Next Stage in Human Evolution

A New Way of Looking at the World

The Universe is Conscious on All Levels - Consciousness is not confined to the minds of humans and animals. Anything that maintains itself as an organized whole is conscious. Organs and cells within the body are conscious. Even atoms and molecules are conscious. So are solar systems and galaxies. Does that mean they have minds and thoughts like we do? Probably not. Consciousness is understood as an intrinsic property of the universe capable of being self-organizing, self-maintaining, and resistant to entropy (entropy is a general tendency in the universe for things to move from order to disorder).

There are not two worlds—an objective world of science and a subjective, personal world grasped by religion, art, and the humanities. There is only one world or universe that can only be fully grasped by both science and spirituality—both the physical senses and intuition. To separate them is an artificial distinction we humans make based on the dubious assumption that only empirical knowledge of the senses (scientific knowledge) is valid.

IMPLICATION: If there is only one universe that has both an outer, objective and an inner, spiritual aspect— and if it’s conscious on all levels— then we come to see it as much more than a neutral, purposeless object for scientific investigation. We come to look at our earth and the universe at large as a conscious, living being, something we regard with reverence and awe. We treat the environment as a matrix that supports and nurtures us—not as a commodity to be exploited for profit.

A New Way of Looking at Ourselves - Each of us is connected with the consciousness of collective humanity and the Cosmos at large. "To thine own self be true" means to align yourself with these larger fields of consciousness.

Being true to your deepest, innermost self is to align with intentions that lie beyond your personal ego. These intentions reside in your soul. Your soul, in turn, connects with the collective consciousness of humanity and ultimately the universe at large. The more you act from your soul (instead of your ego), the more you begin to express purposes and intentions larger than yourself. Although this idea may seem radical, it is not a new idea. The old way of saying it is "to do the Will of God."

IMPLICATION: There is more to life than ego. If the deepest intentions of our soul reflect the intelligence of collective humanity and the cosmos at large, then each of us will —sooner or later— feel “called” to do something more than just fulfill our personal ego needs. Each of us has a personal mission or “calling” —perhaps several—where we give back and contribute to something or someone beyond ourselves. It doesn’t matter how large or small this is. Doing a menial job well could be what we have to contribute. It is the quality of consciousness, the spirit of giving, that we bring to our mission, that counts.

A New Way of Looking at Each Other - All minds are ultimately One. This is reflected in the saying, popular since the sixties: "We are all one."

At depth, our seemingly separate minds are simply different aspects of the same universal consciousness. Thus we are deeply interdependent, more than our conscious egos recognize. So much so that our consciousness is influenced by the consciousness of those we care about and love, no matter how far apart we are in space. When a loved one far away feels joy or sorrow, we register it somewhere in our psyches, even if we do not recognize it consciously. Everyday happenings illustrate our interconnectedness. We may find ourselves thinking about a friend, and then suddenly they call us. We may feel sad for no obvious reason, and then find out later that someone dear to us had a bad experience around the time we felt sad. In short, we are not isolated, autonomous units. Each of our minds is a node in an interdependent network of many other minds, some of which we may not even know, and perhaps some of which may not even be embodied.

IMPLICATION: The realization that we are—in truth—all one as a common humanity helps to erode the barriers our egos create to separate ourselves from others: racial, religious, ethnic, national, gender, age, and so on. Beneath the surface we are ultimately the same in our basic needs and aspirations. The Golden Rule: “Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them Do Unto Yourself” is not just a lofty moral injunction, it reflects the actual structure of reality (all seeming separate minds are aspects of a common consciousness).

globalshiftnow.com

The Oneness of the Human Family

by Julie Redstone -

An Idea Whose Time Has Come:

There are pivotal ideas that have changed the destiny of mankind and shaped its future. Many have remained unnoticed within the shadowy corners of history until a bright light has shown on them, illuminating them, and making them relevant to time, place, and circumstance.

Such is the understanding of the oneness of the human family, of mankind - an idea that has been part of human consciousness for ages, yet one that has not attained its full status as being real or relevant until today, when the planetary body itself is in danger, and when new possibilities appear within the hearts of many who are being influenced by expanding spiritual light upon the Earth.

The idea of the human family relates not only to its essential oneness in terms of the basic needs and rights of every individual upon the Earth - the need and right to food, shelter, and a way of life free from fear. The idea of the human family relates also to the understanding that there is a basic kinship among mankind, a basic essence that we share together so that in heart, mind, body, and spirit, there is more that joins us than that separates us.

This perception, when taken to a deeper level of truth and reality, has radical consequences.

For it means that we cannot separate the world any longer into those we love and those we hate, those who are with us and those who are against us. Indeed, we must find a way to achieve common ground even with those we hold profound differences with, recognizing their humanity, recognizing, that they, too, have the same underlying structure of needs and desires that define all that is human.

