December 20, 2011
What Does the Next Step Look Like?
The big question, for those of us who care about the evolution of consciousness and culture, is what is the next step supposed to look like? We know what it feels like—it feels very inspiring. When you awaken to the evolutionary impulse, it’s exciting, and at times even overwhelming, so full of positivity and possibility. And when you discover a higher perspective, it’s thrilling—like waking up from a dream. But that’s about as far as most of us have come. So now, inspired by these breakthrough experiences, we need to begin to create some shared agreements about where we are going and what our lives would look like if they were authentic expressions of the shared vision of the possible we find in an evolutionary awakening. Until now, the only reference points we have had for how to live are what has already happened. Unless we are serious and focused on consciously creating a new form for our shared culture, even though our minds might be informed by higher perspectives and our hearts might be alive with the thrill of the possible, our lives are probably not going to look much different from the lives our parents lived. So I feel that these deeper questions in relationship to cultural development are something we all urgently need to engage with. Nobody has figured this out yet.
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Andrew Cohen is a spiritual teacher, cultural visionary, founder of EnlightenNext, and the author of 
I lost my job so I am making it on my own. Prescribed medication seems to cause more problems while sort of solving the original issue – I continue to strive to and believe I can get myself off these things. The greed economy is going over the cliffs taking everyone who buys into it. The Happiness Economy ( Paul Gilding “The Great Disruption”), including the recycling way of Nature is what I strive to be part of – I feel as though I am part of the future of humanity in survival. There is another future – that of destruction and extinction – which is being ignorantly pursued by others. When I speak this message of survival and reveal to those I meet and to my friends – how they are part of it – because I find something they are doing which is good and kind – I do come across as a bit of an air head. A person who refuses to see the grim facts – however I see the grim facts ( and i do some political work too) and I know that Nature is going to force a change- ie we are forcing nature to reject us and our waste – Those of us who make it into the future through the continuation of our spirit and our genes are we who continue to believe and to see the possibility. The 99% is who I preach to. we are all the 99%. Just some good people dont realise it yet. I refuse to engage with the “hopelessness” of it all – I focus on what is working and on fixing or trying to fix that which is broken in my immediate environment – which may extend to rights for tomato workers, or be as close as my own heart. Rock On! US – How lovely the name of my adopted country – Us, United, States ( states of consciousness united in tolerance and well -meaning?).
Bravo – that you did not try to give a form to this question of what will it look like, and ended instead with ‘Nobody has figured this out yet’. Nor will they. The future is self creating and any definition or form we try to give to it will be a limitation. Self-creating does not mean that it creates itself apart from us. It means it has free will, of course it does, like we do, for we are not separate from it, nor it from us. We can think of ‘it’ as separate because we have minds which analyse everything into separate components, but that does not mean they are separate. So, to talk of the future as though it were separate from us, is just to prolong the illusion. That is why it is so exciting to tune in to this evolutionary impulse, because in that place I realise I am one with the universe. We are self-creating, and the feeling is thrilling. Creation has to be free, like love. Actually they are the same. Any attempt to put conditions, or definitions on them will limit them, so that they are no longer their true selves, just as I would no longer be my true self. That is why we try so hard to free ourselves from our conditioning, so that we can be fully gloriously ourselves without condition or definition.
In response to Andrew Cohen’s “Quote of the Week” for 19 December 2011, here are my thoughts about how a new “value exchange” arrangement could develop to replace the world’s discredited financial system – which would be just one element of this new world we are now creating. I would be grateful if Andrew himself could respond to my ideas.
Now that money has been clearly and irretrievably exposed as a failed and unfair measure of the true value of anything whatsoever in human life, I can only see the role of money shrinking as humanity and the planet continue to evolve. Our current financial system is hopelessly and irreversibly corrupt. It has expanded itself into collapse – like a black hole. Now it has nowhere else to go but down and then out of our lives. It can NOT be salvaged, only replaced. However, I suspect this will happen gradually over time — but only if more and more people point themselves, their minds, their hearts, their decisions and their actions in a new direction.
