Everyone seems to be sending out inspirational millennium messages these days, so here are some thoughts derived from encounters with members of the modern mystical movement over the past 18 years. These meetings with remarkable people have led me to suspect that there are countless numbers of "evolutionary sleepers" out there in the main stream of humanity, each a holon containing within itself an extraordinary biological-energetic program that can reveal who and what we may all become as the human species continues its ascent toward the culmination of our evolution.

There appear to be higher functions coded into the personal mind-body matrix that can remain dormant throughout life--but once awakened, they can transform us. The inner fieldwork of the Eastern mystics suggests that these timing mechanisms involve the ductless glands, the brain, and the heart. Once activated, these centers can enlighten the whole body, which, in turn, often undergoes striking changes. At the time of this writing, the human species as a whole has not experienced the triggering of these higher functions, but those rare individuals who have, stand before us as signposts, as prototypes of what humankind may become when the whole population awakens and crosses the evolutionary threshhold to become a new species. This is not fantasy but a real phenomenon known to students of evolutionary theory as punctuated equilibrium.

I suspect further that when each of us becomes aware of the biophysical-energetic program that exists within us, when we awaken from the consensus slumber of culture at large and remember that we were once seeds of light, traveling among the stars, accompanied and protected by spiritual guardians, each of us can use the program as a map to navigate our way through the forests of illusion and across the plains of experience. With the closure of the old millennium and the beginning of the next, recent surveys have revealed that as many as one in every two of us have had an involuntary paranormal experience at some point in our lives--one that has carried us across some unknown inner threshhold into more expanded realms of consciousness.

As we awaken, our life exeriences can begin to manifest themselves as a true hero's journey, as an upward quest that leads us into direct experience of spirit--a journey that becomes possible for us only through the doorway of the heart.  It is through this gateless gate that we can personally experience connection with unlimited power and a god-like mind, and we know then with certainty then that no holy words or books, no secret ceremonies or rituals, not spiritual leaders or gurus or faiths can do this for us. Once the higher evolutionary functions are triggered, it seems that a predetermined schedule is set into motion, a program that cannot be given to us by any outside agency. This is because each of us already has it.

The paths that each of us take as we pass through life are the vehicles through which we awaken. So as each of you proceeds on with your lives. growing, increasing and becoming more, please take these thoughts with you--with my gratitude.

Jill joins me in sending warm thoughts...

Hank Wesselman

A new sense of the sacred has appeared in the Western world, one that incorporates spiritual realization, personal growth psychology, and being of service all in one orientation. This spiritual reawakening is generating a real change in attitudes as we move into and rediscover our own spirituality, and it is generally believed that this resurgence of interest in the spiritual, proceeding from the personal to the global, has the power to shift the directions of world history.

I have written about this phenomenon in Visionseeker, exploring some of the ways in which the modern mystical movement is shifting the beliefs, values, and trends of Western society. From my perspective as a social scientist, it is quite obvious to me that the so-called New Age is not a fad, but rather heralds the emergence of a true Transformational Community--one in which the old mystery schools of the past are being recreated in response to need. Contemporary spiritual seekers can now attend workshops and seminars at places like the Esalen Institute in California, the Omega Institute near New York, and the New Millennium Institute in Hawaii, all locales where Jill and I now lead experiential retreats. Our schedule (frequently updated on our website) reveals that we teach at many other places as well, and I am pleased to say that our workshops this year have been heavily attended, with the Visionseeker retreats often selling out months before the actual event.

Our event descriptions, listed under Workshops & Presentations, show that the crux of our work utilizes the time-tested ways of the shaman to reconnect people with their inner sources of wisdom and power. The ease with which these ways can be learned and practiced by non-tribal Westerners for healing and problem-solving reveals why the rediscovery of shamanism has become a major thrust of the current spiritual reawakening in the West. Shamanism is a path with heart, and includes a methodology that leads us into the direct, transformative experience of the sacred that defines the mystic.

The Buddhist teacher Joan Halifax recounted a conversation in her book The Fruitful Darkness in which she once asked a Zen Master the following question: "Going to the temple, you take the path; entering the temple, you leave the path. What does this mean?" Without a pause, the Roshi's response came: "Joan, the path is the temple."

The paths that each of us take as we negotiate through life are the vehicles through which we awaken. In this sense, the singular contribution that the authentic spiritual teacher has to offer is to help us step onto our path. And once that is accomplished, their job is essentially done. A person who is in thirst needs water, not the faucet. And the water is everywhere, in everything...

Jill joins me in sending you our very warmest aloha...

Hank

Here are some links to fellow life explorers . . .

Institute of Noetic Sciences
the New Millennium Institute
The Foundation for Shamanic Studies
Volcano Rainforest Retreat
Buddhist Bed and Breakfast, Wailea, Hawaii (Phone/fax:808/963-6422)