Considering the possibility of a new global Renaissance could also mean revisiting and questioning some of the pillars of modernity that have marked social and cultural progress. Can the individual, the “I”-centric, embrace a new form of community and shared human experience? What about a religion of the future, centered on inner development rather than dogma, to bring people together with a knowing that we’re part of something bigger than ourselves?

A personal and collective metamorphosis could revive the sacred nature of art, which throughout history has been an expression of humanity and a shared experience of a universal impulse.

We explore the many questions and perceptions about a possible new global Renaissance in the first part of a Portals conversation among Aviv Shahar and Sylvie Barbier, French-Taiwanese artist, entrepreneur and educator, and Rufus Pollock, entrepreneur, researcher and technologist. Among their many projects and passions, Sylvie and Rufus co-founded Life Itself, dedicated to wiser living and social transformation.

Among their insights:

• Religion is important because we won’t move beyond current crises through the lens of secular modernity where the ego is God; I think, therefore I am, and it’s all about my wants.
• We can integrate the questioning that came with modernity, but questioning in the service of truth. If we question just for the sake of questioning, it becomes a destructive force.
• We’re still discovering what the new emergence may look like, when it will appear, and its various expressions; yet we cannot not respond to that summoning upon our life.
• Belief is not faith. You can believe in anything, in the illusion and trap of your own mind. Faith is based on direct experience of something beyond you, of yourself as a human being.
• Ultimately you need something much bigger than yourself to transcend the problem of individuality and “me, me, me” that modernity gave us.
• A great learning from post-modernity is to integrate multiple perspectives; they’re a component of a greater picture, which is seeking of the truth.
• We are children of modernity, and I know the future is much bigger than me and demands me to grow. For the future to have a chance, a real shot, I need to go beyond myself.

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 upcoming special events can be found on the Events page. Also visit and subscribe to our YouTube channel.