Few Days back, President Barrack Obama , when asked about his plan and perspective about how to deal with the ISIS militancy engulfing Iraq and Syria, said, “I don’t want to put the cart before the horse: we don’t have a strategy yet.” Was this response coming from a rising reluctance by the US to get involved in rest of the world matters? Or was it from a lack of confidence in one’s own ability to deal with newly emerging geo-political crises?
As I look around , I see other stress points and fissures opening up in the globe. The Crimean conflict in Ukraine. The on-going Palestine imbroglio. The Indo Pakistan stand-off on Kashmir. The emerging China Japan flexing of muscles. And so on….
What is it that leads to such stresses and conflicts in the world in this twenty-first century with its immeasurably higher globalization and information flows compared to the last? What could be that big picture vision that could lead mankind to a way-forward path?
My thoughts go to a piece I had posted two and a half years back. As I re-read it, I realise its perfect relevance to what is happening today. I am re-posting it here and at the end I have put forth some questions that come up for me at this point in time. So folks read on…..
***
All life revolves. The world is awaiting a great awakening, which will occur with
the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. This great awakening will take place in the months and years to come and bring significant changes to our consciousness as human beings.
The Age of Aquarius, Starts 21st Century
A couple of weeks back, I watched President Obama’s State of Union address. Erudite and all encompassing as always, the President stressed issues of China and outsourcing. But what I really heard from the most powerful man on the globe was insecurity and fear. Of the slipping away of competences and strengths and not knowing what to do. The other day as I watched the BBC debate at the World Economic forum in Davos, I once again sensed the underlying hesitation and concern.
The competence and knowledge advantage which the US and developed world enjoyed from the beginning of the industrial age is fast seeping away. Other nations and societies are catching up faster. And the genie of Globalisation is only accelerating this trend and making the world flatter (to use Thomas Friedman’s famous terminology).
So what are the reasons for such competence and knowledge loss? What can be done to stop the hemorrhaging of this life blood? My thoughts veer towards Entropy, a concept in the realms of Thermodynamics. Entropy is a tendency towards disorder and Science postulates that this can only increase over time. So any “order” peaks, be it in energy, competence or knowledge, can only dissipate, seep away. Ultimately leading to a steady state in which random and uniform soupiness exists all over, the highest level of Entropy.
I recall Isaac Asimov’s Last Question, a haunting science fiction tale of a future reality. Of a Universe slowing down and coming to an end due to Entropy. As the last of Mankind and the last VAC (a super computer) fail to answer that last question, “Can Entropy be reversed?” The story goes on to tell us that as Entropy rises to its final resting level, all individual knowledge coalesce and join into one universal consciousness.
I reflect on what we are experiencing in the world today. Is it the entropy effect on the competences and knowledge possessed by the developed world? Of the inevitable seeping loss to the rest of the world. What would the next turn of the screw bring? As we see Asia rising today, would we not see Africa rising tomorrow? And so on, till a flat world achieves steady state of uniform competence and knowledge levels all over.
But do we see what this seeped competence and knowledge is doing? It is raising the level of awareness all over. Awareness of social and political realities, awareness of heightened aspirations, awareness of the need to keep on improving and improvising. An awareness which is getting accentuated by rapidly evolving communication, networking and database access technologies. And with this heightened awareness has come the inevitability of consciousness.
So what do I envision going forward?
I see mankind fast reaching a new level of human consciousness. As more of us become consciousness- conscious, as our thinking DNAs get re-programmed, we would start seeing and dealing with the world in significantly different ways. Most of the challenges and conflicts of today’s world stem from our beliefs and fears residing in the depths of our sub-conscious. Be it through the manifestation of ego, false fronts or preconceived judgments. But as we gain in consciousness, we gain the intent to shine the spotlight on these hidden drivers of our thoughts and behaviour. And under the light, these beliefs and fears shrink away and lose the capacity to run our lives.
Can we visualise the exciting times we are getting into? As the world witnesses consciousness rising like a tide all over with knowledge flows and heightened awareness. As the human brain starts utilising more of its unconscious capacity. As our new consciousness allows us to “see” our path towards enlightenment. As we herald the dawn of a new age, an Age of Consciousness.
Will this Age of Consciousness be the ultimate evolutionary goal of Mankind?
We are beginning to understand that what exists at the essential core of matter is information and energy. I hope and believe that the Information Age is going to be the stepping-off point for the Age of Consciousness
Dr. Deepak Chopra- spiritual writer & speaker, 2007
***
I am left wondering about what could make the big picture happen and expedite the dawn of ‘The Age of Consciousness’.
• What is that critical mass of knowledge flow and dissemination which would lead to heightened awareness of the big picture?
• What could each one of us do to reach that level?
In Learning…….. Shakti Ghosal
Acknowledgements:
1) The World Is flat: A brief history of the twenty first century by Thomas L. Friedman, 2005.