My personal plan is to continue living (here in Cardiff, Wales) with as little reliance on money as possible — either practically or emotionally — so that I’ll be prepared as the global financial house of cards continues its slow-motion collapse. I think this strategy of generating positive resources and experiences with an increasingly reduced reliance on money will automatically improve me, my life and my self-reliance — no matter what temporary “improvements” or dramatic traumas happen on the world’s financial scene.
I think of the world’s future way of creating abundance in this way. We already know how to grow food, build homes, create art, develop knowledge and support life — but why do we HAVE to have a money and credit system in place in order to keep generating these resources and services? I imagine a world where people live more simply, fairly and environmentally aware — working together (mostly in small groups and using money as little as possible) to create the resources and experiences we truly need in order to achieve accelerated personal growth and group consciousness here on Earth — because that is the entire purpose of life and the only thing that really matters or lasts. And this ideal vision of mine is not so far-fetched. Look at how far humanity has come in just the past 100 years!
The good news is that a lot of useless crap will be abandoned over time. People will have to live simpler, more environmentally-sensitive lives. In addition, a money-less “value exchange” system will force — or help — each of us to constantly question ourselves about whether or not what we think we value is really what we need. Also, a money-less system would force — or help — people to learn how to make good things happen in cooperation with other people who have different skills, values and personalities.
Therefore, people will have to really become more aware of their inner selves and their true needs – while also sharpening their manifestation skills (prioritisation, planning, visualisation, energy focus, cooperation, intuition, etc.). But as things are now, people generally don’t think through their buying decisions and instead allow themselves to be controlled by their fear-reactive tapes and also manipulated by external forces (advertising, media, tradition, government, etc.).
Sometimes I think the obvious answer is to return to the barter system – but even that feels too rigid and automatic to me now. Even my phrase “value exchange” is too narrow and “tit for tat”, so to speak. How can we move ourselves beyond the constant need to ensure that we receive equally for what we give? Can we trust that balance will take care of itself — just as the whole Universe takes care of itself. Giving, planning and manifesting wisely should, in themselves, be satisfying enough — and then whatever resources and experiences we receive in addition to that will be extra gravy (to put crudely).
So no, we don’t have a ready-made system to replace the old one — but each of us had damn well better start thinking about how to create a new system from moment to moment in our daily lives. This will accelerate the pace of Earth’s evolution — but we need to leave money behind. After all, aren’t we destined to build a Heaven here on Earth — and I promise you there ain’t no money in Heaven.
Well said, and ditto!
Attempted adaptation by human beings will obviously be the evolutionary response to a changing (a potentially drastically changing) cultural and natural environment. The specifics of the human adaptation response will likely be determined by the nature of a collapse (or near collapse) that will bring about a survival crisis. That crisis could include such things as huge shifts in population and food production due to climate change, war and even nuclear war as societies compete for resources, collapse of economies, governments, nations, etc. These conditions could bring about a kind of “dark age” and a reverting to earlier cultural vmemes depending on the nature and severity of the crisis.
A culture that supports sustainable human life styles will likely be a major component of any successful adaptation response since it seems that the collapse (or near collapse) of human culture will be triggered by the current focus on accelerating an already unsustainable rate of human consumption of natural resources.
One answer could come in Increased demonstrations of sustainable life styles that focus on expanding the need and the rewards for human beings to be in mutually enhancing relationships with nature and each other. These would be life styles that emphasize rewarding relationships, health and well being, creativity and that do not require or promote accelerating consumption of natural resources; life styles that value beauty, freedom and creativity. These life styles could provide a model and maybe even a momentum (if there were enough them to make them visible, attractive and achievable) to be seen as an adaptive response when the current unsustainable cultural activities reach a crisis that has a negative impact on most people.
