For almost as long as Homo Sapiens have been on the planet, humans have sensed and tried to commune with a mysterious presence registered as ‘something higher’ – a power, energy, or intelligence bigger than ourselves. For early humans, it might simply have been fear of the power of nature; over time it evolved into a profound spiritual or religious quest to connect with a universal, divine source of life and change.
Part of the heightened spirituality and new consciousness emerging in the past few years is the awareness that ‘something higher’ is not ‘out there’; it’s in here. Humans are designed with the innate capacity to create inner states of connection to the highest levels of universal understanding. The human mind, heart and spirit can transcend what previously might have been thought of as an inescapable duality of higher vs lower, carnal vs spiritual.
There’s also a heightened sense of urgency energizing the new awareness. The capacity to naturally produce higher connected states needs to be cultivated as part of humanity’s endeavor to open pathways to a healthy and regenerative future.
In this conversation, longtime Portals contributor Jerry Pike also explores the inspiration, insights and practices that propel him along the journey to the ‘something higher’, including:
- It's not just a nice to have; we won’t be able to solve the complex challenges facing humanity without spirituality.
- The post-truth paradigm is the belief that truth is socially constructed and I can chose my truth.
- Humanity is experiencing a deep crisis of the spirit.
- We all carry divinity within us; we don’t need to build a temple.
- It has become fashionable to bash anything that's spiritual as moving away from scientific truth.
- The post-modern, reductionist mindset wanted to do away with anything that represented structures or hierarchies. The pendulum swung too far and did away with natural gradients and natural levels.
- The spiritual upsurge today is saying we are all radio sets of the higher and can tune in to all levels and determine in ourselves how we're going to play this orchestra of the high and the low.
- Beliefs are just a stepping stone we should continually be reassessing to see if they are driving us towards a reality.
This conversation is part of the continuing Portals discovery into what is emerging on the frontiers of human experience in this time of profound change. Information about special events can be found on the Events page. Also visit and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Beliefs are just a stepping stone and we should be constantly assessing them to see if they’re driving us towards a reality. So with the spiritual affair, I feel we're starting to realize there's levels beyond the physical that are more fascinating. And things like feelings, emotions, the instinct, the intuition, the ability to perceive consciousness itself… These are the things that move us and get us up in the morning and make us want to understand more.
Jerry Pike
I find it strange that after all these centuries of exceptional progress and accomplishment, we still do not know how we got here, whether it is for anything, and is there something higher on the planet than just us? Such questions have been a central focus for my life.
The excitement however is that in the 21st century we now know so much that, if we can put conventional thinking and established beliefs to one side, we are in a great place to explore this enigma. This mystery is ripe for, maybe not solving, but opening up through not only intelligence, but also feelings and some of the exceptional experiences that we are now able to share with each other that was not possible before.
Aviv Shahar
Aviv is the Founder of Aviv Consulting, helping leaders unleash strategic innovation, and is the author of Create New Futures: How Leaders Produce Breakthroughs and Transform the World Through Conversation.
