultural, political, economic, and spiritual systems colliding, breaking down, and transforming in the mixing bowl of the twenty-first century, it is difficult to predict what the world might look like even a few years from now. So for this issue of EnlightenNext, we asked a few visionary thinkers some very big questions: Where are we going? How are we going to get there? And how should we relate to the extraordinary uncertainty that defines our global landscape today? Featuring: Ken Wilber, Thomas Barnett, John Petersen, Gary Lachman, Jim Garrison, Elza Maalouf, Ray Kurzweil, Patricia Aburdene, and Joel Garreau. Plus: Peter Russell's favorite books on consciousness, interviews with Duane Elgin and Jean Houston, and more. http://www.enlightennext.org/magazine/current
Video