The most challenging change would be the creation of societies that value and reward human achievement and sustainable human advancement in ways that promote human creativity and, at the same time, define and devalue human greed and made it culturally unacceptable.
There are models, though. I remember being inspired by Ecotopia, and am working on my own novel, Solantis, which has strong spiritual elements. I’m sure many of your readers have books, people, or events that help point the way down the evolutionary path.
Yes! Practical models we can each pick and choose from!
Andrew nobody so far has the answer to this question. With all do respect and love not even you!
I address you here as a scientist : what is your concrete proposal on this issue ?if we want to progress we have to be concrete here knowing that the answers will improve with time. So what is the concrete proposal ? Steiner suggested Ethical Individualism as away to lmove forward. Is it passé ?shall we live in communities shall we live ” in the world ?
What is your concrete suggestion?
Catherine, the concrete “answer” is to begin to transcend your ego-mind, then you’ll begin to understand what Andrew means.
Isn’t part of the fun of life staying in the mystery and letting it unfold? Why do we have to “figure it out”? That would ruin it for me… I don’t want to add any rules or dogma to this beautiful experience.
It’s not very evident to the person(any person) who proclaims “No rules! No dogma!”, that they themselves are prescribing “rules and dogma.”
Patti, when you say “letting it unfold”, and, “that would ruin it for me”, you are making rules and projecting an expectation on the future! Understand? You’ve fallen into your own subtle trap of “no rules” – rules! And yes, you unknowingly “spoil it for yourself” by having such a rule within yourself! Think about it!
The way our parents lived was a blessing, At age 83 I lived those days with people that really cared about each other. Families and friends gathered frequently just for the joy of sharing and caring for each other.
Some were growing food, others painted your house and watched over children. Life was simple and not so stressful as it is today.
Suggest EVOLutionaries link to influence a more coherent state, from which a new reality, new humanity, and new unified world organically emerge.
In this profound, award winning (2011 Nautilus Gold medal winner) book, Peggy Holman offers principles, practices, and real-world stories to help you work with compassion, creativity, and wisdom through the entire arc of change—from disruption to coherence. You’ll learn what to notice, what to explore, what to try, and what mindset opens new possibilities. http://peggyholman.com/about
What the future looks like is 12-21-2012. We face mother nature , not an electronic age destruction . Mankind will survive as it has before but with some changes. WE will find the need to live as one . WE will find the ways of nature.
God is like Santa. God is able to listen to a million prayers at a one time,Santa is able to deliver a million gifts in one night . They both have people that don’t believe in them
Andrew, I don’t know why the term “coevolution” hasn’t caught on. I tried setting up a “coevolution network” (www.coevolutionnetwork.org), but it never got off the ground. When I spoke to several groups in India about coevolution, very very few seemed to know what I was talking about. That doesn’t mean we should stop trying, even if the prospects are bleak. Your evolutionary impulse, and mine too, keep propelling us. It is irrestible. Hope to see you at the Yoga Institute near Bangalore on the 24th.
“So now, inspired by these breakthrough experiences, we need to begin to create some shared agreements about where we are going and what our lives would look like if they were authentic expressions of the shared vision of the possible we find in an evolutionary awakening.”
For me that quote challenges me to first look at my most significant relationships: first with my “self”…what evolutionary agreements can I make with my self, how can I awaken my life to evolutionary self love? I love Barbara Marx Hubbard’s book Emergence: The Shift From Ego to Essence: 10 Steps to the universal human for a practical way to examine this evolutionary dynamic. Making the shift from ego to essence…then how can I be more authentic and more loving toward myself in 2012 as I evolve into a universal human? Then…what evolutionary agreements can I make with my husband, adult children, family of origin, colleagues, acquaintances and strangers? How can I live my personal evolutionary life into a more loving universal human?
