Something's not working. Everybody knows it. The turmoil and breakdown of order, sustainability, and basic sanity in almost every natural and human system is overwhelming and disheartening. The list -- war, injustice, environmental disaster, poverty, decline of democratic ideals and decency -- goes on and on. When the system itself is at fault and every problem is interconnected, it can seem like there is nowhere to start and whatever we do won’t make a difference.
The need to face "inconvenient truths" grows stronger every day. Wise voices announce we need a new paradigm. But how can we step outside to look at a reality we live within? When the ways we perceive and think about the world are a root cause of the problem itself, what are we to do?
Through centuries of practice, indigenous societies found ways to achieve peace within their communities and harmony with the natural world. Though our era differs in significant ways, the basic architecture of the human body and mind remains the same. The soul's journey has not changed, and ancient myths of heroic adventure and the initiatory rites of native cultures offer blueprints of where to go and what to do when faced with overwhelming odds and difficulties.
In traditional tales of the quest, the protagonist journeys beyond the familiar territory to a realm where he or she has never been before. There he/she encounters the unknown and extraordinary, faces challenges and obstacles that are difficult and frightening. The hero may meet monsters or magical beings; navigate dangerous descents through dark passages or labyrinths; struggle to lift an enchantment or overcome a curse. After engaging with the unexplored and unexpected, the hero must return to the world he laid aside, carrying new powers, gifts, or vision to the people and community.
This book is organized along the lines of that heroic journey. We face a task of creating a world worth living in, and it requires stepping outside the boundaries of the known and ordinary. The solutions we need will not be found doing the same old routines with better management, more efficiency, or greater effort, for it is the world-view or "dream" of the culture itself that leads to the dis-ease and dysfunctions of modern life. Like the heroes and heroines of old, we must leave home and enter new territories of the mind, soul, and imagination if we are to find the answers we seek.
The chapters and the “letters” contained in this book elaborate the tasks at hand, and they attempt to speak not merely about but from the new territory. Each chapter begins from where we are, with an introduction describing an aspect of our present condition, how we got there, and where we need to go. These serve as a prelude to the letters themselves, which grapple with these issues from the other side of the looking glass, casting off the damaging beliefs hidden in the stories we tell ourselves to play in a wilder and more natural landscape beyond the fenced-in fields of our cultural real-estate.
In ancient cultures, rites of passage and initiation were developed to precipitate a crisis -- carefully orchestrated -- that would dissolve an old identity and give birth to a new. The initiate was removed from the sphere of ordinary life, exposed to ordeals that tested his fabric, focus, and faith, and reintroduced and reintegrated into the community with the new vision and power gained.
Today we are approaching a crossroads, a rite of passage that involves the entire planet. Outside the enclaves of the rich, the anguish and suffering of the world is immense, the faith and fabric of millions being tested daily. The tide of torment continually rises, and catastrophe -- via global warming, terrorist attacks, or some other agent -- comes closer to the shore of the formerly safe.
Joseph Campbell once remarked that yogis and schizophrenics live in the same ocean, one joyfully swimming while the other drowns. The surge is building. The swells grow larger, and our choice is simple. We can say "Yes," accept this passage, and enter the water. There we might discover our depths, chart new currents, or wash off an old way of being to reemerge refreshed and renewed. Or we can refuse the summons and cling to the shore until our resistance is broken and the waves finally pull us under.
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