Well, after years of hype December 21, 2012 is here! Unless you've been hiding in a cave with no internet access the past few months, I'm sure you've read or heard in the collective media about the possible fate of the world on this day. Whether you're a skeptic or believer that this popularized calendar date has any major significance for humanity is to be seen.
I've been frequently asked over the past few weeks by students, clients, and many people what exactly does this event mean for the planet. So I thought, why not just share my views on the matter with everyone, once and for all. So do I believe that our world is coming to an end? No, I don't! What I do believe is that our current worldview is coming to an end!
How many of you remember the lyrics to the famous David Bowie song, “Turn and face the strange ch..ch…changes!” It seems that everyone is experiencing change on some level. All around us major transformations are occurring in humanity and around the planet. While I’ve explored the nature of change and why we can sometimes fear it in previous posts (full article here), many of us still might be confused, anxious, or even fearful of the monumental shifts happening all around.
One of my favorite quotes comes from Charles Darwin who says, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” In essence, change is inevitable! Ironically, change is the only constant of the universe and of life. The more we resist change, the more we suffer, the more we remain in fear, and the more we get stuck on the journey.
However, another way to view change can be as an awakening. One of my favorite movie lines comes from an old 1980’s film Joe versus the Volcano with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. It goes, “Almost the whole world is asleep. Everybody you know, everyone you see, everyone you talk to. Only a few people are awake, and we live in constant and total amazement.” So when you can begin to see life not as a fearful and dreaded element of change, but as an adventurous, joyous, and exhilarating journey of awakening, that is when you truly start LIVING!
Whether it was the Arab uprisings or Occupy Wall Street movements that were happening both here in the US and globally, one thing is for sure–the new emerging paradigm on the planet is about BECOMING AWAKE. Awake not in the physical sense, but in the context of human consciousness and global awareness of feeling alive, whole, vibrant, and most of all individually and collectively empowered. On the contrary, the old paradigm we’re releasing as a species was about being ASLEEP by feeling disconnected, isolated, depressed, devalued, ignorant, and disempowered.
I personally believe that humanity is in a time of tremendous transformation. All the current long-standing structures of the planet are transitioning as we awake to an emerging worldview of wholeness, interconnectedness, compassion, tolerance, and justice. In order for this shift to occur, all the old structures of separation, domination, oppression, nationalism, and fundamentalism have to come up in our collective consciousness so that they can be healed, if humanity is to evolve as a species.
A phrase I've said repeatedly in reference to Dec. 21, 2012 is that “THE SHIFT IS ABOUT TO HIT THE FAN – BIG TIME!” Depending on what side of the fan you’re standing on, that will determine how easily you’ll make the shift. If you happen to be standing on the side that fears all the changes, you might not like it when the “shift starts flying!”
In essence, what is happening right now and currently manifesting around the world is an AWAKENING! In Eastern philosophy, the word for "one who is awake" is known as a Buddha. The renowned Buddhist spirtual leader, Thich Nhat Hahn, nicely sums up this notion of global awakening by saying that the next Buddha is not going to be a person, but the actual planet and humanity! THE ENTIRE PLANET AND HUMANITY ARE THE NEXT BUDDHA.
This notion of transformation and awakening is even evident in the Biblical traditions. The Biblical concepts ofthe Apocalypse and of the Revelation both derive from words that mean to “reveal, awaken, lift back the veil.” The word apocalypse derives from the ancient Greek verb apokalyptein "to uncover, disclose, reveal," which in the Latin version of the Bible became the word revelatio “to reveal, unveil, uncover, disclose.” So for all you doomsday types out there who fear the Apocalypse or the Revelation as the end of the world, to you I say, “BEWARE, THE BEGINNING IS NEAR!”
Humanity's emerging worledview of wholeness and interconnectedness is not only a concept advanced by the many spiritual traditions of the world, it is one that science also states to the be the actual reality of our universe. In the exciting field of quantum physics and mechanics, there is the fundamental understanding that at the very basic level of the quantum realm, everything in the universe abides in a state of undivided wholeness. In this worldview concepts of time, space, and possibly even consciousness itself are entangled together in a unified state. According to academic colleagues of mine, who happen to be renowned quantum physicists, this new paradigm of holism is gradually evolving within the sciences with the potential radically to transform all of humanity's platforms such as medicine, ecology, economics, neuroscience, and the very evolution of human consciousness. Indeed, we are living in exciting times!
As more of us become awake, the more this awakening accelerates around the planet. It only takes a small but dedicated few of us to be catalysts for humanity’s great awakening. As the noted anthropologist Margaret Mead once insightfully observed, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Always remember just how amazing and incredible you are, and just how joyous and magnificent life is. The key to navigating these times of change and transformation is to “change” your attitude toward change. Once you begin to understand that the personal and planetary changes are nothing more than humanity’s powerful awakening, you will be just fine!
Keep on Living Your Light® as you keep on Awakening Into Your Light!
Dr. Jay Kumar
www.drjaykumar.com
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