2) The Last Question by Isaac Asimov, 1956
A New Beginning 
We absolutely love your blog annd find a lot of your post’s to be exactly I’m looking
for. Does one offer guhest wrriters to write content in your case?
I wouldn’t mind publishing a post or elaborating on some of the subjeects youu write regarding here.
Again, awesome weblog!
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Hi Kenneth,
Could you elaborate on what kind of posting you would like to do?
Thanks
Shakti
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I tend to be like belasbrightideas, since I think that Barack Obama is our President, some people forget that he is trying to be diplomatic, along with in the ‘old days’ we would not question his judgment so much as show respect for him. I like how she expressed being from Hawaii, makes him a little different in his approach.
I think of my brother who is a professor, he will talk a long time on a position, but I love that he finishes his thoughts, with this simple shrug and saying, “But who am I to know? What do you think?” I go to him often because of his openness in his thoughts and actions. He is a caring individual. Take care and thanks for this post, it made me think of how I feel about Pres. Obama and the way he speaks. Smiles, Robin
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Hi Robin,
Great to see you back.
I liked the aspect of your brother you brought up. His questions, “But who am I to know? What do you think?”, underline one of the powerful and enduring underlying aspects behind humanity’s progress. The consciousness that there is more out there than what we know, the humility to be willing to learn from another individual and a mindset of curiosity.
Thank you for your great comment, Robin. I appreciate.
Shakti
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Yahhh … there are many threads that weave through these thoughts. The main issues that jump out at me – as a Hawaii resident and a US citizen – are those about Obama, a man I happily voted into office.
I wonder if anyone who isn’t from Hawaii can understand the roots of the term Aloha. Hawaiians live it, and many who are attracted to this place embrace it. It’s a path of heart, of allowing all voices and manifestations to peacefully, even blissfully at times, coexist.
Hawaii does not function like the rest of the US of A. Obama, being raised here, has this innate quality to his personality, and it’s been his ‘undoing’ as a world leader – Not as a human being! It’s hard to be both, apparently. Apparently. If he’s guilty of anything, it’s of being too conciliatory, and that’s been his Achilles heel. It’s like a flashing neon sign to greedy corporate interests which have run this government for many years now. And though many of us wish he had had the cajones to implement more of the foundational changes that got him elected, I understand the powers he is up against.
Obama has his ear to the ground, and he knows public opinion at large is fed up with inserting our military into foreign lands where we don’t belong. Post-WWII, our track record is rapidly devolving into bloody conflicts which gut out the core of societies, leaving little to reconstruct upon. There have been too many wars for oil and other back-door corporate interests, and many Americans are becoming too jaded to believe in killing people to support their unsustainable lifestyle.
Does this bring us into alignment with higher collective consciousness? People of all nations are awakening to the need for a more level playing field. Are realizing our global resources are finite. Media, social and otherwise, is uniting us in ways never before possible. The Internet. We are seeing firsthand how our actions as a nation are affecting other nations; how our perceived ‘needs’ are rippling across and polluting the lives of others. We are noticing how others perceive us collectively. Many of us do not like what we see, and seek to understand the reasons Why. In this way, we are aligning ourselves more and more with an upswelling Human Family that transcends borders. More and more we are realizing that the global problems we face will take a unified effort to solve. More and more, we are understanding the roots of “I am another yourself.” We are choosing to implement Aloha in our daily lives.
What glorious times we are living in!
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Dear Bela,
At the outset my apologies for responding to you late; I have been travelling out.
Once again, thank you for a lovely and perceptive comment. What jumped out at me was the powerful perspective and question you have raised.And I quote you here, “…. Obama has this innate quality of
‘Aloha’ in his personality, and it’s been his ‘undoing’ as a world leader – Not as a human being! It’s hard to be both, apparently.” What are those qualities one needs to have as a World Leader that detract from being a good human being? Could it be that what are perceived as such needed qualities for being an effective World Leader might in fact be the cause of some of the major problems that we see manifesting in the world?
To me , a Leader and his exercising Leadership effectively, are based on the following fundamental qualities.
1) Integrity 2) Being Authentic in terms of showing up as who you really are 3) Be committed to something larger than one’s own self and 4) Be the Cause in the matter.
Would you agree that these are also the qualities that makes one a complete human being? In case that is so, what is really needed to shift the mindset of leadership? What is that first step one needs to take.
Blessings
Shakti
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“Could it be that what are perceived as such needed qualities for being an effective World Leader might in fact be the cause of some of the major problems that we see manifesting in the world?” I completely agree with you!
Yet here’s the thing in the USA: we no longer truly possess a democracy; instead, corporate interests buy and sell politicians. In this way, Obama is no different – the money it takes to run a Presidential campaign is beyond the pale. And I (as well as many others) mourn the loss of this President’s apparent integrity. It’s why we voted him into office.
