Evolutionary Spirituality:
The Quantum Co-Creative
Revolution
(Published in Kosmos Journal May 2015)
Re-Uniting Spirit and Matter,
Bringing Spirituality Into Action
Called forth by
the enormous challenges of our times, a powerful new movement is emerging, with
the potential to change our world. Evolutionary spirituality is a new, integral
vision bringing spirituality into social action – infusing a deep, evolutionary
spiritual vision into radical social, economic and ecological transformation,
to help meet today’s global crises and create a new way of life on Earth.
Combining the depth of non-dual
spirituality and its perennial wisdom, with the breadth of an evolutionary
perspective and its transformative scope, evolutionary spirituality aligns us
with both the eternal and evolving faces of the Divine, and gives us access to
the power of both. It recognizes that by igniting the alchemy of these two
great forces, we can exponentially accelerate the course of our evolution,
generating the co-creative power to transfigure our world.
The vision that is
emerging today is one, above all, of a living spirituality. Spirituality can no
longer afford to divorce itself from life, and stand idly by while our life
systems are collapsing. It must be applied directly to life, revolutionizing our
life systems – infusing its power and wisdom, as only the deepest connection
with the Source of Creation can—into a living Universe, a living Earth, living
economics, living science and technology, living forms of governance.
Evolutionary
spirituality is a way of applying spirituality to life, not as a means to
escape life or justify the social status quo. In dealing with the evolution of
the life force, we bring spirituality directly to bear on life itself, and in a
way that can impact it most profoundly. It is also positive, life-affirming,
joyful – a vision that celebrates life and its vast possibilities. Despite all
the gloom and dire predictions around us, if we choose in our hearts to choose
life, it is a vision that can catapult us towards our goal, with ramifications
in all dimensions of our lives, personal and global.
It has become
undeniably clear that a quantum shift is needed today, from a society based on
separation, competition and conflict to one based on interdependence,
cooperation and unity. Such a shift needs to come from a deep understanding,
and experience, of the essential truths of our existence; it cannot be a
superficial change at the outer levels alone, a technological, political or
legislative fix. We need to go beyond old authorities and dogmas – beyond
divisions of culture, religion, race and gender – and join together to draw
upon the deepest truths of our unity – with each other, nature, and the whole
field of existence, visible and invisible, manifest and still-unfolding -- to
create a new paradigm and to create a new world, beyond our present imagining.
Many are aware today that we are in the
throes of a great paradigm shift, the labour pains of a new birth, a new phase
in evolution. What is needed is a re-visioning of our animating spiritual
paradigm, a spiritual revolution on the scale of that of a Buddha, Christ or
Sankara. This time, however, it will not be through the agency one great man,
but the collective synergy of men and women together, because the resurgence of
the feminine principle of interconnection, integration, is such an essential
part of it.
The principle of interconnection is
asserting itself today in both the spiritual and social domains, as the Oneness
of spirit and matter, known both to ancients and post-modern science, is
re-claimed, and spirituality is put to the service of action. It is through the
re-unification of spirit with matter, and spirituality with action, that we
will heal into Wholeness our polarized, fragmented world.
Here spirituality is re-framed as a driving force for profound social
change, not a means of transcending the world, either setting one’s sights on a
distant Heaven, or dissolving back into formless eternal emptiness. Yes, there is a level of the Eternal, but it is not
the only one that is “true” – all that exists is a dance of the Divine, in its
evolving forms. This all-inclusive, dynamic truth is in fact the perennial
truth at the core of the ancient mystic traditions, but today it needs vitally
to be put into action, in more global, comprehensive form than ever was needed
before. This means a radical re-framing of the role of spirituality today,
restoring it to its true power to infuse the sacred into all aspects of our
life, our psyche and global society.
This vision is
thus by its nature a multi-dimensional one, embracing the spectrum of
spiritual, subtle-energy, psychological and social levels through which
non-dual Consciousness unfolds. It also responds to the call today to balance
feminine and masculine, integrating their energies, values and perspectives at
each of these levels. This balance and unity at each level is seen as
fundamental to its alignment with the unified Source of Creation itself,
facilitating the emergence of an ever-growing, dynamic, co-creative synergy
within and between all levels, from the innermost spiritual realization of
all-encompassing unity to its outermost expression in coherent, complex,
co-creative social systems.
