Used by: Peter Russell, Duane Elgin

Peter Russell has popularized the phrase "the global brain" and its awakening. He describes how the human family has moved from a long history of geographic separation to, within a generation or two, nearly instantaneous global communication and connection. Humanity has developed tools that are supporting a quantum increase in our collective communication—and our collective consciousness—as a species.

In the following video, Peter talks about the origin of his thesis of a global brain, before the Internet even existed as such, discussing the parallels between our own brains and the growing interconnectivity of our computer networks. But will it be a sane or insane global brain? That depends upon the level of consciousness of us human beings, the neurons of the global brain. Can we free ourselves from our current ego-centric mode of consciousness so that we can use the global brain with wisdom?

Duane Elgin has described the awakening of the Earth in a book by that same name: Awakening Earth: Exploring the Evolution of Human Culture and Consciousness (1993). In the following video, Peter Russell and Duane Elgin discuss the role of media and the Internet in our collective awakening in a half-hour program called "Take Back the Airwaves":

Used by: Paul Gilding

The Great Disruption is a book by the independent writer and activist for sustainability, Paul Gilding. Gilding writes:

"It’s time to stop just worrying about climate change. We need instead to brace for impact because global crisis is no longer avoidable. This Great Disruption started in 2008, with spiking food and oil prices and dramatic ecological changes, such as the melting ice caps. It is not simply about fossil fuels and carbon footprints. We have come to the end of Economic Growth, Version 1.0, a world economy based on consumption and waste, where we lived beyond the means of our planet’s ecosystems and resources. The Great Disruption offers a stark and unflinching look at the challenge humanity faces-yet also a deeply optimistic message. The coming decades will see loss, suffering, and conflict as our planetary overdraft is paid; however, they will also bring out the best humanity can offer: compassion, innovation, resilience, and adaptability. The crisis represents a rare chance to replace our addiction to growth with an ethic of sustainability, and it’s already happening. It’s also an unmatched business opportunity: Old industries will collapse while new companies will literally reshape our economy. In the aftermath of the Great Disruption, we will measure “growth” in a new way. It will mean not quantity of stuff but quality and happiness of life. Yes, there is life after shopping."

Here is a video where Paul Gilding describes, "The Great Disruption: How humankind can thrive in the 21st Century." Gilding argues that humanity's capacity for compassion, innovation and resilience will be required to meet the economic and environmental challenges facing us.

Used by: Karl Polanyi, George Leonard

The Great Transformation is the title of a well-known book by author Karl Polanyi. Published in 1944, he viewed the integrated rise of the market economy and society as a "great transformation." His book describes the shift from the world of the commons to that of the total market order. Polanyi argued that the coming of the market order swept aside all sorts of social arrangements that had prevailed for millennia of human history: the role of family, kinship, community and religion, the importance of moral order and other non-market principles. Using the same phrase, other authors see the prospect of an even greater transformation. One of the more well-known books describing the emergence of the 'human potential movement' and its cultural impact was written by George Leonard and published in 1987 with the title The Transformation.

Paul Hawken, author and businessman, speaks in the following way about the "New Great Transformation":

See the whole talk here: http://longnow.org/seminars/02007/jun/08/the-new-great-transformation/

Used by: Paul Raskin, Duane Elgin

An important expression of this perspective is the Great Transition Initiative that is hosted by the Tellus Institute whose director is Paul Raskin. The Great Transition Initiative writes that:

"a future of enriched lives, human solidarity, and environmental sustainability is possible. This Initiative engages a growing international network of scholars and activists that analyzes alternative scenarios and charts a path to a hopeful future. At once rigorous and inspiring, the Great Transition story brings the message that we can create a better world if we shift our values and transform our institutions. Critical to this transition is growing public awareness of the dangers ahead and the need to revise our ways of living – and living together – on this planet. In this, our time of choice, we need a vast movement of global citizens to carry forward a Great Transition."

One of their key publications is The Great Transition: The Promise and Lure of the Times Ahead. Here is Paul Raskin speaking about "The Great Transition":

The descriptions of humanity's transitions through a series of stages of development is central to the work of Duane Elgin and can be found in his books and other writings. Duane also has a range of videos exploring themes relevant to our time of great transition. For example, the following video, "Humanity's Level of Maturity," is a mini-documentary that looks at the human species and asks, “What is our collective level of maturity? Toddler? Teenager? Adult? Elder?"

Used by: Joanna Macy, David Korten, Duane Elgin

The Great Turning is a phrase that has come into widespread use to describe the overarching process that our society is going through that has the potential to take us to a world in which sustainability and cooperation will guide our way of life. As presented by David Korten, the core messages of 'The Great Turning' center on the human imperative to turn from organizing human relationships by dominator hierarchy, which he refers to generically as "Empire," to a partnership model he refers to as "Earth Community." Korten's underlying framework of the defining human choice between domination and hierarchy is based on Riane Eisler's book, The Chalice and the Blade. Drawing inspiration from Thomas Berry's book, Dream of the Earth, Korten makes a compelling case in The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community (2007) that the defining work of the Great Turning is to change the stories that frame the culture.