Until someone has the wherewithal to counter this powerfully built money machine we call government, change is nigh on impossible. It’s why the Congress has locked itself in battle with the President for his entire term (oh, that and glaring racism). The checks and balances of a democratic government have been turned on their heads by a relatively few greedy individuals. As long as Americans continue in passivity about this, it surely will continue.
That being gotten off my chest (!), the first step would be to use one’s executive power to simply say NO to corporate interests and YES to the people who elected (him or her). Will it happen? I hope I live to see the day when it does. No one will celebrate it more. Meanwhile, perhaps another country will provide a more mature and forward-facing model for the world to emulate.
Aloha.
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Bela,
Great thoughts!
In your perspective, the access to Government is through big corporate funding.But could there be other alternative paths? If, as you say, the intrinsic checks and balances of Democracy have got compromised, then should we call it democracy in the first place?
If I were to ask you to stand on nothing ( i.e. you bring in no preconceived notions) and envision what Democracy should be, what would be that? Could you then see that whatever else that manifests and parades itself as “Democracy” in front of us is really something else, what Democracy has morphed into and wound up being?
So what kind of inner commitment is needed for the President ( or elected Political Leader) to say NO to corporate interests and YES to the people? What needs to be done to separate corporate interests out?
The change, to be sustainable, needs to be from a commitment and desire within, it can never come from somewhere else in my view. History has shown Human civilisation development as an upward moving helix and, yes, learning and emulation are definite ingredients but never the motive power. That, Bela, has always been that commitment and desire we spoke about above.
Namaaste!
Shakti
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Shakti, if I had the answers you seek, I would be a miracle worker. I do not, for many truths are hidden and many are being revealed daily. The system we have in place is to elect representatives we feel have the clearest and most honorable objectives. Even then, corruption in Washington seems insurmountable. Still, I have hope that a critical mass will be reached where we can turn this boat around.
Democracy is government By the People, For the People, as the Founding Fathers of the US declared. In which case, the people themselves would be heard instead of politicians being bought by huge corporate interests. Greed has become the driving force of our government, and it’s compromising the fundamental rights of its citizens. When corporations are paying next to no taxes while the rowers in the boat are having to pay back-breaking taxes in order just to stay out of prison, things have tumbled far, far from those early ideals.
Beyond that, the style of living here is compromising the entire world’s population; something an adolescent nation may only have begun to reflect upon. We all ‘should’ have a right to clean air, clean water, and natural resources enough to sustain life and a basic level of comfort, if we are diligent. Who needs a billion dollars? What divisions are we creating in this kind of economic climate? Global warming is helping to level the playing field, as it is bringing some of the everyday struggles of people in ‘developing nations’ right home to roost.
Beyond that, no. We have no business calling our government a Democracy any longer, sad to say. Although people are taking to the streets for climate change, as we speak. So perhaps this is a fundamental means by which we begin to reclaim our own government. The invitation to ‘think globally, act locally’ may then take root, and perhaps we can instill long-forgotten values into a citizenry, once again; this time with an eye on the entire world and how we are all interconnected. That vision was beyond the scope of the Founding Fathers of our nation.
Aloha, and be well.
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Isn’t this how world wars start? With a bunch of different flash points all coming together? I don’t see a uniform competence likely. There’s too much flux for that to happen. Uniform means stable, and there’s never been uniform stability in humankind. Is that cynical?
If Oprah Winfrey married Deepak Chopra she’d be–Oprah Chopra! 😉
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Great thought there!
Well it is not really about any uniformity in competence; It is really more about heightened and equalisation of consciousness in the initial stage. This aspect would manifest in equalisation or at least reduction in the difference of competences also over time. Such a hypothesis is also borne out by history. Look at something like last century’s technological breakthrough called the ‘Motor Car’. The expertise which was initially with only a couple of nations is now available everywhere….
Indeed there has never been ‘unform stability’ in humankind. But that is one of the reasons for the way human civilisations have evolved. The twin aspects of development alongwith disparity, discrimination and conflicts.But this was always possible due to monopolisation of knowledge in one way or the other. What I have tried to say is that Humankind is at the cusp of a revolution in terms of heightened consciousness which holds the power of creating transformative and disruptive changes to all that we are familiar with and take for granted.
Thank you for visiting and commenting here.
