(To read the rest of the book, go to Amazon)
Finally, I want to share a few words about the confusing and chaotic state of the world today. Obviously, we are facing huge challenges: everything from the ravages of climate change and devastating global diseases to political and economic upheaval and deepening world conflict—all made even more intense by overwhelm from the information age and social media. Never in human history have we been faced with so much complexity, uncertainty, and change.
How do we make sense of these challenges, and how do we get through them? Can our inner wisdom help us navigate through this shifting and tumultuous terrain? My answer is an unequivocal yes. But before I explain how, first a little perspective.
A Daily Glimpse of Our Dear Home
For many years now, on my altar, I have kept a framed photograph of the earth taken from the moon. The planet, one quarter in shadow and three quarters in sunlight, hangs just above the barren moonscape, a breathtakingly beautiful, blue-and-white marble suspended in the inky blackness of empty space.
This photo is a daily reminder of where I live and what is important. Though I have seen it thousands of times now, I never tire of looking at it. Each time I gaze at the earth, I am amazed. Amazed at its beauty and unlikely presence. Amazed at how alive it looks rotating silently in space. Amazed that all I have ever known or cared about exists inside the razor-thin atmosphere surrounding this little blue ball.
Most of all, I am amazed that the earth is my home, and quite literally my mother—that every cell in my body came from this precious little sphere and will soon be returning to it. As I sense the magic and sacredness of the Mother Earth, my heart goes out to her. At the same time, I feel in my bones the unspeakable power and intelligence orchestrating the intricacies of her evolution and my own.
Prophecies From Around the World
For thousands of years, Native people who live close to the earth have felt and celebrated the earth’s magic and sacredness without needing reminders. Being so finely attuned to the planet, they have also been keenly aware of nature’s cycles, and many tribes have long predicted the turmoil we now experience around and within us.
Some Native prophecies speak of a tumultuous change of worlds—the destruction and dissolution of an old, outworn earth and the emergence of a new one. The Hopi and other tribes of North and South America have long predicted a “Great Purification,” a time of global cleansing that would be needed to return the earth to balance and harmony after centuries of unbridled human greed and exploitation.
The first clear illustration I saw of this prophecy was in the old barn near Asbury, New Jersey, that my teacher Tom Brown used as his classroom back in the 1980s. Explaining the prophecy to a group of eager students one cold winter night, Tom first drew a gaping chasm on a white board with the thick, black point of an erasable marker pen.
“That chasm represents the gap between the world as it is now and the world as the Creator intended it to be,” he said, pointing out the two plateaus on either side of the abyss. “On one side is a world of pollution, war, starvation disease, and deceit, the world we now live in. On the other side is a world of love, peace, joy, and harmony. In between is a chasm of destruction and despair, the place we’re headed if we stay on the road we’re traveling.
Right now, there is no way across that yawning gap.”
Then, with several other markers, Tom drew an arcing, multicolored bridge across the chasm. “That bridge is the only way we can bypass the chasm,” he said. “It represents the peaceful way, the way of spirit, and it is symbolized by the rainbow.”
Tom explained that there were spiritual circles all over the world whose members were helping to build the bridge. Each had its own particular medicine, it’s own expression of love, and its own unique powers and traditions. But all were acknowledged by the prophecy. To Native peoples throughout the Americas, the rainbow symbolized the unity of humanity, its diverse tribes coming together as one people, one family.
“The prophecy speaks of a time when people of all colors and creeds will come together as Warriors of the Rainbow to heal and reclaim our Mother Earth.” Tom said. Then he hastened to add, “But the purification won’t be gentle, people. You can’t have the rainbow without the storm. They are both a necessary part of the healing.”
That was almost forty years ago, when hardly any of us had heard about climate change. Since then, the world and human activity has shifted dramatically. For those with eyes to see, there can be little doubt that we are now in the throes of the Great Purification. The storm is raging all around us.
However, thanks to the enduring passion and dedication of teachers like Tom, there is now a global army of Rainbow Warriors at work. Even as the old world is shaking and crumbling, throngs of peaceful people from all corners of the globe are building the bridge and shepherding others across it as the new world emerges from the mist.
Today, as I see it, we are all being invited to join the builders, the shepherds, the Rainbow Warriors. We are all being invited to cross the bridge—to help heal and reclaim the Mother Earth and manifest that new world.
How Do We Manifest the New World?
And how do we do it? We do it first in our dreams, in our imagination, where all creation begins. We start by taking the time to consult our own ocean of inner wisdom, then doing our best to express and embody it in our daily lives. We do it by aligning with the divine, the force of creation itself.
Each time we settle into our hearts and access our inner ocean, we also access the timeless wisdom of the universe. Each time we settle into the depths and merge with that ocean, we find ourselves responding to rather than reacting to life’s challenges. Each time we leave our busy minds behind, we are gifted with new breath and new blessings we can offer each other and the world.
And what will we do after consulting our inner ocean? That will depend on each of us. Perhaps in those moments, you will choose to…
- Simply sit and be present with peace in your heart, allowing that peace to radiate around the world.
