The Awakening Experience Introduction To The Series References And Resources

This introductory volume—The Awakening Experience—presents more than simply the story of my own awakening into inspiring nuances of the unity perspective. It also presents the underlying oneness perspective behind the entire series that I enthusiastically believe will help us all move toward a vibrant, healed future. The essence of the unity vision that drives this broader and powerful healing impulse is here. Also included with this volume is the extensive References and Resources List for the entire Global Awakening series – over 50 pages of on-topic books, newspaper and magazine articles, DVD’s, and websites to help fuel individual transformation and/or change networks.

This overview volume—Glimpses of Oneness— presents a series of brief essays that sketch various facets of my own life’s awakening. These often playful fables share inspiring nuances of the unity perspective, as seen in a daily life con- text that is easily recognizable to all. Each represents a pivotal moment in or aspect of my evolutionary development. Some are experience-based, and are presented more or less chronologically as they appeared during a fifty-year arc of my life’s trajectory. Others chronicle some of the forms that have emerged for me as a direct result of these important oneness experiences: Archetypal sketches, structural diagrams, integrative exercises and techniques, and relational revelations of some of unity’s deeper truths. I also share how I’ve put these gifts into practice as my work has unfolded over the past few decades. My approach here is a-traditional and eclectic. It does not follow any particular lineage, regime, dogma, methodology, or schema. These stories draw upon inspiration from many varied sources, as do my life and this larger body of work. I’ve decided to present these vignettes in an illustrated “short story” format, instead of as a comprehensively integrated treatise on the unity theme—leaving that complexity to the Global Awakening series as a whole. My hope is that these brief, faceted glimpses will work well with our contemporary time constraints and attention spans, and that their diversity of content will effectively engage an equally diverse audience. My life’s teaching has revealed many ways to experience “becoming the mountain” of oneness—from individual internal integration and uniting with the world at large, to uniting various aspects of our world. I’ve found that each way has an important role to play, especially when we turn our attention toward uniting to heal ourselves and our world. The deepest essence of the unity vision that drives the broader and powerful healing impulse for the complete series, and how it came to be seated in me, is in these pages. The implicit and, I hope, inspiring message to readers of this and other volumes is simply this: The insights, inspirations, and innovations that I share here can come to you as easily as they’ve come to me.

First Light launches the Grand Universal Lineage sequence. It explores the dawn of time and how various civilizations that are relevant for us have sought to understand the origin of all. A brief primer on scientific method then helps us appraise science’s best and most convincingly verified creation theory—the Big Bang. We visit some fun facts about our universe, explore some alternative views, and draw important implications from what they tell us. Most importantly, we see why the deep appraisal of such cosmic insights matters. Implicit here is the Oneness perspective that underlies this entire series of volumes, which I enthusiastically believe will help us all move toward a vibrant, healed future. The essence of the unity vision that drives this broader and powerful healing impulse is here.

This series summary/overview volume—Awakening into Unity—maps a big-picture view of the essential features of our intrinsic unity, and brings their immensity and importance within everyone’s easy, confident grasp. Perhaps more than any other series installment, it affords a grand, breathtaking journey hallmarked with many vital and inspiring stories. First, it presents the story of my life’s work and awakening into inspiring nuances of the unity perspective that I’m certain will help birth a vibrant, healed future. It also shares important aspects of unity uncovered through my extensive research into Big History – the specific mechanics of the universal creation process that made us and our world possible. I also share an integrative vision of how we humans have pursued a communion with this underlying oneness through time; via scientific, religious, spiritual, philosophic, environmental, indigenous perspectives, and more. This investigation ultimately delivers an expansive worldview and a compelling environmental ethic designed to help us re-ground our essentially creative human nature within the larger universal creation process. Significantly though, and far beyond simply presenting my own prescriptive sense of how this restorative planetary shift might best occur, Awakening into Unity chronicles myriad ways that others are already employing this perspective to turn our ship around. These are the stories of us in our striving billions, woven together in an informative, celebratory narrative that brings our diverse world-healing efforts alive, front and center, for all to see. This grand saga evidences and honors humanity moving past climate theory, discussion and debate into decisive, active engagement; the true global awakening and life-saving transformation that’s happening all around us in real time. Unifying threads of this holistic tapestry source from my own efforts and those of others in every facet and type of human entity on Earth today; the pivotal achievements of notable contributors seeking to co-create a better future. Together, these examples provide a wealth of wisdom and practical solutions helpful to all. Awakening into Unity thus captures the vital, living, unprecedented truth that all parts of our world are now rising and shining into a bright, new, Earth-healing day. No other movement, tradition, belief system, or collective enterprise can claim such broad-based evolutionary inclusiveness. Terragenesis, Gaia enthroned, is indeed here; her heart is beating; and she’s alive! Quite simply, and without exaggeration, this has become the single most important collective human effort ever undertaken, and the zeitgeist, the defining feature and spirit of our time. May this book serve as an energizing catalyst and helpful road map for our great leap. And may it help you move confidently into a brighter future filled with grace, intelligence, effectiveness, compassion, comradeship, integration, and Joy!

The Mind Illuminated is a comprehensive, accessible and - above all - effective book on meditation, providing a nuts-and-bolts stage-based system that helps all levels of meditators establish and deepen their practice. Providing step-by-step guidance for every stage of the meditation path, this uniquely comprehensive guide for a Western audience combines the wisdom from the teachings of the Buddha with the latest research in cognitive psychology and neuroscience. Clear and friendly, this in-depth practice manual builds on the nine-stage model of meditation originally articulated by the ancient Indian sage Asanga, crystallizing the entire meditative journey into 10 clearly-defined stages. The book also introduces a new and fascinating model of how the mind works, and uses illustrations and charts to help the reader work through each stage. This manual is an essential read for the beginner to the seasoned veteran of meditation.

Christianity regards teaching as one of the most foundational and critically sustaining ministries of the Church. As a result, Christian education remains one of the largest and oldest continuously functioning educational systems in the world, comprising both formal day schools and higher education institutions as well as informal church study groups and parachurch ministries in more than 140 countries. In The Encyclopedia of Christian Education, contributors explore the many facets of Christian education in terms of its impact on curriculum, literacy, teacher training, outcomes, and professional standards. This encyclopedia is the first reference work devoted exclusively to chronicling the unique history of Christian education across the globe, illustrating how Christian educators pioneered such educational institutions and reforms as universal literacy, home schooling, Sunday schools, women’s education, graded schools, compulsory education of the deaf and blind, and kindergarten. With an editorial advisory board of more than 30 distinguished scholars and five consulting editors, TheEncyclopedia of Christian Education contains more than 1,200 entries by 400 contributors from 75 countries. These volumes covers a vast range of topics from Christian education: History spanning from the church’s founding through the Middle Ages to the modern day Denominational and institutional profiles Intellectual traditions in Christian education Biblical and theological frameworks, curricula, missions, adolescent and higher education, theological training, and Christian pedagogy Biographies of distinguished Christian educators This work is ideal for scholars of both the history of Christianity and education, as well as researchers and students of contemporary Christianity and modern religious education.

This lively book is based on case studies written by heads from a variety of settings, each of them facing different problems and concerns. The issues raised are examined in-depth, including: * improving the quality of pupils' learning experience * effective staff organisation and development * development of policy and the management of resources * establishing good relaionships between the head, the school and the community