Shakti
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Greetings Shakti….Times are certainly challenging right now! Living in the U.S. especially as very few people trust Obama’s ability to lead anymore. Quite unnerving to many but one has to look with broader vision to grasp the totality of what is happening to not freak out. This lack of trust is forcing people to figure out ways to cope with Obama’s inability to bring together and lead. He is hurting more than helping, so if he is hurting, it forces people to find ways to undo what he is doing. It is forcing people to look to themselves for the answers instead of to our Govt and this is GOOD!!!! This as you say is awakening consciousness…We are backed into the proverbial corner and there is no way out but to depend upon ourselves. Not always a fun ride as Obama’s lack of action is upping the risk factors greatly in our country. With our open border with Mexico and all the illegals coming across, God knows who else is entering our space. Feels like we are near to the end and a major jolt is coming as we shift into yet another new stage of awareness. Hang on tight 🙂 Blessings…VK
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HI VK,
At the outset, do accept my sincere apologies for responding late since I had been travelling.
Thank you for your very thoughtful comment.If , as you say, the outside circumstances is leading to folks looking within to gain answers, that indeed is a very positive development in the realm of heightened consciousness. So VK, how do you see this playing out and what could be the first step you could take to support this way forward?
Thank you VK and God bless.
Shakti
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As always, Shakti, much to contemplate. I applaud President Obama for acknowledging that he does not yet have a strategy. I don’t see it as a sign of fear or insecurity, I see it as a positive thing that the solution is not in the unilateral action of any one nation. For quite some time, I’ve been of the opinion that the United Nations is a grossly underutilized and underauthorized international organization that could be a powerful tool for bringing about that globalization toward which we are lurching. We are one, and this is the planet we live on. It is up to all of us: all nations, all states, all municipalities, all communities, all individuals to understand we’re all in here together. When one of us suffers, we all suffer. When one of us succeeds, it is because of the effort of all of us. Our consciousness is expanding in that direction; however, we are not all at the same stage of expansion, so we lurch.
The global state of affairs is a very clear expression of our continued and steadfast expansion of consciousness…and our continued perception of separation.
As always, all the best, my friend! xoM
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Dear Margarita,
Do accept my apologies for the late acknowledgement of your comment. I had been travelling and was challenged in terms of accessing my site. But then here I am 🙂
Thank you for your very perceptive comment. What jumps out at me is that wonderful realisation you have articulated, and I quote, ” When one of us suffers, we all suffer. When one of us succeeds, it is because of the effort of all of us. Our consciousness is expanding in that direction; however, we are not all at the same stage of expansion, so we lurch.”
So Margarita, what could each one of us do to hasten this process of expanding consciousness?
Blessings
Shakti
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Shakti, I’m glad you have safely returned from your travels and that we may carry on our conversation!
I feel what we need to do is exquisitely simple, and not so easy to accomplish. I have found it most useful to release myself from the perceptions of fear and judgment.
President Franklin Roosevelt reminded us decades ago that “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” Each time I am are able to tease myself away from the idea of fear, I take a step away from the notion of some sort of apocalyptic demise and allow an expansion of non-fear to enter that space. In my human experience, when things become uncomfortable, my inclination seems to be to get out of that uncomfortable place as quickly as possible, by any means possible. More often than not, a pause to breathe, release myself from the perception of fear and discomfort, suspending judgment, thereby allowing Consciousness to flow through me, serves me (and those around me) better. Hundreds of thousands of such pauses on an individual basis can lead to a collective shift and expansion of consciousness. Simple concept, not so easy to execute.
As human beings, we are very invested in the idea of the “here and now” within the confines of the lifetime we’re experiencing. We forget that the here and now is all we ever have, only we have it in eternity. So we seek answers, solutions, fixes RIGHT NOW. The thing is, each of us is a part of a vast, infinite, and eternal organism (this is, of course, my point of view), and while there is unimaginable freedom to express within that organism, there are also laws that contour that expression. So it behooves us to remember those laws, to respect and have compassion that not all of us, while equal, have the same understanding or remembrance of those laws, and to proceed, as much as we are individually capable of in this moment, with Love and Joy rather than fear and hate.
Pausing to have this discussion, no matter when it takes place, is one of the things we can do to hasten the process of expanding consciousness. It may seem counter-intuitive to pause to get someplace faster…it works for me. 😉 By bringing up the subject for discussion, you are already part of the hastening process, Shakti. By engaging and joining you in that discussion, I aid and abet your effort to hasten the process. Thank you for the opportunity, my friend.
Always wonderful visiting your space in the blogosphere, and consciousness, Shakti! xoxoM
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Dear Margarita,
Wonderfully articulated! You clearly hold great consciousness about the practice and work each one of us needs to do within ourself to move forward and support the creation of an expanded consciousness.
What is it really that bring up aspects of Fear and Judgement within us? It is when we apprehend a loss of something in our core. It is also when we perceive such a loss undermining who we ‘show up as’ in some way. Who we show up as is usually who we have wound up being, having maneuvered through life’s experiences and tribulations. I suppose the access to a state that is devoid of Fear and Judgment is possible through creating a plasticity within ourself which allows us to separate our intrinsic self from the Self we have wound up being.
Thank you., Margarita, for this great discussion and providing me the opportunity to think some more about this issue!
Shakti
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