The Arlington Institute is pleased to announce the second lecture in its TAI PRESENTS series related to different aspects of big global change. Acclaimed author of 2012 – The Return of Quetzalcoatl, Daniel Pinchbeck, will join us on Wednesday October 4th at 3pm, for a public presentation.

Mr. Pinchbeck will be speaking on the thesis of his latest book: We seem to be in the midst of an accelerating evolution of consciousness, and that this evolution has been predicted by the prophetic thought-streams of different traditions, particularly the Classical Mayan civilization. He will offer a series of hypotheses about this process, and discuss how it is linked to our immediate future as a sentient species on this planet. The severe ecological and social crises now facing us require a new mindset and a pragmatic approach to global problem-solving. If the number of individuals who can step beyond old paradigms and factionalisms reaches a critical mass, we have the potential of utilizing the current "tipping point" to create a compassionate planetary civilization within the next few years.

This promises to be a thought-provoking – and probably unconventional – exploration of the basic underpinnings of the increasing uncertainty that is growing around us.

Daniel Pinchbeck has written features for The New York Times Magazine, Esquire, Wired, Harper's Bazaar, The Village Voice, Salon, and many other publications. He is one of the founders of Open City, an art and literary journal, and an independent book publisher. He was a 1999 - 2000 Fellow of the National Arts Journalism Program at Columbia University. He has also been a columnist for The Art Newspaper of London, and an editor at Connoisseur Magazine.

Pinchbeck’s widely acclaimed first book, Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism, explored shamanism via ceremonies with tribal groups such as the Bwiti of Gabon and the Secoya in the Ecuadorian Amazon.