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The Living Universe

Page 20

by Duane Elgin


  3. See: Note 20 in Chapter 2, page 208.

  4. Tsele Natsok Rangdrol, Erik Pema Kunsang, trans., The Mirror of Mindfulness: The Cycle of the Four Bardos, Boston: Shambhala, 1989, pps. 10-11.

  Chapter 7

  1. Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, New York: Meridian Book Edition, 1956, p. 30.

  2. See Chapter 2 of Elgin, Awakening Earth, New York: William Morrow, 1993.

  3. See: http://www-geology.ucdavis.edu/~GEL134/ambrose.pdf.

  4. For a more extensive exploration of driving trends, see Elgin, Promise Ahead, op. cit., Chapter 2: “Adversity Trends: Hitting an Evolutionary Wall.”

  5. Robert Bly (trans.), op. cit., p. 11.

  6. See: Karen Thompson, The Great Transformation, New York: Knopf, 2006.

  7. D. H. Lawrence, Apocalypse, 1931.

  8. These three stages are explored in depth in Elgin, Awakening Earth, op. cit., Chapters 5, 6, 7.

  9. See, for example, Chang, The Buddhist Teaching of Totality, op. cit., p. 39.

  10. It is important to differentiate the flow consciousness described here from the far more restricted definition of flow experience described by Mihaly Csikszenthmihalyi in his book, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, New York: Harper & Row, 1990.

  Chapter 8

  1. Mihail Nimay, Book of Mirdad, Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1971.

  2. Quoted in: Stephen Oates, Let the Trumpets Sound: The Life of Martin Luther King, Jr., New York: New American Library, 1982, p. 226.

  3. Pitirim Sorokin, The Ways and Power of Love, Chicago: Henry Regnery, 1967 (orig. 1954), p. 71.

  4. This description is drawn primarily from: Sorokin, op. cit., p. 67, and Eknath Easwaran, The Compassionate Universe, Petaluma, CA: Nilgiri Press, 1989.

  5. Gitanjali Kolanad, Culture Shock!India, Portland, OR: Graphic Arts Center Publishing, 1994, p. 23.

  6. Ibid., p. 69.

  7. Arnold Toynbee, A Study of History (abridgement of Vol’s I-VI, by D. C. Somerville), New York: Oxford University Press, 1947, p. 198.

  Chapter 9

  1. Another useful resource for appreciating a sense of the human scale: Go online and look for “powers of ten” videos; they provide a fascinating look into the realms of the very large and the very small relative to the human scale.

