NEW CURRENTS

(Essay 12 in the Perennial Psychology Series)

‘When you arrive at the sea, you do not talk of the tributary.’

Hakim Sanai, The Walled Garden of Truth

‘The people of the world have a fixed destiny.
 But the spiritually developed receive what is “not” in their destiny.’

Abu’l Hasan Khirqani

The modern age can seem to many like an enormous bewilderment. It can be disquieting at the same time as being incredibly connected. Few people will doubt that a new phase of human civilization has begun. It is true to say that the same was said at the beginning of all the new eras, although it is more difficult to have perspective during one’s lifetime. Hindsight is generally a stronger perspective than foresight amongst humans. Yet today there is a grand difference. And that is, humanity is connected across the globe like never before. This makes a lot of difference, for now human life is no longer only a singular affair. What happens in one part of the world now has a ripple effect in so many distant lands. A drought and food crop devastation in one far-off country will affect the supermarket shelves in another country. People are now realizing that they, and the world, are interconnected and interrelated like never before.

            This interconnectedness has always been known amongst the perennial traditions. However, it operated more through an intangible sphere of consciousness. External connectivity has always been a more formal, structural medium. Yet the power of thought - of intention, focused imagination, and visualization – have always been functional modes of action-at-a-distance. In current times, the world is experiencing a rapid acceleration in its technological systems. However, it is recognized that the connections of the modern world are mostly external connections. There is still little focus upon the internal threads that connect together the human individual and collective spirit. The modern era is now opening up a whole wave of new currents. A multitude of choices, opportunities, and resources are being made available. Those areas or subjects once considered fringe or alternative – such as the esoteric realm – are beginning to be more openly accepted into modern culture. As noted previously, much occult knowledge was kept away from open view (hence the term ‘occult’). A long preparatory period was required before the aspirant could be given access to such information. This mode of operation has now shifted. Due to a distinct advancement in general human cognition, much information that was previously occult is now on open display and seeded through many channels of popular culture.

            There are great benefits to be had from these changes, as people can more freely engage in pursuits of inner development without fear of persecution (as previously may have been the case). At the same time, new challenges face the aspirant who chooses the perennial path. These new challenges constitute the social and cultural context that shape the person’s ambient environment – physically as well as mentally and emotionally. As discussed in previous essays in this series, each individual grows up amidst an array of conditionings that shape the personality. In today’s age, such impacts as programming, propaganda, and mental control (brainwashing), are more widely dispersed through technological systems. These constitute, especially, dominant cultural memes and suppressing narratives. The stories we tell ourselves are now more powerful than ever.

            Humans have always lived by stories more than by facts. Often, the simpler the story the more adherents it receives. This is why myth is so powerful. And this is also why ‘mythical packages’ have had such a powerful, and at times devastating, effect upon the development of human society and culture. These range from religious-spiritual stories to ideologies, theories, hypotheses, and ideas. Whether the world is flat, the Earth is the centre of the universe, or fascism as a utopian ideal – they all serve to capture, and steer, the human imagination. Humans have been so good at controlling the world because they have been so good at not only sharing stories but, more importantly, in persuading others to believe in the same story. Many people share the same dreams because they have been brought-up (weaned) on similar myths and narratives. On a positive note, this can lead to cooperation and collaboration. However, it can, and often has, also led to great struggle, conflict, and loss of life. Because of the great reliance upon stories and human-constructed myths and narratives, humanity is now not particularly adept at recognizing the difference between fiction and reality. In most cases, people invest in stories to make them real, regardless of whether they hold any truth or not. This is how humans have created meaning for themselves – by investing in stories that have provided them with suitable, and sometimes comfortable, answers. The problem today, however, is that many of these stories are now collapsing. The world, and the greater universe, have become simultaneously more awesome as well as more bewildering.

            The question that faces many people today is how to live and engage with this bewilderment when there is so much uncertainty and rising insecurity in the world. The old stories and narratives are no longer functioning. They are not able to explain the world, the cosmos, or humanity’s place in it. The modern trick has been to pump up the conditioning in place of presenting more meaning. The result is that people are programmed into obedience rather than into genuine inquiry or seeking. Obedience may be a contemporary form of dealing with increased uncertainty in life, yet it does not prepare anyone for dealing with the arrival of new currents – the new narratives and stories that will eventually emerge to replace the fading of the old ones. The opening decades of the twenty-first century represent a significant time. They mark a shift between eras. As such, they will show future historians the era where the old models were broken from and where the new stories began to emerge. The gods of old were replaced with a new understanding of reality and of humanity’s place within it. Yet the road of transition will be seen to have been rocky.

