It is interesting to learn that 'Google Is Adding Major Libraries to Its Database':

Here is a brief summary:

New York Times, December 14, 2004

'Google plans to announce an agreement today with some of the nation's leading research libraries and Oxford University to begin converting their holdings into digital files that would be freely searchable over the Web. Google plans to digitize nearly all the eight million books in Stanford University's collection and the seven million at the University of Michigan. The goal is to create a digital card catalog and searchable library for the world's books, scholarly papers and special collections. The Library of Congress and a group of international libraries also announced a plan to create a publicly available digital archive of one million books on the Internet, with 70,000 volumes online by next April.'

This will be significant in creating a further step towards the 'World-Wide Mind' or 'Global Brain' that has been much talked of. The more information such as is held by libraries is made available for the general 'accessed' individuals can only be a step in the right direction.

There is an interesting article called Faster Forward which speaks to 4 of our major futurist thinkers - from social organisation, to conscious evolution, to the spirituality of machines: well worth a read. It is an article from the 'What is Enlightenment' magazine, also worth a dip into.

Another avenue that is opening up and becoming a more recognised and debated issue is the concept of 'collective intelligence' - and related fields of collective wisdom and consciousness. This area is expanding rapidly, with many rewarding and insightful contributions - in fact, it's hard to keep track of what is being released. One web-blog of note is 'Blog of Collective Intelligence' and 'Minding the Planet' - both of which can be accessed via the links of the right of my page under the heading 'Blogs of Note'.

There are also moves to take collective intelligence into democracy and social institutions - see the 'Co-Intelligence Institute'

Another writer-teacher has said :

"The goal of the spiritual life in the twenty-first century is to become one with the forward movement of the life-process, one with the evolutionary impulse emanating from the source of creation itself. The purpose of enlightenment in the time we are living in is not the transcendence of this world, but its transformation, using our very own lives as the vehicles for this most urgent endeavor. It's up to each and every one of us to do whatever we need to do to raise ourselves to a much higher level of engagement with life, so that our very consciousness becomes enlightened with the knowledge of its own meaning and purpose.

It is only recently that we have begun to understand how crucial a role we play in the evolutionary process. We all participate in this mystery called human incarnation, but usually our participation is unconscious. That means we don't truly know who we are, what we are doing, or why we are here. And because of this, our capacity to participate in life remains superficial. The spiritual impulse, which is not different from the impulse to evolve, is experienced in the human heart as the longing for liberation. That longing, if it is pursued to the end, culminates dramatically in the life-changing revelation of not only the source of our very being, but also our raison d'etre, the purpose of human incarnation beyond ego. That purpose is the abandoned, unconditional, deeply committed, CONSCIOUS participation in the life-process for the sake of the evolution of consciousness itself. This revelation, and our response to it, is the goal of spiritual life, and the meaning of enlightenment in the twenty-first century."
Andrew Cohen

All this falls into line with the avenues I have also been following - the 'imaginal cells' are beginning to awaken...

An interesting phenomena of note, which I've recently been drawn to, in my own searches connecting physiology with inner development, is the issue concerning 'imaginal cells' : here, we supposedly have cells that vibrate at a different frequency from our regular cells. At first these cells are destroyed by the immune system which considers them as foreign cells. however, when they have multiplied sufficiently they enable a transformation to occur in the physical body that can be a further stage of biological transformation. These cells are supposedly responsible for the caterpillar's metamorphosis into a butterfly. For some interesting comments on this, see 'Are We All Butterflies?'

You also wish to do a search for Norie Huddle's book 'Butterfly' which, in a non-academic yet playful way, outlines this - although it's a hard to find book, it seems - at least in the UK.

Another website-article which discusses this, I've found, is at the 'ThinkHolistic' site, from which the quote below is taken:

"Imaginal cells have an encoding program, and when is time for them to awaken they proliferate until they begin to resonate en mass.

It is my sense that most of us possess an awareness of these Imaginal cells at the subliminal level of consciousness and that if we are doing deep inner work then the evolved self can be ready to awaken within us to their presence if we ask for the decoding of these cells. As we become aware of Imaginal cells we actually learn, grow, become stronger, and evolve. "

Although the 'holistic' site has a different take on the role and function of these cells, it adds to their overall presence. If anyone has more info on imaginal cells, I would be grateful to learn of it.

To supplement what is being suggested by studies of molecules and their effect from 'vibrations', I definitely recommend a book by anthropologist Jeremy Narby called 'The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge'

This book deals with Shamanistic experiences and creates an inspiring and novel link to the body's molecular structure - specifically the design of the DNA - and how the DNA emanates biophotons. This also links neatly to what I have said before concerning the scholarly work of biophysicist Mae-Wan Ho - especially her recent work called 'The Rainbow and the Worm: The Physics of Organisms' : if all our molecular structure is liquid crystal, emitting biophotons, then we are susceptible to outside electromagnetic disturbances...just as our own DNA molecular structure can be affected by our own deep thoughts (the electromagnetic impulses from our brains) - ever wondered why there is indeed the 'Power of Prayer'?

Intention, deep concentrated thought, and meditation, contemplation, are ways to influence the well-being of our body through harmonising and balancing our electromagnetic 'biophoton' emissions... thus establishing a mind-body mesh...

Shamanistic work is highly revealing in this context: for general reading concerning healing through shamanistic practices I would recommend two books by Siberian psychiatrist Olga Kharitidi: 'Entering the Circle: Ancient Secrets of Siberian Wisdom Discovered by a Russian Psychiatrist' and 'The Master of Lucid Dreams: In the Heart of Asia a Russian Psychiatrist Learns How to Heal the Spirits of Trauma '

To add what was written in the last post - about the water molecules that change - I have finally found the reference to it. It is a book called 'Hidden Messages in Water' by Masaru Emoto. The synopsis states that:

"The Hidden Messages In Water explores water's susceptibility to human words, emotions and thoughts. Japanese scientist Masaru Emoto has been researching this new field of science by freezing samples of water that have been exposed to either positive or negative words, emotions and music. Through photographs Dr. Emoto has found that water exposed to positive influences produces beautiful, perfectly formed crystals, while water exposed to negativity produces ugly, malformed crystals. Because the worls and our bodies are both composed of 70per cent water, the power to change the essence of water means that humans have the power to evoke change on a global or personal scale, by way of water."

This sounds like an interesting avenue to explore. I shall certainly be obtaining a copy soon.

Again , I wish to come back to the human nervous system as being fundamental to any concept of our inner and outer 'evolutionary' trajectory. It carries a programming structure, in the form of DNA, and works with electrical impulses and so is affected by, and influences, other electrical fields. Thus, the new generation of humans being born into the ‘Information Age’ of an electronic environment are being impacted upon with electrical signals that must have some effect upon the human nervous system. To what degree can the human nervous system mutate under these new environmental impacts, knowing how we do that evolutionary change is dynamic in accordance with such impacts?

I was reminded by a friend recently of a study done upon the crystalline structure of water. A sample of water was taken from a pure, flowing waterfall in nature and its crystalline molecular structure recorded. This same sample was then divided and some placed next to a TV and another in a busy work/office environment. Within a day, both samples were taken for examination and found that their molecular crystalline structure had become slightly deformed (although still, of course, maintaining its molecular cohesion as water). Yet the structure was not as 'clear-cut' as previously...more 'blurred' according to my friend. Later, these two samples were placed with both a church and another 'meditative' environment: within two days they were examined and found to have reverted back to their crisp crystalline molecular structure - I must find this article to verify this.

Yet it appears reasonable to me: we are heavily influenced by the resonations of those things/people around us. We sometimes refer to this as 'bad vibes' or feeling drained... yet we are molecular organisms, thus responsive to harmony and disharmony around us. Is it not our responsibility then to place ourselves in those situations and environments that are harmonious to us?

This is similar to the ritualistic need for prayer or meditation: to create a coherent resonance within our molecular structure (see my earlier posts on 'quantum coherence'). The state of our minds affect both our cellular structure (and hence our physical state) as well as the well-being of those closely around us.

This is not esoterica anymore - it is science.