  2. See Chapter 1 of Elgin, Promise Ahead, op. cit., “Is Humanity Growing Up?”

  Index

  Note: Page references in italics denote illustrations

  Abil-Kheir, Abu-said, poetry of, 106–107

  Aborigines (Australian), view of the universe, 77

  agape, teachings of Jesus, 106

  ages, the axial, 144–147

  al-Arabi, Ibn, the Beloved, 106

  Al-Ghazali, Islamic theologian, 66–67

  aliveness, consciousness, 119

  Almaas, A.H., modern day Sufi teacher, 68

  American Indians, lore of the three miracles, 19

  amoeba, rudimentary consciousness of, 45

  animals, elements of human-like consciousness in, 45–46

  Arabi, Ibn, thirteenth century Islamic leader, 67

  Aristotle, living by the golden mean, 172

  atheism, vs. theism, 201

  Atman, Hindu cosmic spirit, 68–69

  attitude, indifferent or welcoming, 12

  Aurobindo, Sri, Hindu philosopher on the substance of the universe, 70

  awakening

  co-creating our story of, 160–166

  compassionate understanding, 127

  completeing our journey of, 186

  enlightenment, 113

  flow consciousness, 153–155

  into the living universe, 147–149

  oceanic consicousness, 151–153

  our collective, 140–142

  reflective consciousness, 149–151

  society’s journey of, 131

  the three major stages of, 149

  Awakening Earth (Elgin), 6, 29

  awareness

  scope of our conscious, 95

  self-recognition, 113

  Beethoven, Ludwig von, on music, 104

  Bergson, Henri, elan vital life force, 79

  Berry, Thomas

  bearing the universe, 83

  communion and community, 1

  Bhagavad-Gita, Hindu view of the universe, 69

  Bible

  references to the creation of the universe, 61–65

  the Word, 103

  Big Bang, theory of the, 24–25, 27

  biophilia, connection between humans and other life forms, 10

  black holes

  doorway or wormhole into a new universe, 86

  reproduction, 53–54

  Blackmore, Susan, living in a dead universe, 7–8

  Bohm, David

  calculating energy in empty space, 38–39

  continuous creation, 42

  description of matter, 98

  theory of non-locality, 36–37

  Book of Mirdad (Nimay), 166–167

  Born, Max, the living universe theory, 40–41

  Brahman, Hindu supreme cosmic spirit, 68

  Brahman, “sound body” of OM, 104–105

  Bruno, Giordano, philosophical teachings of, 78

  Buddhism

  clear light, 100–101

  core practice of metta (lovingkindness), 108

  encouraging a lifestyle of simplicity, 172

  existence of a soul, 215

  flow of life force within us, 126

  the Golden Rule of, 145

  interdependent co-arising and co-origination, 71–72

  Japanese practice of, 72–73

  self recognition, 111

  unbounded love, 107–108

  view of the universe, 71–73

  Campbell, Joseph

  Duane Elgin, et al., Changing Images of Man, 5

  the hero’s journey, 132

  wisdom traditions, 86

  Carver, George Washington, wisdom of, 51

  catastrophe, the Toba, 135–136

  Catholic Church, creatio doctrines, 65

  centered, becoming, 72–73

  centering, self-organizing systems, 122

  Central Project, Humanity’s, 125

  Cernan, Gene, the view of earth from the moon, 11

  Changing Images of Man (Campbell, Elgin, et al.), 5

  ch’i, life energy in Taoism, 74–75

  Children of the Light, Quaker view of the universe, 99–100

  choice

  freedom of, 52

  of simplicity, 176

  Christianity

  foundation of love, 106

  the Golden Rule of, 145

  view of the universe, 61–65

  wisdom of simplicity, 172

  CIA, psi research, 48

  circles, conversation, 195

  cities, creating “eco-cities,” 178

  civilization, creating a sustainable world, 141–142

  clear light, practice of the, 101–102

  climate, disruption, 139–140

  co-arising, Buddhist teaching of interdependent co-origination and, 71–72

  common sense, finding, 141–142

  communication

  between plants, 45, 209

  instant non-locality, 36–37

  single cell creatures, 44

  using the power of electronic, 182

  communion, era of spiritual, 147

  community

  the “eco-village,” 177

  new levels of, 176–179

  self-organizing systems, 123

  concentration, balance between mindfulness and, 150

  conflict, facing, 13

  Confucianism

  the Golden Rule of, 145

  view of the universe, 74–75

  connections

