This episode begins with the surprising story of a spiritual seeker who meditates and fasts and abstains in order to know the divine and serve something that transcends the common fate of human experience. After many austerities, the god Vishnu grants his wish and gives him a mission. Somehow, on the way the seeker forgets the divine errand he was on and becomes immersed in the dramas and delights of earthly life. It will take a shocking wake-up call to return the seeker to his conversation with the divine.
“Life is the necessary illusion from which we drink, as well as the turbulent waters in which we drown again and again. That is the truth as well as the illusion of it. We are each on an errand for god. And the great beauty of this world requires that we both forget and at times remember it.
The two worlds are close to each other. And a person can cross from one to the other in a single step. That kind of crossing over can happen at any moment, and can be precipitated by seeing beauty or waking with a compelling dream. It can come as a sudden shock or a hard knock. At times, it can also be found through spiritual devotion and practice.
Each wake-up call is an opportunity to return to our soul’s conversation with the divine. Strangely, we may be closer to an awakening and a true turning point when we reach the end of our rope and feel that all has been lost. At that point, we either fall apart or else find again the thread of destiny that pulls everything together and opens the path before us.”
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Surviving modern life requires learning to navigate a clash of worldviews. People look at the same facts, yet draw radically different conclusions. On one hand people carry different worldviews; on the other hand, many people remain unconscious of the fact that they carry a limiting worldview.
Collectively we find ourselves in uncharted waters in terms of the future of the planet and in unmapped territory in terms of human culture. In that sense, the biggest problem we face involves the need to change our entire way of viewing the world and our place in it.
We need a better worldview at the collective level, but we can't simply make one by good intentions or by trying to forge general agreements. When we are deprived of the symbols and patterns needed to shape a coherent worldview, we are thrown back upon ourselves. And that can be the calling within the crisis. Any renaissance of imagination and great vision must first arise from the depth of the individual soul, so that the collective vision is formed by the awakening of many souls inside the collective.
A genuine awakening involves not just a change of mind, but also a change of heart that leads to a place of awareness that had been previously beyond our comprehension. This deep sense of transformation involves the understanding that there is something essential within us that we can turn to and learn from, that we can draw upon and grow from continuously. We are being called to be part of a transformation of life on Earth that is already secretly underway. For, the story of the human soul has not fully been written, and the future of the Earth has not been decided.
Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can further support this podcast by becoming a member of Living Myth Premium. Members receive bonus episodes each month, access to the full archives of over 525 episodes and a 30% discount on all events, courses and book and audio titles.
Learn more and join this community of listeners atpatreon.com/livingmyth.
If you enjoy this podcast, we appreciate you leaving a review wherever you listen and sharing it with your friends. On behalf of Michael Meade and the whole Mosaic staff, we wish you well during this challenging and uncertain times and thank you for your support of our work.
On this excerpt from a Living Myth Premium episode, Michael Meade explores how inside of each of us is a mostly hidden, mostly golden and mostly eternal image and aspect of being similar to the gold that is buried in the Earth. In seeking out this inner gold, we meet egoic resistance and must find ways to break the ego’s shell to tap the deeper wisdom within. Along the way, part of what opens this territory is a courageous act of facing death, for a death of the ego is required in order for the deeper self to emerge.
You can hear the full episode and receive additional podcast content by becoming a member of Living Myth Premium. Members receive bonus episodes each month, access to the full archives of over 520 episodes and a 30% discount on all events, courses and book and audio titles.
Learn more and join this community of listeners at patreon.com/livingmyth
On this episode, Michael Meade turns to a myth from Mesopotamia that tells how the genesis of mistakes, as well as the source of conflicts comes from the shadow of doubt felt by the primal god at the beginning of creation. Surprisingly, the origin of what troubles the world to this day comes not from an original sin by a creature, but from a seeming mistake on the part of the creator.
At this troubled time when people feel painfully polarized and come to believe that we live in different worlds, we are actually living in the same story. Creation stories typically show how division was part of the world from the very beginning. In mythic terms, the tension of opposites hints at a hidden third element that not only relieves the tension, but also renews life at a deeper level.
The effect of elemental tension is to stimulate life itself, the purpose of the opposing energies is to keep creation continuing. In following the old myth, it becomes clear that even the presence of great doubts about the future can be seen as part of the creative tension needed to regenerate life in terms of both nature and human culture.
Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can further support this podcast by becoming a member of Living Myth Premium. Members receive bonus episodes each month, access to the full archives of over 500 episodes and a 30% discount on all events, courses and book and audio titles.
Learn more and join this community of listeners atpatreon.com/livingmyth.
If you enjoy this podcast, we appreciate you leaving a review wherever you listen and sharing it with your friends. On behalf of Michael Meade and the whole Mosaic staff, we wish you well during this challenging and uncertain times and thank you for your support of our work.