It is worth remembering that:

"To the empowering principle that the people can withhold legitimacy, and thus change the world, we now add another:by deliberately changing their internal images of reality, people can change the world."

This concerns the idea of our legitimacy. What we think, how we think, and the beliefs that we choose to adapt are of crucial importance not only for us but for those around us since what we 'give off' in terms of attraction, vibes, or energy (whatever you wish to name it) influences the immediate surroundings, and the events and emotions that inhabit those surroundings.

Do we really wish to give-out our legitimacy so easily - this refers to our opinions, agreements, and support. Those in governing positions are constantly vying for our legitimate support - and never more so before a general election! They think we are stupid, so they clamour for our support with stupid fictions and deceit. Why give away your personal beliefs so easily. Our beliefs, perceptions, and state of mind are crucial for how we understand the world around us, and how that world performs for us. To give away our right and legitimacy over our sense of reality is to buy into the belief systems of others who are, more often that not, wishing to take our support/opinions in order to foster their own position of control.

We are sovereign to ourselves: we need to think, act, and have the correct intentions for our own lives, and not to have fear over a sense of inner belief, whatever the pressure from outside banal forms of social consensus.

Begin each day with your own personal self-affirmations. Act in balance with your own personal intentions.

Thought creates Experience: Experience creates Reality

To begin the small step of integrating one's thoughts into our everyday experiences, it is a recommended practice to start each day with an affirmed Intention: each morning, state to yourself what you wish to get out of the day; dispel fears, anxieties, and doubts. Focus only on the positive, and know that the reality you experience around you may not necessarily be the one most helpful to you. So don't swallow it - take what it useful and block the rest.

What you allow in, is your choice. It is always your choice. Treat your consciousness with kindness. Be a conscious part of your own reality by inner faith in who you are, what you are doing, and what you want to achieve - let the mind work on the rest...

It has been the approach of this site to encourage a 'change of mind' - for this is literally all we need: a new mind.

It has been said that:


"Throughout history, the really fundamental changes in societies have come about not from dictates of governments and the results of battles but through vast numbers of people changing their minds- sometimes only a little bit... by deliberately changing the internal image of reality, people can change the world. Perhaps the only limits to the human mind as those we believe in." (Willis Harman - Institute of Noetic Sciences)

I wanted to stress again that we participate within a cultural hypnosis where the version of 'reality' is agreed upon and handed down through generations, and passed onto all within early years of growing-up:

"We may from time to time, especially in early childhood, have experiences that do not conform to this cultural norm-but we eventually "correct" these perceptions and cease experiencing the anomalies, through the power of the socialising process. And so each of us is literally hypnotised from infancy to perceived the world the way people in our culture perceive it." (W.H.)

The power of one's life, goals, and achievements require a faith in one's own 'change of mind'.

Again, science attempts to catch-up with the way things are. Just a small thing: 'experts' have now recognised that people are 'Human-Bacteria Hybrids'. And that there are more bacterial cells in our bodies than our own... once we can get beyond the sanctity that we place on ourselves, our feelings of superior 'uniqueness' we may begin to understand that not only are we 'human-bacteria hybrids' but hybrids to the whole world, cosmos, and of all existence.

Everything is interrelated and interconnected - we are hybridised and woven with everything: it is only our cultural hypnosis that makes us believe in our 'reality' of seperateness.

Link to article:

http://go.hotwired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,65252,00.html/wn_ascii

As the well-known story goes , as told here by Idries Shah:

‘Someone saw Nasrudin searching for something on the ground.
“What have you lost, Mulla?” he asked. “My key”, said the Mulla. So they both went down on their knees and looked for it.
After a time the other man asked: “Where exactly did you drop it?”
“In my own house.”
“Then why are you looking here?”
“There is more light here than inside my own house.”


We often search where there is more light - the old way of thinking, the old paradigm places matter as the primary element...this is where society places the 'light' - and for so long, especially in the West, in the lands of scientific advancement, we have placed the development and progress of the inner life within the dark. And this has been the major cause of our slow progression out of the old paradigm of materialism - a way of thinking that fails to see our systemic connectedness.

We need to start looking in the 'dark' for that which we think is lost - yet in reality it has only remained dormant: a way of understanding that will shift how we perceive of life, reality, and our participation in the cosmic design..for our participation is greatly needed...


In the words of Fritjof Capra, whom I have quoted before: 'To paraphrase an old Chinese saying, mystics understand the root of the Tao but not its branches; scientists understand its branches but not its roots. Science does not need mysticism and mysticism does not need science; but man needs both. Mystical experience is necessary to understand the deepest nature of things, and science is essential for modern life. What we need, therefore, is not a Synthesis but a dynamic interplay between mystical intuition and scientific analysis.'

The society in which we live is a product of the collective mentality of our times..like cultural hypnosis - what propels us forward is our own determination to make things work for us as best as possible, for everything that we encounter can be turned into a productive force, no matter how cruel it may seem initially... for we are here to work on everything. This reminds me of a short story from the Persian sage Attar:

The Grateful Slave

One day a good-natured king gave a rare and beautiful fruit to a slave, who tasted it and thereupon said that never in his life had eaten anything so delicious. This made the king wished to try it himself, and he asked the slave for a piece. But when he put it into his mouth he found it very bitter and he raised his eyebrows in astonishment. The slave said: 'Sire, since I have received so many gifts at your hand how can I complain of one bitter fruit? Seeing that you showerl benefits on me why should one bitterness estrange me from you?'
So, servant of God, if you experience suffering in you're striving, be persuaded that it can be a treasure for you. The thing seems topsy-turvey but, remember the slave.

The author Piero Scaruffi has written a book outlining most of the themes that I deal with in my own research, which I also feel are relevent to what I sometimes talk about here: below is a very short extract from his book 'Thinking About Thought':

'The distinguished British biologist John Maynard Smith defined progress in evolution as an increase in information transmitted from one generation to another.

The key to evolution is heredity: the way information is stored, transmitted and translated. Evolution of life as we know it relies on information transmission. And information transmission depends on replication of structures.'

We can relate this to how we ourselves, within a converging informational society, are sharing, and using, our flows of information...

The West has developed by isolating a person’s sensory development: community has been lost; art is not longer a ‘communal immersion’ but rather an individual onanistic experience. Thus, we have been starved of developmental input and the dynamism of collectivity: progress is not through total individualism, nor is it through the total collective - this would mean either the two extremes of anarchy or totalitarianism. A person can grow to be more in tune with themselves, more independent and of greater harmony with oneself, as well as being more involved with the collective. In other worlds, to be both the 'particle' and the 'wave' (to use the terminology of quantum theory!).

This concept of the organic collective, whilst now becoming increasingly more talked about and received in both the academic and social sphere, has been a central theme running through many sci-fi stories. Just as a very basic example, I picked up a pulp paperback sci-fi book from Oxfam the other day, for £1: it was Norman Spinrad’s ‘The Solarians’, published in 1966. Here is a brief extract:

‘As the human race evolves, the differences among its individual members become greater, not less. Specialisation becomes more and more pronounced. And if the race continued to be organised on the basis of nations, clans, families of like clustering together…

‘The human race would explode!’

‘Exactly,’ said Lingo. ‘The Organic Group is a new basic unit, based not on the similarity of its members, but on their differences. It’s not merely a good idea – its an evolutionary necessity…And of course, with the basic unit built upon this kind of functional cooperation, the whole civilisation is stable and unified.’

SO - a question we should ask ourselves is - are we becoming more globally organic? If so, how is this being achieved? With the aid of technology? And is this an unconscious, or guided directionality?

....so is the Internet a part of this...? and the dreaded US 'Total Information Awareness' program...whose ends will it serve if everyone is wired up?

A few comments to ponder:


- ‘If we don’t change our direction, we are likely to wind up where we are headed’
Old Chinese proverb

- ‘When the oneness of the totality of things is not recognised, then ignorance as well as
particularisation arises, and all phases of the defiled mind are thus developed…’
(Ashvaghosha)

- ‘When one knows that the Great Void is full of ch’I, one realises that there is no such thing
as nothingness’ (Chinese Sage Chang Tsai )

A true anecdotal story:

A seeker once went to visit a well-known Teacher. After having been permitted to attend an audience with the Teacher, the aspiring seeker asked if he could be permitted to join the circle of disciples. The Teacher replied that he wasn't yet ready. "You need to do more preparation" casually remarked the modern Teacher. "What should I do?" inquired the despondent seeker.

"Read more science-fiction" came the reply. There was a little confusion on the seeker's face!

Much of what is nowadays being discussed in terms of our human evolution has appeared, in various forms, over the last century among scattered science-fiction novels; some more well-known than others. Such ideas have indeed been scattered into the consciousness of many readers through such means. A reading of many sci-fi classics will throw-up a thread of such major ideas, as have been discussed by such notables as A.C. Clarke; O. Stapledon; H.G. Wells; T. Sturgeon; R. Heinlein...amongst others.

There have also been other spheres of exposure. For example, what Teilhard de Chardin was writing about once seemed like, and to some still does seem like, science-fiction - yet it was a deep philosophy. Now such ideas are making a comeback, a resurgance. Chardin's ideas proved to be integral to such cultural theorists as Marshall McLuhan (famous for coining the phrase 'global village' back in the 60s). Again, I will leave a few poignant quotes here - all taken from de Chardin's 'Let Me Explain' (Fontana, 1974):


- 'but if on the contrary man sees a new door opening above him, a new stage for his development; if each of us can believe that he is working so that the universe may be raised, in him and through him, to a higher level-then a new spring of energy will dwell forth in the heart of earth's workers. The whole great human organism, overcoming a momentary hesitation, will draw its breath and press on with strength renewed.' (: 5)

- 'In us the world's evolution towards spirit has become conscious. Our perfection, our interest, our salvation as elements can depend therefore on nothing less than pushing this evolution forward with all our strength. We may not yet understand exactly where it is taking us, but it is absurd for us to doubt that it is leading as towards some end of supreme value.' (: 60)

- 'no longer only, as of old, for our little individuality, our little family, our little country-no longer indeed only for the whole earth-but for the salvation and success of the universe itself, how should we modern men best organise the maintenance, distribution and progress of the energy of man around us? Therein lies the whole question.' (: 61)

- 'an irresistible and irreversible technical-cultural organization... is manifestly in progress of development within human society. On the other hand, as an effect of co- reflection, the human mind is continually rising up collectively-collectively, because of the links forged by technology-to the appreciation of new dimensions' (: 72)

- 'Nevertheless there are certain precise conditions in the field of energy that must be satisfied by the event we anticipate (a more pronounced a wakening in man, as it comes closer, of the 'zest for Evolution' and the 'Will to live'); and from these we are forced to conclude that all ultra-reflection coincides with a final attainment of irreversibility. (: 73)


The beauty of Teilhard de Chardin is that he talks about the collective, unified soul of humankind as a 'conspiracy' of individuals who 'associate themselves to raise to a new stage the edifice of life. The resources we enjoy today, the powers and secrets of science we have discovered, cannot be absorbed by the narrow system of individual and national divisions which have so far served the leaders of the world.' (:67)

In 1959 the Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin wrote 'The Phenomenon of Man': he also wrote numerous other books. Most of them, including the above book, were not published in his lifetime. He was not allowed to publish them, under order of the Church Authorities, for they considered them blasphemous. Yet these works show an immense vision: a far-seeing vision of the unification of Mankind - a world of interconnectedness and collectivity. A world-mind. Here are some poignant extracts from 'The Phenomenon of Man' which I hope will serve to illustrate some of the points being raised here on our evolutionary potentials & possibilities:


'…the stuff of the universe, by becoming thinking, has not yet completed its evolutionary cycle, and that we are therefore moving forward towards some new critical point that lies ahead.' (p.251)


'We are faced with a harmonised collectivity of consciousness equivalent to a sort of super-consciousness. The idea is that of the earth not only becoming covered by myriads of grains of thought, but becoming enclosed in a single thinking envelope so as to form, functionally, no more than a single vast grain of thought on the sidereal scale, the plurality of individual reflections grouping themselves together and reinforcing one another in the act of a single unanimous reflection...peoples and civilisations reached such a degree of either physical communion or economic interdependence of frontier contact that they could no longer develop save by interpenetration of one another.' (p.251/2)


'In every organised whole, the parts perfect themselves and fulfil themselves…The more 'other' they become in conjunction, the more they find themselves as 'self'.' (p.262)


'…according to the evolutionary structure of the world, we can only find our person by uniting together. There is no mind without synthesis.' (p.263)


'It may well be that in its individual capacities and penetrations our brain has reached its organic limits. But the movement does not stop there. From west to east, evolution is henceforth occupied elsewhere, in a richer and more complex domain, constructing, with all minds joined together, mind. Beyond all nations and races, the inevitable taking-as-a-whole of mankind has already begun'. (p.278)

It was mentioned in the last post how it is important how we participate in the world with Intention.

This is exactly in accordance with how quantum physics describes our physical reality: it is an observer-based reality, where the observer is not separate from but an integral part to the experience one has, or knowledge one gains, from the physical world:

in other words, the universe is a participatory universe: it responds to the observer -

this then makes such Eastern koens (meditative riddles) such as: 'If everybody stopped looking at the moon, would it disappear?' make more sense. The world exists because we are here to observe it - to participate in it.

This is ancient knowledge, yet it is now being given more credibility through our Western science: a good synopsis to this is the classic book 'Tao of Physics' by Fritjof Capra.

How we remember ourselves, observe ourselves, believe ourselves is fundamental to how we mould and create our participation with the world around us. It is an active endeavour, an active relationship...it takes TWO...

The old Hasidic tale (found in many cultures) has Jehovah/God arguing with Adam, for God was saying that Adam should be eternally grateful to Him for Adam's creation:
'ah yes', said Adam, 'but without me, how would You be known?'

I'll be away for a while....again...

Much has been happening. Travels, Meetings, Doings.

'Intention' has been of focus in what has recently passed: responsibility to oneself. The world, as material and physical as it is, is nevertheless malleable. It can be affected by the strength of one's own presence, or rather, Intention.

It is endlessly creative: our own laws of physics reminds us that it ebbs and flows into creation - endlessly renewing itself. The atoms that we are now are not those that constituted us before - all our physical body is being replaced, and replenished. Like the tide...

...so too do our thoughts, ideas, wishes, dreams, wants, desires...they come and go -they ebb, appear dynamic, rushing, then often flow away from us... so how can we remain true, solid, in such a dynamic world?

We can 'fix' ourselves...become the 'attractor' for the flux around us (to use contemporary terms) - by focusing our Intention, our Will, our density of Being. The Intention attracts the ebbing world around it..is pulled by a greater force... the world 'is' because we see it this way...what becomes can be how we passively view it...or how we participate in it with Intention.

"An important distinction between the present and the past is to be noted in the greater prevalence today of individuals who are seeking, sensing, and expressing their OWN BEING...for self-expression of the BEING among larger and larger masses of people."

Jonas Salk (discover of Polio vaccine & Nobel laureate) - 'The Survival of the Wisest' (1973)

This is one among so many similar statements...with the aid today of deeper understandings in science, we are once again seeing a convergence between spirituality & science:

the renowned historian Arnold Toynbee once said: "The ultimate work of civilisation is the unfolding of ever-deeper spiritual understanding"

Albert Einstein noted: "Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind" ...both science and religion strive for Truth...both understand the dynamic nature of that which is Life: there is no division: separation is only a place where We stand...

..."Our perceiving self is nowhere to be found within the world-picture, because it itself is the world-picture" (Erwin Schrodinger - Nobel laureate)

In every moment we have a choice as to how we wish to see that moment: that choice counts, because every moment counts: we live our own world-picture. If we evolve, our world does too.

I thought this little operatic piece was a nice touch:


'He bought white ties, and he brought dress suits
He crammed his feet into bright tight boots -
And to start in life on a bran-new plan,
He christened himself Darwinian Man!
But it would not do,
The scheme fell through -
For the Maiden fair, whom the monkey craved,
Was a radiant Being,
With a brain far-seeing -
While Darwinian man, though well-behaved,
At best is only a monkey shaved!'

Gilbert, W.S. (1962). Princess Ida, In The Savoy Operas, pp.321-322, Oxford University Press, London

So from one shaved monkey to another - I'm off for a few weeks...return to the site shortly after some travels...

There is an old Chinese proverb: ‘If we don’t change our direction, we are likely to wind up where we are headed’  - and where we are headed is as much as a collective situation as it is individual. Further, it is as much of an individual psyche responsibility as it is collective. What this suggests is that how we think globally reflects the reality of the world we inhabit. Before we begin to attempt a global shift in direction, it would be more beneficial to attempt a shift in our species mind set. Again, what 'we' think determines how our future will materialise.

'Man has in him two distinct master impulses, the individualistic and the communal, a personal life and a social life, a personal motive of conduct and a social motive of conduct. The possibility of their opposition and the attempt to find their equation lie at the very roots of human civilisation’            Sri Aurobindo

Who are we to argue? Is the attempt at working towards a conscious evolution such a joke afterall?

Been away for a short time: yet not been idle. New impulses are drawing me further into the realm of quantum physics. Acclaimed physicist Stephen Hawking declared that the next century would be one of 'complexity': I used to agree. Now I feel that the next century will be the time of the 'Quantum'...
 
New developments in bio-physics have discovered that all biological organisms are in fact...liquid crystal! And that DNA is a liquid crystal lattice-type structure - some refer to it as a liquid crystal gel. Further, that all cells are involved in a holographic manner of instantaneous communication whilst simultaneously emitting bio-photons that are based on light. So - organisms continuously emit radiations of light that aid all parts of the organism to be in complete omniscient knowledge of the whole...
 
...Sound like the ol' mystics?
 
Conscious evolution, I feel, will benefit from further research, knowledge, and understanding from this field so that such information may become not only more known, but more accepted within our current mindset: afterall, it is our imaginations that create our reality for us.

There is an interesting article on the 'Singularity' concept now quite fashionable in certain techno-evolutionary circles, or with futurists. Without being dismissive, as many people are, I do think it has important issues, and concerns how human-techno partnership will evolve in society.

This is a synopsis from an article in the New York Times - I thought it worth quoting, especially since it refers to a 'civilization-changing event'. Whatever the trigger may be, I do certainly feel that a 'critical instability point' is getting more probable all the time:

Proceed With Caution

New York Times, June 6, 2004


Bill Joy says he thinks the probability of a "civilization-changing event" is most likely in the double digits, perhaps as high as 50 percent.

He doesn't merely ascribe these odds to terrorism; he suggests a pandemic disease might arise from a sudden accident or as a consequence of cutting-edge research. For disquieting evidence, he points out that a couple of years ago scientists assembled polio in a lab.

He says he believes that businesses doing research in areas deemed risky by their peers should be forced to take out insurance against catastrophes. He also says that science guilds should have the authority to limit access to potentially dangerous ideas.

It is worth noting that not only technology is advancing our evolutionary potential - both in terms of tools and applications - but also our scientific investigations into quantum phenomena. In fact, it seems most probable that the quantum field will be the next shift. Quantum computers are already being used for phenomenal calculations, and, perhaps more importantly for the investigations here, quantum physical behaviour is emerging as the next 'big thing' in research: biophysics.

In these terms I specifically refer to quantum coherence, and the concept of biophotons, and bioholography. For an interesting article on this area, see 'Quantum Coherence and Conscious Experience' by Mae-Wan Ho: also available through the 'Co-Globalize' link on this blog.

The idea of a 'collective intelligence' does not seem so remote if we consider it in terms of merging technology. This is now an increasing field of inquiry - serious inquiry - from talk of the 'virtual commons' to a shared 'nervous system' of knowledge. If we consider the state of blogging today - a phenomenon that has increased considerably in the last year or so. And each new technology is being taken up at increasingly exponential rates. Blogging, especially with RSS feed syndication (hopefully coming to this site in the not-too-far-distant future) allows information/knowledge to be tracked and to follow threads as if in a 'cosmopedia' (termed borrowed from Levy - see list below). Grassroots networking has also greatly benefited from techno-networking and is now one of the major social forces. See also the concept of 'smartmobs' (Rheingold) that allows a coordination of social action in near-instantaneous time. Although there is disparity in terms of global access/connectivity, with less-developed regions foregoing the industrial revolution and jumping to the Information Age (sometimes jumping straight to wireless infrastructure) I see this gap being narrowed.

Conscious Evolution then is intimately connected to the issue of how we are connected, and this indicates a merging relationship with our technologies of communication. Although what is being said here is not new, the consequences of a globally-linked species are still, I feel, under-realised. It will be immense and will catalyse the emergence of a wholly new global social structure.

Some texts worth considering:

-Bloom, H. (2000) Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind from the Big Bang to the 21st Century
-Chardin, T. d. (1974) The Future of Man.
-Goonatilake, S. (1999) Merged Evolution: Long-Term Implications of Biotechnology and Information Technology.
-Levy, P. (1999) Collective Intelligence: Mankind's Emerging World in Cyberspace
-Rheingold, H. (2003) Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution.
-Rosnay, J. d. (2000) The Symbiotic Man: A New Understanding of the Organization of Life and a Vision of the Future
-Russell, P. (1995) The Global Brain Awakens: Our Next Evolutionary Leap
-Vinge, V. (1993) 'The Technological Singularity' http://www.kurzweilai.net/meme/frame.html?m=1

Recently I was asked a couple of questions:
"Do you think the path to collective intelligence will be one that must be taken intentionally? Or can a collective intelligence emerge unintentionally?

After a collective consciousness emerges, must it necessarily be aware that it is a collective consciousness? Or, can a collective intelligence exist without being self-aware?"

My response is: the path towards collective intelligence need not be taken intentionally, since it already exists. One way to refer to it is as the 'collective unconscious'. All living species are inherently connected in varying degrees of subtlety. As human thought is becoming increasingly globalised, and awareness of distant events is reaching more people, the empathy and shared thoughts/emotions that this produces is all adding to this 'unintentional' collective intelligence. The thought forms that we emanate go towards the state of our collectivity. However, what I am saying is that an intentional awareness of collective intelligence is more affective and functional. Why? Because an intentional act carries with it more force, power, and effectiveness than a non-intentional action.

This may serve to answer some of the 2nd question. A collective intelligence can exist without being self-aware because, as stated, it already exists. Yet awareness fosters active participation. A collective consciousness does not require that all 'components' or 'members' are conscious, since a conscious entity produces an exponential effect, so only a few conscious 'nodes' or people can represent the many. This is why human history has progressed from the actions of a few...yet the agents of human history have mainly been conscious drivers/participants, or either the agents of conscious entities.

Our conscious evolution then will have a much more profound effect if we, as participants, are conscious of our participatory role.

Intention is a very important element.

An interesting book to read in reference to this is Peter Russell's 'The Global Brain Awakens'

His Holiness the Dalai Lama was in Liverpool today - Thursday 27th May - and gave a speech in Liverpool Cathedral on acceptance of his honorary award from John More university: there is a live web broadcast: the whole event lasts 1h 25 m: it begins with 10 mins of music + introduction; 45 mins of the Dalai Lama speaking, followed by 20 mins of questions, then end ceremony.

Change


We should have intuited that change is best not be
avoided when it comes to call, crashing on us unsuspecting.
It’s only our normalcy, the complacency of our warmth
that steers us away into our regulatory corners.

So there’s nothing wrong then to be woken from
our catatonic slumber, our onanistic embrace,
to face the new dynamic world asunder…

Or so they say, or would like to say, I don’t know,

except that I’m restless if I stay too long, feels as if
I’m being left behind by the whole human race,
wherever they are heading.

If change is good, why do people die only a few miles
from where they first entered life, or fail to open their
windows on a sunny day, I don’t know…


23.5.04
18.36

As I have often stated, and will not tire of repeating: the future of our place in the world depends upon our own perceptions and how we view the world. As matter is a product of consciousness, then the strength of our inner vision can influence external phenomena. If there is enough 'critical mass' then a group mind scenerio is able to significantly alter the directionality of our evolutionary trajectory.

