Awakening to Evolution

Awakening to Evolution Let's return to that primordial impulse, that moment of choice. You don't have to go back fourteen billion years to locate it—that choice is happening all the time. It is the impulse to become, the desire to exist, the evolutionary impulse itself. The evolutionary impulse is the consciously experienced choice-in-action to take form and become the whole universe. It is the energy and intelligence that burst out of nothing, the driving impetus behind the evolutionary process, from the big bang to the emerging edge of the future. And that impulse is active right now, throughout the life process, and at every level of your own human experience. In fact, that life-pulsation is the most important part of who and what we are. When you locate that impulse in the depths of your own self, you will become aware that it is inherently free and explosive in its freedom. It is dynamic and completely unrestrained in its nature. While Being feels like eternal peace, Becoming feels completely different. The evolutionary impulse is felt as a sense of tremendous urgency, an ecstatic urgency. At the level of consciousness, it is experienced as a sense that something unthinkably important must occur NOW. * * * The easiest place to locate the evolutionary impulse is at the most basic level of your being: the physical body. In the body, the desire to create form is expressed as the sexual impulse—the biological imperative to procreate. It's the most elemental expression of the First Cause, or the big bang. That's why it's so powerful! When we experience the sexual impulse, we are feeling that very same vibration that released the enormous energy of the entire cosmic process, pulsating in our own bodies and minds. If you observe the arising of sexual desire in your own experience, and pay attention to the impulse itself, rather than the particular individual or circumstances that aroused it, you can identify the qualities of the initial burst of cosmic becoming. You will experience that ecstatic urgency—a feeling of overwhelming positivity and the simultaneous sense that "I must At the physical level, all living creatures experience this creative impulse—that's how the life-process ensures its own continuation. But the sexual impulse is the most basic and least refined manifestation of that primordial vibration. Human beings also experience that impulse at higher levels of the self. Our miraculous propensity to innovate, to give rise to that which is new, is what makes us distinct from all other forms of life. Beyond basic survival needs, no other life form seems compelled to innovate in this way. But human beings are driven by an innate creativity that expresses itself in art, science, technology, and beyond. What drives this ever-accelerating change and innovation that characterizes human culture? It is that same energy and intelligence that initiated the entire evolutionary process. What does it feel like? Ecstasy and urgency. Think about your experience of those moments when you are most creatively engaged. What does it feel like? Being in a creative "flow" can be ecstatic and, simultaneously, there is an often surprising sense of urgency to bring into being that which you can sense is possible. That's why great artists or scientists will work day and night, neglecting to eat or sleep. They are driven by a vision, something just beyond their reach that will not let them rest until they have brought it into reality. That drive is the very same impetus that caused the whole universe to burst forth, fourteen billion years ago, and is now expressing itself through the body, mind, heart, and talents of an inspired human being. When you feel that creative flow, often you discover a part of yourself you are not normally aware of, but which feels more like your "self" than the person you usually think you are. It's like plugging in to a deeper source of energy and passion that transcends whatever limitations you ordinarily assume. A deeper, more authentic part of your self is creatively released. That's why such moments are so fulfilling—it's not just the creative work you produce, but the experience of being more alive, more connected, more in touch with a sense of meaning and purpose. The expression of the evolutionary impulse as human creativity and innovation is a unique and miraculous emergence in the unfolding of the cosmos. But there is an even higher expression of that impulse that some human beings feel awakening in their own hearts and minds. At the highest level, the evolutionary impulse is experienced as the spiritual impulse, the mysterious compulsion to become more conscious. Sometimes we feel this as an inexplicable yearning, a reaching toward perfection. At other times, it's a nagging and relentless existential discomfort, a sense that I must find a way to wake up, to evolve, to liberate my heart and enlighten my mind. This spiritual longing, this ecstatic urge to become more conscious, is the most profound expression of that initial cosmic explosion. Your own spiritual yearning is not separate from the big bang itself. The spiritual impulse is that very same intention that forged the cosmos out of nothing, that drives us to procreate, that inspires us to innovate and create that which is new. But at this highest level, the instrument of our creativity is not matter or flesh, nor a canvas or violin. Our very own consciousness, our deepest self, becomes the instrument through which the original evolutionary impulse strives to express itself and to fulfill its insatiable desire to become. Think about that for a moment. Your spiritual longing may seem like your personal desire, but is it really? Could there really be anything personal about that pure, passionate aspiration to awaken, to become, to evolve? The entire universe, including your own experience in this