About Awakened World 008.htm

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What are the threads that weave together the complexities of spiritual principle, the technologies tracing human consciousness, and the establishment of an evolutionary culture right here and right now? In these times of critical shift, standing up for a compassionate, sustainable, and just new society is the most exciting conversation on the planet.

Pioneering spiritual activism in 1997 with the Synthesis Dialogues for His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Season for Nonviolence, AGNT collaborated with the Institute of Noetic Sciences in 2003 to cross-cultivate the conference field by featuring best practices in spirit, science, and unified action.

During the past decade, our mission has been placed squarely into the laps of citizen leaders who have successfully organized entire communities to educate, engage in dialogue, and to strategically plan, implement, and sustain programs grounded in interfaith, intercultural, and interdisciplinary collaboration. ALL of our efforts require a foundation of deep inner practice. That said, we acknowledge our limitations and understand the value of an open system that continually scans for better information and new insights. With AGNT's dynamic model for spiritually-motivated action in place, we are calling for next steps.

As an organization dedicated to evolutionary practices, AGNT has fostered through its eight previous Awakened World conferences a community that insists on pushing the boundaries of our collective potential, and exploring how human beings will successfully navigate an increasingly complex future.

Our conference dates were chosen to land a month prior to the 2008 general election in order to facilitate a real-time gathering that supports our inclusive motivations, message, and morale. Needless to say, November, 2008, is a check-point extraordinaire for our common future.

Distinguished presenters include a select group of integral thinkers who will take us to the current edge of critical understanding in the fields of spirituality, consciousness studies, and social systems. Conference attendees will represent highly motivated students, teachers and writers, scientists and other professional leaders, religious and spiritual practitioners, artists, and social activists. The common intention we carry in our hearts is for an Awakened World. Each person present will become crucial to the overall impact of the gathering.

How can a conference truly catalyze a new future? One answer is that the audience would be comprised of pioneering individuals who dare to lead the way, a sample size, if you will, representing a critical mass, assembling to bridge the gap between spiritual values and the choices we make, as individuals, as institutions, and as a society. We have great respect for the depth and originality of our community's collective works, and count you among the visionaries who can help galvanize this critical mass.

What will happen there?

The five-day event will be interwoven in such a way that generates an expanded worldview for speakers and attendees alike. Themes and structure are always carefully designed to foster this outcome through plenary sessions, interactive roundtables, smaller "breakthrough" sessions, networking techniques, sacred practice, artistic ambience, and some of the best music and performance art the region has to offer. (Our registrants can't help but admit that they have a ball!)

Participants will begin the day with contemplation and meditation, followed by a keynote presentation that immerses the gathered community in an atmosphere of information, opportunity, and challenge. Set within these plenary sessions, small discussion groups will allow conference participants to experience a new form of collective inquiry that anchors new insights to next steps in consciousness, and replaces the flat format of Q & A.

On each of three afternoons, "The Science of Consciousness: Cracking the Noetic Code," "Governance as if the Future Matters," and "Aligning the Wheels of Compassion and Action" will be the central themes for a series of breakout sessions, exploring strategic solutions for our crisis-ridden world.

A second round of discussion groups will give attendees opportunity to share grassroots models and resources and pursue a deeper synthesis at the close of the day. Evenings at the conference will be dedicated to connectivity events such as the Compassion Banquet, special dialogues, skits and circles, and the musicians and performance artists who are longstanding or bright new members of the New Thought family.

More Thoughts and Themes:

The Sciences: The field of science has the ability to provide a solid foundation, a strong backbone for new and emerging models in our evolving world. Using science as a vehicle for change and unity creates a powerful tool that can be applied toward our progress as a human community. As our consciousness shifts, so does our science. New scientific paradigms are ready to be pragmatically applied to the evolutionary practices in which our community is now engaged.

It is important that we stay current with our constantly evolving science. At the forefront of the scientific world are visionary scholars and researchers who grasp the interconnectedness of the world that they study. They speak the language of their field, but are also fluent in many other disciplines. Hearing from brilliant minds who seek to apply their new scientific discoveries is a strong avenue for progress.

The System: As the dynamics of life on earth become increasingly understood as interdependent syntheses of factors, it is time to focus on whole system approaches. With regard to governance, we cannot afford to be political or partisan in the old sense of the words. When it comes to the military and corporations, Sulak Sivaraksa's phrase "institutional violence" highlights a stark reality. If we speak of media or the economy in separatist terms, the threat of polarization and competition just increases. We need to hear from the best of the information synthesizers who have both knowledge and experience with the way these memes of society interact; and further, there are such people who realize that there is a transcendent power that infuses it all.

Yes, we need directions for social action. But again, to present ideas of what real social action is in a global and evolutionary theoretical context would just be another conference. If speakers were to discuss the seminal moments in which something shifted in their work which resulted in real impact and social change, described the fulcrum points in their own lives and examined what these fulcrum points mean for people and cultures, this would ground the event in what it really takes to change the world. We discussed drawing this out of the speakers with the following questions: