Evolution

Is Socialization Essential to our Survival?

Posted by Eden

I’ve always been fascinated by that time in our distant past when we shared this planet with another sentient species – the Neanderthals.  No doubt my initial interest was fueled by Jean M Auel’s incredible books, starting with the “The Clan of the Cave Bears”.

When I was working on my novel, “Vision Speak”,  I spent some time researching the evolution of man and the crossroads that our collective species faced at this time 40,000 years ago and what drove us to become an advanced species with mastery over the planet.  Early steps toward this seemed to be formed during that crucial period of time in Europe leading into the last ice age.  Jared Diamond’s book “Guns, Germs, and Steel” had some interesting information about the evolution of humans, in particular analyzing why some areas of the world progressed at a rapid technological pace while others remained relatively primitive.

Recently, I came across a fascinating BBC series, called “The Human Journey” on this very topic, which I highly recommend.  This is available on youtube with the particular episode about humans and Neandertals in Europe at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfIv76FrHDU

Homo neanderthalensis, or the Neanderthals, are a distant cousin on the evolution chain to our species, Homo Sapiens.  There is evidence that they arrived in Europe around 800,000 years ago.  The earliest Homo Sapiens appeared on the scene in Africa around 160,000 to 200,000 years ago.

The 40,000 year old mystery that anthropologists have been investigating involves the survival of the human race during this time in our history when we co-habited Europe with the other sentient species.  When our homo sapien ancestors immigrated to Europe out of Africa, the Neanderthals were already well established there.  There is no evidence of warfare between our two species and yet the Neanderthals, who rivaled humans in the areas of brain power and physical strength, eventually became extinct while humanity evolved and prospered.  Why?  Experts have speculated that a key factor was our wider social networks, as evidenced by spiritual practices and gatherings, icons and artwork, as opposed to the more isolated grouping of Neanderthal populations.

So, our species’ ability to share ideas and connect beyond our immediate social group may have been what allowed us to evolve and thrive even in the face of scarce resources during an ice age.

Yet many have questioned the viability of our species in the centuries to come.  Certainly, we’ve all feared where we may be going when we consider the effects of war and oppression, after viewing evidence of human carnage, cruelty, and torture, when we come to understand our growing populations and the effect of our progress on our planet’s diminishing resources.

Perhaps our growing world community enabled by social networking can provide a key to our survival from these dangers.

Ideas of “Conscious Evolution”

Posted by Eden

What is “Conscious Evolution” and how can this affect how you live your life?  Barbara Marx Hubbard, one of the founders of this movement, has defined it as follows: “Conscious evolution is the evolution of evolution, from unconscious to conscious choice. While consciousness has been evolving for billions of years, conscious evolution is new. It is part of the trajectory of human evolution, the canvas of choice before us now as we recognize that we have come to possess the powers that we used to attribute to the gods.”  For the full explanation, visit her Foundation for Conscious Evolution site.   Although, underlying these theories are the potential for dire consequences for mankind, all of these thought leaders are directing us to work together towards a more glorious future.  I was particularly inspired by her statement: “…We can and are actually moving beyond the creature human condition toward a new species, a universal humanity, capable of coevolving with nature.”

For many people, the term “evolution” evokes thoughts of Charles Darwin and his famous work: “On the Origin of Species” which explains how all species on Earth have physically evolved from the very beginnings of life through natural selection and random mutations.  This theory, although initially rejected by many scientists and most certainly by the church in the mid 1800’s, has become a foundational work in the fields of natural history and biology and serves as a widely-accepted explanation for the origins of man.

However, the process of Natural Selection and, in particular, the concepts around “Survival of the Fittest” whereby those with the most favourable genetic traits will win the reproduction war is now under some debate by scientists and modern day philosophers, especially as it applies to the current state of sentient man.