  biophilia, 10

  cosmic, 3

  cosmophilia, 10

  intuitive, 25–26

  with a living universe, 12

  new level of, 9–10

  with ot
her living things, 14

  connectivity, nonlocal, 108–109

  consciousness

  aliveness, 119

  cosmic, 108

  the deep ecology of, 167–168

  feeling, 137

  from reflection to communion, 149

  Humanity’s Central Project, 125

  Kabbalah view of light as the carrier of, 100

  level basic to life, 43

  the mirror of, 148

  properties of, 46–47

  on the quantum level, 43

  self-organizing systems, 122

  sending and receiving potential, 47

  sensing, 136–137

  slime mold, 44–45

  thinking, 137

  validating, 51

  conversations

  about sustainability, 181–182

  authentic inquiry, 166

  Do we make a difference?, 196

  the effects of mass media on our species, 197–198

  integrating simplicity in your lifestyle, 199

  Is the universe dead or alive?, 195–196

  our place on the hero’s journey, 197

  personal cosmic connections, 198

  scenarios for the future, 198

  self-reflection, 197–198

  What are your talents and true gifts?, 199

  What is the current life stage of humanity, 196–197

  Cosmic Feminine, evolution of the universe, 143

  cosmophilia, relating to the universe, 10

  cosmos

  continuous creation of the, 40, 204–208

  flow of the living, 153

  the “great awakening,” 124

  life energy, 31

  requirements for building a, 27–29

  creatio continua, doctrine of, 65

  creatio ex nihilo, doctrine of, 65

  creation, continuous, 40, 128–129, 204–208, 211

  creationism, vs. continuous creation, 211

  crisis

  the emerging world systems, 140–142

  the global systems, 182

  resolving the world systems, 161

  whole systems, 3

  culture, wisdom, 143

  Dalai Lama

  preparing for death, 111

  Tibetan Buddhist perspective, 72

  dancing, to our internal music, 104–105

  death

  enduring aliveness, 112

  recognizing the existence of our soul, 109–110

  design, intelligent, 27, 203

  dimension, going beyond the third, 127

  dimensions, invisible framework of the universe, 24

  discoveries, recent scientific, 34

  doctrines

  creatio continua, 65

  creatio ex nihilo, 65

  Sufisim, 67–68

  Dreamtime, Aboriginal teachings, 77

  dynamics, at work in the universe, 128

  Dyson, Freeman, consciousness on the quantum level, 43

  Eastern Orthodox Christianity, view of God’s energy, 63–64

  Eckhart, Meister

  creation of the universe, 65

  intimacy with the sacred, 89

  eco-communities, creating, 177–178

  ecology

  of consciousness, 167–168

  sustainable harmony for future generations, 169

  economics, narrowing the disparities in wealth and opportunity, 168–169

  ecosystems, creating sustainable, 29

  Einstein, Albert

  existence of a vastly superior spirit, 33

  question for God, 2

  space vs. matter, 41

  time as the fourth dimension, 24

  elan vital, life force, 79

  Elgin, Duane

  about the author, 227–229

  Awakening Earth, 6, 29

  and Joseph Campbell, et.al, Changing Images of Man, 5

  personal perspective, 3–7

  Voluntary Simplicity, 6

  emergence, self-organizing systems, 123

  empathy, between animals, 46

  empires, built on war and violence, 171

  energy

  dark, 22–24, 202

  flow in living systems, 38–39

  life, 31, 74

  particles, 103

  shortages, 139–140

  zero point, 38–39

  ephemeralization, Buckminster Fuller’s process of, 173–174

  era

  the agricultural, 137–138

  the industrial, 78–79, 137–138

  of spiritual communion, 147

  eternity, preparing for, 112–113

  etherialization, Toynbee’s process of becoming more efficient, 173

  ethics, fostering a new level of, 166

  ethnic cleansing, healing the wounds of, 168

  evolution

  from dead matter to consciousness, 8–9

  goal of, 126

  self-organizing systems, 123–128

  self-reflective life forms, 29

  existence, maginitude of the mystery of, 118

  experiences

  awakening, 148–149

  mystical, 11, 202–203

  experiments

  intuitive knowing, 48–49

  with psychokinesis, 49–50

  receiving and sending potential, 47

  Father Giovanni, the journey home, 131

  feedback, and meditation, 48–49

