Project Vision 21

Almost three and a half millennia ago, Pharaoh Akhenaten surprised Egyptians and strangers when he decided that Egypt should abandon their traditional gods and accept a kind of monotheism, which, although it was never accepted in Egypt, after numerous historical changes and cultural transmutations, is still alive in broad sectors of the world.

If what Akhenaten did in the 14th century before our era was surprising, even more surprising was for me unexpectedly meeting with Akhenaten in person recently in my office and being able to talk with him on an unexpected subject: the new planetary consciousness.

Obviously, the contemporary Akhenaten that visited me and with whom I spoke doesn’t resemble the person of the same name who lived 3500 years ago, nor do I believe for a moment that it is his reincarnation. In fact, I don’t believe in reincarnation, nor did I believe it in any of my previous lives, although I can’t remember it well.

The 21st century Akhenaten didn’t speak ancient Egyptian nor did he present himself as Tutankhamun's father (although I never asked him if he was). It's just someone who came to my office (without an appointment) and used that unusual name to introduce himself, explaining that someone had told him that I was a person with whom he could talk.

The situation, as for the name, is similar to meeting someone called "Jesús" (a common name in Spanish) or "Moses", without this representing any other connection with the one who previously carried that name than having the same name. Something similar happens to those "unknown" people who share names similar to celebrities.

Be it what that may be, I had never had the opportunity to speak with someone who used the pseudonym "Akhenaten" to introduce himself, taking into consideration that his illustrious predecessor was treated by his fellow countrymen as an "enemy" and "criminal", a fairly common situation among religious reformers.

Beyond the question of the name, the modern Akhenaten has its own intentions of religious and spiritual reform, based on a new planetary consciousness and access to cosmic knowledge, available, he said, for all of us with adequate preparation (of the same way, I add, that you can’t learn advanced mathematics without first learning to add and subtract.)

Akhnaton (let's call him that) presented the subject as something positive, as something that is already happening. But, with my usual more pessimistic view of life (the pessimist is an optimist with better information), one can really doubt that our global human consciousness is improving.

At a time when the difference between reality and fantasy has become irrelevant, where history changes faster than in Orwell's 1984, and where the narcissistic satisfaction of the ego is the main motivation of life, even if it leads to the destruction of the planet and humanity, is it worthwhile to speak of a new consciousness, even if Akhenaten says so?

What new consciousness can emerge when the social field of negativity leaves no room to build a future?