The collective agreement? To love one another consciously and reflect that conscious love to each other. How can I love another when I hate something within myself? How can I love that which I hate within myself? When I am free to love the self-hatred, I no longer need to seek the hate outside myself. When I am at peace within myself, I am at peace in the world. How can I know when I hate something within myself? I need only listen to my “thoughts” and judgements about others to know what I need to next love within myself. When I can love these places of self-hatred, then I can be free and when free, without the love/hate conflict, I can attain the “higher purposes of my existence”. (Samuel Hahnemann)
How each of us do this, is part of the mystery. We work out love together…the highest calling and the biggest challenge! At least in my life it is…especially that “authentic” part!
Here’s to a season and a future of love giving birth to love within each and every one of us!
donna
The evolution of consciousness and culture are the springboards to the evolution of the species. Physical transformation defines this quantum leap. Sri Aurobindo’s new race, Jesus’s resurrected body, point the way to what it will look like. Divinized matter – deathless physical forms – are where we’re heading. Keeping this in mind, envisioning it as your goal – as humanity’s goal – hastens this physical manifestation (which is the “new heaven and new earth”).
See “What is Enlightenment” magazine, spring/summer 2002, page 93 – Enlightenment and the Body of Light – by John White. Everything you need to know about the meaning of life is right there in 2 pages. Please understand that while these bodies of light in the past may have been achieved in the subtle phyiscal realm, the challenge of our space and time is the actual tangible physical realization…the spiritualization of matter.
there is NO way our lives will be like our parents if we have had even a little awakening !! today there is more peace in the world then in the past !! How can I say that ?? stop listening to the controled media and look at the fewer people that died is this war then in the past wars !!
Look at the dysfuntional relationships in the past that people have learned and grown past old ideas !! Mankind is growing in their own awareness and has been growning for years !! now we are more conscious of it and are talking about it more — which fuels inner growth but its been going on for years !! what to view in the present about our future ?? Gratitude of our growth as human being s !!! acknowledgement of out personal growth !! Gratitude about out apility to Choose what we want to think and feel about our present !!
You say that the only way we can figure things out is from past events and experience. That may not be our only reference point. For example, I have just started studying Torah with The Hirsch Chumash as a commentary and reference. I was amazed to find that so much common sense is already there – has been given to us as a guide. For example, it’s clear that we can avoid the disaster of genetic engineering etc. by following the information given. I won’t go into detail here. My point is that there are many guidelines that make sense. We don’t need to stumble around with trial and error.
What will we/it look like: In my opinion, the feelings expressed and felt are first brain bound then then body bound. The neural substrate will be enhanced–more brain, connections and cells–then more mind shows up. This enhanced “stew” of potential will reflect into our DNA enabling the expression of the most interesting. . . . . .
Andrew, I hope you are not giving up on us. As a math college teacher contrary to many of my colleagues I am getting a little responsability through to the students. Even though they call me oldschool to their surprice they got very higt grades in math. They actually took it serious.
Our society is so concerned with welfare that we continously look for new people that need our support. We know this because we are victims ourselves. Most of the time I don’t buy that. But it is disabling our countries and I’m horrified. Political spin is massively feeding it too.
Before I put myself too much into a victimized position I would love some input on how to get it through to people I meet – including my students.
It’s an evolving process Andrew. We are “figuring” it out as we live our lives, a process, a verb! What guides us is the sensibility you write about and the trust that consciously taking the continuous steps, (no choice there) we will do what is appropriate to do for the situation we find ourselves in.
David Meggyesy
Thank you Andrew, for your wonderful insights, as always. In response to this article…
I’ve always found the “eclectic tool-kit” approach to be useful, where you collect practical methods of “what works”, so that – as the moment requires – there are always more informed ways available, rather than just my more unformed ideas.
Basically creating a new world is another case of not reinventing the wheel. The groundwork has already been laid. How about a section of an ” evolutionary consciousness action” website, organized into natural categories for human life, where people can upload summaries of their methods? Where there are gaps, people can respond.
