We are entering a Second Axial Age.
The Association for Global New Thought’s Awakened World 2012 conference is our
“next turn on the spiral” – a pivotal gathering to shape
an evolutionary moment in human history.

At this time next year, in Rome and Florence, Italy, this unique event will bring together an assembly of religious, spiritual, and cultural leaders to meet with committed global citizens representing a broad spectrum of expertise and endeavor. In collaboration with AGNT’S co-convener, The International Interreligious Committee for the Peace Council, the work of the group will focus on training and empowering agents of change, shaping a coherent and sharable map of evolving religion and spirituality, and inspiring concrete new initiatives of service to humankind and the Earth.

Along with a “Core Group” of more than 50 recognized peace leaders representing all faiths and cultures, AGNT has made it possible for an “Action Group” of spiritually motivated citizens from around the world to take part in all proceedings and join working sessions led by the Core Group. The Action Group will receive inspirational training, enrich the dialogues by identifying a variety of concrete steps to implement the vision of the gathering, and bring it home to the attention of communities around the world.

Think of it as a “Parliament of the World’s Religions meets Awakened World.”

Then… add to your mental picture:

• small group and personal meetings with spiritual leaders and engaged experts
• receptions, performances, and two international press conferences
• concrete outcomes relevant to your own passions and concerns
• historical retreat settings in Rome and Florence
• private train cars for the beautiful, fast journey between these two great cities
• a week spent communing with peers representing true global diversity
• affordable prices well below off-season rates with our group package:

Proposed Rates (Exact rates available soon..)

• Full package (8 days/nts): Air, Lodging, Meals, Receptions, Concerts, Ground Transport, and Conference Fees $2600-3500 (From New York or Los Angeles • conference fees vary by date paid and type)
• Package without Air Travel $2000-2300 (Conference fees vary by date paid and type) $3000-3500

The 21st-Century Evolution of Religion and Spirituality

(see October Science of Mind: “The Charter Dialogues”)

This highly interactive, dynamically designed conference is based on two simple but profound premises:

1. Ours is a time of dramatically accelerated cultural evolution.
2. One of the most important dimensions of that process is the evolutionary transformation of religion and spirituality – a Second Axial Age.

As we enter this second great “turning on the religious axis,” a Second Axial Age, what are the most dramatic changes that might be on the horizon?  If the first Axial period brought the individual to the fore, the latter shifts our focus to the global dimension of ethical, religious, and spiritual awareness and action. What is the promise of our evolutionary age? What are the dangers, the challenges, and the opportunities? What does it mean to be at the threshold of a “Second Axial Age?” What commitments to action can we offer?

“Four strong winds” of cultural evolutionary sea change drive the process and will help to shape the Dialogues:

• Complexity: the tendency of human culture to grow steadily more complex and, in the process, more evolved;
• Chaos to Order: a dynamic system’s inclination move from turbulence to transformation…from apparent chaos to emerging order;
• Creativity: cultural evolution from the bottom-up, through the astonishing processes of “self-organization” and “emergence”; and
• Cooperation: human social evolution’s inherent bias toward interdependence: the rise of “non-zero-sumness.”

Every cultural evolutionary passage needs to find its thematic moment and its first voice. We believe that, with your participation, these dialogues can help to shape a genuine Axial Moment, calling attention to the shifting paradigm, and helping to facilitate the religious and spiritual healing of the world. Awakened World 2012 will model the harmony of the world’s great religious and spiritual communities – their common ground and the differences that give them unique identities – demonstrating that a shared vision can transcend differences and reveal wisdom. This value of this undertaking will lie in the contribution it can make to global evolutionary awareness and transformative action.

Learn much more about the conference	Explore logistics