Chapter 4
‘If you seek small things to do, and do them well, great things will seek you, and demand to be performed.’
Ancient saying
The pivotal years of the transition are crucial in order to ‘hold the fort’ and create stability and a degree of coherence as the old system energies die hard. And they will not die away overnight. Some of the current mis under standings over the transition or ‘energy shift’ have been related to specific dates and so-called ancient calendars. Whilst a profound socio-cultural transition has emerged, it is not like a light switch that at one moment is suddenly and dramatically turned on and the whole place becomes illuminated. What we are dealing with here is not an instant struck-by-lightning effect. It is generational change that is happening swiftly when seen within the context of evolutionary time. Each genera tion will take part in the change, thus building an energy impulse. As mentioned before, we are not dealing here with linear change – these are the old patterns. As change builds upon change, each step will create exponential development. The current generations will feel and experience the shudders and shakes as we prepare the ground for those to come. This means being the bridge for later generations to arrive: specifically, for those who will be born as change. This means developing the capacity to view both the old and the new realities, and allowing the latter to emerge without the former collapsing into chaos.
Many of us are likely to experience living through a time of decreasing physical resources and finances. There are also likely to be emotional and psychological impacts that could be destabilizing. Some of the younger people within the Bridge Generation are already experiencing a hard time, as social and educational impacts serve to destabilize and confuse rather than support their personal development. Mainstream media outlets too bear a lot of responsibility for promoting unhealthy and dis harmonious influences. According to researchers, children under the age of four who watch television are 20% more likely to develop attention-deficit disorder (ADD) by the age of seven than children who don’t.1 Some of the most widespread modern disorders affecting young people today are markedly anti-social traits: ADD, ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder), ODD (oppositional-defiance disorder), PDD (per vasive developmental disorder), AS (Asperger syndrome), SID (sensory-integration dysfunction), and ASD (autistic spectrum disorder). In the USA one out of ten young people show signs of mental illness and more than 7 million have been diagnosed with ADD; diagnoses of ADHD are up 600% since 1990 and autism is now considered an epidemic.2 Our young children are the fastest-growing segment of the prescription drug market, coerced into the need to consume Ritalin, Prozac or Risperdal. The controversial drug Ritalin has been reported to affect a child’s size and weight, and to cause permanent changes to the brain. Prozac has been known to cause violent behaviour and is said to carry a high incidence of depression and suicide. Our young generations, who are the most vulnerable to narcotic influences, are being targeted by powerful medications that are supposed to represent the legal side of our societies. We can also add to this mix the barrage of soft drinks (with aspartame sweetner), junk food, alcohol, toxic pollutants, food additives and chemically treated material that increasingly pervade the environments that young children are exposed to as they grow up. It is not without coincidence that in recent years there also has been a marked increase in the number of children suffering from food allergies and nutrition disorders. Conditions include, but are not limited to, thyroid disorders, amino-acid deficiencies, inflamed intestines, and immune-system disturbances from the ingestion of pesticides, growth hormones, irradiated food and so on.
