A Time of Soul Awakening Together

By James O’Dea

Could it really be possible that this is a time when many people are waking up together? The harshness of the political landscape, the horrific nature of indiscriminate terror attacks, war, the scale of refugee and migrant flows, the density of materialism, famine, the overwhelming jeopardy of ecological catastrophe and many more threats to health and wellbeing — all these would suggest that humanity is heading in the wrong direction. A heavy cloud of moral darkness threatens to obscure our collective evolutionary promise.

But there is an emergent field we can tap into that represents a convergence of rigorous spiritual experience, methodical scientific exploration, sound evolutionary theory, and visionary ethical practice. This convergence offers something that is profoundly needed at this time: it offers us knowledge and wisdom processes that are seeding new templates for shared meaning and inspiring action that is harmonized with collective responsibility and the essential component of reciprocity needed for planetary peace and human flourishing.

More than ever we are finding out that we are in it together. The great challenges of our day are ones we cannot face alone. In a very real sense we must collaborate or face rising discord, breakdown and regress into factionalism. More and more people are seeing the pivotal nature of these times and the need to be deeply responsive rather than reactive. Many see that finger pointing and name-calling only exacerbate our problems.

We are discovering that responsiveness invites us to take responsibility, go inward, develop empathy, and take action that is conscious and soul-directed. But what is soul? Soul is the very essence of consciousness… it is consciousness concentrate! Soul is both the individual drop and the collective ocean: it is mysteriously individual and collective. Soul ignites individual conscience and, at the same time, it resonates in the collective field. At higher frequencies, our soul-force pulses as one.

When our soul energy and insight unite, great transformations can occur — vital wisdom can be shared and collective action centered in the highest evolutionary intent can be taken. Now we can see the creativity and resiliency that soul awakening can ignite. In the midst of all the hells humans have created, a light is rising; the peacemakers are coming; the architects of a new social order are coming, and an age of spiritual maturity is coming.

For more information, click here.

James O’Dea is author of a number of acclaimed works, including:

• Soul Awakening Practice: Prayer, Contemplation & Action

• The Conscious Activist: Where Activism Meets Mysticism

• Cultivating Peace: Becoming a 21st-Century Peace Ambassador

James is a former President of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, Washington office director of Amnesty International, and CEO of the Seva Foundation He worked with the Middle East Council of Churches in Beirut during a time of war and massacre, and lived in Turkey for five years during civil upheaval and coup d’etat. He has taught peacebuilding to over a thousand students in 30 countries with the Shift Network. He has also conducted frontline social healing dialogues around the world. He is a member of The Evolutionary Leaders group and on the Advisory Board of The Peace Alliance and Kosmos Journal. James also mentors emerging leaders. Click here to visit James’ website.