Kosmic Activism:
Drawing on Wider Truths in an Age of Post-Truth
Part One
(published in Kosmos Journal, March
2017)
When the new post-Trump
altered reality hit in November, it left me, like many others, reeling in shock
and confusion. I had been involved for years in an attempt to forge an alliance
between spiritual and progressive forces, but suddenly this seemed far too
naïve and hopeful in the face of the dark realpolitik before us. Yet as time
passed, in that strange and mysterious process by which our psychic forces
re-group in the face of a new reality, something re-constellated; a new, more
expanded perspective to accommodate the challenges of this unprecedented
situation. It even struck me that this was the gift hidden in the catastrophe,
the phoenix that rises from the ashes. For when things break down we are forced
to re-constellate; we are impelled from within to re-evaluate where we are, and
re-configure at a higher order.
I’d just like to say here
that however devastating the Trump election and the rise of right-wing regimes
around the world has been, I do believe there is a positive effect to the
shake-ups it is causing. However shattering it may be, it is forcing us,
particularly those who believe we stand for the good of the people and planet,
to look again at our lifestyles and our actions, and ferret out any
contradictions lurking in the shadows, our tunnel-vision, denial and
distraction, which have impeded us from acting in our highest integrity and
with a passion equal to the crises that confront us. It forces us to
re-configure our view of what’s happening in the world, and where we choose to
stand in it. With disruptions so enormous they can no longer be ignored, this
is truly a time of reckoning, with ourselves and the state of our planet
When there is a problem so
all-consuming it eclipses all others, we tend to lose sight of the background.
Yet this is not a time to be distracted, so caught up in reaction, so consumed
with fighting the symptom, that we lose sight of the cause. It is rather the
time to look deeper, act deeper, ask ourselves how we got here. It is a time to
widen our perspective, not narrow it; enlarge, rather than contract, our
aspirations, horizon. A shake-up of this magnitude should ignite a renewal;
wake us up to a vision of where we are, and the future we want to see. A
wake-up call of this magnitude should shake us to our very roots, igniting a
revolution from the most profound depths of our being.
Many have been shocked at the
seemingly sudden and inexplicable upsurge of right-wing forces, but the reasons
are not far to see. The reason right-wing forces have come into power is that
we had a host of problems we were not addressing. It is not that they are the
“bad guys” as opposed to the good guys, but that many of us who think of
ourselves as the good guys were simply not acknowledging the deep flaws in our
system, so long as we were enjoying the “good life’ off its spoils. Because
these problems were not addressed in a truthful, wise and compassionate way,
reactionary forces surged into the vacuum, using the opposite methods – lies,
hatred and brutality.
Let’s back up a bit and see
how we arrived here. After the 1980’s, when the right-wing agenda of
neo-liberal corporate globalization was launched by Ronald Reagan and Margaret
Thatcher, the left or liberals also became increasingly swept up in it, as even
the democratic administrations that followed ceased to question its logic or
its inevitability. While paying lip service to social inclusivity, most
liberals were sitting on the rising side of a sky-rocketing economic divide,
enjoying exclusive privilege; conveniently ignoring the fact that in a world of
rapidly depleting resources and impending climate disaster, their consumption
patterns, far from being available to all, were decimating livelihoods,
cultures and the planet.
Formerly the educated elites
on the left had made cause with the common people, but with the growing
economic divide driven by the neo-liberal agenda, the contradiction of such a
claim became more and more glaring, even as it was denied. For thirty-some long
years, then, both the right and the left converged in the neo-liberal agenda,
leaving the people and planet undefended, and ethics, compassion and caring by
the wayside. (Globally, this void also provided fertile field for religious
fanaticism and terrorism to arise.)
And now it’s all come to a
head. It is not surprising that, with the progressive (and spiritual) forces so
weak, far-right forces have been able to manipulate the anger and fear of those
left behind, playing on their vulnerabilities and confusion to scapegoat
minorities and monger hate rather than addressing the real issues. All the more
reason for us, however, not to give up, but to take stock, re-examine,
re-commit to the values that truly matter to us. And this means understanding
that we cannot leave anyone behind, nor anything outside the scope of our care;
that inclusivity means finding the common causes that unite us all; that
everything -- every person, every culture, every species, rainforest, tree --
is a part of our own being.