We are in the process of discovering, today, not a new truth about the physical, biological, or chemical structure of what it means to be human - although advances in science are revealing a great deal in these areas as well. Today, we are discovering a truth that emerges from the heart. This truth emanates a sense of compassion, a desire for peace, a longing for honesty and an end to deception, an aversion to all that limits or restricts the rights of individuals to live freely.

These ideals, illuminated by spiritual light, are glowing more brightly within the human heart, so that structures and policies that are detrimental to the right of individual freedom are being questioned, policies that have been long established that have contained hidden motives or agendas are being uncovered, and practices that are restrictive to human liberty are being exposed. These policies and practices may not yet have an immediate substitute at hand. For the vision of the new has not yet fully come into being. Yet the desire for fundamental respect to be accorded to each and every human being because of their humanity, is moving more into the foreground of human consciousness.

An idea whose time has come may have been present in awareness long before this. It may even have been one commonly referred to, yet without understanding the full consequence of its emergence into the light of day.

Such is the idea of the 'human family', one in mind, heart, and spirit, waiting to recognize itself as one in body as well. For this 'body' of the human family is nothing other than the essence of Divine life and Divine energy that has lived within each human soul from the beginning of time.

It is the essence of truth and of purity that has remained at the core, no matter what the exterior self has displayed. This Divine essence which links all in 'body' as well as in mind and heart, means that there is no longer an 'outsider' or 'other' that we may declare as such. For all are united in a common Source that flows through the spiritual veins of each human being.

This is the new and radical truth whose time has come. It has not yet fully arrived on the human scene, but is waiting in the wings. It is waiting for each one to awaken to the full meaning of being One.

lightomega.com

Aura Fixation

One Man's Wonder

Reclaiming Curiosity in a "Ho-hum" World

From this increasingly sped-up, dumbed-down, 140-character world of quick, shallow experiences and relationships, a new generation of thinkers is emerging. Yearning for substance, hungry for real, first-hand relationships with each other and with Nature, we are beginning to realize that very little of this occurs without our willingness to notice and appreciate things not readily apparent.

One Man's Wonder is about looking further, paying attention, making time for discovery, celebrating little things, and being open to wonder. Can we reclaim those qualities that illuminate our spiritual essence and make us truly human? I wonder...

AURA FIXATION – Unwrapping Presence

by Jeffrey Willius

When you're in a crowd, do you ever find yourself fixating on just one of the many strangers you see? This happens to me all the time. I'm at a party, in a restaurant or watching a sporting event. There may be hundreds of people all around me, but one of them, of all those anonymous beings, will just absolutely fascinate me.

Does who we are determine what we choose to see,
or does how we see actually change what is?

Just this morning I was having breakfast with a friend, and pointed out a waitress who intrigued me. He didn't see it, and asked me if it was some kind of sexual chemistry I was picking up on. No, it's not that, I explained. But I do think it's about beauty, albeit seldom the kind you'd see on the surface. Normally, you probably wouldn't look twice at most of these people. It's more like fleeting glimpses of something extraordinary I see shining through those otherwise ordinary façades. Most often, it's just a way of smiling, moving or interacting with other people. Sometimes I picture it as a sort of inner light that radiates from them.

• There was a kid on my stepson's little league baseball team. He wasn't especially big nor good looking. But the way he moved to pick up a ground ball and throw it to first base was so natural, so pure, that I couldn't stop watching him. He had, at the age of ten, a degree of that intensity and self-assurence you see in some professional athletes—the Michael Jordans, the Derrick Jeters, the Roger Federers. I hoped he'd grow up using that charisma for good.

She had the refinement of old money, but without the damage.

• A 17- or 18-year-old girl who was sitting in front of me at a children's piano recital had an unusual radiance. I picked up on it even though I never saw more than the back of her head and an occasional profile. What was it, the way she encouraged her little brother—one of the performers? Or was it was how she looked at, and listened to, her parents, seated on either side of her. It struck me that she had the refinement of old money, but without the damage it so often inflicts. From those few impressions, I felt I could see the kind of life she would lead. And, while a bit disconcerting, I found that inkling, more than anything, reassuring.

• I was on one of those "chicken buses" in rural Guerrero, Mexico. A heavy-set, plain-faced, 30-something woman got on at Los Achotes and sat across from me. Something about her just caught my eye. Maybe it was just the careful manner of her dress. But the more I looked—trying not to be too creepy—the more I could tell that her surface beauty went deep. I could see it in her posture and in her eyes. I'm sure this woman had experienced her share of the unrelenting challenges facing most poor Mexican women. It wasn't just that she wore that abrasion well; somehow she'd managed to gild it—she shone that brightly.

Impressions like these visit me almost every day. A skeptic might say they derive, not from the people I'm looking at, but from some need I have to see them that way. But does it make any difference? Does who we are determine what we choose to see, or does how we see actually change what is? Or could both be true? What do you think? I'd love to hear your comments!

onemanswonder.com