John J. Liptak - 2012: Catalyst for Your Spiritual Awakening: Using the Mayan Tree of Life to Discover Your Higher Purpose

About the Author

John J. Liptak is an internationally recognized author and lecturer whose books and assessment instruments have sold millions of copies. Liptak has been interviewed by MSNBC and CNNRadio, and his work has been featured on MSN.com and on the PAX television series, Success Without a College Degree . John completed an Ed.D. in Student Personnel Services from Virginia Tech. Visit him online at www.johnliptakjr.com.

2012: Catalyst for Your Spiritual Awakening: Using the Mayan Tree of Life to Discover Your Higher Purpose 2010 by John J. Liptak, Ed.D.

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First e-book edition 2010

E-book ISBN: 9780738723150

Cover design by Kevin R. Brown

Cover Mayan calendar illustration by Anne Wertheim

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Anyone paying attention to the world these days may conclude that we are racing at high speed toward a wall. Whether it be 2012, or 2036, or any date in the next fifty years for that matter, we are going to pay a price for how weve been choosing to live. Our consciousness will have to change by admitting to ourselves that we humans are soiling our own nest.

Bruce Scofield and Barry C. Orr in Mayan Astrology

This book is written for all of the people who are afraid that the world is coming to end soon. The end of the world! Think about that phrase for a moment. At first it sounds crazy. How could the world come to an end? Yes, the latest in a long line of doomsday prophecies is rapidly closing in on us. According to Mayan calendar prophecy, December 21, 2012, will mark the end of our world from a global cataclysm. It immediately conjures up images of firestorms raining down on people, great floods sweeping people from their homes and causing massive mudslides, tidal waves crashing down on entire towns, volcanoes erupting after hundreds of years of silence, tornadoes destroying everything in their paths, and earthquakes making cracks in the earth so large that people fall into and disappear. This sounds like a made-for-television movie, doesnt it? Many New Age people who have studied Mayan Doomsday Prophecy believe the cataclysmic description above will happen on that fateful day. These researchers contend that a major reversal in the earths magnetic field will occur and signal the end of the world as we know it.

As human beings, we inherently want to know what the future holds. Our parents always tell us to carry an umbrella in case it rains. On a larger scale, we want to know what will happen to us and that we are going to be okay. We look at prophecies not just for warnings, but also for hope, for comfort, and for a glimpse of what our lives are going to be like. Because of this need, we look to prophecies in search of a blueprint for how to live more effectively. Throughout history, civilizations around the world have tried to justify that the future is knowable and that people can prepare for catastrophic events, or they can be too inattentive, too greedy, or in too much of a hurry to see the blueprint.

An End of the World Theme

There are two different ways that the Mayan Doomsday Prophecy for December 21, 2012, is being interpretedliterally and figuratively. The literal translation of the prophecy suggests that the world will come to an end, and the human race will cease to exist. People who believe this version note that our civilization is ever-accelerating down a path toward Armageddon. To back up their theory, these believers point to the scorched-earth effects of globalization, imminent polar reversals, deforestation, war, pestilence, the depletion of the earths fossil-fuel reserves, technological advances that make computers more important than people, rogue nations stockpiling nuclear arsenals and threatening to use them, and cities disappearing beneath flood tides. This group of people views the Mayan Doomsday Prophecy as an event of apocalyptic proportions as professed by old-age religions.

The figurative interpretation of the Mayan Doomsday Prophecy foretells quite a different scenario. People who believe this version of the prophecy suggest that on December 21, 2012, we will be in the throes of a new dawn of spiritual enlightenment. During this time, human beings will become more aware of nature and the impact that we have on nature and on the planet. In addition, human beings will begin to develop a higher intelligence, greater consciousness, and greater willingness to lead lives of service. According to this scenario, the sun will intersect with the Milky Way, causing an eclipse that will allow everyone to see the Mayan Trees of Life. When this occurs, a new and fifth dawn of enlightenment will evolve. The Mayans and many modern New Age groups that study the ancient Mayans believe that the universe has been renewed four times at this point in our history. According to this belief, we have passed through four evolutions including:

The first renewal produced animals to live on the earth with the mountains and trees.

The second renewal produced people made from clay who could not speak or move and who eventually became insects.

The third renewal produced monkeys.

The fourth renewal will produce true humans. The Mayans thought that this age defined the union of spirit and soul with matter of which the outcome was humans with mind, body, and spirit.

The Mayans believe that each previous attempt was destroyed by a certain type of cataclysm that ended the universe as it was. For the fourth renewal period ending December 21, 2012, the Mayans postulated the end of the universe to symbolize the coming of great change. In these changes, humankind will become more aware of their surroundings and their impact on the earth, have an increased spiritual intelligence and consciousness, and be more willing to help and serve their fellow human beings. Thus, while some sort of natural disaster cannot be ruled out, academic researchers have proposed another interpretation of the Long-Count Mayan calendar that suggests December 21, 2012, will usher in this new dawn of enlightenment and produce enlightened humans. According to this enlightenment theory, human beings have reached a point where they have become spiritually bankrupt and in need of enlightenment.