Carl Calleman and the October 28, 2011 End Date

Carl Calleman's first teleconference raised a host of important issues regarding the Mayan Calendar and what we can expect during the next several months leading up to the end of the Mayan Calendar on October 28, at least in his view. If the current economic implosion and continuing earth changes are any indication, it's going to be a most interesting and significantly challenging time. Dr. Calleman was very emphatic in his closing remarks about the urgency of what's bearing down upon us and the need to prepare ourselves as much as possible.

Speaking to the virtually assembled group from Paris, Dr. Calleman explained his view on why the October 28 date was so important. Although in my own talks given with Annette in various locations throughout the New England area I've tended to be a bit skeptical about the many disagreements surfacing about the "correct" date labeling them as "theological disputes", I must admit I found his arguments to be persuasive.

In general the Emergence Project has been emphasizing the idea that it's more important to recognize the reality of the shift than to become excessively concerned or bogged down in what seems to be hairsplitting about end dates. The idea here is to think of the Shift more as a process than an event and one that has been going on for quite some time (remember the Harmonic Convergence in 1987?) Many contemporary Mayan Elders talk about what happens in the years after 2012 and Ac Tah, the contemporary Mayan teacher who we hosted in Boston back in May, has also reinforced the notion that the date itself is not all that important. But the more I thought about the idea of the Mayan Calendar as a tool that can be used track specific phases of the evolution of consciousness at this time, the more Carl's arguments made sense as well as the importance of the date itself. (I continue to explore these ideas as openly as possible and welcome yours at tom@theemergenceproject.net)

Another part of Carl's talk challenged another of my core assumptions. This was related to a question I asked him during the talk based on what I perceived to be a kind of determinism in his teachings on the Mayan Calendar. More specifically in his book The Mayan Calendar and the Transformation of Consciousness he made reference to humans as "puppets" in the evolving divine plan being knocked about by forces much larger than ourselves and more or less beyond our control. In response to my question he confessed that he "did not have much clarity on this subject but doubted that anyone else had. " But he also said that he thought we could influence these events "somewhat" but not significantly. I appreciated his refreshing candor and to those who admit they don't always have the answers to everything I always afford my deepest respect.

I think this is an observation well worth considering. In the philosophy classes I took in college (but which USA Today informs us are rapidly falling out of favor in secondary and collegiate education), the notion of free will vs. determinism was regarded as a fundamental human dilemma and was debated endlessly. It's a common idea among those of us who follow the Shift and 2012 that we are co-creators and can create whatever future we would like. In fact, it's been my tendency to believe that this is indeed is the case. I remember a phrase from Stewart Brand of Whole Earth Catalog fame to the effect that "We are as gods and might as well get good at it."

Heady stuff. This could be either a very potent and transforming idea or else just another very subtle and seductive example of human hubris and rationalization of the collective ego. So Carl's talk prompted me to reassess my own thinking that the Shift is mainly focused on our collective human endeavors. More likely it is indeed about something much larger than our well magnified human concerns and much more encompassing than the meanderings of our species on this little pea patch we call Earth, a speck in a universe vast beyond our wildest imaginings.

The law of attraction line of thinking assures us that we can manifest any reality we want at this time. It's also reflected in slightly different form in the thinking of Gregg Braden and others who refer to this time as a "choice point" when the eschatological outcome will be collectively determined by the intent of humanity at large. But Carl Calleman with his patient and thoughtful wisdom seems to be suggesting that,like it or not, we might simply be at the mercy of these much larger galactic forces. He may well be right. And it may be that the perspective that it's humanity that will determine the outcome is a mindset that somewhat egocentrically puts us at the center of the universe almost like our forbears who mistakenly imagined that the Sun revolves around the Earth. Time may give us the answers to this conundrum and soon enough.