Just after Christmas in 1993 I was diagnosed with cancer. Although the tumor had invaded the surrounding lymph nodes, it was treatable with surgery and radiation and fourteen years later I am thankful to be alive and healthy.  For me the cancer diagnosis was a great big message from the Universe that it was time to Wake Up And Smell The Coffee.  It was time for me to pay attention and live my life consciously.  Thus began my journey of prosperity, although it would take me more than a decade before I would understand this.  At the time I just thought of it as a journey of change – a lot of change.

In this world of duality, we all feel different from each other. We meet thousands of people, from so many races, with varying physical conditions, of different ages and contrasting religions. Opposing political beliefs, philosophies, convictions and ideals jostle constantly for our attention. The complex diversity of the world we live in is seemingly endless. From our intellectual opinions to the size of our bank accounts, from our physical appearance to our cultural traditions, we perceive separation everywhere, in a world of extreme contrast and variance, a world of untold possibilities.

Within this experience of separation, we search endlessly for union. We strive to try and heal the planet, we create programs for conflict resolution, we march for peace, trying desperately to get humanity to see beyond its differences and live in harmony.

“How very important it is to bring about in the human mind the radical revolution. The crisis is a crisis in consciousness, a crisis that cannot anymore accept the old norms, the old patterns, the ancient traditions. Considering what the world is now with all the misery, conflict, destructive brutality, aggression and so on – man is still as he was, is still brutal, violent, aggressive, acquisitive, competitive and has built a society along these lines.” Krisnamurti

The following text is taken from the movie “Zeitgeist Addendum“, which is free to watch and share on the Internet. It is one of the most profound documentaries I have ever seen.

A Half-Awake Species
Symbolic language led to another significant step in human intelligence. We used language not only to communicate with each other, but also within our own minds, i.e. verbal thinking. With this power we could reflect upon our experiences and plan our future. In addition, we could reflect upon the fact that we were aware. We became conscious of consciousness itself. We began to wake up to our own inner worlds.

At present however, we are only half-awake to who and what we really are. Becoming aware of our own selves brought with it a sense of an individual “I” observing the world and initiating our actions. But just what is this self? It seems so obvious that it is there, but, as many have discovered, it is hard to define it or pin it down.