A NEW SPIRITUAL awakening is occurring in human culture, an awakening brought about by a critical mass of individuals who experience their lives as a spiritual unfolding, a journey in which we are led forward by mysterious coincidences.

The First Insight is the insight of awakening, and focuses on the mysterious coincidences that occur in each of our lives. Of course, for centuries, we have been discounting such occurrences as pure chance and thus without meaning. But as we ponder the spiritual dimension of our existence, opening our minds, we begin to experience phenomena that cannot be dismissed and pushed away. Why, for instance, do we wake up one morning thinking of an old friend only to get a call from this very person later in the day? Why does a casual meeting with a certain person at a certain time often lead to great advance in our careers, our relationships, our awareness of inner talent?

The Swiss psychologist Carl Jung called this phenomenon synchronicity, the perception of meaningful life coincidences, and we cannot stop and ponder these occurrences without beginning to see direct evidence of a divine force involved in our lives. We are not here in this life merely by accident, playing out a meaningless drama. Our lives have purpose, a sense of destiny. We seem to be guided forward by a mysterious providence.