We live in an unprecedented time on the planet. The world and our relationship to it is changing and shifting very rapidly. From the global economic collapse to natural disasters to personal challenges and revelations, there is a growing awareness that there may be something larger and more systemic going on. This is challenging all of us to reexamine how we live our lives and to reconsider the core values that inform our culture.

Increasing media attention on 2012 often focuses on apocalyptic themes. And while the challenges facing us on a planetary scale shouldn't be underestimated, the 2012 phenomenon is much broader in scope. The Emergence Project feels that the present time, through and beyond 2012, offers an amazing opportunity for growth and change.

The changes that are now taking place point to a level of existence and a wider realm of understanding that can be tapped into. There’s a bit of a “back to the future” idea at work here. There are great and accessible traditions of wisdom and spiritual understanding – such as the Mayan calendar -- that may be able to provide guidance. While these traditions may not always agree on the details and can be filtered for cultural interpretation, they do offer a way to engage in deeper ways of looking at the world and the larger universe we inhabit. We can look to mining the truths of these longstanding traditions for hope and guidance.

The more problems multiply and the more old systems fail, the more the need to focus on positive solutions, radical creativity and new ways of envisioning the more sustainable and egalitarian world. This starts with the courage to dream and the willingness to take the highest ideals and intentions and put them into tangible action.

An individual and collective transformation is required that resonates on many levels. And this gets to what we believe is the fully derived meaning of 2012. Stripped of its more sensational aspects, we believe that 2012 is best thought of as a shorthand for a new way of being in the world. It’s not a cult or a secret club. Anyone can “join” since the first thing required is simply a recognition of a set of new realities that lie before us. The next step is an individual commitment to the kind of personal, societal ,and cultural transformation that needs to take place to change the current course and “move to the next level.”

In our view, the 2012 date itself is a profound marker and a wake-up call. The date has been foretold by many different spiritual traditions including the Mayan, Christian, Taoist, Hopi, and Hindu and others. Some of the astronomical underpinnings of the date have been independently confirmed by the scientific community. Whether there are minor “theological” differences in how these prophecies or their interpterers view what is happening now and in the next few years is not important. What is important is the commonality of truth in all of these glimmerings.

But to be overly fixated on timing, sources of prophecy, or the idea of apocalypse is a distraction from the real work at hand. The real meaning of 2012 lies in the need to change gears, to shift into a different mode of thinking and consciousness and a unfolding of human destiny.

If a major shift in consciousness needs to take place to change the current trajectory, then how will it happen? The simple answer is that it will happen as a function of the sum total of our individual responses. No one gets to sit on the sidelines really. The good news is that this shift is not only possible but that the resources needed are available for those who choose to change and to bring themselves into alignment with the new energy.

Through this conference, we hope to encourage people to consider these possibilities and by doing so embrace a new way of being on the planet which is necessary not only to sustain life but radically improve the quality of life. There are many mindful and inspiring leaders to help transition to this new way of being --- some of whom we are fortunate to have at the conference – who believe that the transformation now underway represents one of the most important changes in human history.

Thank you for your interest in this conference, the intent of which is to educate, empower and inspire through a special emphasis on the need to return to the deep human values available through ceremony and heart-centered practices which redirect our human energies. We wish above all to promote wider and clearer understanding of planetary changes by offering insight, information, and tools. And we welcome attendees from all backgrounds, levels of interest, and systems of belief to attend.