The political, economic and religious structures with which we frame our shared reality have caved in on themselves. With our genius and our ignorance, we have created an impossibility; and we are fueling it every moment of every day. There is no way out of this impossibility, because what could lead us out is leading deeper into it at every twist and turn. We cannot turn, we cannot change course. We cannot stop sliding backward, and yet we cannot stop hurtling forward. Our problems have become our solutions; our solutions have become our problems. This impossibility is our crisis. It has a created a singularity. What will come from this singularity? If anything but extinction (or near extinction) comes from this crisis, it will be because something unforeseen, unprecedented, miraculous and utterly new emerges from this singularity, i.e., from within us, in the midst of our meltdown, after everything has gone on full-tilt. We are the singularity, and we are poised here in anticipation of what will emerge from the unthinkable, unimaginable collapse of our collective self. Therefore, we must learn to see in the dark. -- Richard Power, Between Shadow and Night, The Singularity in Anticipation of Itself
Between Shadow and Night, The Singularity in Anticipation of Itself
My seventh book, Between Shadow and Night, The Singularity in Anticipation of Itself is now available.
Part spiritual manual, part poetry, and part social manifesto, Between Shadow and Night is a representative reflection of my personal life’s work so far.
For centuries, humanity has savaged itself and its environment. Now our madness has caught up with us. Mega-fires, mega-droughts, mega-storms, mega-floods. Rape as a weapon of mass destruction. TV and radio as weapons of mass disinformation. Genocide, gendercide and ecocide. These are not Biblical prophecies, these are current news stories. Water scarcity, food insecurity, overpopulation, extreme poverty, collapsing infrastructure, predatory capitalism, perennial war. Humanity is in crisis. The planet is in crisis. Will we push the planet beyond its breaking point, and in the process snuff out our own future? Or will the planet respond to the existential threat that our ignorance poses, and save itself by pushing us beyond our breaking point? Both outcomes are plausible; sooner or later, perhaps even in this century.
Between Shadow and Night, The Singularity in Anticipation of Itself is now available.
Between Shadow and Night considers the human condition at the end of the first decade of the 21st Century, and celebrates some simple truths that could help us redeem our civilization and revive our world. The book is organized into seven sections.
"User’s Guide to Human Incarnation: Technology of Falling Awake, Parts I, II and III" is a series of talks on the spiritual quest.
“Gaia or Global Ghost Dance?” is an exploration of themes and issues related to re-orientating social, political and economic priorities around human rights and the rights of Mother Earth.
I have also included three shorter pieces, “Beyond The Razor’s Edge: A Sequel,” “Lost Years of Jesus” and the title piece, “Between Shadow and Night: The Singularity in Anticipation of Itself.” These brief excursions into the creative imagination provide some further context for the principles and strategies suggested.
Here are links to purchase it from Amazon.com, or from CreateSpace; it will be available in additional distribution channels on-line and in bookstores soon.
ISBN-13: 978-1453744840
ISBN-10: 1453744843
-- Richard Power