The shock and confusion of
recent events has also re-affirmed for me the importance of stepping back and
seeing the big picture – who we are, in the largest sense, where we are, and
where we want to be going. “Big pictures” may be unfashionable in this
post-modern relativist world, but given the crudity, chaos and small-mindedness
into which our world is descending, I think they are more necessary than ever.
Without the motivation and inspiration they give us, we are lost, swept along
in the chaos ourselves, with no rudder in the storm.
After Trump’s election, I
felt more than ever the need for a greater sense of meaning, a bigger picture
that can override the sense of despair and futility, and make life worth going
on for. I realized that, at least for me, not only one “big picture” was
needed, but two: the eternal and the evolving, the spiritual level but also its
outer expression, a positive vision of where this world is heading.
There is both the eternal,
and the evolving dimensions of our being. We exist on multiple dimensions, with
multiple identities, like concentric spheres, from our common Spirit or
universal Consciousness at the core (the eternal, unchanging dimension) to the
individual, local, global and Cosmic (the evolving) dimensions. More than ever
today we need a context large enough to recognize these dimensions, and draw
upon their connections. When we expand our vision to include them all, we
vastly enhance our power to transform our world.
Identity politics can set us
apart, but if we expand our identity, can rapidly bring us together. In this
time of accelerating fragmentation, there is a growing need to identify with
the Whole. We may identify ourselves as citizens of our own community and
country, but today we must expand our understanding of citizenship to embrace
as well the global and Cosmic levels. It would not be an exaggeration to say
that our evolution depends on it, as well as our very survival. If we do not
learn to identify with that which is greater than ourselves, that which is
greater than ourselves will likely cease to sustain us.
Identifying with the Whole is
not an abstraction – it is the recognition, and ever-widening inclusion, of the
multiple dimensions of our identity: as individuals, local citizens, global and
Cosmic citizens. Each of these identities has its own role and power, and, at a
time when we need all the resources we can muster, none can be neglected. Each
of these dimensions supports our evolution, personally and collectively, in an
essential way. It is only by expanding our consciousness to embrace our true
all-inclusiveness, that we can transfigure our consciousness and transfigure
our world.
Kosmic Citizenship: The Arc that Bends Towards Justice,
Truth and Beauty
Right now there is extreme
disintegration at the global level, threatening the survival of life on this
planet. In the face of overwhelming odds and overwhelming setbacks, I believe
we need, as never before, to draw upon the perspectives and powers of these
other dimensions to motivate and guide us. It is particularly by calling upon
the deepest and widest levels of our identity – our deepest spiritual core and
our widest identification with this evolving Cosmos – that we access wonder and
awe, the deepest source and widest horizon, from which to draw inspiration,
energy and guidance to heal our global crises.
First of all we must
recognize that evolution is not a linear progression in time – it is a
deepening of perception that brings to light levels of our identity that have
always been there, but have thus far remained unidentified or latent. When we
can draw upon these deeper, wider identities, the whole spectrum of dimensions
of which we are a part, we access enormous resources, that can jolt even the
most entrenched patterns in our psyche and society, into a new constellation.
When we see our historical moment in the big sweep of space and time – and even
more so, beyond them: the quantum field where they come together, the miracle
of this universe, and the mystery of its source -- whole new possibilities open
to us, inspiration for the long haul. We are plugged into deeper and higher
powers. These deeper and higher powers are not outside but within us, the power
of our interconnection with our own Source and the Cosmos.
If we look at the global
level alone, we are likely to feel overwhelmed, helpless. In the same way,
while local resilience is essential, if we confine our focus to the local level
alone, our actions are likely to feel ineffectual, unable to make a dent in the
larger forces of destruction hitting us now with a vengeance. These days we
need not only to think global and act local, but to open our hearts to the
Kosmos, and the deeper, wiser inspiration and guidance that flows from its
widest vista.
