John Jenkins - The 2012 Story

We’ve established that a larger perspective, or self-concept, is necessary in order to do two things: actualize our full potential as human beings and effectively address and transform the crisis of the modern world. Both aspects involve reorienting the relationship between ego and this higher perspective, and I’ve emphasized that this goal is a deep principle within the Perennial Philosophy, which is also the essence of Maya spiritual teachings for cycle endings. The crisis, caused by a limited ego consciousness running the show, prevents the transformational breakthrough of awakening to the larger, trans-ego perspective. The entire dynamic and challenge is clarified by a deep archetypal reading of The Popol Vuh . The relationship between Seven Macaw and One Hunahpu embodies this spiritual teaching, tempered by the principle of sacrifice, of surrendering attachment to illusion. On another level, which we left behind in Part I, the rebirth of One Hunahpu at the end of The Popol Vuh Creation Myth is a metaphor for the solstice sun’s alignment with the dark rift in the Milky Way. I framed my overall approach to 2012 with three stages—the tangible nuts-and-bolts reconstruction, the identification of universal perennial wisdom in the Maya material that relates to cycle endings (2012), and finally the possibility of directly experiencing profound integrative truths. This last stage, which we’ll explore here, strives to open the mind and heart to a direct revelation of higher gnosis, the bigger picture. This is important because, according to the Perennial Philosophy, all true knowledge comes from an ecstatic connection with the transcendent.

So we have a complete package, but one final item needs to be addressed. How do we transcend the ego and gain the initiatory glimpse of direct gnosis? How do we restore One Hunahpu’s head, his unity consciousness? In Chapter 9 we saw that the Maya prophecy for cycle endings involves the appearance of the vain and false ruler, Seven Macaw, controlling humanity through fear and deception. In laying out striking parallels in world politics that would be amusing if they weren’t so gravely true, we saw that the archetype of megalomaniacal egoism, in individual leaders as well as in corporate mandates, is indeed ruling and ruining the planet. The Maya prophecy for 2012 has come true. But, as The Popol Vuh reveals, that’s only the first part of the prophecy.

The Hero Twins succeed in sacrificing Seven Macaw and the other lords of darkness; they were challenged to sacrifice the hegemony of egoism fueled by illusion to pave the way for the resurrection of One Hunahpu, the awakening of a higher unity consciousness beyond ego. The metaphor speaks truly for the crossroads that humanity finds itself in today. Will we sacrifice our attachment to the illusions of limited consciousness drawn over our eyes by self-serving egoism? Can we recognize that this is an essential key to facilitating world renewal, for creating a sustainable future? And then, how do we do it? Let’s look at these one at a time.

First, will we sacrifice our attachment to illusion? Well, this is a free-will choice and a possibility for each individual. The point, however, is that our civilization’s ruling institutions need to be reformed upon the principle of selfless service. This is a tall order, and I believe the effort will be impossible unless the people inside of the effort are engaged in their own simultaneous inner process of transformation. You can’t just expect to put a bandage on transnational corporate feudalism and expect it to heal. Political institutions must change from within. No amount of legislative machination, or activists demonstrating, or more violent means of terrorism, will help unless the root spiritual cause of the world’s dysfunctional structure is corrected. To fight the world’s external problems in this way is like shadowboxing—one tries to hit phantoms. Instead, a kind of spiritually centered social activism is necessary. This begins to sound like the grounded earth-based spirituality of the Maya, who, rooted in the earth, could look out to celestial spheres with deep knowing. The structures of culture thereby congeal around stable foundations. Rooted in a spiritual center, civilization can flower. Rooted in the shortsighted agenda of ego, it is doomed to collapse.

Second, can we recognize that sacrificing the monopoly of egoism is essential for facilitating world renewal? Well, there is only one being on the planet who would disagree: Seven Macaw. In explicating the profound teachings of the Perennial Philosophy I’ve tried to make the case on rational grounds. Intellectuals will have to do some soul-searching to determine if they agree or disagree, and carefully discern what is motivating their decision. I suspect that those who believe self-serving egoism should continue to run the world, as some kind of benevolent automatically self-regulating over-being within global capitalism and politics, are probably hearing the demented whisperings of Seven Macaw. And they are probably motivated by the fear of annihilation, because they confuse ego with Self, and consequently ego’s loss of power is seen as a mortal threat. Ego fears losing; the Self does not.

Third, how do we do it? How do we embrace the big picture? How do we put ego back into correct relationship with the unitary Self, and how do we actively midwife the renewed world that unfolds from that fundamental shift? How is One Hunahpu reborn? This is the second part of the Maya prophecy for era-2012, and is the focus of this chapter.

Our playbook should be The Popol Vuh , which elaborates in archetypal terms the process of transforming Seven Macaw into One Hunahpu, utilizing the necessary key, which is: sacrifice. Yes, a big scary word with lots of blood and violence oozing out. But all the world’s religions and metaphysical systems of spiritual transformation agree: Sacrifice is the key. Preferably self-sacrifice, for the simple reason that if we don’t do it, the universe will do it for us. The former method can be quite exquisite and fulfilling while the latter alternative is not so pretty. Luckily, the thing that needs to be sacrificed is the thing that runs the show at the end of the cycle: illusion. The macabre interpretation of sacrifice is unnecessarily literal. So far, so good. Unfortunately, illusion is deeply entangled with ego, and unraveling the ego-illusion mess can seem as difficult as untangling a fifty-pound knotted ball of yarn.

A long laundry list of methods and techniques for freeing the ego-identity from the tangled knot of illusion is well known, including yoga and meditation, sacred plants and shamanic healing work, and devotional prayer or chanting. I personally believe that developing a meditation practice is a very good thing to do—and best of all, it’s free! Vipassana meditation (breathing meditation), in particular, can have beautiful and profound effects on one’s life. We want to bring a presence of mind to our actions and awaken a deeper field in which the results of our actions can be directly perceived and felt. We shouldn’t expect to sustain this mode of consciousness constantly, but an initiatory glimpse of the deep interrelationship between our thoughts and actions and the larger field of other beings and nature can radically change how we behave in normal consciousness.

For example, if one experiences (by whatever means) a spiritual opening in which one feels, for a second or a minute, a deep compassion for all created beings and a deep knowing that all life is interdependent and connected, your lifestyle and behavorial choices are going to reform around this conviction. I’m trying to ease into this slowly, so I used the word “conviction,” but really the experience is more of a revelation of truth than a decisive commitment to a particular belief. The experience imprints the soul with a deep knowing, a true vision of the way reality operates. This doesn’t mean peace and harmony and the lion lying down with the lamb. As Joseph Campbell said, “No, the lion is going to eat the lamb, but that is the way of nature.” 1This is being in the Tao, the flow, allowing the thing-in-itself, including the thing that you are, to be. Talk to your friends, coworkers, and family members. You might be surprised to discover, after a little gentle prodding, how many people will say they have had an experience something like this at some point in their lives.