While the term
“evolutionary” may make it sound like a gradual transformation, one taking billions
of years, the quantum shift being evoked is anything but gradual – because at a
radical crisis point such as we are undergoing today, evolution itself is
compelled to make equally radical jumps, indeed revolutionary leaps. What we
are speaking of here is truly a revolutionary transformation – revolution not
as the violent overthrow of the existing political regime, but an upheaval in
the reigning paradigm of consciousness. Here the insurgency comes from within,
upending established thinking, obsolete cultural worldviews and the social
structures that uphold them.
This is a
revolution of revolutions, for it will come not top-down, from the
pre-determined theory of one man, or even one religion or party, which creates
followers, dogma, conformity, and ultimately reactive confrontation. It will
come from the awakening, within the hearts of each of us, of the deepest inner
connection with the creative wellsprings of our own Source, igniting a critical
mass of spontaneous transformation.
It will come from
the very “grass-roots” of our being – Consciousness itself.
We will briefly
outline here the principle aspects of this vision, which follow one from the
other:
1.
Spirituality In Action
2.
Interconnection
and Oneness
3. Evolutionary
Non-Duality
4.
Conscious
Co-Creative Synergy
5.
Quantum
Revolution From the Zero-Point Field
6.
Balancing
and Unity of Feminine and Masculine
1. Spirituality-in-Action
Spirit and matter have been too long
divided, a split which has reflected itself at all levels of society. We are
all united in Spirit, and need to begin to express that in the structures by
which we live. This means that spirituality and social change have to go
hand-in-hand. A spirituality that cannot bring about harmony and sustainability
in society is impotent; and social activism without an authentic spiritual
worldview behind it is also bound to burn out.
Spirituality and true social change have to
go together, each coming from a vision of deep interconnectedness and Oneness,
spiraling out from the non-dual core at the centre of existence, and expressing
itself in all our social systems. When this connection is consciously made, we
consciously co-create in evolution’s unfolding, in the Cosmos’ own expression
of greater and greater Wholeness.
Just as spirit and matter have been divided
in the current religious and social systems, so spiritual practitioners and
social activists have tended, even today, to mistrust each other and go their
separate ways. Yet it is becoming increasingly clear that, if we are to overcome
the crises facing us, spiritual vision and social action need to come together,
and we need a unifying paradigm to garner the power of each into a combined
force for transformation. Only through this can we hope to achieve the radical,
whole-systems shift that is called for.
The spiritual worldview of a society,
whether conscious or not, is the animating force behind all its systems. It
informs the ecological approaches, economic structures, all forms of social
relations. When unconscious, or at a low level of consciousness, these tend to
be divisive, systems expressing the aggression and violence of divisive
ego-agendas based on separation and competition. When the worldview is a
conscious one of interconnection and Oneness, experienced at the deepest core
spiritual level, all the outer systems will likewise come into line with it,
express it, like concentric circles unfolding from a coherent centre.
Those working to effect this integration
between the innermost spiritual level and outer social systems have also become
aware of the importance of addressing the psychological level in between. Our
personal healing and re-balancing at the energetic and psychological levels is
an essential link in the integration between inner spiritual wisdom and outer global
healing. This includes re-balancing the masculine and feminine qualities of
consciousness within us, opening up the heart-brain connection, and exploring
new processes of communication and collective presencing, which bring into
co-creative synergy the gifts of creative individuation and the interconnective
wisdom of the unified field.
It is this vision
of conscious co-creation, with each other, the Earth and the Cosmos Itself,
that is now becoming possible, emerging in the collective consciousness. For
this we need to bring together a deep non-dual, universal spiritual worldview
and action for evolutionary global transformation.
