As human beings, we need the spiritual to light up the mental. And as humankind, we have a problem doing that. For instance, it is hard for us to see a positive future for the world. An awareness of our common origin and our shared destiny lies within what should be our spiritual commons—a place of shared connection with the source of our Being. However, that spiritual commons has been usurped.

There are many areas of human experience that have been claimed as if they don’t belong to each of us as individuals, and us, the people of the world. Our commerce has been claimed by multinational corporations. The governance of our lives has been claimed by the governments of the world. And our spiritual commons have been claimed and divided up by the religions and spiritual paths of the world.

So it becomes difficult for us to claim our spiritual commons together. We hardly know how to come together in a space where we are acknowledging our common origin. We hardly know how to talk about spiritual matters in a way that is respectful of one another and our individual paths and our individual beliefs. And then we have a way of worshipping the thoughts that we have about our spirituality, as opposed to the spirituality itself. One problem with that is that our thoughts are different, even though we have a common origin. So if we end up relating to our thoughts about spirituality as if they were our spirituality itself, we remain divided.

What is needed for us to reclaim our spiritual commons is to know for ourselves that our best thoughts regarding our human origins, and the origin of the world, are not the place of origin itself. The best our thoughts can do is to connect us with the truth of a holy mystery that we come to know by direct experience and then expression, and then by sharing that reality with one another.

I think it is time for the kind of spiritual intelligence that tells us how to be together in a spiritual space, across background, spiritual paths, religious belief or the lack thereof. How important it is for us to find our spiritual commons. I say it is vital to take humanity out of the divisiveness that is preventing us from fulfilling the destiny that we share in common as human beings.

If we can own our spiritual commons together, regardless of whatever spiritual path we come from, or whatever beliefs we have, we have the opportunity to light up consciousness. Embracing our primal connection with our common origin, the spiritual power with which we are connecting lights up thinking. We begin to think from the standpoint of the destiny we share in common, so we begin to think holistically.

We can’t think ourselves into togetherness. It hasn’t worked for me yet. How about you? If we are in our spiritual commons, then we can be a voice of it. We can teach how to be there and we can share the space of it. We can imbue the thoughts that we share with other people with the fire of our common origin. We can invite people into that spiritual commons so they can know it for themselves.

I do believe we are growing up spiritually, as humanity. And we have the chance to grow up together, to mature together, whatever age we are, and invite humanity to grow up with us. We are reclaiming our commerce for ourselves; we are reclaiming the Internet for ourselves—not conceding it to Facebook and Google. We are also reclaiming our spirituality for ourselves.

When we do that, we come into an intelligence about how to share that with another person. We understand how to transcend the beliefs that can separate. It doesn’t mean we discard our religious beliefs, or our brilliant religious or spiritual ideas. It doesn’t mean we discard our spiritual practices. But we gain humility in all those things, and with that humility comes respect and an honoring of others, knowing that it doesn’t really make sense to believe that there are separate sources of Creation. The power in your atoms isn’t a different religion or faith than the power in my atoms. We have the same power of Creation within us all. It’s in our atoms and it’s in our cells; it’s entering our heart and it’s entering our mind. Surely that’s not coming from separate, different sources. It’s coming from one source. What’s different is how we relate to that source and how we think about it. What’s different is how we access that source as a human being. But the source itself is the same.

I am intensely interested in knowing an experience of that source firsthand. I’m interested in being an expression and an embodiment of that source. And I’m interested in sharing that with you and seeing that in you. I’m intensely interested in transcending all the stupid things that separate us—and I believe they’re all stupid.

As our spiritual commons is known and embraced, it brings us together. As we’re having an experience of one source, we’re having an experience of our oneness throughout all the dimensions of our humanity. Then the mind lights up. I believe that the work that we’re attempting needs both an open mind and also the spiritual commons experienced and known deeply, and in a rooted way, so that it lights up the thinking. That is exactly what is happening in the people I see all around me.

There are times it seems like our future is hanging in the balance, as if all our brilliant thinking is going to fly off in all kinds of different directions and become disconnected and not lead to the great promise that we’re feeling for it. And yet, as we reconnect in our spiritual commons, we see it all come together.

I think of the story of the Grail and the key question: Whom does the Grail serve? All our brilliance, all our humanity serves the creative source within it. We have the opportunity to take all that brilliance and put it on the altar and say yes, it’s in service to that origin, knowing that when it’s in service to the creative source within us it’s also in service to the realm—to the world. In the story, the Wounded King has the opportunity to heal when it’s understood that the Grail serves the Grail King. And then the realm has the opportunity to heal.

So let us claim our spiritual commons. With wisdom and understanding, let us transcend the differences in our ideas and practices and embrace our common origin. And empowered by our shared connection to that source, let us light up true genius around the world.