"The way I see leadership is that a leader is really the symbolic soul of group consciousness. And the soul is our core consciousness, for lack of a better word, where we find meaning, context, relationships, and the yearning to access the larger archetypal being that we really are."

The very fact that Jeff Bridges is "coming out" so publicly about the deeper truths that he apparently feels so passionately about in our overly secularized and often frustratingly shallow culture is in and of itself an admirable act of conscience, courage, and conviction.

Why should happiness be a birthright? Why should our spiritual aspirations be focused on the pursuit of inner peace alone? Did God create the universe so that you and I, at the beginning of the 21st century, could be happy?

I believe we have reached a time in history when God, which I would describe as the energy and intelligence that initiated the creative process, is now completely dependent upon us.

If 50 years ago you were to tell somebody that Americans would teach Enlightenment in India and that Asian seekers would come to California to learn about what the Buddha taught from an American Jew, they would never have believed you.

When it comes to telling us how to relate to some of our biggest global challenges, I wonder if the most spiritually enlightened among us might be missing the boat right now.