This phrase came into more popular usage with the publication, in 1989, of a book by Craig Schindler and Gary Lapid, The Great Turning: Personal Peace - Global Victory, with an endorsement from Joanna Macy who, with workshops and writing, has played a major role in acquainting the public with the term and its underlying concept of deep change. See, for example, her video on the importance of living on the knife edge of uncertainty as to whether we will accomplish "The Great Turning."

In 2006, David Korten, who picked up the term from Joanna, published The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community (2007) to describe the dimensions of the current human crisis, its historical origin, and the crucial elements of the cultural and institutional transformation we must now navigate. Here he speaks about "The Great Turning":

In 2000, Duane Elgin used the phrase "the great turning" to describe our pivotal time in his book Promise Ahead: A Vision of Hope and Action for Humanity's Future (2000).

Used by: Thomas Berry, Brian Swimme

Stephanie Kaza, professor of environmental studies, writes about awakening to our role in the Great Work, and the important role of Thomas Berry: Pioneering ecotheologian, Catholic priest, and cultural historian Thomas Berry put forth one of the earliest visions of spiritual ecology in The Dream of the Earth (1988). With his best-known book, The Great Work: Our Way into the Future, Berry extends his invitation for us to imagine and participate in the realizing of this dream. The title "The Great Work" derives from Berry's long-range perspective on cultural history. He sees history as "governed by those overarching movements that give shape and meaning to life by relating the human venture to the larger destinies of the universe." (p. 1). The Great Work of a people or era is the creating of such an overarching movement. This generation's Great Work, he argues, is the transformative effort to change human-Earth relations from disruptive and destructive to mutually enhancing and beneficial.

See the following video on Berry's view of the 'Great Work' as seen by himself and others:

Used by: Duane Elgin, Peter Russell

As humanity awakens, so does the Earth. Individually and collectively, we are vehicles of conscious knowing and reflection that have emerged from the Earth and Cosmos. Unfolding our capacity for reflective consciousness represents the flowering of nearly 14 billion years of evolution. Duane Elgin has written a book titled Awakening Earth: Exploring the Evolution of Human Culture and Consciousness (1993). He views the co-evolution of culture and consciousness as a natural unfolding and describes a 'subtle intelligence' that patiently sustains our cosmos over billions of years and now invites our further development and awakening.

Peter Russell has written about the 'Awakening Earth' from the perspective of an exponential increase in the growth of computer-based intelligence and human interconnectivity, creating a global brain that can turn on and become self-reflective. See his website for extensive resources: http://www.PeterRussell.com

Below is a half-hour conversation between Peter Russell and Duane Elgin about the theme of an awakening Earth.

As further background, the phrase "Great Awakening" is sometimes used to refer to a period of religious revival in American religious history occurring in three or four waves between the early 18th century and the late 20th century. Each of these "great awakenings" was characterized by widespread revivals led by evangelical Protestant ministers. However, the current "awakening" is quite different. It is global in scope rather than confined to a particular country. In addition, this awakening is being pushed by global economic and ecological urgency, and is being pulled by the opportunity to create a more sustainable and meaningful future. Given its depth, breadth, and reach of impact, this awakening is truly "great."

Used by: Eckhart Tolle

Eckhart Tolle has popularized the phrase, A New Earth with his book of the same name. In his view, the current state of humanity is based on an erroneous identification with the egoic mind, and is one of dangerous insanity. He writes that there is an alternative to this potentially dire situation. Humanity now, perhaps more than in any previous time, has an opportunity to create a new, saner, more loving world. This will involve a radical inner leap from the current egoic consciousness to an entirely new consciousness. Here is Eckhart talking about a "new Earth."

Used by: Barbara Marx Hubbard, Charles Eisenstein, Duane Elgin

Here is Barbara Marx Hubbard speaking about her vision of the birth of a "universal human."

The theme of a "planetary birth" has been used by others. The following description of humanity’s birth process is taken from Charles Eisenstein's book, The Ascent of Humanity (2007), pp. 539 – 541:

