At this time the Internet threatens to be at least as disruptive of the social fabric as the automobile has been, and in a much shorter time.

The old institutions have been struggling to survive for some time, and now the corrosive force of the Internet is speeding up the dissolution of those hierarchical structures. This may be cause for some celebration, but people are looking for a safety net, looking for something to fill the void of structure and coherence that is being lost in the orgy of information anarchy.

The founding impulse for human hierarchies was the allegation of divine mandate. This was the trickle down model of spiritual manna and cosmic wisdom. In the Aeon of spiritual scarcity, the sources had to be closely regulated, and of course the regulation aggravated the natural scarcity.

The flood of information is only a minor prelude to the much greater spiritual flood that is about to descend from the heavens. The information glut is both a warning and an opportunity.

If we cannot manage the flood of information, how will we survive the spiritual flood? And correspondingly, how we learn to cope with the first flood may be helpful in dealing with the second.

Having the correct vision of our past and future in cosmic terms is our one and only safety net. As the flood rises we will lose sight of the familiar landmarks, we will have to navigate by the stars, and we will have to pull our oars in unison if we are going to move at all. The proper vision will be our chart to global cooperation.

But this vision cannot be doled out in the form of ecclesiastical encyclicals. The vision must be internalized by everyone. But that is already accomplished. We are all born with maps of the cosmos imprinted on our spirits, like homing pigeons. All we need is the freedom and incentive to open our spirits.

We have a supersaturated solution of ideas and information. What we need is the proper trigger or seed crystal to precipitate out the larger meaning and coherence that still lies hidden. If not this Aquarium, then some other Aquarium will be that seed crystal. This is how we will tame the Beast and calm the stormy seas.

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rev. 4/21/97