Only a few years ago, most people would have scoffed at the notion that human beings are endowed with divine potential—and that by developing this potential we can play a part in bringing forth a new age of enlightenment. Students of esoteric wisdom know these things to be true, as do knowers from other traditions. But in the main, until recently, such ideas would have been brushed aside as new-age hokum.
Then along came Dan Brown and his new bestseller, The Lost Symbol. In the guise of a mystery thriller, he has exposed millions of readers to the idea that buried within us is the potential for divinity. In addition, he asserts that we're "poised on the threshold of a new age…" And that "The promise of a great transformational enlightenment has been prophesied forever."
Of course, none of this has to be taken seriously to enjoy this page-turner; mystery buffs can easily shrug it off. But sprinkled generously throughout the novel are many nuggets of truth about this amazing turning-point in history, leaving little doubt that Dan Brown believes these things to be true. And of the millions of readers exposed to the realm of new possibilities, surely some are pondering the mystery that all human beings have it within them to become divine beings…and that now is the time to awaken to our higher potential.
When the Soul Awakens presents these same ideas and was written out of a similar awareness. As students of the wisdom teachings, it became clear to us that an old order was ending and something new was being born in the depths of millions of souls. This awareness was fortified by the vision presented in the modern wisdom teachings known as the Ageless Wisdom—ancient wisdom updated for the incredible historical moment in which we now find ourselves—"poised on the threshold of a new age."
What is new, thus far, comes from an ever-expanding awakening to our inner divinity—the understanding of who we really are that comes when the heart opens and we discover our true nature as souls. In the age now ending we believed we were, at best, thinking beings. But it's clear that thought alone is no longer adequate to solve problems on the scale now facing humanity. Experts in many fields openly admit to not having solutions to the current global problems. And the unprecedented nature of these times is opening many minds to the possibility that human beings may in fact have capacities beyond the rational mind.
Among these capacities is an intuitive form of knowing which flows through the awakened soul. Once the soul becomes conscious of itself, the seeker inevitably discovers the spiritual path. At a certain point on the path, as the Buddhists say, "the mind drops into the heart." Mental knowledge is replaced by spiritual knowledge or pure wisdom. At this stage of connectedness the human mind begins to register the impress of "Divine Mind," through which all problems will find solutions.
For now, we are faced with a great unfolding Mystery. At its heart is the discovery of God immanent—the realization of the divine inner Self. We speak of this in When the Soul Awakens: "The mystery of all mysteries, and the essence of the 'secret doctrine' that has been buried through the ages, has to do with the true nature of the human soul—its origin and its destiny." We have to know who we really are, and who we are capable of becoming, before we change the course of our lives and learn to develop the higher faculties of mind and heart.
As Dan Brown states in The Lost Symbol, "The Mysteries are moving out of the inner circles…and out of darkness…into the light." And he himself has helped immeasurably by introducing the existence of these mysteries to the popular culture. When the Soul Awakens deepens our collective understanding of these mysteries and brings core esoteric (hidden) truths into the full light of day. In writing the book, our goal was to demystify what had remained veiled to most of humanity until now, starting with who we really are and how we can evolve into conscious beings with limitless capacities.
At this very moment we are living inside of an unfolding Mystery—as one age ends and another lies on a still-distant horizon. The vision of the future projected in When the Soul Awakens involves a great shift in consciousness that must precede the coming age of enlightenment. We're now in transition. This book, drawing on the Ageless Wisdom, shines a bright light on what lies ahead.
Nancy Seifer and Martin Vieweg have been studying and practicing the principles of the Ageless Wisdom for over thirty years. Nancy and Martin co-authored When The Soul Awakens: The Path to Spiritual Eveoluion and a New World Era. This book represents the harvest of their transformative journeys. When The Soul Awakens took a Silver Medal in the 2009 Nautilus Book Awards. Previous winners of the award include Deepak Chopra, Eckhart Tolle, the Dalai Lama and Carolyn Myss.
Nancy Seifer was an idealist and activist early in life, before finding her way to the spiritual path. During the 1960s, she was a Peace Corps volunteer in West Africa, a staff member at the African-American Institute in New York City, and an aide for ethnic affairs to New York City Mayor John V. Lindsay. In the 70s she directed a program on women and diversity at the Institute on American Pluralism, where she wrote numerous articles, papers, and chapters for anthologies. Her writings on American working-class women include a monograph (Absent From the Majority,1973) and a book (Nobody Speaks for Me!, 1976) that are still in use at colleges and universities.
In the late 70s, Nancy embarked on a quest for spiritual truth that led her to the ageless wisdom teachings, and to involvement in several visionary endeavors. While directing the Center for Peace through Culture, she travelled to the Soviet Union in 1986—a trip that sparked a decade-long immersion in post-Soviet Russia as spirituality was reemerging there. After writing Russian Odyssey (2003), a spiritual memoir born of that experience, she began work on When the Soul Awakens in an effort to make esoteric wisdom more accessible to a growing body of seekers. More information is available at http://www.WhenTheSoulAwakens.org .