"(Humanity feels) ... left alone in a dead, pitiless universe, doomed by nature and human nature to struggle pointlessly for survival in a world rendered ever more horrible by our efforts. Although we might try to soldier on, the once bountiful world-womb can no longer sustain the growth of fetal humanity. The effort to squeeze just a few more years out of what remains of the Mother’s resources—natural, social, cultural, and spiritual capital—will only poison the womb still further. ... It is very simple. A fetus grows; the womb is finite. The limits of growth trigger a birth crisis. Unbearable though it is ... if the status quo did not become intolerable, there would nothing to impel change—birth into a new state of being. ... Then the enormous pressures on the fetus are revealed to have a purpose, a direction as the cervix opens and a light shines through, promising a new world. The physical distress of the fetus is even greater now than it was in [the womb]. She is subject to titanic pressures that slowly propel her through the birth canal, a life and death struggle occupying the whole of her being. At this point there is no going back to the womb of the familiar, for … the pressures of birth are too great to resist. While physically more difficult [this stage] ... is easier to bear, for the light ahead gives hope and direction. For the human species, it represents our growing knowledge that another way of living is possible. We can see a glimpse of it already, the light at the end of the tunnel—the new modes of technology, money, medicine, education, and so forth. ... Collectively, we humans have experienced only the beginnings of the birth pangs that will propel us into the new world we have glimpsed. We are still able to resist, still able to deceive ourselves into thinking that we can expropriate from nature endlessly ... In the Stage … of birth, the baby is born into a new and unimagined world, where he becomes an anatomically distinct individual. In any kind of birth process, the entity being born cannot imagine what lies beyond the mother’s body. In the case of humanity as well, the new society we are being born into is probably beyond imagining. Birth is a journey that starts with blissful oneness, proceeds through an increasingly unbearable confinement, climaxes in a heroic struggle, and ends with a return to the one, but at a new level of being. ... In the Age of Reunion that will follow the present birthing, we will gaze upon Mother Nature’s face with the adoring eyes of an infant."

Duane Elgin uses the planetary birth metaphor in describing our current time of transition in his book Awakening Earth: Exploring the Evolution of Human Culture and Consciousness (1993), pp. 148 and 150:

"As we approach the turn of the century, we are already experiencing the labor pains that mark the birth of a more conscious species-civilization. We are enclosed within an ailing and traumatized ecosystem. There is no escape from critical problems ... In giving birth to a sustainable species-civilization, humanity will probably move back and forth through cycles of contraction and relaxation until we utterly exhaust ourselves and burn through the barriers that separate us from our wholeness as a human family. Eventually we will see that we have an unyielding choice between a badly injured (or even stillborn) species-civilization and the birth of a bruised, but relatively healthy, human family and biosphere."

Used by: Edmund Bourne

This is a phrase used by Edmund Bourne and is the title for his book, Global Shift: How A New Worldview Is Transforming Humanity (2008). Bourne writes that a remarkable change is taking place in the way we see ourselves and our world. The dominant materialistic, separatist worldview is giving way to a humanitarian-spiritual orientation. This shift will transform both the way humanity interacts on a global scale and how we live on a day-to-day basis. Global Shift explores the roots of such current planetary crises as climate change, diminishing resources, poverty, and disease, and explains how a new convergence of scientific research and spiritual insight is propelling us toward a more enlightened future. It also presents a call to actions we can implement now, such as voluntary simplicity, nonviolent communication, caring for our bodies, and inclusive global thinking, that can foster personal healing and bring our lives into alignment with the needs of the planet and a conscious universe.

Used by: Ervin Laszlo, Barbara Marx Hubbard

From the bylaws of the Worldshift Foundation, 2007, is this statement:

Indisputably the world is undergoing a fundamental transformational process, a global change. Which trend the change will follow is in the hands of those, who have the decisive power to direct and design the change. Motivated by the impression that at the beginning of the 3rd millenium the trend of the change is dominated by forces, which in the past have contributed to turn our home planet into a life-threatening place for humanity as well as for vast parts of non-human nature, the undersigned are founding the WorldShift Network. As an initiative of the Club of Budapest the founders want to establish a worldwide network which traces, connects and encourages all those associations and individuals, who are working honestly and sustainably to shift the life-threatening trend of the global change into a life-fostering direction, and lead them to political effectiveness within civil society.

See: http://www.worldshiftnetwork.org/action/

Here is Ervin Laszlo speaking about World Shift:

Here is Barbara Hubbard speaking about World Shift:

Used by: Jean Houston

The phrase "Jump Time" refers to a book by Jean Houston and to:

• The shift in human nature that is moving people to discover and use dormant or little-known capacities.
• How the breakthroughs in technological connection and the new ways of being in community in global society are repatterning human consciousness.
• How a dramatic new awareness of our shared and intermingled ecology, culture, economy, and ethnicity are creating a different kind of human being for the twenty-first century.
• How the uprising of spiritual yearning and cross-fertilization of the wisdom and practices of world spiritual tradition are newly uniting us to one another as well as to the universe.

Here is Jean Houston speaking about this new phase in history:

Initiation is a rite of passage ceremony marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components. In an extended sense it can also signify a transformation in which the initiate is 'reborn' into a new role. Examples of initiation ceremonies might include Hindu diksha, Christian baptism or confirmation, Jewish bar or bat mitzvah, acceptance into a fraternal organization, secret society or religious order, or graduation from school or recruit training.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initiation

A rite of passage is a ritual event that marks a person's progress from one status to another. It is a universal phenomenon which can show anthropologists what social hierarchies, values and beliefs are important in specific cultures. Rites of passage are often ceremonies surrounding events such as other milestones within puberty, coming of age, marriage and death. Initiation ceremonies such as baptism, confirmation and Bar or Bat Mitzvah are considered important rites of passage for people of their respective religions.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rite_of_passage