I have also posted from Elizabeth Sahtouris before. In one of her latest online articles: Vistas - Evolving Our Beliefs to Evolve Our Lives - she writes:

"That view is now crumbling under evidence produced by science itself that consciousness is not a late emerging property of evolution but the very source of the entire material world of Nature, including humanity. As that discovery spreads through society at large, along with its implications that we can dream and create the world any way we desire, we need to be well prepared for conscious creation of the reality we truly want.

While people have always created reality out of their beliefs, until now a handful of powerful people dictated the beliefs of each human culture. The glory of our own time is that the news is finally out that each and every one of us has the authority, even the mandate, to choose the beliefs by which we live and create our individual and communal lives.

To create the human future well we need good Vistas -- consciously created belief systems comprised of worldviews and the values for negotiating them courageously and lovingly."

Conscious Evolution requires the participatin of our thoughts: it is not a light thing, nor some 'New Agey' saying. The mind, as an amplifier for conscious thought/energy, can and does have direct and meaningful influence upon physical phenomena. Therefore before we expend our energies trying to change the world, it is paramount that we first change our perceptions and way of thinking: this is the path towards a conscious evolution - an evolution of intelligence.... as the late Prof. Jonas Salk referred to it - 'The Survival of the Wisest'.

Mae-Wan Ho is a brilliant and interesting researcher and Dr. at the bioelectrodynamics laboratory at the Open University, UK - see the site 'Co-globalize' for links to some of her articles. In a recent article with Fritz-Abert Popp called 'Gaia and the evolution of coherence' the conclusion was:

"Living systems are thus neither the subjects alone, nor objects isolated, but both subjects and objects in a mutually communicating universe of meaning. In contrast to the neo-Darwinist point of view, their capacity for evolution depends, not on rivalry or on might in the struggle for existence. Rather, it depends on their capacity for communication. So in a sense, it is not individuals as such which are developing but living systems interlinked into a coherent whole. Just as the cells in an organism take on different tasks for the whole, different populations enfold information not only for themselves, but for all other organisms, expanding the consciousness of the whole, while at the same time becoming more and more aware of this collective consciousness. Human consciousness may have its most significant role in the development and creative expression of the collective consciousness of nature."

The last line is significant, so I repeat - 'Human consciousness may have its most significant role in the development and creative expression of the collective consciousness of nature.'

Again, another example of our intimate relationship with the holistic world around us.

All that is going on around us is a catalyst, or reaction, to our accelerating social change.

The well-known writer Doris Lessing has said:

'But is it possible that all the bad things going on are a reaction, a dragging undertow, to a forward movement in the human social evolution that we can't easily see? Perhaps, looking back, let's say in a century or two centuries, is it possible people will say, "That was a time when extremes battled for supremacy. The human mind was developing very fast in the direction of self-knowledge, self-command, and as always happens, as always has to happen, this thrust forwards aroused its opposite, the forces of stupidity, brutality, mob thinking"? I think it is possible. I think that this is what is happening.'
('Prisons We Choose To Live Within)

I also think this is what is happening - a struggle between movements: intelligence increase and the brutality that strives to contain the primitive in us.

It seems a little strange that despite all the information we have, the knowledge gathered and claimed from centuries of historical experience, that we still haven't found how to put theory into action. The world both produced us and is produced by us. As was highlighted by the Gaia Theory - James Lovelock - the world came into being as a self-regulating organism in line with parameters of existence/maintenance set up by biological requirements. So , the world in this sense is a product of the needs of our earliest biological ancestors. Likewise, we, as a species, are born into a world with physiological faculties adapted to the existing environment: so we are also a product of the pre-existing environmental parameters - taken together, this suggests that both we and our world are symbiotically linked: we are one functioning organic whole. We are made in the image of the Universe itself. Yet why do we act as if we are separate from it?

Our understanding of the world must come through our perceptions - if we do not change the manner of our thinking, the world will not 'appear' to change for us. In this way, in order to 'change the world', we must first change ourselves. Or rather we need to change our way of thinking - this is why it is crucial to shift from a mechanistic Newtonian viewpoint, from one of separate parts, to a holistic understanding where everything fits in as part of ever dynamic processes and relationships that form an organic wholeness. If this can be achieved, then a perception of a sustainable world in balance will emerge. Our thinking at times is barbaric, held in check by fossilised beliefs and out-moded dogmas.

We are often unwilling to change because certainty is safe for us. Well, it used to be. Now it is in danger of becoming our downfall, because if we do not change our way of thinking and behaving, our global world is in danger of large-scale rape and instability. Certainty and static-ness is no longer a viable evolutionary trait.

We need to move our conscious into evolutionary drive in order to educate our thinking processes into better understanding the needs of our global predicament. We, as conscious custodians, must press the evolutionary process forward, and deliberately.

Check out the Worldwatch website in terms of ecological sustainability.

Marshall McLuhan, the prescient commentator on culture expressed the rise of our electronic age, over 30 years ago, as:

'the electronic age is the age of ecology. It's the study and projection of the total environment of organisms and people, because of the instant coherence of all factors, made possible by moving information at electric speeds. Such speed of synchronise information has rendered, for example, both wheel and assembly line obsolescent... the age of implosion is the reverse of expansion. We begin to realise in the depths of our involvement in one another as a total Human community.'(Counterblast: 36-7)

-'the effect of extending the central nervous system is not to create a worldwide city of ever expanding Dimensions but rather a global village of ever-contracting size... the globe becomes a community of continuous learning, a single campus in which everybody, irrespective of age, is involved in learning a living. In the global village of continuous learning and of total participation in the human dialogue, the problem of settlement is to extend consciousness itself and to maximise the opportunities of learning.'(Counterblast:40-1)

Here, McLuhan is correctly envisioning how our technology is able to create a greater ecology by synchronising information between humans in order to foster an implosion of connectedness towards a 'total Human community'. Further, this global Human community is for the purposes of extending our consciousness towards increasing and maximising upon our opportunities for learning - yet learning together within a more coherent social mind.

Not only is this optimistic, prescient, and intuitive - it is also highly humanitarian, visionary - and a possible future scenerio if we - as a community of global thinkers - work towards the increased dissemination of information, knowledge, and activities towards an active participation in our own personal, and later social, evolution.

This is not a fantasy - it is a very real and great possibilitiy. We no longer have to live and die within forces beyond our control. We can learn how to push the buttons - yet the right buttons.

I said in a previous post that 'As we witness this important transformational stage in sociocultural evolution, we see that both diversity and integration is necessary' - the words I used here to denote our position - 'as we witness' are misleading as it suggests that the evolutionary process is out of our hands, out of our choice, and importantly is a process that we are passive too.

This misleads us into viewing the evolutionary journey as being beyond us or outside of us - this is incorrect. We are the evolutionary journey: evolution is a creative transformation that involves us now as active participants.

We have arrived at a stage upon this long drawn-out process that we have the perceptive faculties to understand the processes of which we engage. It is about an evolution of our own intelligence, of our own conscious thinking, decisions, actions, as well as our involvement with the world around us.

The renowned ecologist Gregory Bateson wrote that:
"Darwin proposed a theory of natural selection and evolution in which the units of survival was either the family line or the species or sub-species or something of the sort. But today it is quite obvious that this is not the unit of survival in the real biological world. The units of survival is organism Plus environment. We are learning by bitter experience that the organism which destroys its environment destroys itself. If, now, we correct to the Darwinian a unit of survival to include the environment and the interaction between organism and environment, a very strange and surprising identity emerges: the unit of evolutionary survival turns out to be identical with the unit of mind."

Our choice is one of a collective 'unit of mind' - this is our social mind, one that is inherently in touch in a global sense due to our rapidly evolving communication systems - our future evolution is one that must take into account 'the environment and the interaction between organism and environment'. We are not separate from our surroundings, nor are our actions free from responsibility to our environment.

It is our choice: as Ervin Laszlo stated (see 'Club of Budapest') - it is either Evolution or Extinction.

