For the Journey toward Transformation

These are authors whose insights and thinking are part of the work of ICCD. They complement the additional authors and their works found after the various reflections on the site.

Ervin Laszlo
Underlying the design of Engaging Impasse: Circles of Contemplation and Dialogue® (EI) is a belief that we are at a critical point, a chaos point, in our evolutionary journey and that we are at the choice point to breakthrough to a new consciousness. The work of Ervin Laszlo strongly influenced this assumption. He is founder and president of the Club of Budapest and considered to be a significant thinker in systems philosophy and general evolutionary theory.

Laszlo develops these concepts in his body of work. He articulates the various drivers that have and are leading us to this chaos point: overconsumption, global warming, and regional conflicts over resources, etc. He then articulates how this breakthrough can emerge and what is needed.

In The Consciousness Revolution: A Transatlantic Dialogue, he writes: “We are moving toward a new culture of which science is a part, of which the ancient wisdom could be a part and in which they could both find a new integration. At its best this is not a recovery or a rehearsal of the past, but a new synthesis.”

In WorldShift 2012, Laszlo explores the connection between the ancient wisdom of the Mayan calendar and the chaos point toward which we are moving. He describes WorldShift as “a worldwide shift from a path of unsustainability, conflict and confrontation to a path toward sustainability, well-being and peace.” He concludes with an imaginative look at the planet in 2032 following the shift in consciousness which creates the structures needed to live in a peaceful and sustainable world.

Important reading as we continue our journey toward the transformation of consciousness.

Books by Laszlo include:

The Consciousness Revolution: A Transatlantic Dialogue. Las Vegas, NV: Elf Rock, 2003

The Chaos Point: The World at the Crossroads. Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads Publishing, 2006.

Science and the Reenchantment of the Universe. Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions, 2006.

World Shift 2012: Making Green Business, New Politics, and Higher Consciousness Work Together. Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions, 2009.

www.ervinlaszlo.com


Judy Cannato
Throughout the EI experience we use the term “morphogenic field”. The biologist Rupert Sheldrake developed this hypothesis which asserts that there are non-visible fields of values, attitudes, behaviors which surround living systems and accelerate the learning of those patterns in subsequent generations. This experience became palpable throughout the Circle experience as each succeeding Circle seemed to be asking questions and moving forward more rapidly than the previous Circle. In fact during the Quantum Leap conference in March, 2008, the focus was on the emerging Engaging Impasse morphogenic field.

Judy Cannato, a former Circle participant, writes brilliantly about this concept in her newest book, Field of Compassion. Weaving the insights of physicists, cosmologists, theologians, psychologists and mystics she proposes a fresh approach for believers in the 21st century.

She articulates how there is a morphic resonance between the morphogenic fields of the Universe story and the Christian story. She continues to reflect on how within the Christian story the image of the Kingdom of God is another morphogenic field. All share a common resonance. “Each is fundamentally a story that speaks to the primacy of connectedness….In each narrative we are reminded that unity precedes diversity and that diversity seeks unity in the never-ending flow of communion.”

As with Laszlo, Cannato reflects on the new consciousness which is emerging and so needed today. She speaks about the new human who manifests the Field of Compassion. As in her other books, Cannato integrates her grasp of science with her own reflection and experience. She also offers us certain practices that assist us in moving toward this new consciousness and furthering our journey into the higher stages of development.

This book is a great contribution to deepening our understanding of how to move toward the transformation of consciousness.

Judy Cannato, Field of Compassion: How the New Cosmology is Transforming Spiritual Life. Notre Dame, IN: Sorin Books, 2010.

Other books by Judy Cannato include:
Radical Amazement: Contemplative Lessons from Black Holes, Supernovas, and Other Wonders of the Universe. Notre Dame, IN: Sorin Books, 2006.

Quantum Grace: The Sunday Readings: Lenten Reflections on Creation and Connectedness. Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press, 2005.

Quantum Grace: Lenten Reflections on Creation and Connectedness. Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press, 2005.

www.judycannato.com

Written by Nancy Sylvester, IHM
© 2010 Institute for Communal Contemplation and Dialogue

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