Xlibris returns with William Van Dusen Wishard, author of Between Two Ages.
I suggested at the beginning that the world is experiencing one of the greatest periods of change in history. When nations shift from one period of history to a new period, that shift doesn’t take place out in space somewhere, out in the ether. The basic change takes place inside of us as human beings. It is we who are changing, even though we may not be aware of it. For the change is taking place at the level of our unconscious life. It takes place at what Plato and Aristotle believed to be the “soul” level – a level just below consciousness and unconsciousness,
What is happening is that a new orientation, a new worldview is being born within us. We are beginning to see ourselves as a single species, and that’s a totally new sense of identity that supersedes all other forms of identity. Our whole outlook on life is expanding. As that happens, it’s a turbulent time, both inside us individually, as well as in the world as a whole. There is personal and collective turmoil. Particularly now, with instant global communications, which not only transmit information, but also transmit emotions and psychic states of mind. And this takes place at the soul level.
One of the requirements of the shrinking of the globe is the need for all people to be able to understand and appreciate the other in different cultures, races, religions and modes of living. And by the other, I mean that which is different from us, and therefore seems strange. It’s very hard for us to be open to the other, to understand it, and not to judge it from our own experience or preconceived point of view.
And one reason we do not relate to the other, and are not open to other religions, cultures, and doing things differently than we do, is because we don’t see the wholeness of our own personalities. And by that I mean while we see our positive qualities, we don’t see the dark side, the shadow side of our own character, both personally and in national life. We tend just to look at the more constructive aspects and to disregard what might be considered the negative features.
We’re all made up of two parts: our personality is made up of what might be called “opposites.” There’s good and evil, love and hate, generosity and selfishness, joy and sorrow, courage and cowardice, humility and arrogance, and much more. And what we tend to do as individuals, and as a nation, is to see ourselves through our positive qualities, and not face the negative, the inferior qualities.
Because we don’t face this dark side in our character, we submerge it into our unconscious, and then project that on to another person. We say, “He’s the evildoer; it’s his fault.” We judge and sometimes condemn what is strange and different, rather than try to understand and be open to it. And we do the same thing as a nation. We say the other nation is the evildoer, without seeing the evil in our own country.
This is human nature, and all people and nations do it. So the U.S. president condemns Iran as part of the “axis of evil,” and Iran calls America “the Great Satan”…each country projecting onto the other country the unrecognized shadow in its own character.
It’s not pleasant or comfortable to face the shadow and the inferior qualities in our ourselves and in the character of our nations. And so we don’t do it. It contradicts the image we have of ourselves.
What I’ve been suggesting is an underlying dynamic affecting the world today. Obviously, many other issues are at work, for the transition we’re experiencing is complex. But at the center of this transition is a war taking place in the individual and the collective soul where worldviews are born.
The more we understand this, the more individuals and nations are able to see and accept the dark side in their own lives, then we become larger personalities, and our life deepens and broadens out. We gain a wider perspective, and we find ways of understanding and reaching out for the other person, race or nation. Eventually, we begin to bridge differences, and build cooperative relationships with other people and nations.
This is not esoteric theory. This was part of the process of reconciliation at work between Germany and France after they had fought three wars within seventy-five years. It was part of the process of reconciliation in South Africa under Nelson Mandela. More recently, this process has been helping develop a cooperative relationship between Indonesia and Holland, who had ruled Indonesia for three hundred years.
The world has entered a new zone of history. In the final analysis, it’s not technology or war that shapes the future. It’s people. People make technology; people make war.
Thus the future depends on us as a people, and whether we can find a deeper understanding of ourselves as individuals, as well as what divides us from other people. If a global age is going to work, if we’re going to build the planetary civilization that is emerging, then nations have got to understand and come to terms with the dark side of personal and national character. Similarly, we must begin to appreciate the “other” in people, cultures and religions that search for the same fulfillment in life that we seek.
There is a new dimension of the truth of life attempting to unfold itself for the world. It’s happened before in history, and now it’s our turn to live at a time when a fresh orientation is emerging for the whole of the human family.
With this new unfolding comes the necessity for us to comprehend and embrace it. To engage in the war within our own soul, as well as within the collective soul of humanity. Then there will come a heightened hope that we can avoid the technological dangers and destructive wars that seem to threaten human existence today.
Then, and perhaps only then, will we bring to birth a new era of deeper meaning and grater unity for future generations.
Make sure to check out Mr. Wishard’s website at www.worldtrendsresearch.org.
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