            For these reasons, amongst others, it is both an important as well as a difficult time to be an aspirant, a seeker after Truth. Important because it is crucial that the forces of materialism, over-rationalism (sometimes manifested as madness), and control, do not oppress the expression of the human spirit. And difficult because of these very same factors. The perennial tradition has existed within the vehicle, or form, of religions and/or ‘spiritual’ bodies in the past. This was a necessary, and functional, way to operate that was fully conducive with the times. These times have now changed. A religious and/or ‘spiritual expression’ may now not be the most appropriate form to adopt. The perennial spiritual science – the developmental path – can now be expressed through psychological terms thanks in large part to new scientific knowledge of the human mind, which has also provided a popular vocabulary in these areas. This psychological focus is also appropriate to contemporary times. By this, I refer to the emerging, and accelerating, modern technologies. As the physical world becomes increasingly automated, data-organized, and socially managed, it will be ever more necessary to develop psychological well-being and a human sense of meaning and self-worth.

            Present day historians are already discussing how by the middle of this century there will have been so many accelerating changes that many traditional models will be obsolete. Social and cultural systems will need to adapt quickly in order to provide stability for people. It is hard to say just exactly how the future will unfold. Yet with the rapid developments in information and biological technologies, life as it has been known will enter profound transformation. Within this unfolding, however, one thing remains constant – True Reality. Reality beyond external forms is a not a transitory phenomenon. The Truth has no form. Yet the means through which people perceive Truth has forms. As such, forms are limited; they generally operate according to the time, the place, and the culture. Forms belong to the external world; as such, they obey a shifting environment and a changing context. Forms act as a vehicle, an instrument, and so they also outlive their usefulness. Whilst most people adhere in obedience to the external form, the sensitive person is urged to seek beyond this. As such, the seeker’s role remains as it always has. Only now, that the Path one needs to take is through an altogether different, and sometimes beguiling, environment.

            People have always sought meaning from within their social and cultural environments. In past eras, people revolted against oppression and tyranny, for example. This overt struggle created meaning and purpose. Often it was for obtaining improved living standards and for well-being. In the future, these struggles are likely to be replaced by a new necessity – to find relevancy within the world. This existential question is likely to raise its head again – how to struggle against the loss of personal meaning? The upcoming years, and decades, will be characterized by a crisis of soul-searching. That is, more and more people will be compelled to find answers for the role and function of the human being. Part of this push will come from the increased integration of advanced technologies into human life.

            The human species is not a separate being, despite the many stories telling it is so. In recent centuries humanity has become divorced from the natural world, its natural habitat. Humanity has come to view itself as ‘struggling’ against Nature in a bid to conquer and control it. Much energy has been spent trying to wrestle Nature’s secrets from her, according to empirical science. The human species has woven its stories of being a special species above and beyond others. Humanity created the myth that it is the lone species and unique amongst the universe. These myths and this mythmaking have estranged humanity and taken it into polarity. This is contrary to the higher knowledge of interconnectedness between all living beings and the planet. This narrative of separateness and polarity now dominates how humanity sees itself, the universe, and its place within the grand scheme of things. These are all hindrances upon the path of inner development. These conditionings need to be put aside in order to allow new perceptions to grow and develop within the modern human.

            In recent history, humanity shifted from an agrarian civilization into a socialized one. This included, for many societies but not all, a further shift into a stage of industrialization. By all accounts, human civilization is now globally shifting into a technological era where automation, algorithms, and smart software will increasingly come to regulate and organize modern life. The older generations are weary of this; many are fearful of it, as is natural. The younger generations, many of whom were born into a digital world, find this prospect encouraging and positive. Whatever the outcome – and there are many possible outcomes, some more desirable than others – the meaning of existence will fall onto the individual. Each person will be called upon to seek for relevancy. And for many, it will not be easy. Many will need to leave their illusions behind.

            From now, and into the years ahead, each person will be compelled to know themselves better. This will include such lofty questions as first expressed in the early part of this essay series – who are we? What do we wish from life? How can I give my life meaning?

As human life becomes increasingly automated, each person will be sharing more data, expressing their ‘selves’ online, and distributing their personalities through an array of gadgets, devices, systems, and networks. The human ‘being’ will seem to be a distributed and decentralized presence. This persona, however, is not the essence of a person. It is an aspect of a person that will function as part of their social environment and cultural milieu. This ‘sense of self’ will participate in the shifting world around it. Yet at its core, it will feel it is missing something. This something is the knowledge, understanding, and experience of unity and unification. This can also be said to be an expression of the genuine human heart. Not the sentimental love found in movies and pop songs; but the true bonding of the human spirit through energetic resonance.

            The perennial psychology is a body of wisdom that can assist in preparing an individual to approach one’s own experiential knowing of this unification energy – the Source. This path offers an accelerated trajectory of growth; left unattended it may take an unknowable period of time. A time that is well outside and far beyond the years of an individual’s lifetime. Yet there exists the possibility to engage in a conscious and directed effort toward this goal.

            It is said that the present era represents a completely new phase in human evolution, in that for the past ten thousand years humanity has had the possibility for conscious evolution. That is, evolution for humanity can move ahead through deliberate, conscious, directed effort. We can participate as individuals to achieve that which is not in our original destiny (to refer to Abu’l Hasan Khirqani’s opening quote). And this is part of the ongoing living work.

Taken from ‘THE MODERN SEEKER: A Perennial Psychology for Contemporary Times’ (Beautiful Traitor Books, 2020). Available online as print & ebook.