To watch the full episode, please log in to your account - or consider becoming a Portal One level member.
At Portals we seek to offer great content to inquiring minds, and we also want to nourish and grow a thriving community by creating an ecology of practice for engagement and exchange. Your membership supports that potential.
Throughout history, the great questions have been asked, and great research has been undertaken, always expanding the territory of the known by shining a light into the unknown. Where is that cutting edge today? And can a community of people from all over the world, each carrying their own unique journey of discovery, come together to inquire at the edge of purposeful evolution, through dialogue and interaction? We think it is possible, and we hope that you will choose to be a part of this exploration.
Where can we look for inspiration and wisdom in this truly dynamic and challenging moment in our evolutionary journey? As we accelerate change from the crumbling modern operating system into a new period of history, a new epoch?
It may seem counter-intuitive, but we look to the ancient symbol of communion with the cosmos, the Acropolis — not only the sacred site from Greek antiquity, but also the living inner Acropolis of higher connection and revelation.
We explore more deeply an Acropolis way of thinking and development in the newest addition to the ongoing Portals series “The Homo Universalis Project”, with Aviv Shahar, Karen Heney and Kyriaki Nikandrou. This dialogue builds upon the previous Universalis conversation that focused on the two struggles we face in transformation, the known and the unknown.
For the ancient Greeks, the Acropolis was home to temples of connection, where communities gathered with ceremonies and rituals to explore higher possibilities at the edge of the known, and beyond. The inner Acropolis realm is an energetic function: it will nudge and inspire us to discover the higher faculties that connect to universal possibilities — the Universalis human.
Aviv, Karen and Kyriaki explore the inner Acropolis as a key to activate the whole human temple, the complete human template of capacities. Among their insights:
- A core practice in unlocking Universalis potential is the contemplative inquiry, which resists ready-made references, and engages the feeling life and sense organs to birth something new.
- This experience of stepping into the unknown is allowing ourselves to be immersed in multiple options and discover where the conductive current of the inquiry leads us next.
- What many people consider “thinking” is often a background humming noise of anxiety from life experiences that left traumatic scar tissue, where healing is found in the true power behind “you become what you think about”.
- We create more potent inquiries by abiding — staying with a question, resisting the temptation and tendency to answer it; esoterically building higher intensity and conductivity in the inquiry.
- The many faces of Homo Universalis each represent a change of state or transformation, powered by a currency or energy and potency that activate those latent human capacities.
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.
The strength of what we can release in our collective stop situation is determined by how we apply ourselves, each one of us, inside. As we do so, we also unlock new ways of being, of collaborating, of creating; new ways of “togethering” inside the mutualized space; a combined compound field of power and potential that comes alive.
Karen Heney
From an early age there has been a compelling search for truths, those realities that didn’t have a fixing or a closed door. The quest for meaning, sometimes quiet, other times reaching and finding pathways, has always accompanied me. The awareness that all life is caused to exist for an inherent purpose, one that allows for the possibility of furtherance and refinement, has prompted both perceptions and questions. These concern the purpose of human life, its integration within greater domains and what I personally may need to discover in order to play my part. Creativity has always been integral, with an endeavour to create visual interpretations of concepts as practical activities. The intention behind a current project is to broaden the paths of relevance and meaning for others to access and explore.
Kyriaki Nikandrou
When I was a child, staring at the starry night skies, I was filled with awe and wonder, about the mysteries of the Universe, Life, Time, the Human and its place in the Cosmos, trying to connect the dots that link everything with everything… Some years down the line, I still do. I am seeking to be in conversation with others in search for keys, for tools of understanding and application and for the real questions, the ones that become portals to contemplative journeys, leading to uncharted territories that feel like home. I believe we are on a trajectory of multiple and unpredictable changes; it is up to each one of us to rise to the challenge of our times. Now, more than ever before, is the time to be true to ourselves and fulfill our potential.
Aviv Shahar
Aviv serves as the Portals' sherpa. He curates transformational journeys and is a storyteller of the epochal evolution culminating at this time.
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.
Visit: Aviv Consulting