very moment, is the expression and manifestation of that one desire. * * * This singular evolutionary imperative is inherent in the fabric of the entire cosmic process—from the big bang to the present moment. It has been here at every step, through each slow mutation and in each momentous leap. And as that impulse, you have also been here. We have all been here, throughout the mind-opening, awe-inspiring journey of Becoming that has been unfolding since time began. We've been together since infinite density emerged from absolute nothingness. We've been together since atoms, which make up the very foundation of all matter, were formed three hundred thousand years later. We were there when those atoms formed gas clouds, which turned into stars, which grouped together as galaxies, each of which eventually produced billions of solar systems filled with small rocky planets, such as our beautiful Earth, which was forged from the remains of generations of dead stars. We have been here since the first single-celled microorganisms emerged from the primordial soup and throughout the slow flowering of life in all its diversity. We were here when the great dinosaurs ruled the food chain unchallenged, and through their demise. When the first hominids walked on the African savannah, this impulse, which is who we all are, guided each evolutionary step. And since our ancestors appeared on the stage of life just two hundred thousand years ago, that impulse has guided the vast unfolding tapestry of cultural development that brings us to this present moment. Throughout this whole process, from the beginning of time to the very edge of the future, as the energy and intelligence that has been driving cosmic, planetary, biospheric, animal, human, and cultural evolution, we have been here. As the evolutionary impulse, as the initiatory force that is driving the entire creative process, from the innermost dimensions of our human interiors all the way to the farthest reaches of our cosmos, we have always been here. * * * And there's even more to it than that. Not only were you here from the very beginning, but your own emotional, psychological, and spiritual experience, in the present moment, is the very furthest reaches of the evolution of the interior of the cosmos. This is not just an inspirational metaphor; it's literally true. When you awaken to the evolutionary impulse, you begin to live in the knowledge, awareness, and understanding of this fact every single day. You realize your own experience of consciousness itself from one moment to another is potentially the leading edge of the possible. Why? Because unlike all other forms of life on Earth, we play a unique role in the unfolding of that original impulse. While all forms of life, to differing degrees, have consciousness, only human beings have the miraculous capacity to be aware of consciousness itself. As human beings, we know that we know. This capacity for self-reflective awareness, or self-consciousness, in the context of fourteen billion years of development, is a very recent emergence. And it means everything. Because of the gift of self-reflective awareness, the human being, distinct from all other forms of life, has the capacity to recognize his or her own true identity as being not separate from the whole event of creation. Not separate from the ground of Being, the void out of which the universe emerged, and simultaneously not separate from the First Cause, from the big bang itself. And as we awaken to that surging energy and intelligence, it is just beginning to become aware of itself directly—through us. The human vehicle becomes a vessel through which the whole universe is able to know itself. Indeed, as far as we know, the energy and intelligence that created the universe is only able to know itself directly through the awakening human. Could that energy and intelligence become aware of itself through a rock? A flower? A worm? A honeybee? A dog or a cat? If you think about it, it becomes obvious. Only human consciousness, as far as we know, has the unique quality of self-reflectivity that can enable God, or the energy and intelligence that initiated the creative process, to know him, her, or itself. So the awakening of the spiritual impulse in the human heart and mind is the universe becoming conscious of itself through its own emerging creative process. When you—an awakening human being—experience that urge, the intensity of your creative inspiration is coming from the First Cause itself. The interior of the cosmos is awakening to itself within you, and responding to its own highest aspiration, which is to become more conscious. It's quite profound. Especially considering that it's taken fourteen billion years for evolution to bring life to the point where this was possible. * * * As you awaken to the spiritual impulse, you begin to intuit and feel directly connected to the evolutionary momentum of the cosmos, to that surging energy and intelligence at the heart of life. You actually feel it working in you, moving in and through your body and mind as the mysterious compulsion to evolve at the highest level. This experience is the most subtle and profound expression of the initial cosmic explosion—the outer reaches of the big bang. That's the furthest it has gone, as far as we know right now: when you, a human being at the leading edge of this entire process, awaken to this mysterious compulsion to evolve at the level of your very own consciousness. The spiritual impulse is the experience of the big bang as a surging compulsion for interior development and growth. The innermost regions of the cosmos are aspiring to evolve and be developed in and through you. Can you recognize how absolutely meaningful your own aspiration to awaken is? Do you see the precious significance of even the barest murmurings of your own struggle to become more conscious?