The evolving social mind requires our consciously evolved intelligence to guide the future direction and future goals. We can be co-creators now, as we co-evolve.

The ancient Hermetic adage is so true: 'As Above, So below'.

Go to this link to witness the holistic nature of the cosmos: a wonderful journey.

With Thanks and Warmth to A. for this link.

As we witness this important transformational stage in sociocultural evolution, we see that both diversity and integration is necessary:

'An evolving social organism will tend to be characterized by the balanced unfolding of increasing levels of integration and differentiation, both within and across every level and are of society (from the local to the global scale).' Duane Elgin's Voluntary Simplicity (1981)

One response towards a networked global world is to see a shift from embedded, or mechanical, consciousness towards a self-reflective consciousness as a new basis for social relations. In the words of writer to Duane Elgin:

'A social system is composed of individuals. Thus, the behaviour of our social systems must of necessity mirror and embody the behaviour of the individuals who inhabit those systems... In contrast, the predictable outcome of self-regulating behaviour that flows from self-reflective consciousness seems to be a more gentle touching of people and the environment, coupled with a more self-organising social order at the grassroots level... the growth of social systems complexity is making the Conscious Evolution of consciousness necessary... as a society becomes ever more complex, and demands for self-regulating behaviour grow commensurately, that society must begin to draw out of its citizenry more expanded dimensions of human consciousness if it is to cope with that complexity democratically. In short, the growth of social complexity creates the necessity for an unfolding of human consciousness. This means that in order for a civilisation that is experiencing growing social complexity to continue to allow individuals to be relatively self-regulating, the individuals therein must develop their capacity to be effectively self-regulating at a pace at least equal to that at which the social order is becoming more complex.

Self- reflective consciousness moves from the status of a spiritual luxury for the few in a more rudimentary and fragmented social setting to that of a social necessity for the many in a highly complex and enormously enlarged social setting ... Self-reflective consciousness represents both a simple and a complex response to the problems of mounting social complexity.'

Here, we are seeing a call for increased social agency through an increase in social learning due to the increased availability of information. We are being encouraged to become more self reflexive, which in turn implies more individual self-remembering and to be more conscious in our moment-to-moment lives. In this manner, we can be more creative, constructive, and influential both in our own lives and within a more networked, collective life. This is maybe one approach towards what has been referred to as the 'collective social Mind'.

It is worth examining the phenomenon of blogging and mobile information users / receivers/ transmitters within this context of a more Conscious and Self- reflective, networked global world. It is my opinion that we, as individuals, need to become more conscious of our actions and to increase our self-consciousness within a participatory world.

There is now a snowballing movement to retell the flawed Darwinian story of evolution - a re-telling. This is one that involves cooperation over competition; collective mind over the individual-egoist; of conscious participation over powerless player.

I would highly recommend viewing The Darwin Project: they have a wonderful reading list for this area. Also, check out the General Evolutionary Research Group - GERG - also linked from that site:

'The General Evolution Research Group (GERG) began with a secret meeting in Budapest in 1984 of scientists from both sides of the Iron Curtain during a critical juncture in the Cold War. Spurred by the mounting threat to our species of rapid nuclear proliferation and overkill, the purpose was to see if it might be possible to use the chaos theory then coming into vogue to develop a new general theory of evolution that might serve as a road map for our species out of the mounting chaos of our times to the reassuring order of a better world.'

This 'emerging' worldview of our planetary evolution as an integrated system in no longer in the realm of the few: it is already a movement.

It is positive, uplifting, inspirational - and fully human.

The following is an extract from Barbera Marx Hubbard's 'Evolve' webpage.

What is Conscious Evolution?

Conscious Evolution is a new worldview that is now emerging rapidly and garnering worldwide interest and support. It acknowledges that humankind has attained unprecedented powers to affect, control and change the evolution of life on Earth.

In simple terms, Conscious Evolution means that we must improve our ability to use our powers ethically and effectively (consciously) to achieve a positive future (evolve).

Conscious Evolution is a new social/scientific/spiritual meta-discipline. This worldview has progressed from Einstein's early admonitions that humankind cannot solve our problems from the same place of consciousness in which we created them, through noted scientists and philosophers such as Julian Huxley, Teilhard de Chardin, Sri Aurobindo, Abraham H. Maslow, Jonas Salk, to today's social scientists such as Bela H. Banathy, Hazel Henderson, Riane Eisler, Ervin Laszlo, Jean Houston, Duane Elgin, Edgar Mitchell, Ken Wilber, Peter Russell, Elisabet Sahtouris, Don Beck and many others who are building frameworks for practical application in health, governance, education, management, environment, science, the arts and media.

Bela H. Banathy, author of Guided Evolution of Society, offers this understanding of what Conscious Evolution is:

"It is a process by which we can individually and collectively take responsibility for our future.

It is a process of giving direction to the evolution of human systems by purposeful action.

And, most importantly, Conscious Evolution enables us, if we take responsibility for it, to use our creative power to guide our own lives and the evolution of the systems and the communities in which we live and work. It is a process by which individuals and groups, families, organizations, and societies can envision and create images of what should be, and bring those images to life by design."

Conscious Evolution is at the core a spiritually-motivated endeavor. Its precepts reside at the heart of every great faith, affirming that humans have the potential of being cocreators with Spirit, with the deeper patterns of nature and universal design.

Conscious Evolution is a social movement, a call to action that offers real hope for the world. In fact, it is a "movement of movements." It connects positive, life-enhancing initiatives and insights in every field leading toward a higher level of cooperative action. It stimulates learning, personal mastery and systems theory applied to social change. Above all, it brings forth practical visions of hope and fulfillment of humanities most profound aspirations.

Conscious Evolution as a new world view is a context for a meta-discipline composed of the growing edge of all disciplines seen as parts of a living whole. It may even set the framework for a “meta-religio,” an all-inclusive space in which the great faiths and wisdom traditions can contribute their unique gifts to the conscious evolution of humanity.

The promise of Conscious Evolution is nothing less than the emergence of a universal humanity capable of co-evolution with nature and cocreation with Spirit.

If humanity does form a whole - a 'networked humanity', then what are the implications?

Synergy: "A release of free energy can occur when a group of parts or symbiants, inspired by a common aim, join together to form a whole" (Barry McWaters - Institute for the Study of Conscious Evolution).

Synergy is an emergent property that is greater than the sum of its intelligent parts. If each symbiant (part) has access to, and use of, shared information: then what are the implications for an emergence of a whole that is greater than such already globally-shared information?

It may be that this is a stage towards what is considered a new decentered democracy. A participatory global governance that will no longer tolerate the actions of a few narrow-minded elite bent on greed and childish domination? Perhaps the oft-mentioned 'New World Order' will be one of a finer perceptive consciousness rather than the linear and shallow one currently manifested by incumbent parties.

Optimistic? Sure - yet the world is a manifestation of energies that are themselves only thought-forms. Thus, what first begins within the collective imagination can have a life both within the physical realm of shared informational structures, as well as having an influence upon physical forms through an emergent synergistic energy.

That is something well worth 'thinking' about.

Much talk is now centered around our next great 'evolutionary step' forward. Whilst some have put this firmly in the AI (Artificial Intelligence) domain, there is also the argument of IA (Intelligence Acceleration). One way to see this is a merging of information technology and the human, so that a 'superorganism' will be achieved. One that will have instant access to information and thus the 'two heads are better than one' will be exponentially increased to a 'global' head.

An interesting essay to this end is Evolution & The Internet: towards a networked humanity.

It is possible that a symbiosis may be the result of the 'Technological Singularity' - a merging of intelligent humans/machines rather than as a race of machines that take over. The singularity could more likely be a mesh - a symbiosis - between humans and their use of intelligent artifacts in order to foster their own intelligence acceleration instead of passing the intelligence over to silicon agents.

In short, the human still has much growth left. Only if we consider the potential from an external point of view will the alternative of machine-intelligence seem the most plausible. If we can recognise the inherent possibilities within increased information within the human species, and the acceleration in intelligence this could produce, then the future of human evolution is with the wise.

As Jonas Salk - the Nobel discoverer of the Polio vaccine - put it: our future will be about the survival of the wisest.