- Ask how you can serve, then follow up on the inspiration and ideas that come to you.
- Visualize the world you want to see, thinking globally and acting locally.
- Do some detailed research on a particular problem, then contribute to the solution in a way that is unique to you.
- Become an “earth steward,” helping nature in your area create a new harmony and balance on the planet.
- Teach and inspire others, leading, comforting, and reassuring in times of stress and uncertainty.
- Nurture the new generations, passing on peace and practical action with your hard-won wisdom and experience.
- Share your love in any way you can, helping to dissolve the darkness and despair.
- Celebrate this glorious life through dance, music, art, and communing with nature.
- Spontaneously express your joy and gratitude for life—a sure way of helping to build the Rainbow Bridge!
If we take daily deep dives into the plasma of truth and then step into the circle of life with love in our hearts, whatever we do will be the right action. When we are truly present, we become the solution, and the action emerges spontaneously. In that frame of mind, whatever we share will become contagious, touching other people and the earth itself, ultimately contributing to the moment that tips the scales—the moment that humanity makes the jump to a new way of being.
It Is Already Being Done
In fact, it is already happening. Slowly but surely, with the persistence of a young oak seedling sprouting up from fertile ground, life is infusing itself into new forms—transmitting idea downloads to receptive young minds, inspiring and expanding others with the excitement of new inventions and new creations to solve old problems. You are that life.
Likewise, new institutions and ways of doing things are sprouting up to answer our energy, business, political, and enviromental challenges. Most of these solutions and ways of life are still silent and unseen, still too small to make the news. Nevertheless, they are there, dotting the landscape of our thoughts like little oak seedlings. And those little seedlings will eventually give rise to a vast and magnificent forest. You are the spirit behind those seedlings. You are that forest.
As the visionary Black Elk said so long ago, “It may be that some small root of the sacred tree still lives. Nourish it, then, that it may leaf and bloom and fill with singing birds.” We all have access to roots that go far deeper than we imagine. We all have access to a wisdom and power beyond our wildest dreams. Wherever you are, you can be sure that you are uniquely positioned to make a difference in this world. In fact, you already do, just by virtue of being on the planet, by virtue of your loving presence as part of the whole.
If you access your inner balance, that balance and resilience will flow outward to those around you. If you do your best to live as the real you—the wise, wild, free, spontaneous, precious, original, delightful you—you can’t help making a worthwhile contribution. If you love and respect yourself, the earth and all life, you can’t help but change this world for the better.
What you do here may seem small, but rest assured it will count. In ever-widening circles, our energies will join with others, expanding outward to bless and transform the entire planet, creating a new dawn for a new earth and a new humanity.
Many Reasons for Optimism
Even as the old world crumbles, we can take heart, because there are so many reasons for optimism. First, we have the blessing of perspective. We know there is a purpose behind the storm—to restore the earth to harmony and balance. Second, we know what we need to do and where to find the resources to do it. Third, we have each other. Wherever we are and whatever we’re going through, we can keep in touch, share information, pool resources, educate, and encourage. Most important, we can be present for each other with care and compassion, giving each other a collective strength and stability we cannot experience as individuals.
Let’s remember, too, that each new challenge brings with it an invitation to surrender to something bigger than we are. As we do, we can release more of our little ego-self and sink into the welcoming arms of the boundless, eternal consciousness that has everything under control. As we do, we can trust more completely in the creation of the new world.
The One You Have Been Waiting For
And where is that new world? That world is within you, growing like an embryo. It is inside you and me and each of the seven-and-a-half billion other people on this beautiful, cloud-enshrouded planet. It is in all the other living things around us, too. Though it may at times seem as ephemeral as a rainbow, we are all creating it together. Each of us is weaving the energetic tapestry of this new world every day in our thoughts, words, dreams, and actions. The old, dying world was the sum total of our collective dreams, and the one being born will be, too.
With that, once again I invite you to take a few simple steps to the wisdom of your heart, the doorway to deeper consciousness. There you will find the answers to your most urgent questions. There you will find your ultimate meaning and purpose. There you will find the beautiful and miraculous. And there you will find the true nature of your existence—a deep, unspeakable mystery the mind cannot comprehend.
Once in your heart, be present to the sacredness and mystery there. Be present to the love that you are, and let it expand. Remember that love is your true nature. I am not speaking of a conditional love that prefers this over that, but a boundless, all-encompassing, gargantuan love—a love that infuses and embraces everything as one. Be that kind of love, a love that flows freely through this world and beyond, with roots that reach out like eager tendrils to the center of the galaxy, roots that soak up sustenance from the space between the stars.
Allow yourself to bring your attention to this deep love. Then, if you can, embrace the astonishing fact that you are this love. Embrace the fact that you are the one who can shift the tide, that you are the force that will heal the earth. That is what will tip the scales and assure a new dawn, both for our beloved earth and for all life, including ourselves.
(To read the rest of the book, go to Amazon)