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The next major revolution which
takes us another 150 years further along in the progressive development
of Western thought, is the Darwinian revolution. This revolution in consciousness
characterizes all the other revolutionary steps in the historical development
of Science. Its principal theme is this: Not only is there relationship
and connectedness between every object across the vast Universe because
of the common natural laws which govern the behavior of all matter, but
there is also a progressive hierarchy of order in the Universe.
Within the great river of change which moves every individual form towards
dissolution and chaos, there is a finer stream that moves on a much longer
time-scale, slowly wending its way upstream towards greater order. It
has the effect of slowly but surely changing all the templates or blueprints,
we might say, out of which like forms have been created throughout the
Universe, steadily evolving those forms towards higher and higher levels
of organization.
For example, all matter in the early Universe was made up of only simple
Hydrogen and Helium; but then as the Universe grew older, some of this
early matter evolved into the heavier elements and the large range of
molecules that we know today. All of this is governed by an evolutionary
process that is universally the same everywhere.
Of course, Darwin was concerned only with the evolution of living species
on Earth and he worked out the theory based on individual variation and
natural selection through mutation; but these details are not important
in the context of our discussion here. It is the basic principle of evolution
that we are concerned with, which holds true for matter in general, as
well as for life, and even for cultural information and ideas. This process
changes the simple, the limited, the potential into the unlimited creative
expression and varied spectrum of possibilities in which forms have manifested
themselves, and in which ideas have expressed themselves, as life and
matter and ideas evolved here on Earth.
The vast range of complexity that we find in the World today has all originated
from the simplest forms. To give some examples, we have the evolution
of the chemical elements from Hydrogen all the way to Uranium, the evolution
of amorphous cosmic dust clouds into moons and planets and stars and giant
galaxies, the evolution of volcanic rocks into seas and continents, the
evolution of life from simple bacteria all the way to the miraculous manifestation
of the infinitely complex human being, and the evolution of ideas from
simple grunts to the most sublime poetry and from simple tool-making to
Quantum Mechanics and Relativity Theory.
This understanding of the dynamic makeup of the Universe, leading upwards
step-by-step, in an orderly progression from primeval matter to Man, who
is the crowning achievement of the evolutionary process, provides a much
subtler and higher level of awareness than that given by the universal
laws. For it provides not only a set of common rules for the behavior
of matter, but it also provides a characteristic niche, a purposeful role
for every individual entity and even every thought...for each there is
a place on the ladder of development of forms and ideas, progressing from
the least to the greatest.
Underneath the surface everything is alike; everything is made up of the
same stuff and follows the same laws. But in manifestation everything
has its own individual uniqueness, its own role to play and its own destiny
to fulfill. The inescapable philosophical implication of this is that
in the Universe there is not only matter and energy, but there are also
embedded informational packets, codes which give rise to specific forms
and provide them with their unique function. Information is always at
a higher level of organization than energy, and matter. Through information,
such as that contained in a blueprint, vast amounts of matter and energy
can be organized in a specific way to express an infinite array of different
forms having different functions. For instance, through the information
contained in the DNA molecules matter and energy can be organized to produce
everything from an amoeba to a blade of grass to a cockroach to a human
being.
Through the evolutionary process, the informational code changes, and
consequently forms progress in complexity and order so as to associate
with each other in mutually simbiotic ways, in the process building up
ever greater capabilities of functioning and specialization. Organisms
of greater and greater complexity develop with ever greater capabilities
of functioning and purpose. Ultimately everything is seen to have a characteristic
purpose, and even the whole Universe can be considered to be tied together
as one vast, growing, changing, developing and eventually disintegrating
organism.
When we see everything this way, the demarcation between Physics, Astronomy,
Chemistry, Biology and even Psychology gets increasingly fuzzy. We become
concerned with the dynamics of the whole and not so much with its reduction
into definable parts. This naturally leads to ecological thinking, tying
together the whole range of possible experiences that make up Nature and
our existence within it. This is a true revolution in thought which has
not yet fully matured in the established scientific thinking, but it is
slowly filtering into the awareness of the new generation.
We can associate this level of understanding with the cosmic mental, the
still more subtle mind aspect of the universe. At this level, Science
began to shift its attention to the Master Plan and the overall organizing
principles that unify the various manifestations which have taken form,
into a coherent whole. For example, as already mentioned, in the Life
Sciences we discovered the genetic code, the informational blueprint which
is common to all life forms, wherein recorded messages express themselves
as all the different organisms found on Earth.
When the awesome beauty, the ingenious intricacy, the progressive flowering
of forms throughout the Universe, unfold themselves to our view, like
interwoven scenes on a grand tapestry, it becomes increasingly difficult
to deny the existence of an underlying organizing intelligence, a creative
consciousness, which through its will gives purpose to this entire awesome
fabric of expression.
“How could all this have happened without a responsible agency,
a maker?” we ask ourselves. There must be some organizing, animating
principle behind it all.
It is like remembering a particularly vivid dream and wondering about
the dreamer, or seeing an outstanding film and wondering about the director,
or seeing a striking complex of modern buildings and wondering about the
architect. Behind the plans there surely must have been a designer. Yet,
in the case of the World, the design is so intricately balanced and the
laws so ingeniously conceived, that the master planner can remain totally
hidden, and only the power, the exquisite scope of genius and the delicacy
of the design, reveal the possibility of such a presence.
And so, we are beginning to get hints that there is still a higher level
of organization beyond information, beyond energy and beyond matter. We
can call it consciousness or pure awareness, a more subtle and subjective
quality, a considerably more powerful organizing principle than either
information or energy. But it had to take yet another revolution in awareness
before the principle of Consciousness began to expose itself in inexplicable
ways, as Science moved closer to rediscovering the eternal truths known
to the ancient Seers and Mystics.
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