Human consciousness is a contradiction in the immeasurably dynamic order of the universe. Consciousness is not “evolving,” and things are going from bad to worse. Is there an understanding of the relationship between humankind and the Earth that points the way ahead?
The attempt by many to blur the distinction between human consciousness and the natural order is just making the human mind more confused and man’s destructiveness more pronounced. Given that consciousness is not evolving, but rather growing more and more disordered and dark, does that mean one must give up on humanity and life, as so many have done?
Religious beliefs previously served to give meaning to the many, while enabling the few to maintain control. But belief systems in recent decades have become increasingly reactionary and irrelevant, whether in the Judeo-Christian, Islamic or Hindu and Buddhist worlds.
On the other hand, most scientists believe the universe is a completely random interaction of energy and matter. That’s not true. There is an inseparable cosmic intelligence beyond thought — without implying any kind of personal God. The question is, does it care a whit about the fate of humanity?
With the negation and quieting of thought, there is experiencing of the living order, mystery and sacredness permeating the cosmos. In other words, there is something immeasurable and ineffable, having nothing to do with beliefs, which are merely collective constructions of thought, much less opinions, which are excretions of the separate self.
So human consciousness is a great contradiction and conundrum. It used to be called “the riddle of man.” This mystery cannot be resolved by science, or by mushy appeals to “the oneness of our deeper selves,” or by insisting that human nature is essentially caring, and that capitalism and “the system“ are the problem.
So how did our extraordinarily powerful human brain, dominated by inherently separative “higher thought,” evolve from the infinitely dynamic order and wholeness of the universe?
Given the right conditions and enough time, evolution, in its random way, apparently produces brains capable of conscious symbolic thought, which allows manipulation of environments rather than living within ecological niche. That doesn’t imply a hierarchy of dominion, much less “man being created in the image of God,” but rather an enigma, and growing crisis for the human species in which conscious thought has evolved.
Though it’s an incredibly powerful adaptation, symbolic thought rests on a basic principle that is the antithesis of the wholeness and order of the universe. Simply put, whereas the universe operates through seamless wholeness, symbolic thought separates nature into “things.” That is its essential nature and utilitarian function, which was OK as long as humankind lived close to nature. Not understanding the mechanism of symbolic thought however, modern man has fragmented the Earth and divided humanity to the breaking point.
So on one hand, the ability to mentally and physically remove “things” from the environment has given the human species immense powers of manipulation and control over our environment, even down to the genetic level. On the other hand, using thought without insight into its nature and existential limitation has fragmented the Earth, culture and people beyond viable levels.
Consciousness as we know it is a growing momentum of useful knowledge and useless accretion. The net result is increasing division, conflict, fragmentation and darkness. The accumulation in consciousness of useless content of hurts and hate, grudges and “slop” is the source of evil in the world.
Thought-based consciousness has reached a point where the fragmentation it is generating severely threatens the sustainability of the Earth’s ecosystems. But self-made fragmentation is also putting tremendous pressure on human beings to radically change.
The great paradox is that symbolic thought is both a necessary precondition for the brain’s conscious, silent awareness of the intelligence that permeates the universe, and the greatest impediment to the awareness of cosmic intelligence. Therefore self-knowing is not just a lifestyle for contemplative and Socratic aficionados; it has become the indispensable foundation for the survival of our species.
So does cosmic intelligence care about the fate of humankind? Perhaps, but certainly not for humans as a special creation, much less about us in a personal sense.
Is there an intrinsic intent in the universe to evolve, through a largely random process, brains capable of awareness of the intelligence that permeates the universe? One tentatively feels so, and that same intent wants (to use an unavoidably anthropomorphic term) humankind, the only species on this planet with the capacity for conscious awareness of cosmic intelligence, to radically change.
When human beings passionately share that intent, we are radically changing human consciousness within ourselves, and participating in the ongoing unfolding of the mystery of life.
Enlightenment means stepping out of the stream of the past, of conditioning, and of consciousness as we’ve known it for tens of thousands of years — briefly, until irrevocably.
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