Evolutionary Non-Duality: Bringing Spirit Into Action




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.