When the Divine Whispers

A (very) Personal Story

“Consciousness pervades the universe and is a fundamental feature of it.” - Philip Goff, Galileo's Error. Photo by Joshua Sortino

This isn’t my usual Substack.

Most times, I write about historical cycles, the end of the familiar, and the mechanics of change.

Today, I’m sharing something personal. Something that might make you uncomfortable.

I had an out-of-body experience on a beach in Thailand in 2004.

Not the “I took something weird at the Full Moon Party” kind.

The real kind.

In those moments beyond my physical form, I received a Whisper From the Divine: a crystal-clear vision of our future. I saw, in breathtaking detail, a decentralized, values-based society where how we live with each other transcends our current systems. At. Every. Level.

I saw the WHAT with perfect clarity. Way back in 2004.

During the two decades since, I’ve witnessed global innovations that steadily filled in pieces of this puzzle. (The first was Bitcoin in 2009, 5 years after the vision.) I’ve met others who’ve glimpsed the same future through similar experiences. Recently, the last few missing pieces of the puzzle have arrived in quick succession.

These encounters aren’t easily described or explained away. They’re absolutely real and they’re scientifically confirmed. And when you know, you know. They’ve happened again and again for me and it’s now largely how I live my life — listening for and to these whispers.

But there’s never been a HOW whisper. The roadmap showing the pathway to get there has remained elusive. It’s the worst form of torture. Seeing the destination AND the impenetrable barrier blocking the way.

I tend to be impatient, and so I’ve bashed on many doors to find that annoyingly baffling HOW. I spent the last 5 painfully unsuccessful years bashing on corporate ESG and CSR doors. And the doors of family offices who claimed they wanted to “save the planet.” I’ve not-so-patiently maintained knocking on the doors of a global professional services firm who said they didn’t believe ESG was the solution and were willing to work with me to find that HOW. Yeah right.

The HOW door has remained firmly closed with no key in sight.

Then came Easter weekend 2025.

The HOW arrived with such force and clarity that (again) it took my breath away. It’s taken almost 3 weeks to distill what came through.

It’s called PETOC — Punctuated Equilibrium Theory of Change.

The solution to all our momentous challenges is elegant. Deceptively simple.

You might be tempted to dismiss it for that very reason.

But that dismissal comes from somewhere specific: your attachment to what already is.

See, we’ve built elaborate cathedrals of thought around our existing systems—economic, political, social. We pray at their altars daily, rarely questioning if the gods they serve deserve our devotion.

PETOC asks you to step outside. To stand in the parking lot and consider that the entire building might be erected on shaky foundations.

Donella Meadows, the systems thinker who saw further than most, put it this way:

“There is yet one leverage point that is even higher than changing a paradigm. That is to keep oneself unattached in the arena of paradigms, to stay flexible, to realize that no paradigm is ‘true,’ that every one... is a tremendously limited understanding of an immense and amazing Universe.”

That’s the real work.

Not replacing one flawed paradigm with another.

But developing the courage to hold all systems lightly. To recognize that your certainty — about markets, governance, progress, even science itself — is the very thing blocking transformation.

The most profound changes don’t come from arguing within the boundaries of what we know.

They emerge when we’re brave enough to admit how little we actually know.

Are you ready to get uncomfortable?

PETOC scientifically challenges our current paradigm.

At. Every. Level.

Which is precisely why I’m taking it seriously.

The document I’ve written is my best attempt to translate the latest Whisper from the Divine.

Most people will read it and not be moved. At all.

Others will read it and will be overcome by a profound sense of peace.

The difference isn’t intellect. Or education. Or even spiritual background.

The difference is readiness.

Some are standing at the edge of their known world, sensing there must be more but unable to name it. They’ve exhausted the explanations their current paradigms can offer. They’re listening for something new.

Others remain comfortable within existing frameworks. Their current maps still make sense to them. The cognitive dissonance hasn’t yet become painful enough.

You can’t convince someone to see what they’re not ready to see. The Divine doesn’t argue or persuade.

It simply whispers.

And those with ears to hear will hear.

The document outlines a framework for consciously navigating what my departed evolutionary biologist friend, Elisabet Sahtouris, would call a ‘punctuation point’ — a brief window where rapid transformation becomes not just possible, but inevitable.

Cities one by one will be experiencing these punctuation points over the next five years. It’s not going to be pretty.

We need a Community of Practice to validate and develop this approach. As quickly as feasible. Cities that adopt even a portion of this approach will fare better than others.

Will you join this Community of Practice as a Founding Member to help develop the approach?

Your city may need you.

Read the document. If it resonates — you’ll know when you know — register for our first exploratory webinar on May 12th. Details in the doc.

PS. It’s likely that the name of this Substack will change to PETOC. Just a heads-up.

“There is something I do not know, the knowing of which could change everything.” — Werner Erhard, creator of EST.