A new, exciting
universal spirituality is emerging, concerned with applying the deep
realization of interconnection and Oneness, found at the core of all mystical
paths, to the way we live in the world. We are called, as never before, to help
catalyze this emergence -- to articulate it, animate it and help put it into
action – gathering and joining together with others inspired by the same
spirit, in these intensely challenging but immensely fertile times.
2. Interconnection and Oneness
We live in a
unified web of life, an interconnected field of Consciousness, energy and
matter. Our true nature is that Consciousness, the unified Source, from which
everything else flows – the manifestation of this world, including our bodies
and all that surrounds them. There is no actual boundary between “inner” and
“outer”. This means that everything we do touches the whole Universe, and vice
versa. We cannot isolate ourselves, either way.
Today especially,
when our mistaken sense of separation has driven us to a life of great
fragmentation and conflict, we need to start living again from the Source which
connects us all, invoking its unity, harmony and beauty into all levels of our
being, our psyche and our society. This is the fundamental basis of the
personal and global healing that is so much needed today, that will bring us
home to our true Wholeness.
The spirit of
interconnection and Oneness permeates the whole Cosmos; all of our outer
systems, no less than our inner ones, need to reflect and embody this. The same
core truth of interdependence and Oneness that exists at the spiritual level
applies also to the material level, the bio-systems of our body, the
eco-systems in which we live, as well as our social, energy and economic
systems. Because it is the true nature of all that exists – that cuts across
all divides – not only our spiritual worldview but our cultural, economic, ecological
and energy structures all need to reflect the spirit of interconnection and
Oneness if we are to live in a truly healthy global society.
3. Evolutionary Non-Duality
“Non-duality”
means that spirit and matter are one, and “evolutionary non-duality” means that
our evolution today is calling us to apply that in the world. Spirituality
itself has taken a quantum leap today, and is offering a radically new,
integral, evolutionary perspective. The Eternal as Source remains the same, but
we don’t just wait to get to heaven to join it, or at best dissolve back in its
emptiness – we joyously co-create with it in its evolving expressions. We are
no longer passive victims of either God’s wrath or evolution by chance, but
active participants in the unfolding of the vast genius at the Source of
Creation. This radically shifts the role of spirituality from offering ways out
of this world, to helping us bring spirit’s unity into expression in the world, imbuing it with the sacred
in all its dimensions.
The term “evolutionary
non-duality” can also be seen as a more specific way of unpacking the meaning
of “spirituality in action”. “Non-duality” is the “spiritual” part, referring
to the deepest universal spiritual truth that spirit and matter are “not-two”,
thus neither are we separate from spirit nor anything else in existence. The
“evolutionary” part means bringing this eternal truth into active expression,
responding to the actual and unique needs of the times.
The term
“non-duality” is a direct translation of the ancient Indian tradition of
Advaita Vedanta (“the truth of the undivided”), in the line of the great master
Sankara and later Sri Ramana Maharshi. Various versions of these teachings
have, in the last few decades especially, been adapted to and popularized in
the West, as people seek a more direct, universal spirituality. The term can
also refer, however, to any spiritual tradition based on the unity
(non-duality) of spirit and matter, of Consciousness and the visible world
through which it manifests.
When we speak of “evolutionary non-duality”
specifically, as distinct from the more general “evolutionary spirituality”, it
is to emphasize the undivided, eternal non-dual Source from which all evolution
unfolds. Wedding the depth of non-dual spirituality and its perennial wisdom
with the breadth of an evolutionary perspective and its transformative scope,
evolutionary non-duality galvanizes the power of the eternal to the power of
its manifestation on Earth. Fusing the forces of these two great spiritual vectors,
vertical and horizontal, exponentially accelerates the spiral of evolution.
4. Conscious Co-Creative Synergy
Conscious
co-creative synergy, which springs from evolutionary non-duality, is the
dynamic expression of interconnection and Oneness in action. It is the dynamic
interplay that interconnects the spiritual and social levels, aligning the
Source of Creation with our own social creativity. It is not only serves as a
conduit between the core of pure Consciousness and the material level of our being,
but at the same time brings into play all the levels of our being in between.