Since we are on the subject of information, it is obvious to those of us who take a look around at our surroundings that we are immersed in information. And this information-atmosphere is increasing exponentially as communication flows are becoming increasingly networked. People are sharing information now like never before: and this has had, and will continue to exert, a profound effect upon social dynamics. Not only are people interacting with more people than they would usually in terms of physical meeting, but ideas - memes - are being transfered which, in turn, raises the level of shared awareness.

This notion of the shared 'personal' has been greatly enhanced with the blogging phenomena, as more and more blogs are getting linked. In turn I should like to mention the sites of two of my colleagues: Jyri; and Christian.

Information is the key. Information is what emerges as the key to evolution. What is information? Is it knowing something about the dog races - which will win? Information is coded within each of us, yet its emergent capacities are only effective through connectivity. Just as the heart is essential to the overall fucntion of our body; take it out and both it, as a separate organ, and ourselves as a whole body, dies. It is this necessary interrelationship that allows information to be shared and conscious through its own connectivity. This is why we are all, each one of us, dependent upon connections that we are often not aware of. Thus, all matter is likewise connected. The property of self-consciousness emerges when the level of connectivity within any system is at a heightened peak of complexity. The human brain, with its hundreds of billions of firing neuronal connections is exactly this model of peak complexity. From this self-organised complexity comes our experience of adaptive cognition - self-consciouness. DNA has planned for this level of relational connectivity. As information in the world is likewise connected through greater networks of communication, eg. Internet, this will help to raise the information --> knowledge --> consciousness of society in general. This, it is hoped, will play a major role in guiding us towards our self-evolutionary future. This is the early stage of our expected transformation.

As has been previously mentioned:

We are at a crucial stage in our development and the time for thinking about responsibilities, yet not acting upon them is past. As President Harry Truman once famously declared: ‘The buck stops here.’ Well, that buck was on the desk of one man – today’s buck reaches to every one of us, irrespective of country, race, gender, religion, or status. This new ‘buck’ is the collective choice we face concerning the future evolution not only of our species, but also of the Earth and all living forms included.

Every epoch has fashioned a corresponding mind-set, and frames of consciousness that have provided a functional use. The earlier mythic conceptions of a sacred world dominated by unseen forces and humankind’s integral relationship with powerful nature developed into a theistic consciousness. Here, divine authority on earth was conscripted into hierarchical dynastic rule as a governing device. This theistic mind-set became assimilated into the Logos concept of a divinely ordered cosmos with an ultimate prime-mover. This belief of an ordered cosmos soon evolved into the Enlightenment’s mechanistic ‘clockwork’ view of the universe where science sought to prove that natural laws held the world under linear domination. This materialistic mind-set has brought us up to the present moment. Now it is no longer of functional use. Rather, if it carries us any further, we are liable to become its victims.

An evolution of consciousness is required. I don’t mean this in any mystico-esoteric sense. I mean it in a very real and practical way. For the past 300 years society has provided us with a worldview and belief-system that sees the ideas of ‘survival of the fittest’, the sense of competition, and of conquest, colonisation, and consumption, as the main ideals. This materialistic conception has seen a rapid contamination of the world we share and has placed us on an evolutionary path to extinction. The next shift must involve a conscious decision to evolve our understanding, worldview, and wisdom, through intensive evolution rather than an extensive one. Intensive evolution replaces such obsolete material beliefs with ones concentrating on connection, communication, and consciousness. The energy inherent in inter-connectedness works on an exponential scale: that is, it develops at ever increasing rates. This is why in history most of our profound innovations have been the work of single, or minority, action. A conscious action produces an exponentially increased effect. Ghandi was right when he said: ‘Be the change you want to see in the world.’ When you change yourself, you change the immediate world around you; those close to you, and the events you participate in.

An increased degree of communication through connection fosters an increased involvement of consciousness – and consciousness evolves through use, and latent properties are more likely to emerge when stimulated, just like a car operates better when warmed up. Again, this lies more in the realm of common sense than ‘strange goings-on’. Our era has shifted where we need to unburden ourselves of these obsolete and superstitious beliefs. True knowledge is sense that is not yet common, rather than esoteric or otherworldly. Science today, with its quantum theories of the ‘zero-point’ and ‘quantum vacuum’ provides greater understanding of our place in the present universe than at any time in our recorded history. Should we not be making use of this information? It is time to educate ourselves and to do our duty by changing ourselves first.

Thus, human contact and communication --> co-operation. Co-operation gives us Synergy. And synergy is the effect of combined action which is greater than the sum of its parts. As a whole, with unity, we can achieve things beyond that available to us as individuals. The next shift on our evolutionary path requires an evolution in consciousness, and we can all play our part. It requires inner-reflection, mindfulness, co-operation, and living in a harmonious and respectful way with others and with our environment. It doesn’t require any great sacrifices or burning of books: simply, it is living in accordance with our developmental needs rather than our wants. As one thinker has put it: ‘Live simply so that others may simply live.’ And living simply is evolving ourselves – our conscious awareness and understanding - to be in a harmonious relationship within a grander cosmic harmony. The ‘buck’ stops with us. Let’s do a good job of it.


For a more detailed discussion of these ideas, see: Ervin Laszlo, ‘Macroshift’ (2001)

As has been stated before: The concept of conscious evolution to a stage where each part, or human, is an integral and interrelated part of the whole is an idea that is organically evolving within our mass mind. Now science is able to embrace this concept through delving into the psi-field of an integrated whole reality. As an evolving species, we are encouraged to work together as a synthesis, towards this synergy, or gestalt: where the whole is greater than its sum, and thus leads to emerging properties of the whole.

One area of research here is the 'global brain' phenomenon. Once the vanguard of peripheral thinkers (see Peter Russell's 'Earth Awakening: The Global Brain'), it is now fast becoming the ken of respected researchers: one recent example being Howard Bloom's 'The Global Brain', or Gregory Stock's 'Metaman'.

As parts of a larger system, humans can evolve into a conscious network and, using an apt analogy, may serve to become a planetary nervous system. Since univeral order is within a hierarchy, each stage evolving in complexity towards the next, we all exhibit characteristics of those systems above and below us, thus echoing the Hermetic adage As Above, So Below.

What concerns us now is functionality. And we can only function in accordance with our level of knowledge and capacity. We cannot be told what is, or what needs to be done: we can only be guided until that understanding becomes an inherant part of ourselves. Then we have an organic sense of how we should act to fit in with the dynamic whole.

Yet we can modify our base behaviours through observation and monitoring of oneself; to clear one's mind of trappings and junk in order to allow these new thoughts to penetrate. To contemplate and to kick-start the mind into thinking, delving, probing, questioning, and reaching out further beyond the confines of flesh and received-knowledge. We may think we learn, yet often we learn rote without the thinking. We should aim towards a conscious digestion of information. Like eating good food, be aware of it going in and its digestion. Use our capacities rather than leaving them to the junkyard of the sapians.

Open oneself up to synergy, empathy, and an awareness beyond the confines of the self. Think in terms of generations rather than immediate moments; into stages of species life rather than the slide into one's own old age. Think beyond oneself whilst including oneself.

Be conscious of ourselves as a part and simultaneously as a whole.

"We now enter a period wherein the goal of individual salvation is no longer appropriate. Our guidance calls for a collective transformation...The present recognition of our emergent collective consciousness represents a quantum transformation in human evolution."

"While much of human consciousness is still caught in a separative, alienated condition, significant numbers of individuals and groups are consciously working toward critical mass. When just the right quantity and quality of catalytic influence is reached, the entire process will be affected."

These are some quotes taken from Conscious Evolution by Barry McWaters (Evolutionary Press, 1982)

The movement has been growing for some time. As McWaters said - 'Applications accepted - inquire within!'

ITS OTHER NAME


Faith is an instrument,

Sharp as a warrior’s sword,
Shiny as a clean-cut diamond,
Reflective as a repolished mirror.

Above all, it is yours,
Yet you must learn
How to work it

For it can be as dangerous
As all the above.

Its other name is Love.

