Evolution From The Inside Out: Andrew Cohen

[Music] [Music] one of the things that I that I uh say is that when I I do this in order to help people understand the creative process I I want people to grasp or have a sense of the creative process From the Inside Out okay so usually when we think about Evolution we think we maybe you think about Cosmic Evolution so we look up in the sky and we we we see that the stars and the planets and the galaxies are you know have all been produced by this cosmic explosion so we see Evolution happening out there or we think of the evolution of life we think about nature we think about animal life and we and we we imagine you know the evolution of the species out there and if we think about the evolution of culture we often see culture you know it's New York it's out there somewhere so culture is this thing that's happening outside of us and so the point I like to make is that evolution is happening out there it's also happening in here so what so what is the what what is the experience of The evolutionary process from the inside out so the experience of the evolution what we wanted is to have the experience of The evolutionary process from the inside out and so since this is a teaching of Enlightenment of traditional Eastern Enlightenment is the foundation of of evolutionary Enlightenment I make the point that all the all the most revered Mystics from the greatest religious Traditions have all told does the same thing they all say that the ultimate truth about the nature of reality is that there's only one and not two doesn't matter what religious tradition their their greatest Mystics will all say that the ultimate truth about the nature of reality is that there only one and not two and that is the mystical truth that liberates there is only one and I am and you are the only one that there is there's only one there's the appearance of the many right there's the appearance of all these different people sitting in all these different chairs so there from we see many right but if we go if I go deeply inside if I go in inside you and go and penetrate to the deepest layer of your awareness right I'll find myself and if you enter deeply into me and if you enter into the deepest dimension of my own awareness you'll find yourself so this is what all the greatest Mystics have discovered is that the ultimate truth is I am and you are that one without a second and the the literal experience of that is your most intimately felt sense of self and this for for everybody it's the same there we all have an experience it's it's quite subtle your most intimate intimately felt sense of being right when you go I when you go I you're referring to that most intimately felt sense of being or existence when you go I so um so what the these Mystics found out is that intimately felt sense of I is the same for all of us we're all experiencing the same eye sense of course we attach the eye sense to to our personal life experience you know to our ego to our personal life experiences to all kinds of uh beliefs we have about who we are as a unique individual right we we we relate all of that to that feeling of eye but the feeling of eye is exactly the same and that is very profound you have to this is it always blows my mind whenever I speak about it that the feeling your feeling of eye and my feeling of eye is exactly the the same feeling I am and you are that one without a second that's what it means CU a lot of people well know you know you don't feel like I do and I don't feel like you and you don't really know me and I don't really know you so there's all that stuff but when you go when you go to the deepest the deepest dimension of the self the Deep the deepest most felt sense of you and the deepest and deepest felt sense of me is absolutely the same isn't that amazing so that's why in the that's why in Vidant of course they say I am that thou art that so we're talking about that the fact that there's only one and not two so so what I often say I since the ultimate truth about the nature of reality is is that there's only one and not two then I and then I apply that metaphysical truth to the creative process then I say if it's if it's true that there's only one and not two that means you are the only one that there could have been to make the choice to give rise to all of this who else could have done it if you are if I am and you are the only one that there is if you are the only one that there is and if there's no one else exists except you ultimately then who else but you could have chosen to to create all this you follow it's pretty mind-blowing it's you know can freak people out a little bit but that's kind of what that's kind of what it's all about so so so the question is if it's true that you that I am and you are the only one that there could have been to do all this so then so then this what this if you if you have the courage the moral courage to embrace the overwhelming truth that you are it then that means you have a lot of responsibility this is yours you've done it it's your baby isn't that pretty mind-blowing it's hard to take some people can get a headache because it's a little bit heavy you know what do you mean and you know I'm having enough trouble just looking after myself and now you're you're you're dumping you know all the responsibility for not only all the problems in this world but all the problems inherent in the whole in the cosmos but from a metaphysical point of view from a metaphysical point of view it's true there are other ways in which it couldn't possibly be true but from an absolute metaphysical point of view it is true that you're the only one that there is so when you realize that when you realize the truth of it when you experience the truth of it that I am that and then you relate I am that to the creative process then you awaken to and it's literally an Awakening you awake awaken awaken to a profound sense of responsibility and that's and that's as you transcend your ego or the degree to which you do transcend your ego enables you to experience a profound sense of responsibility for for that which is infinitely greater than you as long as you are as long as your awareness is trapped within the fears and desires of your psychological self within your your ego or trapped within the values that you've inherited from your culture you probably won't ever experience such a profound sense of responsibility maybe you'll feel responsible to your husband or your wife or your children you might feel you know have a great responsibility because I'm a mother I'm a father you know I have this burden that and I must be a good parent because it's my responsibility or maybe you feel responsible for whatever you feel responsible for but but what I'm talking about is you wake into a profound sense of responsibility for life that relates to some of these bigger questions bigger issues that I brought up to moral to uh uh to upholding and and to upholding and taking responsibility for a uh for the for the truth of spirit which means you which which in inherently means you have to you you're taking a strong moral position you feel it's your responsibility you no it means it means you're not living according to anyone else's rules but you are awake to a moral imperative inherent in the cosmos you follow and so then your life you you you you feel compelled there's a compulsion that your life become an expression of virtue not because you want to be a virtuous person so you can get a prize or not so you can be a virtuous person so other people love you or think you're a good person but it's because it's because you realize it's up to you to to demonstrate to manifest to uphold to uh become an expression of a moral potential in the cosmos you follow it's very profound so when you um so when you awaken to the truth the ultimate truth by the nature of reality that is only one and not two and you apply that TR to the creative process to The evolutionary process you begin to feel uh that inherent in your life inherent in your existence is a great sense a great sense of responsibility and ideally if we if we're very if we have very idealistic inclinations like people like people like me do if you have very idealistic inclinations you kind of Wonder well wow you know what would the world world be like if you cared absolutely and I cared absolutely and he cared absolutely and she cared absolutely and we all cared absolutely together what would we be capable of see [Music]