Also worrying is that our young generations are becoming ever more desensitized to extreme violence as video games increasingly merge with military simulations. Children’s entertainment has gradually changed into ‘militainment’ as warfare gaming and first-person shooters become bestsellers and a gaming phenomenon. The simulation of violence and military machismo makes macabre, unreal and deviant fantasies realizable. Immersion is permitted at the press of a button; and instant on-demand gratifications satiate anti-social urges. It can become all too easy for an impressionable youngster to blur the boundaries between violent fantasy and the physical world. We must look at the shocking occasions when youngsters have violently taken the lives of others at school shootings. High-profile incidents in recent years include Sandy Hook Elementary School (2012); Virginia Polytechnic and State University (2007); and Columbine High School (1999), to name a few. Living through the current years may present difficulties as some of us struggle to embrace positive development amidst signs of imbalance. Yet this chaotic mixture is part of the process of change, and one that must be embraced and transformed from within. Those of the Bridge Generation have the responsibility, and privilege, of working from within the old system – using its models and energies in order to transform them. Thus, each individual has the task to live for those beyond their ego-self. As the philosopher Sri Aurobindo noted, the law for the individual is ‘to harmonize his life with the life of the social aggregate and to pour himself out as a force for growth and perfection on humanity’.3
The impacts we can expect to receive in the coming years should also encourage us to increase our intent and focus in order to achieve and get things done on less – more through less. We may be forced – as well as encouraged – to live with less reliance on monetary transactions, and to seek alternative tangible lifestyles and status signifiers. It is generally in such times of transition that the notion of self-realization comes more consciously to the surface, alongside the psychological tendency toward collective, communal consciousness. With modern technologies bringing people into closer communi cation, there is also the tendency to find our selves in relations that require greater awareness and tolerance. At the same time this process is forcing each one of us not only to know ourselves better, but also to know more profoundly those others to whom we are connected. Within the Bridge Generation we are experiencing the diffusion of knowledge and information with an unprecedented rapidity and scale. Human capacity is being catalyzed to respond to these changes and challenges.
Those of us who accept to walk upon and maintain this bridge will be asked to speak the language of transition clearly and calmly, both the language/ vocabulary of the old systems and patterns and the new. The path will connect to both sides during the transition. For this reason, working on it requires sincerity, integrity and transparency. It is less about reliance upon external devices, and more about trusting one’s inner self and instincts. That is why I feel that the Bridge Generation is on a warrior’s path, in that it must be both strong and sincere, and yet subtle. It is a path that aligns both male and female energies, consciousness and values. The new values of connection, communication, consciousness and compassion, will assist us in aligning with an energy that binds rather than breaks, that emphasizes well-being as well as well-doing.
In this respect the value of sincerity is of great importance, now more than ever, as we are surrounded by tales, stories and false mythologies selling us pseudo-spiritual escapism or commercialized fear. The reality (or the ‘greater truth’) of this is more subtle and yet more powerful – it is the ongoing development of human society and the evolution of human consciousness. And it is an ongoing work in progress – and it is as simple and as difficult as that.
The Living Work
Welcome to the 21st century where communications and human stories are connecting us together like never before. The Internet represents aspects of this new relational ‘feminine’ energy. The Internet connects people into multiple relationships; it is responsible for nurturing rising empathy across the world; it shares stories and needs, and reaches out to many people and communities. Sure, it has its negative aspects too – that is the nature of a world of duality. If we focus on the constructive changes we see how individuals, communities, businesses and systems are recalibrating across the world to be aligned with the new interconnectivity that symbolizes the world we are moving into. This feminine energy needs new pathways in order to enter and permeate our material world. Our physical systems are responding to this call by shifting from centralized infra structures to distributed and decentralized networks. Yet we also need to assist this recalibration by changing the ways we think since altering the ways we do things will not gain permanence until human consciousness changes. In order to allow the new changes to establish we need to allow the energies of change to flow through us. That is, to manifest the qualities, attitudes and our presence in the world that will most effectively receive, hold and transmit this perception and awareness. This responsibility is our living work now.
Remember our history lessons of the witchhunts and witch trials – remember stories of Salem? In the 16th– 18th centuries Europe witnessed a peak in the witchhunts that put to death tens of thousands of women accused of being witches. The executioners were predominantly men who represented the church hierarchy. This was a masculine energy that for millennia had been parading and swinging its heavy paternal axe of hierarchical power. The witches were a manifestation of female power that the ecclesiastical authorities could not tolerate. Many of these so-called ‘witches’ were women who knew about herbs, how to heal and nurture people, and how to listen to nature (others of course were victims of gossip). Yet one of the things they were accused of, amongst many, was of gathering and conspiring together. How did they gather? They gathered in witches’ circles – here we have the energy of hierarchical power against the energy of circular, relational flow. It was the fear of a ‘magical presence’ within the female that fuelled a deep repression over the centuries that has become a pattern – the denial of the subtle, the integral, the nurturing. Now it is coming around again.
