Becoming a leader is the most critical choice one can make - it is the decision to step out of darkness into light. We have never needed enlightened leadership as much as we do now. In the second decade of the twenty-first century, humanity poses a tremendous threat to its own existence, as we blindly open up large holes in the fabric of our environment that sustains life. We can no longer turn to our governments or anyone else beyond ourselves for answers to the great problems of our time. Yet, even when we turn to ourselves, we must go beyond the constant "noise" of the ego, beyond the tools of reason, to that quiet, serene place within us: the realm of the soul.