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The Relevance of the Axial Age for a World in Crisis

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Abstract

Global climate change is a highly visible symptom that our world is in crisis and incites anxiety about the plausibility of “the end of the world.” Psychologically, end-of-the-world anxiety is overwhelming, inhibiting our capacity to take responsibility for our world in crisis. Understanding the historical thesis of the Axial Age provides us with a way to gain our bearings on our present moment and put it into perspective. Applying systematic spiritual practices focused inwardly upon consciousness, the signal contribution of the Axial Age helps us to put our present moment into the right scale and develops our mental and spiritual resilience. This chapter summarizes what the Axial Age is, how it is relevant to our contemporary moment, and how it offers hope.

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Correspondence to Christopher Peet .

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Peet, C. (2019). The Relevance of the Axial Age for a World in Crisis. In: Practicing Transcendence. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14432-6_1

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