Following is a short excerpt from The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown’s new bestseller emphasizing a great enlightenment is coming—

Excerpt:
Peter Solomon’s face revealed nothing. “My own beliefs should not
concern you. What should concern you is that this prophecy of a coming
enlightenment is echoed in virtually every faith and philosophical
tradition on earth. Hindus call it the Krita Age, astrologers call it
the Age of Aquarius, the Jews describe the coming of the Messiah,
theosophists call it the New Age, cosmologists call it Harmonic
Convergence and predict the actual date.”


“December 21, 2012!” someone called.


“Yes, unnervingly soon...if you’re a believer in Mayan math.”


Langdon chuckled, recalling how Solomon, ten years ago, had correctly
predicted the current spate of television specials predicting that the
year 2012 would mark the End of the World.


“Timing aside,” Solomon said, I find it wondrous to note that
throughout history, all of mankind’s disparate philosophies have all
concurred on one thing—that a great enlightenment is coming. In every
culture, in every era, in every corner of the world, the human dream
has focused on the same exact concept—the coming apotheosis of man…the
impending transformation of our human minds into their true
potentiality.” He smiled. “What could possibly explain such a
synchronicity of beliefs?”


“Truth,” said a quiet voice in the crowd.


Solomon wheeled. “Who said that?”


The hand that went up belonged to a tiny Asian boy whose soft features
suggested he might be Nepalese or Tibetan. “Maybe there is a universal
truth embedded in everyone’s soul. Maybe we all have the same story
hiding inside, like a shared constant in our DNA. Maybe this
collective truth is responsible for the similarity in all of our
stories.”


Solomon was beaming as he pressed his hands together and bowed
reverently to the boy. “Thank you.”


Everyone was quiet.


“Truth,” Solomon said, addressing the room. “Truth has power. And if
we all gravitate toward similar ideas, maybe we do so because those
ideas are true . . . written deep within us. And when we hear the
truth, even if we don’t understand it, we feel that truth resonate
within us . . . vibrating with our unconscious wisdom. Perhaps the
truth is not learned by us, but rather, the truth is re-called . . .
re-membered . . . re-cognized . . . as that which is already inside
us.”


The silence in the hall was complete.


Solomon let it sit for a long moment, then quietly said, “In closing,
I should warn you that unveiling the truth is never easy. Throughout
history, every period of enlightenment has been accompanied by
darkness, pushing in opposition. Such are the laws of nature and
balance. And if we look at the darkness growing in the world today, we
have to realize that this means there is equal light growing. We are
on the verge of a truly great period of illumination, and all of
us—all of you—are profoundly blessed to be living through this pivotal
moment of history. Of all the people who have ever lived, in all the
eras in history . . . we are in that narrow window of time during
which we will bear witness to our ultimate renaissance. After
millennia of darkness, we will see our sciences, our minds, and even
our religions unveil the truth.”


Solomon was about to get a hearty round of applause when he held his
hand for silence. “Miss?” He pointed directly to the contentious blond
girl in back with the cell phone. “I know you and I didn’t agree on
much, but I want to thank you. Your passion is an important catalyst
in the coming changes. Darkness feeds on apathy . . . and conviction
is our most potent antidote. Keep studying your faith. Study the
Bible.” He smiled. “Especially the final pages.”


“The Apocalypse?” she said.


“Absolutely. The Book of Revelation is a vibrant example of our shared
truth. That last book of the Bible tells the identical story as
countless other traditions. They all predict the coming unveiling of
great wisdom.”


Some else said, "But isn’t Apocalypse about the end of the world? You
know Antichrist, Armageddon, the final battle between good and evil?”


Solomon chuckled. “Who here studies Greek?”


Several hands went up.


“What would the word apocalypse literally mean?”


“It means,” one student began, and then paused as if surprised.
“Apocalypse means ‘to unveil . . . or to reveal.’ ”


Solomon gave the boy a nod of approval. “Exactly. The Apocalypse is
literally a reveal-ation. The Book of Reveal-ation in the Bible
predicts an unveiling of great truth and unimaginable wisdom. The
Apocalypse is not the end of the world, but rather it is the end of
the world as we know it. The prophecy of the Apocalypse is just one of
the Bible’s beautiful messages that has been distorted.” Solomon
stepped to the front of the stage. “Believe me, the Apocalypse is
coming . . . and it will be nothing like what we were taught.”