Kosmos is the intersection of
Consciousness and Cosmos, the deeper, eternal, internal intelligence that
overflows as the Cosmos. It has created us and continues to do so, moment by
moment by moment. When we align with it consciously, we become co-creators in
its unfolding Creation: we board a great arc in space and time; an ark beyond
time and space itself, that lifts us beyond the present storms and helps us to
navigate them.
Sacred Action in A Holographic Universe
We know what it means to see
our self as a local citizen, and even perhaps a global citizen, but what does
it mean to see our self as a Kosmic citizen? And how does this help us at the
level of practical, critical action?
A Kosmic citizen works at the
local and non-local levels both, tapping into the ripple effect of this
holographic universe. He recognizes that whatever we do at the individual level
ripples out to the local and global levels; that each of our actions is
informed by, and in turn informs, the whole, the greater quantum field in which
we are all connected. The Kosmic citizen, at her best, embraces both the depth
and breadth of our being, and taps into that eternal level, beyond time and
space, where all is already perfect, Whole, bringing its healing power to bear
on the conflicts and divisiveness of this world.
To be a Kosmic citizen is to
draw on the widest arc of time, and our deepest source in the timeless, and
bring the inspiration that springs from both into healing life on this planet. Each
of us has a passport to the Cosmic and quantum dimensions, and to bring their
powers home.
There is a dimension where
all is already perfect, all is already Whole. And there is another dimension
that departs from that Wholeness, devolves into division and evolves back into
Wholeness. We are at the nadir of that phase of division (the Kali Yuga), where
devolution becomes dissolution; from this space, a re-immersion into the Source
of the Whole, and its open potential for renewal at a higher order, can then
re-emerge.
In one way we are always
home, in another we are on an infinite, open-ended adventure. When we remember
both, we are home-free, resting in who we truly are, and also always unfolding,
an intimate part of this participatory universe… Mostly we live in between, but
we can learn to lean into the infinite depth or the infinite breadth of our
being; in fact, we are always held in them, inseparable from our infinite
source (Consciousness itself) and its infinite, boundless Cosmos.
The consciousness of a Kosmic
citizen thus both goes beyond time and space and includes them, forging the
quantum connection between the eternal and the levels of its ever-unfolding
evolution. We align with the bigger picture of our true eternal, undivided
nature, and the evolutionary impulse to bring its expression more and more
faithfully into form, at the individual, local and global dimensions.
Drawing on each of these
levels, we weave their powers together into a dynamic, exponential force. The
universal, non-local field of cosmic intelligence that is our source, flows,
unobstructed, into expression at all levels: personal, local and global.
Actions at these levels, in turn, detonate the power of the non-local,
multiplying in impact and scale, ripping across the unseen field that cuts
across time and space and interconnects us all. In a fractal, holographic
world, everything reverberates. Far from being helpless, the effect of each of
our words, each of our acts, is limitless.
This gives us not only
greater power but greater responsibility – in both senses, the ability to
respond, and the willingness to do so. We come out of the tunnel-vision of our
own self-interests and recognize how they converge with the Whole. When we
recognize this power, the nature and scope of our actions shift – we cease to
be reactive, and become pro-active, co-active. The rest of creation is not
outside us; we join it in a dance of co-creation. We become channels ourselves
for the unfolding of the universe, in its process of unending revelation.
Eternal and Evolving Faces of Truth
To live in truth is to live
in the truth of our interconnection, with all the spheres of our being, and
thus ultimately with all Being -- none of us is alone, everything we do rings
out through the universe, through all time and space. As Kosmic citizens we are
guided by the universal template of wisdom within us, universal yet flowing
through us in its own unique way…Conversely, all the spheres of our being,
nature and the Cosmos nourish and support us, infuse us with their own part –
the energy and information they carry -- in the vast intelligence and the vast
love of the universe, its infinite orchestration…
We are not solid, separate,
but the ever-evolving edge of a collective, Cosmic process, the evolution of
Consciousness (God) through material form. We are the far end (so far) of a
chain of Consciousness evolving through ever-more-complex material form, but we
are also the beginning of the chain, always connected with our original,
eternal nature as Consciousness Itself.
