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    • Maitreya the World Teacher
      • Overview
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      • Maitreya and other well-known figures
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      • Articles about Maitreya from Share International magazine
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      • Overview
      • Crosses of light
      • Light patterns
      • Light blessings
      • Statues and icons
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      • Healing waters
      • Maitreya in Nairobi
      • Maitreya’s hand
      • Maitreya’s ‘Star’
      • UFOs
      • Crop circles
    • The Ageless Wisdom Teaching
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    • Introduction — some basic tenets
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    • Ten quick facts about Maitreya
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    • What is Share International?
    • Who was Benjamin Creme?
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HomeArticlesIn conversation with Jeremy Lent (excerpt)

In conversation with Jeremy Lent (excerpt)

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In conversation with Jeremy Lent (excerpt)
An antidote to alienation — interview
Felicity Eliot
Share International
October 2021
Our modern worldview is all about separation. Is there another way to live? What so many great wisdom traditions show us is that there is another way, based on the recognition of our deep interconnectedness.

Jeremy Lent is a writer, speaker and founder of the non-profit Liology Institute. His book The Web of Meaning was reviewed in the July/August issue of Share International. A recording of an online conversation between Jeremy Lent and Felicity Eliot can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/11YS4X6gFok

SI: Thinking about your book I wondered what comment I might make if asked. I settled on the following and I wonder what you make of it: Jeremy Lent’s latest book: The Web of Meaning — Integrating Science and Traditional Wisdom to Find Our Place in the Universe is an antidote to alienation.

Jeremy Lent
Jeremy Lent

JL: That’s a great way to describe it. The essential theme of the book is how our modern worldview is all about separation. It shows not only that it’s dangerous and bad for human experience and our civilization’s direction, but that it’s also just plain wrong. There’s another worldview — one of connectivity, which modern science as well as traditional wisdom cultures around the world point to. It’s a view which offers us an incredibly positive path forward, both for ourselves as individuals and our whole species in relation to the Earth.

SI: You describe the current predominating view of reality as dangerous. Please explain how.

JL: One of the most obvious ways is that it’s driving our civilization to this incredible imbalance with the living Earth that we’re a part of. We all know about climate breakdown and the terrible dangers this situation poses this century, but even broader than that is the whole ecological devastation that we’re causing. If we don’t turn it around it will lead to some form of collapse of our civilization, and just as important, if not more so, a collapse of much of the richness and diversity of life on this planet. On a mega level, that’s how dangerous it is.

But it’s also perilous for each of us as individuals, because it takes away our sense of well-being. Our consumer culture is designed to make us unhappy with our lives and move us away from a path of long-term well-being. …

SI: I think people are beginning to see that everything has its place, meaning and purpose, that it all fits together, and that all are necessary. Unfortunately, we see this, too, through the destruction we’ve caused to the natural world. We see what happens when we destroy one small link in the chain. But now that we know something of who we are, what we are, and where we are, it brings in a huge question — which you’ve asked. If life is organized in and from itself, then “How should I be? How should I live?” Many thinkers like yourself are saying ‘This is the pivotal moment. We have to shift; we have to change. We need to seize the opportunity’. So, how should we live?

JL: It’s almost never been so important for all of us to be asking this question. Again, we’re told by the mainstream culture that we should exploit the natural world to the maximum. As separate individuals we should do everything to pursue our own happiness and liberty at the expense of everything else. Then, by some magic, when we’re doing that it creates a more efficient society, so everyone wins.

SI: You can see how this predominant myth benefits capitalism, can’t you? These ideas perfectly dovetail into each other.

JL: Exactly. In fact, it’s no coincidence. They dovetail because they form from the same ontological roots. Some of the key elements of the worldview that drives our values today, our economy, our global culture came from the scientific revolution that transformed everything since the 17th century. Look at capitalism, colonialism, when a few European countries got to dominate the world for their benefit. Even racism, white supremacy all started in that same place in Europe around the 17th century. They all come from the same foundational understanding of extraction, exploitation as being not simply okay to do, but what humans should do.

Is there another way to live? I believe — and I’m simply conveying what so many great wisdom traditions show us — that there is another way. It’s based on the recognition of our deep interconnectedness. Once we realize we are life, that we’re part of this great animate sentience all around us, then we have to recognize that much of what we do is based on the presumption of human supremacy. Not just white supremacy, which is foundational for racism, but the notion that all of nature just exists for us. Even more enlightened people right now are still thinking in a mainstream way and come up with things like: we need to be more sustainable so we can use nature in a way which allows us to be prosperous for much longer than just a few generations. That’s better than destroying the earth, but it still doesn’t shift into understanding our ‘ecological self,’ as Arne Naess called it. In the words of Albert Schweitzer, “I am Life that wills to live in the midst of Life that wills to live.” He goes on to say, “I cannot then but have reverence for all of Life.” When we shift into that “we are all of life” understanding, it totally changes the ways in which we relate to all. …

If we see the world as this place of deep interconnectedness, then we can see the meaning of our lives arising from that. We learn that meaning itself is a function of connectedness. This is something that we, as sentient beings, enact in the universe through how we attune to it. Meaning is latent in all around us. We have a choice; we can close our eyes, be numb, or we can attune our spirits to that intrinsic, latent meaningfulness that’s in the universe, once we choose to connect with it.

