The Hagia Sophia symbolizes wisdom and mystery. Its reconversion into a mosque triggered many contrary reactions. An essay to grasp the essence of this great monument.

The world today is dominated by science and by its underlying assumptions, which are seldom articulated even though they generate not only a methodology but also a worldview or philosophy.

Alnoor: ...There is no doubt that we are in the midst of unprecedented moment where there is no return to old certainties. Part of this pain that we are facing in the world is a pathway toward transformation. Or will we perish in the horror of the onslaught that we are facing?

For the very first time, as growing numbers of us enter more fully into soul awareness, we are developing the inner resources to subdue the powerful forces of our animal nature—instinct, passion, and all the insatiable desires of the lower self that have governed human history until now. It is foreseen in the Ageless Wisdom teachings that in time, as mastery of the lesser nature is achieved and human identity shifts from matter to spirit, we will learn to live consciously in the world as souls, reflecting the love and light of the higher Self in every aspect of our lives.

The assertion that “I and the Father are one” was shocking even when emerging from the lips of Jesus himself! That jagged cleavage between Creator and created, God and self, seems congruent with a level of consciousness that is still splitting the world into inside and outside, running the classic dualistic program of identity through differentiation. From the phenomenological perspective, however, the picture shifts substantially.