Posts Tagged ‘global spirituality’

by Berit Kjos
Kjos Ministries

On September 17, 1995, I signed in at Mikhail Gorbachev’s well guarded State of the World Conference as an official [amateur] reporter. I wanted a first-hand glimpse of the global plans for the 21st Century. Those earlier signs helped build the foundation for today’s rapid change.

This was clearly a global event. The former head of the Soviet Union had gathered “nearly 500 senior states-people, political leaders, spiritual leaders, scientists, intellectuals, business executives, artists and youth from 50 nations to begin a process of deliberation on the central question of what priorities, values and actions should guide humanity as it moves into the next phase of development.” As Gorbachev announced,

“From the outset I would like to suggest that we consider the establishment of a global Brain Trust [forget representative government] to focus on the present and future of our civilization … this idea of a Brain Trust can only succeed if endorsed and actively pursued by people who are widely respected as world leaders and global citizens.”

The elite speakers and partners in this venture included the elder president George Bush, Carnegie Chairman David Hamburg, Ted Turner, Maurice Strong, the New Age chief of the UN’s 1992 environmental conference in Rio de Janeiro, and Zbigniew Brzezinski, founder of the Trilateral Commission (with David Rockefeller), who became a foreign policy adviser to Barack Obama thirteen years later.

An elegant Baha’i singer in a flowing white gown set the spiritual tone with a prayer to her universal god: “O faithful One… O helping one… Source of all being…” The music was her own, she said — given by the unknowable, compassionate god of Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, and other spiritual avatars throughout time.

Her prayer-song fit the conference theme. As Mikhail Gorbachev observed during a dialogue on a new form of democracy,

“…there was no trace of the futile debate about what is better, capitalism or socialism…. We should seek a synthesis of ideas and values that have proven their viability…”

That synthesis abolishes all Biblical absolutes. Again and again, the Communist leader and his hand-picked “council of the wise” or “global brain trust” told the assembly of more than 1000 guests and participants that a new set of inclusive universal values must replace the Judeo-Christian world view. Familiar terms must be redefined to fit the new global perspective, while the old beliefs and political systems must be abandoned.

Like many other speakers, New Age author Dr. Deepak Chopra repeated the call for synthesis in his evening plenary speech. He challenged his friendly listeners with this question:

“Can you step out of the river of your own conditioning…? For only then is there an opportunity to create… a new world. We cannot do it the way we have done it in the past. It is time to change the whole paradigm through which we view physical reality.”

Apparently, these esteemed visionaries had already made that paradigm shift. The conference left little doubt that the chosen speakers and enthusiastic audience viewed reality from a decidedly evolutionary/universalist perspective — the kind that popular author Dan Brown promoted through his latest book on the philosophy behind Freemasonry and the mystical Noetic Sciences. Click here  to continue reading and for links and citations.

LTRP Note: According to an Associated Press article (see link below), The Purpose Driven Connection magazine, (the business venture of Readers Digest and Rick Warren) “has collapsed less than a year after it was announced with great fanfare.” As Lighthouse Trails reported in December of 2008, just prior to the first issue of the magazine, the magazine would feature a number of leading Christian figures, many of whom are contemplative proponents. In February of 2009, Lighthouse Trails reported that the magazine was promoting the new global spirituality.

Below, the New York Times on the story:

“Magazine by a Best-Selling Minister Closes”

By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA
New York Times

Less than a year after starting a hybrid magazine and paid membership organization, the Rev. Rick Warren and the Reader’s Digest Association said Wednesday that they were pulling the plug.

Their plan was to capitalize on Mr. Warren’s best-selling books, like “The Purpose Driven Life,” to create a group patterned on his calls to Christian evangelism and charitable works.

They sold $29 annual memberships to Purpose Driven Connection, built around local chapters and online social networking tools. Members received a quarterly magazine of the same name — edited by Mr. Warren — DVDs and study guides. The magazine were also sold through retailers.

But their timing could not have been worse; the project began near the worst of the financial crisis, in the depths of the recession. “The numbers for the membership were quite disappointing,” said William K. Adler, a spokesman for the Reader’s Digest Association. The partners declined to release sales figures for the memberships or the magazine. Click here to read this entire article.

Related Information:
Rick Warren, Reader’s Digest part ways on project – Associated Press

Rick Warren’s New Magazine Promotes the New Global Spirituality

Rick Warren, Reader’s Digest Join Forces for New Purpose Driven Publication