The new energy of this ‘living work’ is relational, not mechanical nor isolated; it does not thrive upon seclusion but upon contact and receptivity through others. It flows and works through organic, non-hierarchical systems, through networks, webs, and circles, through the threads that weave the wholeness of life together. This energy does not thrive through top-down power structures; it no longer seeks one-to-one encounters – it flows like life itself. The days of working in seclusion are over – the new energy does not support separation. The flow must connect between inner and outer events and states. The new living work must exist within the active folds, avenues and marketplace of life. High castles, priestly enclaves, guru sanctuaries and all such are edifices of the past where a different energy was contained. The new energy – which shows aspects of the feminine consciousness – is a nurturing one that comes alive through people. Whereas the previous masculine-orientated energy wished to stand visible and powerful like the tower on the hill, the feminine energy is more subtle, and flows through the appreciative touch, the supportive word, the reassuring glance that filters through each one of us as we wend our way through life. That which was once hidden can now be made manifest through us – this is the living work.
So we need to be sincere with ourselves, for if we are unable to be, then who can do it for us? This sincerity means acknowledging that no matter how the world appears to be – external to us – the real work begins within us. And the real work does not arrive with a mega phone announcement, with fee-paying ‘instant enlightenment’ courses, or with emotionally stimulating/ gratifying commercial events. Often, such subtle work begins with a silence, a quietness of acknowledgement, attention, concentration, inspiration and intention. The process of transition and transformation requires patience from us for it is generational change, and we are in the midst of this process right now.
Conscious awareness is a new tool for us. We are only now really learning how to deal with its presence. This does not mean that the growth of conscious awareness is going to turn us into a psychic species overnight (remember what I said about our ‘switching on the light’ mentality?!). Yet it does mean that we will be feeling greater impulses and sparks of intuition – and we should trust more in those internal senses. They will turn out to be right more times than not – if we are listening correctly. This means being able to recognize what is appropriate for the time, and dismissing that which we feel is either no longer appropriate for us, or no longer relevant, or not in correct alignment with our new values. It is about accepting the responsibility to stand up for a new energy we are carrying around with us. I don’t wish this to sound obscure or, heaven forbid, esoteric(!), yet we need to become accustomed to talking about the feel of the energies we carry around within us. When we are aware and attentive to our energy states we will instinctively feel when something is right or not. The growing sense within each person about what is right, appropriate and functional will start to shift potentials away from the power of institutions and more toward individuals. This is why it is important that individuals connect through emerging models of collaboration, such as social networks and new communication technologies.
Transition signifies a re-organization: a shifting of energies as well as physical systems, worldviews, perceptions and lifestyles. And in the midst of such ‘spring cleaning’, we need to be prepared to be adaptive, flexible and open for positive developmental change. Why should this be so difficult a concept to grasp? After all, we wouldn’t spring-clean the house without first taking out or re-arranging the furniture. So why should it be so different for us? We need to re-arrange the furniture of our thinking, beliefs and models in order to welcome in the new arrangements. After this, we can learn to appreciate that things can – and will – get better. First, we just have to deal with the potential discomfort – and the responsibility – of grand planetary change. We need to respond to the ‘calling’.
The Calling
There is one thing in this world you must never forget to do. If you forget everything else and do this one thing, you will have accomplished everything. Yet if you remember everything else and forget this one thing, then you will have done nothing in your life. Rumi
The 13th-century Persian poet Jalal ad-Din Rumi reminds us in the above saying that we have each arrived here in our lives with something to accomplish. This is our ‘calling’ – the inner impulse which urges us onward, often toward an unknown, or unrealized, destination.
Many people in the Bridge Generation will feel the stirrings of a ‘calling’: a need to activate something – some purpose or meaning – within them. Some may be attracted to books (such as this one), or to events, gatherings or other signifiers. Other ways to activate a person’s calling – or actualized state – may come through doing; whilst others will be through being. Part of the process of opening ourselves up to what I have named abstractly as the ‘calling’ will be the need to prepare our minds to be receptive to new avenues of possibilities and potentials.