  feminine archetype, expanding on a cosmic scale, 151

  flow-through, sustaining life, 119–120

  framework, invisible, 24

  freedom

  of choice, 52

  self-organizing systems, 122

  Fromm, Erich, biophilia, 10

  Fuller, Buckminster, process of ephemeralization, 173

  future

  retrofitting for a sustainable, 177

  visualizing the, 2–3, 161, 180

  galaxies

  engineering, 28

  the Milky Way, 35–37, 216

  Gandhi, Mahatma

  essence of Hinduism, 70

  principle of simple living, 175–176

  Gautama, Siddartha, founder of Buddhism, 71

  gender discrimination, healing the wounds of, 168

  genocide, healing the wounds of, 168

  geometry, dimensional, 27–28

  giants, humans in the cosmic scale, 20–21

  gifts, “near” vs. “true,” 184–185

  God, Judeo-Christian view of, 61

  golden mean, simple lifestyle of the, 172–176

  Govinda, Lama, writings of Tibetan Buddhist teacher, 72

  Gribbin, John, black holes, 53

  Haisch, Bernhard, quantum light, 98

  Hanh, Thich Nhat, on “near gifts” and “true gifts,” 184–185

  harmony

  flow consciousness, 154

  living in greater, 142

  Harvey, Andrew, Divine Light, 101

  Hegel, Georg, relationship between spirit and matter, 78–79

  Heraclitus, philosophical teachings of, 78

  Hinduism

  bhakti (sacred love), 107

  cosmology views, 87–88

  the Golden Rule of, 145

  view of the universe, 68–70

  home, our place in the cosmos, 185–186

  Homo sapiens sapiens

  human consciousness, 43

  potential for double knowing, 124

  housing, the “eco-home,” 178

  Humanity’s Central Project, a simple visualization of, 125

  humans, position in the cosmic scale of existence, 20, 21–22

  Hume, David, evolution of our universe, 54

  identity

  ego development, 137–138

  exploring our cosmic, 96

  our soulful, 94–96

  Indigenous (tribal) peoples

  connecting with the spirit through music, 104

  view of the universe, 75–77

  infrastructure, retrofitting the existing urban, 179 />
  initiation, time of, 138–142

  injustices

  reconciling, 168

  using technology to expose, 170

  inquiry, authentic conversations, 166

  insight, magnitude of mystery of existence, 118

  interactions, personal, 3

  Internet, world events reported over the, 181

  introspection, who are we, 3

  intuitions, psychic functioning, 95–96

  Islam

  celebrating Ishq (love of God), 106

  the Golden Rule of, 145

  Light of Lights, 100

  music in, 103–104

  occasionalism, 66–67, 212

  view of the universe, 66–68

  wisdom traditions from the Koran, 66–68, 86

  Jain, the Golden Rule of, 146

  James, William, religion and acceptance of the universe, 59

  Jaspers, Karl, the axial age, 144

  Jeans, Sir James

  non-locality, 37

  origin of material objects, 39

  Jesus

  the Last Supper ritual, 211–212

  light in the teachings of, 98–99

  mysteries of Light, 215

  regarding our place in eternity, 111

  teachings of “agape,” 106

  teachings of the living, 64–65

  on The Kingdom of God, 108–109

  journey

  the Hero’s, 132–135

  home, 19–20

  Humanity’s heroic, 133

  Humanity’s return, 142–143

  our evolutionary, 26

  of the separation of humanity, 135–138

  Judaism

  the Golden Rule of, 145

  view of the universe, 61–65

  See also Kabbalah

  Julian of Norwich, love from the beginning, 106

  Kabbalah, teaching of divine light, 100

  Kabir

  becoming “a servant for life,” 142

  self-awareness before death, 112

  “Sound,” 103–104

  Kalahari Bushmen, Dreamtime, 77

  King, Martin Luther, Jr., exposing injustice, 170

  knowing, intuitive, 48–49

  Koran (Quran), teachings of Muhammad, 66–68, 86

  Kornfield, Jack, love and awareness, 107–108

  Koyukon Indians (Alaska), central beliefs, 77

  Lakota (middle western U.S.), view of the universe, 76

  Lanbkavatara Sutra, Zen wisdom traditions, 88

  language, animal use of, 46

  Last Supper, ritual of the, 211–212

  Laszlo, Ervin, reality of the quantum vacuum, 85

  Law of Progressive Simplification (Toynbee), 173

  Lawrence, D.H., on the first axial age, 144

  life

  compassion for life, 167

  connection between mindfulness and concentration, 150

 

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