There is a timeless big
picture, and a big picture in time, of the eternal dimension and its evolution.
Depending on which philosophy one believes in, the phenomenal world either dissolves back into the light of the
eternal, or evolves into greater
transparence and reflection of it – its sacredness, peace and unity. Perhaps
both; that is, through repeated cycles of dissolutions into the light of the
eternal, the emergent level becomes more and more congruent with it. Each time
the manifest level emerges, on each upward turn of the evolutionary spiral, it
becomes a more and more faithful reflection of its own Source and true nature.
The eternal perfection is
always there; to find the perfection, or even movement towards it, at the
evolving level, is much more challenging. Evolution, as we have said, does not
proceed in linear time, as the linear mind would have it, but by waves, huge
crests and troughs of progress and apparent regression. We have to see beyond
these waves, huge arcs of historical time, to see the dynamic perfection of the
phenomenal level. Deeper still, we need to divine that point in the
evolutionary timeline where time itself merges into the timeless, where the
local falls though a wormhole in time into the non-local; where the horizontal
march of time suddenly bottoms out into a vast expanse of timeless, infinite
depth. Here the evolving and the eternal themselves converge into one, and our
perception of their perfection, waves and troughs notwithstanding, itself
becomes undivided. Even conflict and crisis, seen from this space, are
saturated with grace.
A Pro-Active Vision, Not a Fait Accompli
To anyone who argues that the
evolutionary vision presented here is hopelessly idealistic, that the world is
clearly devolving rather than evolving, I would say that the vision I offer
here is prescriptive rather than descriptive. It is up to us to put our
energies into making this a better world, it is not a fait accompli. This
should motivate, not depress us, inspire us to galvanize out highest
potentials, all the more so when the outcome is not decreed. Precisely when the
challenges are so daunting, we can rise to our highest moment. The very fact
that the odds seem so heavily stacked against us makes this a choice we must
consciously make, and a choice of the highest order. Life was not designed to
hand us our freedom on a plate; in fact, by its very nature it can’t be
enforced from outside us. It is up to seize it, to recognize and rise to the
highest potentials within us, for our own lives and the world…
When we recognize that we are
multi-dimensional beings, the perennial question of free will begins to look
very different. We have multiple levels of evolution within us – some past,
some future, some ever-present and timeless -- which do we choose to align
with? For those who say there is no hope, I’d say: even if there’s no hope in
the world -- and perhaps even more so -- the hope has to come from our hearts.
Life is speeding up. The
consequences of our delusions and self-delusions are also speeding up. They are
hitting us in the face, there is no escape now. And this is good – not in a
moral sense, that suffering is necessary or necessarily good, but that by our
stubbornness and complacency in the face of our own self-destructiveness, we
ourselves make it so. Many, it seems, will not wake up until the consequences
of our actions become so extreme that they have no choice – either to face it
and change our ways, or go under altogether. In these times of escalating
chaos, the universe is delivering us an ultimatum: to align with its higher
power and truth, or forfeit our precious privilege of participating in the
miraculous journey of its further evolution.
Perhaps you’ve noticed the
common thread in the reflections I’ve shared here: how the negative events in
our lives, while at first they seem out to destroy us, in fact are neither
random nor malevolent, but exist to drive us deeper to the light we truly are.
Once we see that, we begin to surrender to the wisdom of those events, to the
light itself behind them, and to shine it in the world. This is true both for
the life events that challenge us individually and collectively. As a healer I
guide my clients to turn their negativities inside out, to dive into the
darkness and retrieve the jewel. Today we are in the midst of a global healing
crisis. If we recognize this, surrender to it, and learn to shine the light
that is our birthright and deepest nature onto the darkness of these times, we
will surely pull through.
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