Part 1
Consciousness is on the tip of everybody’s tongue these days – yes, it’s up and gone mainstream! What was branded “new age” in the eighties and nineties is now trendy, and seen as part-and-parcel for our fast-paced, high-stress, over-stimulated society. It’s why we see Jennifer Aniston promoting yoga as her stress-reducing and beauty-enhancing necessity in life; or Russell Brand extolling meditation and yoga’s virtues at every turn for his sobriety and cosmic insights. Rock legend and Eastern mysticism enthusiast Sting is championing yoga, meditation, and even tantra for decades; and 15-year meditator Hugh Jackman is using Transcendental Meditation to balance the self-described pace of being a globe-trotting movie star, Broadway star, husband, and dad. The list of stars who regularly meditate, practice yoga, do martial arts, and attend spiritual or personal growth retreats is far too numerous to mention. Suffice it to say, the times they are a changing… or as Eckhart Tolle said recently, “The time is now. The shift is happening.”
So, who do we have to thank for the fact that consciousness is now cool? The Beatles? Filmmaker and long-time Transcendental Meditation proponent David Lynch? Well, yes, them too. But they had limited reach. In this day and age, Oprah is a good name to start with when one thinks of pioneers who unabashedly shared “New-thought” spirituality to the masses before it was cool. With each ending segment called Remembering Your Spirit, Oprah “started the conversation” among housewives and millions of others, helping elevate Eckhart Tolle, Iyanla Vanzant, and Gary Zukav to the top of the elite stack of New-Thought movers and shakers. Partnering with the likes of Dr. Wayne Dyer and Deepak Chopra, Oprah continued to assemble all-star teams for her online series, featuring spiritual and religious leaders from varied backgrounds to lead discussions, online meditation groups, and on-going spiritual progress exercises. In short, she launched a revolution and deserves great respect and appreciation for what has taken place in the arena now known as “conscious media and entertainment.”
Just ask celebrated actor and now conscious children’s book author Jim Carrey, who alongside fellow celebrity supporter Eckhart Tolle, lends his considerable influence to the Global Alliance for Transformational Entertainment (GATE). Founded by John Raatz, GATE seeks to legitimize this sector of the Entertainment field as a crucial standard for an emerging new conscious culture. Dara Marks, a Senior Special Advisor for GATE regularly delivers powerhouse speeches and articles about the revolutionary potential of Transformational Entertainment: “Media is transformative when it serves its highest function – which is to show us how to live.”
With the help of non-profit organizations like GATE, “conscious films” are gaining the attention and respect they deserve for their commitment to ethical, inspiring programming that uplifts consciousness on a global scale, one household at a time. This will, in turn, create a positive trend for years to come that inspires countless filmmakers, writers, and producers.
Recent books and performances to enjoy from our conscious celebrities:
– How Roland Rolls, by Jim Carrey (Children’s book) www.howrolandrolls.com
– Messiah Complex World Tour, by Russell Brand (Comedic Social Commentary) www.russellbrand.com
– Staying Strong: 365 Days a Year, by Demi Lovato (Book on Morning Meditations) http://page.macmillan.com/stayingstrong
Written by Miguel Montoya