21.35
17.7.00

FAITH TAKES YOU TO MANY STRANGE PLACES



You asked me how I came to be here:
Well, my friend, Faith in something or one
Takes you to many strange places.


10.38pm
14.12.98




TRAVELLING



There are places to travel to
And other places to travel from;
Understand what must be left behind
Before you can find the One.


9.40pm
27.12.98

Part of the journey of inner development is about attaining the correct balance: in our mental, emotional, and physical worlds. Since consciousness is the core of all materiality, then our mental, emotional, and physical spheres are merely the different states of consciousness. In this respect there is the great possibility of being dominant in one area for the detriment of others. We see this in ourselves and others: we may be too intellectual and suppress our emotional nature, or let the emotional centre steer us and over-ride mental common-sense.

Evolution is not so much a linear progression towards some 'end-point' but rather an expansion that incorporates all that we already have known, and more. By moving forward, this gives us the false 'human' impression that we are leaving things behind - evolution is rather an expansion that incorporates and not an acquiring and discarding step. Think of our brains, how since our earliest reptilian brain, at the base, has been added to successively as our species developed - we still have that reptilian brain deep within is - we have incorporated it within our expansion. So too is our awareness of conscious evolution an integration of the constant evolutionary process that has brought us to this point from our earliest cosmic beginnings.

What is important about the next stage is that we can participate as conscious actors. Yet to do so requires that we expand our thought processes, our mental set, our spiritual being, and expand our understanding of universal processes. One path requires inward travel: the other requires that we balance our outer lives so that all our faculties are in a harmonious relationship. We are neither too intellectual, emotional, or physical; nor are we too introvert or extrovert.

Nothing is separate -this is another fallacy. All is joined together: everything that exists is in constant interaction with multiple forces. In this sense we all affect each other - yet if you're looking for the cables....you won't find them.

There is nothing to lose but your self - and this is the self of separateness. There is nothing to fear except fear itself. Our conscious environment is inherently connected in all and every sense - nothing is left out. What we require is an expansion of understanding to incorporate this new perceptual paradigm. Everything we do comes back to us for all living, experience, thoughts, and emotions are entwined.

So, with right thought and right action we can influence both near, far, connected, and seemingly unconnected events and further this connectedness. It is about contact with the greater whole - maintain, and continue to maintain that contact - it is truly an expansion of the self into the Self.

The present material paradigm, or mindset, is one that places matter as the primary source, with consciousness as a product of matter. Look at the universe – its atomic particles are the building blocks for all form. Consciousness then is a self-reflexive awareness that emerges from a specific level of intelligence – or is it? The popular explanation is that humans have such a complex degree of neuronal activity, such an intricate and complex brain activity, so that consciousness emerges from the firing of these billions of interconnecting neurons….

Well – lets look at a different hypothesis: matter is a product of consciousness. The universe is conscious because it is a manifestation of consciousness. All matter thus has the capacity to connect with this universal consciousness. How then are we conscious? The fact is, we don’t have consciousness – we only tune in to it. We don’t have consciousness any more than a radio has the music.

Our central nervous system is not the producer of consciousness, as some may think, but is the antenna for receiving the consciousness we are living within. It’s like the young fish who go to the old wise fish to ask where this thing called water is… we don’t perceive consciousness because, like the fish, we’re living in it – it is the medium of our existence, and our material form is the construction that our perceptions create for us. We breathe it, yet recognise it not.

Evolution may in fact not be concerned so much with material development but rather with a convergence towards consciousness. The growth of intelligence towards self-reflexivity and conscience can be seen, in an alternative way, as a precursor towards recognition and, finally, integration with the consciousness behind materiality; rather than as a tool for integrating with material structures. Seen in this light, our evolutionary trajectory is towards immateriality, rather than more evolved technological materiality.

Evolution of consciousness and conscious evolution are two distinct concepts: the former deals with the development of consciousness through species evolution. The latter refers to the conscious participation within evolutionary processes.

It is with the latter that this site is dedicated to. Humankind are energy receivers-transmitters, and as such we are capable of receiving chaotic energies and transmitting harmonious one. Evolution, after all, is concerned with harmony. Despite the disorderly manner of evolutionary jumps, there is an inherent harmony, or equilibrium, with such disorder (see complexity studies). Part of our service within conscious evolution is to maintain this harmonious balance - the opposite of entropy - by dealing in the transmittance of positive and balanced energies, to ourselves, those around us, and the environment we are in.

Unity is a fundamental concept to this evolutionary process. So is correspondence - the idea that all levels of existence adhere to the same laws and principles: the 'As Above, So Below' of the famous Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus. Yet our first priority is to correspond within ourselves.

Do we function as a true human being with unity of harmony in all processes?

Social development is neither a result of technological determinism nor of random processes, or even as a capitalist drive, although all these factors do, in varying degrees play a part of the whole process. At a fundamental level the development of any system is based upon a drive towards increasing complexity, whether it be a living or social system. Such a complexity pushes towards increased connectivity within its component parts, and thus towards a greater wholeness of all the constituent parts of a system. The source behind this drive is the flow of energy.

The energy that flows through such systems is that of information. Whether it be DNA transfer, cellular transfer, or digital transfer – the bottom line is that information seeks its transference within a network in order to spread the relevant signals whereby a system is able to maintain its collective cooperation. When the level of information, or the degree of component parts of a system reach a threshold limit, then the system bifurcates into a higher system that incorporates its recently-left now sub-system. Information seeks to increase the intelligence of a system. Information increase leads to greater complexity, networking, and connectedness. This heightened connectedness in turn allows information a greater flow or access to all the component parts of the system, which in turn allows each part the chance to share in the information/intelligence of the whole. This then leads to the emergence of an intelligent system that is greater than the intelligence of its separate parts. No longer do we need to say that two heads are better than one: now we should be saying that millions (billions?) of heads are better than one.

This may correspond to the processes behind intelligence increase - as Leary himself stated:

“The biological “master plan” of organic evolution located in DNA directs the unfolding of the circuits of the nervous system. One major goal of life is for the individual to becomes Increasingly Intelligent in order to decode somatic signals within the body, within the nervous system itself, signals from the DNA code and metaphysiological neuro-atomic energy patterns. The history of life and of humanity is best defined in terms of the evolution of the nervous system and of knowledge technologies.” (Leary – ‘Info-Psychology’)

Yet it doesn't go any way to answering the question of consciousness. What is consciousness and how are we conscious?

If there are problems accessing the article for the transhumanist webpage, then go directly to the source at http://www.aleph.se/Trans/index-2.html

As always, the debates concerning whether the future evolution of humankind will lead to an evolved biological species, or a cyborg-synthesis, or even to complete AI, are ongoing. Recent research is now trying to synthetise DNA within nanotechnology - and one experiment was to place rat neurons into a robot. There is a large body of people who call themselves the 'Transhumanists', and they take this issue very seriously. The way forward, they say, is definately within a mixture of human and machine parts to produce an organic, human-engineered species with vastly increased intelligence.

To read up on this debate, check out this recent Transhumanist article.

Now that the excesses of the festive period are over, its time once again to put life into balance. Life itself requires harmony, otherwise small unbalances can tend to build up and accumulate. They're not 'visible' in the normal sense, yet they get stored within the body's energy centers. Over-consumption of foods and drink; over-stimulation of external inputs (sights + sounds) drain one's energy. It is then so much harder just to do what used to be considered as regular activities. Even thought becomes sluggish, and it's harder to concentrate and focus.

(Wo)Man is a finely tuned apparatus. Everything works together: the body, mind, and emotions. Any one aspect out of balance will affect the rest. Since we are a conscious self-evolving species it is within our own responsibility to sort this out - to monitor and regulate oneself. This is not about being a dictator to the self. On the contrary, it requires further tact and care towards oneself. It requires a knowing, a taste of one's own balance, of one's own needs. Listen to yourself: listen daily. Either in meditation or contemplation. Choose a quiet time: register your own thoughts, feelings, emotions, the body. Trace your body in your mind - find where the taste is a little off and make a mental note of it. The work towards correcting this.

We are our own repairers as well as our own consultants. We're quite miraculous really... if we listen.