The politics of transformation in the global crisis: are spiritual emergencies reflecting an enantiodromia in modern consciousness?

Abstract

The current global crisis is confronting humanity with an unprecedented challenge to find sustainable ways of living. There is a need for cooperative action to find alternatives to the reductionist and materialist mind-sets that have contributed to the current global crisis. This state of affairs calls for a political transformation, which is founded upon a renewed vision that recognizes and values the interdependence of all forms of life. This proposition is underscored by the importance of a shift in consciousness that leads to a greater depth of engagement in life; however, there is no precedent set for how such a change at a collective level could occur. In this article we discuss how the transformational phenomena known as spiritual emergencies may be revealing spontaneous changes in consciousness that could be leading people to experience greater depths in the way that they live. This shift in consciousness can be viewed as an enantiodromia, which is a naturally occurring process that precipitates a reaction or flow to an opposite position when a situation becomes unbalanced or too one-sided. We are suggesting that the enantiodromias of spiritual emergencies are heralding a wake-up call for the collective, which could be initiating a renewed vision for a deeper relationship to consciousness and life as a whole. We conclude by outlining six propositions for initiating a political transformation. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.