There are four recent events on the world stage that give clear evidence of the accelerated growth of consciousness in humanity as a whole—beyond that of a century ago. The first event provides a beautiful example of a sense of shared humanity and a detachment from the instinctual responses of the lower self; the second event demonstrates a clear identification with the Higher Self, the soul. In the third and fourth events, we see the spearheading of the soul’s response to urgent need on a planetary scale.
Western psychology charts humanity’s transition into these ‘Transpersonal’ stages, which it also identifies as being overseen by the soul. (See the works of Ken Wilber and Suzanne Cook-Greuter.) It has tracked the percentages of humans at the previous highest stage—the coherent and highly functioning personality—and a definite percentage of humanity (currently around 5%) at the stage called Transpersonal or soul stage.
The first incident involved the plight of a group of boys trapped deep within a cave in Thailand (2018). The world could have looked on coldly, deciding that they were just little brown boys who lived in an unimportant part of the world. But the response was very different. The Thais were not alone in their dilemma as loving concern arose in the hearts of millions around the world. The dramatic rescue of the boys was performed by an international team led by Dr Richard Stanton from England, and Australians Dr Richard Harris and Craig Challen.
Little hope was held for the boys’ rescue. They had walked 2.5 miles into the cave when a sudden storm filled it, blocking their retreat. For an entire fortnight the boys were trapped. When they were finally floated, unconscious, one by one down the narrow cave, it seemed miraculous. Throughout the world there was heartfelt joy at the news of their survival and gratitude to the heroes for their inspired methods of escape, despite the risk to their own lives. The rescue, and our response to it, were beautiful examples of brotherhood, prompted from the transpersonal or soul level.
In the second event, we heard of the murder of fifty-one Muslims at worship in two mosques in New Zealand (2019). The Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, responded with great compassion to the grief of the Muslim community. As she held one widow in her arms and wept with her, she grieved their tragic loss with deepest sincerity. All over the world, we responded with admiration to this lesson of a truly compassionate response from the soul.
“We are One. They are Us,” she declared. Again, it drew out a recognition of Truth on an international level that was as powerful as her genuine and sympathetic expression of grief. It was an expression of communal love from a world leader and unlike any that we have witnessed, demonstrating a beautiful example of true brotherhood and identification with the Higher Self. We all wished in that moment to be led by such a leader.
The New Zealanders had already begun to respond with love, as Jacinda noted when saying that she was merely echoing the response of her nation. Everyone had been leaving flowers and cards of condolence, and joining the Muslim community in prayer, despite the fact that this was a community that had been on the fringe of society in NZ, as in other non-Muslim countries. The demonstration of love made a hero of Ardern; her photograph was beamed around the world, featuring in broadcasts and social media everywhere. There is now an old silo in Melbourne, with a huge painting displayed in memory of what occurred on that day. Once again, humanity’s response showed a capacity to go beyond fixed habit, to respond appropriately to sincere need, and to lovingly identify with one’s sisters and brothers regardless of differences in race and religion.
In the third instance, we are witnessing the leadership qualities of a daring youth demonstrating the power of the higher consciousness as it begins to unfold worldwide, leading others towards the truth, and humanity’s heartfelt response to this demonstration. With courage, integrity and singlemindedness, the Swedish schoolgirl, Greta Thunberg, overcame her almost crippling despair over the inaction of our global leaders on climate change, and called for the world’s schoolchildren to rally against the willful and systematic destruction of the planet. Suddenly we were seeing children leading huge rallies which have continued. The demonstrations also drew the opposite response—of the lower self—within those who choose to deny the evidence of Climate Change and the need for global change; we saw the greedy moguls and reactionary ruling classes who admonished the young for wasting their schooling on demonstrations against extinction. Again, the response from ordinary members of the human race was soul-driven, committed to undoing the damage that humanity continues to inflict on the planet.
Another very young leader who has aroused a soul response in humanity is Malala Yousafzai, who was almost killed by the Taliban in Afghanistan for her advocacy of girls’ education. This wonderful exemplar, fighting for the natural rights of women and girls, went on after her recovery to organise change worldwide for their education. Her impassioned speech at the UN (2013, at age 16) arrested the attention of the delegates and the onlooking world and earned her a worldwide following in those who are responsive to the promptings of the soul.
These three exemplars—Greta Thunberg, Malala Yousafzai and Jacinda Ardern—are pioneers of the cutting edge in this new stage in consciousness, which will become increasingly common as more of us in the world respond to soul promptings and thereby shift into the energies of a new era. Humanity is clearly moving through the stages of awareness charted in Transpersonal Psychology, incorporating each earlier stage into the next higher stage. As we cross from First Tier, with its stages of limited awareness buried in personality, into Second Tier, with the dawning of higher consciousness arising from recognition of the Higher Self, aware at last of the habitual reactions of the lower self or personality, we are learning to respond to the witness, or soul consciousness. The popular meditations founded on mindfulness help in bringing about this shift into the Witnessing or Observing consciousness which lies beyond the personality and its foibles. There are many discoveries now proving that consciousness is not brain-dependent nor limited to the body.
Despite appearances to the contrary, humanity is evolving! There are Those at higher stages of consciousness Who function beyond the purely physical planes. The wisdom and compassion of these sages, fruits of their many lifetimes on earth, draw them back towards the Earth to aid us, and the climate emergency with its catastrophic consequences for all life on the planet is hastening this. What is needed to bring about the visible ‘return of the Wise Ones’ is a bridge in consciousness—one that is constructed by those who are familiar with the Second Tier, that of soul consciousness, and which must be built on our side of the veil.
Another recent example demonstrating the burgeoning development of soul consciousness on a global scale, is the worldwide response to the death of George Floyd, the black American who was murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis, USA. There has been a huge response from people in the streets under the banner ‘Black Lives Matter’, and not just in Minneapolis, but across America and amazingly, around the world. In Australia, the demonstration incited the demand for justice towards the Aboriginal Australians, for the cessation of racial discrimina-tion and brutality in all its forms.
Love, peace and brotherhood that were the emerging signature energies of the pivotal moment that was Woodstock, 50 years ago, marked a new stage in human responsiveness to soul direction; we marched then to protest and organise for the rights and needs of other humans, not just ourselves. Soul consciousness was a vital part of the Civil Rights movement: the first time that a vast number of ordinary human beings marched together to force civil improvements in the condition and treatment of other disenfranchised groups of humans. The recent uprising is a stage further in this development, as the death of one individual caused by police violence was met not only by global compassion, but with a united resistance to racial inequality and a demand for right human relations.
The Aquarian age with its liberating energies will be fully established as humanity learns to love and serve all that is good, true and beautiful. Humanity is evolving!
“Another world is not only possible, she is on her way.
On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.”
Arundhati Roy, author and activist
~ NWOL.US