This morning my nephew and I were just expounding on all the wonderful things about “talking circles”, for healing, for decision-making, for meetings…
Have a great day!
The reason, Andrew, that you would be compelled to observe “Nobody has figured this out yet” is that your misty notions of “evolution” and “consciousness” are devoid of either a guiding tradition or a penetrating analysis. Speaking of analysis, what do you add to Ken Wilber’s work that’s of real value?
Pull it down from the clouds and add some specifics. What is the path you recommend, what are the specific practices, and how does one make progress on this “evolutionary” path? Describe in useful detail, not this “thinking about thought” kind of crap full of comfy, yummy baby food. In my tradition one’s path is called sadhana, and it was described in exhaustive detail thousands of years ago, and continuously through the present, by fully God-realized but extremely practical saints, seers and teachers. Your vague ruminations about an “evolutionary impulse” are an embarrassment by comparison.
Read Andrew’s new book “Evolutionary Enlightenment” and most of your questions to him will be answered.
I have some ideas about what transformation looks like, and while it uses speech and language, it certainly doesn’t depend on them. What it looks like for me is called Taking Wings Heart Coherent Tai Chi Kung. A hybrid synthesis of traditional Chinese medicine theory, ancient nature mythology, and modern scientific mythology. It involves movement more than speech; specifically, it involves weight shifts and waist turns in circles coordinated with balanced, intentional breath. This brings the heart into initial coherence and harmony. Blend in a healthy dose of intentional love, appreciation, gratitude, and joy–the best you can muster up into your unique emotional landscape, coordinate with an entire group all sharing the same rhythm of intentional action, and you have a shared moving meditation that sends forth waves of energy substantially greater than the sum of their parts.
Jesus reportedly said that “Wherever two or more agree as touches anything that they may ask, my father in heaven will do it for them” (Matt 18:19). At some point it became clear to me that “agreement” is not a function of words properly constructed by an attorney to stand up in court. Agreement is in the heart, and can only be generated in shared, collaborative heart-based action.
My wife and I teach nine different “forms” of this moving meditation, each movement of which is designed to evoke powerful mythical images and feelings of love, appreciation, gratitude, and joy.
We find that our lives are increasingly harmonious despite the chaos and hassles reported in “The World Show.” That doesn’t mean we are free from challenges and disappointments. What it means is that each experience is perceived as a lesson in which is embedded a blessing. The trick is to seek, and find, that blessing. In time the harmony we generate into our individual and shared reality by our practice seems to transform all experience into a flow of blessings, wonders, and miracles. Living in such a flow certainly does contribute to my living a life significantly different from what I experienced with any parent figures.
I can’t say that all our students “get” the full significance of our practice. What I can say is that I’m dubious about dropping out of society or protesting politically or economically or returning to an earlier agrarian state as effective solutions. But research since the 70′s has shown that meditation can change social statistics. And moving meditation is, I think, even more powerful as a change agent because it involves the body in shared action as well as the mind and spirit. Heart coherent moving meditation brings the hearts, minds, and spirits of those practicing into balance and harmony together, sending out waves of shared heart energy to entrain into coherence larger numbers in the surrounding environment as the number of practitioners grows.
I don’t know that all this can make sense in absence of the experience. Words seem always to fall short. But should anybody be interested and willing to come to the San Diego area to learn first hand what we do and intend–or invite us to go to them to demonstrate (and cover the expenses thereof) we will be happy to share.