The Bridge Generation does not yet possess a common story, or even a shared consciousness. Yet these aspects within humanity are slowly beginning to emerge in mass – and not just in isolated, individual pockets as in times past. As we awaken we can begin to connect through our social technologies, and begin to build new potentials from our inherent connectivity. The awakener – as the lone inventor – can now connect with other like-minded (like-hearted and like-spirited) persons across the planet and begin seeding the energies of creative intention and change. We no longer have to work alone – by sharing what we know and feel, and what inspires us, we can participate in developmental change.
Change upon this planet will come through us, the people – and the attitudes, awareness, compassion, sincerity and related qualities that we embody and mani fest. This is the real stability that can be passed on to those around us. As balanced, subtle, uplifting energies manifest in more and more people, change will increasingly occur in our external environments. Again, it will not appear overnight. Yet the energies are moving in the right direction, and there are millions of people already feeling this joy of change. The Bridge Generation needs to maintain a focus on the great opportunities emerging now and not become disheartened: as the infamous phrase puts it: Illegitimi non carborundum (‘Don’t let the bastards grind you down’). People’s minds are changing all over the world, and with this come remarkable and inspiring potential and opportunity. Things can no longer go on as they have been; this is now plainly obvious to most observant people.
If you are reading these words now, it is because you are ready for this change and responsibility – and have the capacity to participate. Generational change is just that – it takes place over generations. Sounds like a long time? Well, in evolutionary terms we are zipping along. We are witnessing exponential change that would have awed our ancestors and should make our descendants proud. The Bridge Generation is already busy preparing and planting the seeds for a better Earth – no time to stop now. As Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee says, ‘Love has no power structures or hierarchies; it is not for sale. It passes freely from heart to heart along the web of oneness that connects us all.’4
An important step in developing the potential and capacities within us is to become more conscious and aware of the abilities we already possess, and of their presence within our daily lives. By learning how to manifest our intuition and inner feelings with conscious intent we will further facilitate their growth and functioning. Many people within the Bridge Generation may believe that tangible change is not occurring fast enough – especially when their instinct feels the need for changing the status quo. Yet we must acknowledge and accept the necessary learning process, and not be discouraged. We have sought power for ourselves from without – from our sciences and technology – to the detriment of our own inherent power that resides within. However, the reality that change is now moving through human society is evidenced by the dramatic increase in the number of people interested and committed to self-actualization, and the rise in human-potential movements. The urge is now rising strongly within many people. These stirrings will form the bedrock of the Bridge Generation, and allow us to prepare for future years that will not be based upon the past patterns. This new era of psycho-spiritual growth will be increasingly validated as new narratives and stories replace the old to ascribe to us a more truthful role in the evolutionary drama.
This new narrative is one of an evolving species within an evolving universe – a great adventure that is irreversible yet creative and inspiring. The Bridge Generation will see the signs of a new form of spirituality emerging, in which old institutional dogmas are replaced by increasing individual spiritual knowledge. The manifestation of spiritual truths will shift more into the open as inner intuition becomes stronger within each of us. We are moving toward the empowerment of the individual – of each human being – and this is frightening for the controlling authority structures. There will come a time, and it is already happening now, when the corruption within our social systems will become so blatant to all that no one can publicly deny it without ridicule or outrage. This is the new-conscious ness shift toward transparency – and this will increase and manifest more strongly within the hearts and minds of the younger generations. The necessary shift toward increasingly transparent relations in our politics, society and economy will require the growing self-realization of the people. As people begin to become more actively aware and engaged in creating well-being, peace and social betterment, the changes will roll out exponentially. Those people already playing the part of the Bridge Generation are creating this platform for new models, innovations and ideas to spread.
In the next section I discuss how humanity is hard-wired to adapt biologically in response to experience, and how new neural processes in our brains can come into being through our changing forms of interactions, connections and communications. We are witness to a new global mind rising that is empathic, increasingly aware and eager to recalibrate.
The future is exciting – and it is right here where you are sitting . . .