Felicity Eliot is chief editor of Share International magazine.  (see more)
Jeremy Lent is a writer, speaker and founder of the non-profit Liology Institute.  (see more)
Related articles
A blueprint for the future: utopian thinking — Part 1 (excerpt)
Corné Quartel (Share International, December 2022)

A common definition of utopia is: ‘A place, state or condition that is ideally perfect in respect of politics, laws, customs, and social conditions.’ This does not mean all people are perfect (or ‘enlightened’), but that the system is; it sustains all life and creates the circumstances for people to grow spiritually, to expand their knowledge of the universe and the laws of life.

The Count of Saint-Germain, historical perspective – Part I (excerpt)
Dominique Abdelnour (Share International, April 2022)

This series of three articles attempts to present the life of Master Rakoczi when, in a former life, he was the Count of Saint-Germain in 18th century Europe. The first part will give some documented historical facts. The second part will present his talents and various occupations. The last part will indicate what is known about his activities after his official death in 1784.

Joan of Arc, a spiritual mission (excerpt)
Dominique Abdelnour (Share International, November 2021)

How could an uneducated 17-year-old peasant girl overthrow English rule in France, defy the powerful University of Paris, have a king crowned who would forge the kingdom of France, transform the clan quarrels of the feudal lords into a war of liberation of a country and a people, speak such beautiful French, and dominate a court?

The existence of the soul explained by science (excerpt)
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Dr Philippe Guillemant's model of the soul would make it possible to explain dark matter and energy, and for physics to regain all its explanatory potential and credibility. It could finally begin to understand all the phenomena it usually rejects as if they did not exist. It would make it possible to establish the existence of the soul.

Why going back to ‘normal’ is the worst thing we could do (excerpt)
Felicity Eliot (Share International, July/August 2021)

How would a person from another planet describe our times? Key traits seem to be selfishness, based in a sense of separateness which springs from a lack of connection with our true nature; greed, competition and complacency, which keep us addicted to materialism. Add to this diseased situation the lust for power, and the result is the enslavement of much of humanity today to commercialization and consumerism.

Maitreya’s approach to humanity, part two (excerpt)
Alexander Douwes Dekker (Share International, June 2021)

During the World War, Maitreya was invoked by humanity, as people everywhere went through untold hardship and suffering, crying out for succour and liberation, calling on Him as the Messiah, the Christ, the Bodhisattva and the Coming Avatar. The World Teacher stands prepared to come forward, as the Embodiment of Love and manifesting Wisdom and Will.

Maitreya’s approach to humanity — part one (excerpt)
Alexander Douwes Dekker (Share International, January/February 2021)

“For some time, ever since 1425 AD, the Hierarchy has been aware that the time would come when this projected move would take place. Preparations have gone steadily forward." Mindful of the Plan of the Logos and the incoming Age of Aquarius, our Elder Brothers, the Masters of Wisdom, have been preparing Their return to the everyday world since that date.

Felicity Eliot is chief editor of Share International magazine.  (see more)
Jeremy Lent is a writer, speaker and founder of the non-profit Liology Institute.  (see more)
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  • Home
  • Summary
  • In depth
    • Maitreya the World Teacher
      • Overview
      • Maitreya’s priorities
      • Maitreya’s emergence
      • Maitreya’s teachings
      • Maitreya and Jesus
      • Maitreya and other well-known figures
      • Maitreya’s Messages
      • Frequently asked questions about Maitreya
      • Articles about Maitreya from Share International magazine
    • Signs of Maitreya’s emergence
      • Overview
      • Crosses of light
      • Light patterns
      • Light blessings
      • Statues and icons
      • Appearances and visions
      • Healing waters
      • Maitreya in Nairobi
      • Maitreya’s hand
      • Maitreya’s ‘Star’
      • UFOs
      • Crop circles
    • The Ageless Wisdom Teaching
    • The Masters of Wisdom
    • Articles by Benjamin Creme’s Master
    • Transmission Meditation
    • Questions and answers
    • Glossary of esoteric terms
  • Resources
    • Share International magazine
    • Magazine subscriptions
    • Library of articles
    • Books
    • Suggested further reading
    • Video
    • Audio
    • Events
    • How can I help?
  • For news media
    • Introduction — some basic tenets
    • Who is Maitreya?
    • Who are the Masters of Wisdom?
    • What are Maitreya’s priorities?
    • Ten quick facts about Maitreya
    • What does this have to do with me?
    • What is Share International?
    • Who was Benjamin Creme?
    • Contact
  • About
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