Namaste–
A prodigious source for evolutionary novelty, the autonomic nervous system is a gateway to explore the rich evolutionary potentials at our disposal for embodying a meta-evolutionary transformation the body and metamorphosis of social cognition. Dr Stephen Porges’ recent identification of a social nervous system, in the mammalian autonomic nervous system provides the critical information. http://www.porges.net/HomeGeneral.html
Anyone interested in exploring, 1st person, the next phylogenetic adaptation catalyzing this meta-evolutionary shift, explore this; Together with a few of your evolutionary colleagues; Lie down, with eyes closed. Focus your attention intensely inside the spherical cavity of the eyeballs, then soften your gaze. Gently direct a resonating hum sound, from the heart, into the eyeballs, for two minutes. Pay attention to the feeling inside your eyes, rather then to the sound moving out into space. Then, rest your awareness in the effect of the humming for another two minutes. Redirect your attention to the inside of the eyeballs and look back, into the space directly behind the the eyes. Fill that space with the resonance of the hum vibration for one minute then, enter the four extra ocular muscles which directly connect to the eyeballs at the top, bottom and each side. http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bmb.leeds.ac.uk/illingworth/motors/extras.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.bmb.leeds.ac.uk/illingworth/motors/myosin.htm&h=369&w=504&sz=11&tbnid=Z9WY_BmRaNWPbM:&tbnh=89&tbnw=122&zoom=1&docid=WVFQb6tRVqH1zM&sa=X&ei=mAfxTo7qMbDMiQKiw-WkDg&ved=0CC4Q9QEwAw&dur=5775 Gently compress the muscles right where they stand, hold them compressed and still for five seconds, then subtly draw them back toward the brain just enough til you feel their shape beginning to change (a few micro motions). Hold them compressed, in and still, gently, yet precisely. Focus one-pointedly in the still-point. Connect this somatic still-point with the inner abiding stillness that is already within, allowing the awareness of the body-as-a-whole to be completely absorbed in unborn stillness that is already within us. Remain there for 30 seconds or more then, slowly release the eyes forward over a five second period… release the compression over a five second period… Remain motionless, with the eyes closed and rest awareness in the effect of the exercise, doing nothing else at all, for at least three minutes. Come back to sitting and silently share the bodily recollection of emergent light emanating as the field of your shared experience. Meditate on the natural light of the atemporal ‘body’ of our humanity.
We are young – only 8,000 generations before ours. We are many, from 2B to 7B in 100 years. And we are seriously disorganized. Human activity has only recently gone global. Our existing organizations and institutions have become outdated and are no longer capable of guiding and regulating human behavior. When we consider the next step, the idea of reorganizing ourselves on the macro level should be part of the discussion.
In my opinion it is because of our breakthrough experiences that we begin to consciously create a new shared culture.
Asking for a form and shared agreements are in my opinion no different than the way our parents lived.
Be open to, and live in synchrony towards the knowledge that everything is possible.
With deep respect!
With respect to your final comment, I disagree. Awareness of the changes and presence to the inexorable flow of this new life force, deepens a path that will create the changes at the cultural level, which is another of saying that the critical mass of the hundredth monkey has been reached.
Will and intention are secondary to the energy of awareness, presence, and surrender to this flow that comes of accepting the opening to all that is.
Adapt human culture to accord with the natural/cosmic idea of Heterarchy as opposed to the human/cosmic idea of Hierarchy.
EXperiment with sustainable life-styles and localised economies to prepare in case of enviromental and economic shocks.
Spread the good word “Everything Is Consciousness”.
The next step is maybe this?
http://www.facebook.com/OneEarthOneTribe
(“what is the next step supposed to look like”?) JRW-What do you want it to look like? (“we need to begin to create some shared agreements about where we are going and what our lives would look like if they were authentic expressions of the shared vision of the possible we find in an evolutionary awakening.”) JRW-Is this a true statement? Is it ‘inclusive’? (“Unless we are serious and focused on consciously creating a new form for our shared culture, even though our minds might be informed by higher perspectives and our hearts might be alive with the thrill of the possible, our lives are probably not going to look much different from the lives our parents lived.”) JRW-Is this a true statement or is it more of an opinion lacking in possiblities? Just some of my observations that give me pause. “needs”? “urgent needs”? is the ubuquitous we inclusive? “supposed to look like”-as if it were a done deal and you need to find it?
Thanks for listenting, JRW