Portals of Perception

What is the message we would bring back to our families and friends if we survived a near-death experience? It’s the kind of event that could change our lives in a big way. What would we most want the people closest to us to realize from our close encounter with the veil? Such close encounters reveal profound insights and perceptions that can change a life’s direction, or bring new understanding a...

What would the divine feminine or Goddess nature want to ask or expect of a man today? If you were a man representing the divine masculine, and had the chance, what would you want to ask or say to a woman at this moment? Can we even imagine ourselves and each other as different expressions of a divine source, more than merely a personality? These were among the inquiries that helped inspire a prof...

As we find our way each day through the often intense and personal struggles facing us and humanity, imagine that we can build our strength and resilience by exercising the right muscles; not just physical, but our emotional, mental and spiritual “muscles.” In the newest chapter of the Homo Universalis series, Aviv Shahar , with Karen Heney and Kyriaki Nikandrou , explores how the “muscles” metaph...

Where is our global culture today? How did we get here? What steps might we need to take now to shape a future that could become a saving grace for humanity? It feels special to find a clear, cohesive and compelling picture, one that encompasses the insights that help us make sense and meaning out of the tumultuous times we live in and answer these questions. We dive deep into a new, emerging worl...

How can a forward-looking, evolution-inclined spirituality, not tied to dogma or history, offer us a sense of meaning and purpose in a time of cultural upheaval powered by AI? Can a metamodern spiritual path also include a new perspective and appreciation of Christianity and the many faces, or dimensions, of Jesus Christ? In the newest conversation in the Portals series exploring metamodern spirit...

Imagine being able to connect with a level of potency , passion and energy that could help reveal even deeper intelligence and meaning to our most compelling “burning questions” — the inquiries and mysteries that drive and inspire us to search for answers. In several ways the potency of an inquiry is generated in how we think about and ask the question. For example, asking “why” attunes our mind t...

In the  third installment we described two ways to apply Einstein’s admonition when he observed that  we cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.  The first practice involved placing the problem you are working to solve inside an even bigger problem. The second practice involved the cultivation of a symphonic loom of expanded considerations. The realization la...

Even if we’re familiar with the themes of evolutionary change  and upgrade that run through  Portals , what’s happening in the world today seems startling: the operating system that enables modern life as we know it appears to be crashing. The key questions now: Is this an irreversible slide into self-elimination?  Does evolution ever offer a chance for reboot and renewal?  If so, how would we spo...

A laboratory is where we’d expect to find a safe space of discovery  and purpose; an environment that supports experimenting with diverse ideas and mysteries in the search for truth. Add in an atmosphere of mutual trust and acceptance, and now we’ve created an ecology that invites something even deeper — a God lab. Imagine a God lab as an intensified spiritual retreat, a gathering of like-minded a...

How many of us remember having  what some people call a “chrysalis” moment? An octave leap, with mind-opening perceptions, in real time. A powerful flow of energy, a quickening, triggered by a connection or breakthrough that can happen anywhere, at any time, and transform us and the circumstance we’re in. The chrysalis we probably know as the middle stage of the three-step transformation of the ca...

If we’re already diving deep into the core mysteries of the human experience  — such as how to partner with a new wave of evolution and engage with the universe — how do we push even further on the edge of discovery? Can we go even deeper into the mysteries? What’s the real benefit? A curious feature of engaging with the natural human impulse to grow and refine is that as we develop, we begin to a...

It may be time to finally change channels , or — if we really want better reception and perception — to trade in that old analogue transmitter and receiver for the best, state-of-the-art technology in the universe. We are referring, by analogy, to the most advanced radio set ever created: the human mind and network of finer, higher faculties — capable of tuning into any frequency, from humanmade,...

In  chapter 2 we described the nature of separation events and the compensatory act of the soul — the ghost. Before developing ways to recover the sense of connection and explore pathways to reengage and liberate the greater potential of the soul, this chapter begins to reflect on a whole loom of considerations, including the experience of showing up in a human model, which is governed by a seven-...

How can we access greater intelligence , wisdom, and power to face the often-scary challenges of these times? In the Inner Conclave Consciousness, Aviv Shahar and Jeff Vander Clute develop further the three process octaves they began to explore in part one of this conversation. Why is this exploration so relevant now?. Portals is chronicling what we describe as the unfolding  crash of the operatin...

A glance at the headlines today often brings a deep sense of sadness about the escalating violence in many parts of the world, along with an urgent inner inquiry: what can one person do to promote peace, both within themselves and the global community? Several Portals conversations and, most recently, the first chapters of Portals Into the Soul , offered the insight that every human is born with n...

It may be easy to see the wisdom  of Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, who noted back in the 6th century BC, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." When the journey of a lifetime is measured not in distance, but in sensing and connecting with a universal source of purpose and potency, what is that single first step? We’ve explored throughout  Current Openings  the many facets and...

Our long and revealing journey of discovery with homo universalis , the universal human, has taken us to what feels like a new beginning, but now as partners; a partnership that will transform both of us in the ongoing adventure of an unfolding new epoch and new future. This partnership with the cosmos actually begins inside of us, with ourselves. We are becoming more intentional partners with the...

The journey of a spiritual teacher can help illuminate the joy, pain, revelations and profound awakenings that often accompany someone on the path to discover the larger meaning of life and the universe. This conversation brings us an intimate look into one such life of spiritual learning and leading, as Aviv Shahar is joined by author, educator, innovator and business owner Sarah McCrum . It also...

It was a Portals cliffhanger: We were in midflight, in midair, final destination unseen, at the end of the last  Current Openings  as we journeyed into the deeper space of development and what it means for us and the universe. The conversation then paused, to pick up later. No need to worry. Our flight now resumes, as we aim even deeper into the core dimensions of what it means to be a true caregi...

It remains one of the most powerful and personal callings  for someone on a quest for transformation and inspiration: the pilgrimage — a journey to what are believed to be sources of connection to the sacred or divine, the holy places. Many of the best-known religious pilgrimages involve a million or more believers or devotees, such as the Hajj, or sacred Hindu celebrations in India. A pilgrimage...

How do we reckon with a reckoning?  We can look around at the many crises engulfing the planet and think that, yes, humanity is facing its day of reckoning, a time of consequences for many forms of unsustainable behavior throughout the modern era. The “twilight of the gods,” or unraveling of our inherited values and reality described in mythology and literature. Can we find a path forward from rec...

How would we even consider paying back the universe — returning the favor — for the most amazing gift of being alive? In a simple appreciation, every breath, every heartbeat, demonstrates a greater permission, an ongoing love and care for the human species. Isn’t it reasonable to wonder how we might reciprocate? Fortunately, there are many clues and directions in Current Openings that explore the...

In chapter one we introduced the story of the soul showing up as part of a new life on the natural as was meant to be line. It is programmed with a threefold brief to orchestrate and guide the human to a) stay alive, b) learn, adapt, and improve opportunities, and c) discover and realize your higher purpose. The soul nudges you to bring to life and express the cosmology of your natural higher qual...

What if the underlying natural intelligence  and energy that help influence and shape nearly every aspect of our lives were actually identifiable patterns hiding in plain sight — visible in every domain of life to anyone with the eyes (perception) to see? Underlying patterns that together point to a unified universal operating system or source code that is guiding the growth and evolution of our o...

How do we sidestep a familiar and unhelpful pattern of thought or behavior in that moment when trauma or pain begins to assert itself and trigger a response? Can we in the triggering moment find a uniquely creative and new response that helps illuminate and loosen the trauma’s grip? Learning to pause before reacting to a triggering feeling or memory might be one of the most important moments in th...