Co-creative
synergy occurs when we tune into the wisdom and guidance of the Source of
Creation itself, in creative collaboration with others, to bring its primordial
unity into expression at all levels of our being: spiritual, psychological and
social, including our energy, economic and ecological systems. In co-creative
synergy, the same magic of creation occurs as when musicians riff together to
create beautiful music -- we are guided by the unified, orchestrated field of
energy vibrating through and between us.
And that music is the New Earth that is emerging now.
There is a secret synchrony that emerges from an unseen field; we are dancing
to a different drummer, a hidden Cosmic music revolutionizing our life on
Earth.
This is the basis
of what we could call a quantum co-creative revolution, the quantum
evolutionary leap that is growing towards a critical mass today all over the
Earth. This is a revolution unlike any other in history – from within to
without. It is not based on opposition, or the imposition of one system on
another -- with shouting, ranting and raving -- but the natural blossoming of
co-creative unity from within, radiating from the creative genius, love and joy
in our hearts.
5. Non-Duality, The Zero-Point Field, and Solving Our
Energy Crises: How We Can Re-Source Power from the Source of Creation Itself to
Revolutionize Our World
Energy is the
level, which, as we have seen earlier, connects spirit with matter. It is not
at all incidental that our energy systems have become a prime focus of our
attention on the stage of today’s world crises. Our energy systems are running
out, our sources of power rapidly depleting. At the same time, on a personal
scale, many are apathetic or paralyzed, lacking the power or energy to do
anything about it; our inner resources exhausted no less than the outer. It is
fascinating how this level of energy and power, on both the personal and global
scales, is where our old systems are failing -- but also the missing link as to
how we can radically re-invent them, igniting new sources of power.
This level is both
the key to the crises, and also the solutions. In both cases, that of the
personal as well as the global scale, the answer to our shortages of energy and
power lies in the quantum field, the zero-point field where all energy and
power rise from. We have to learn to access this in both cases, to plug again
into our true Source of power to change things in the world; and, at the global
material scale, into the zero-point field for new sources of power to run it.
And these two are not separate, but intricately intertwined. It is through our
vital connection with the zero-point, quantum field at the Source of Creation
that we can most powerfully mobilize the energy needed to change ourselves and
our world.
Co-creative
synergy draws its power from the zero-point field; it moves from the zero-point
at the core of Creation to create an infinite possibility of new forms. The most
complex creative connections are made when we are tuned into the zero-point
Source, the core of Creation itself, where all is united and thus all
connections arise from.
The zero-point
field has no circumference; it is the wide-open “O” of pure potential, which is
infinitely expansive, open to vast constellations of infinite possibility. It
is from the zero-point Source, like a bottomless spring of creation, that the
New Earth we long for in the depths of our hearts will blossom.
6. Balancing and Unity of Feminine and Masculine
As the basis for
all of the above, the balancing and unity of feminine and masculine energies,
perspectives and values is essential. The long-suppressed feminine values of
caring, cooperation and communion need to come front and forward, to bring into
balance the current pre-dominant masculine values and systems of our society.
As the feminine is the origin of creation, it is at our extreme peril that we
have neglected it, and today the Divine Mother is clearly course-correcting us.
In a healthy feminine-masculine balance – both in each of us as individuals and
the global society – the feminine values of receptivity to Source, a
sensitivity to the creative emergent, and nurturing of the highest potentials
in ourselves and others, would be supported by the masculine values of action,
boldness and focus, to create a new life on Earth, which connects head and
heart.
All of these six
principles basically express the same thing – tapping into the unity inherent
within diversity, and bringing it into expression at every level of our being,
personal and global.
Evolutionary
spirituality holds out the extraordinary promise of bringing together a new universal spirituality; quantum,
whole-systems science; and radical social action, with the power to transform
life on Earth as we know it. There is perhaps no other vision that brings
together so cogently the spiritual, scientific and social dimensions,
leveraging such potent change on all levels. Evolutionary spirituality may turn
out to be the meta-key to the Great Turning of these times.