Consider this quotation from Andrew Cohen, another thought leader who is expanding our understanding of Conscious Evolution through his writing and teaching and his organization Enlightennext:

“… I believe we have reached a time in history when God, which I would describe as the energy and intelligence that initiated the creative process, is now completely dependent upon us—upon sentient life forms that have evolved to the point where they are blessed with the extraordinary gifts of complex cognition, self-awareness, and freedom of choice. At this critical juncture, our own future and the future of our planet will be determined by the conscious choices that we human beings make, rather than by the whim of a higher power or according to some predestined plan.”  To read the full article, go to Cohen’s site.

In that same article, Andrew Cohen goes on to explain the ultimate purpose in humanity’s spiritual development: “…to liberate the miraculous power of human choice from being unconsciously trapped in a cultural epidemic of narcissism, materialism, and existential apathy. Our moral, spiritual, and cultural evolution—if not our very survival—really do depend on it.”

Dr. Bruce Lipton is another pioneer in this field of Conscious Evolution.  With a PhD in cell biology, he is a renowned author and speaker on the topic of “Uncovering the Biology of Belief”.  I’ve seen him speak at a Hayhouse event and he is both informative and inspirational.  This excerpt from his site bio referencing his breakthrough work in the field of epigenetics, proving that factors other than genes can affect cell behaviour shows how he has stepped outside of cell biology to extrapolate his knowledge to the evolution of human consciousness – “…Dr. Lipton’s novel scientific approach transformed his personal life as well. His deepened understanding of cell biology highlighted the mechanisms by which the mind controls bodily functions, and implied the existence of an immortal spirit.”

I’m again reminded of a work of fiction that ignited the imagination of many on this topic in the 90’s called “The Celestine Prophecy”.  The author, James Redfield, used this spiritual adventure to share his views on the evolution of consciousness through the Nine Insights that the characters discover in the story.

I don’t think it’s relevant to debate the specific insights or progressions as Redfield saw them in order to gain some insight into these ideas.   Redfield’s Celestine books raised awareness for mysterious coincidences, human prayer-energy, channelling thoughts into a collective, dynamic force, and evolving towards a spiritual culture on Earth.

Conscious Evolution is a broad topic which touches on many spiritual and religious beliefs which I will continue to explore in future posts.  One of the underlying messages that I find valuable with all of this work is that we are powerful, connected, spiritual beings with the ability to transform ourselves and our world.

Sometimes when I question why I write this material, manage this blog, share images and video that I believe to be beautiful, I remind myself that a continued focus on sending out positive, loving thoughts into the world through art, writing, or whatever avenues are available or suitable to each of us, is part of contributing to our collective consciousness, and driving us forward in our personal and shared evolution.

This follows on the teachings of two well-respected thought leaders today – Deepak Chopra and Eckhart Tolle.  In my review of Tolle’s “Finding your Life’s Purpose” (blog post), one of the questions asked was: How can our species survive unless there’s a change in our collective spirit, our consciousness?  The conclusion is that the only way that we can affect such as a transformation is by working on our own individual consciousness.

To emphasize this point, I will leave you with Deepak Chopra’s words: “… the only way to transform the world is to transform yourself..”

Ten Tips for Living a “Happy” Life

Posted by Eden

What is “happy” and is it really attainable? In this age of fast-paced, information overload, what do we really want from life?

I believe we want what people have always wanted. We want to be happy. We want to love and contribute to others. We want to be loved. We want to think we’re making a difference, that there’s a “reason” or purpose for our existence.

While some might argue that happy is an overused term and not a practical goal, let’s consider happy as being peaceful and content, as being the opposite of miserable, as being empowered to be all that we can be in life, to be able to have loving and sustainable relationships. And then, I think, everyone will agree that this is a state where we would all like to be centered. 

Based on my own personal exploration into this essential quest, I’ve summarized what I view as the Top Ten tips to a Happy Life, as taught by many of the thought leaders today who are great authors, speakers, and spiritual teachers..

TOP TEN:

1. Be Present, Be Here Now

Studies suggest we have somewhere between 12,000 to 65,000 thoughts per day, although I’ve seen reference to a wider range (between 2,000 to 600,000!). Most commonly, 50-60,000 is considered a good estimate.

Being human means being inundated with thoughts all day, every day: endless observations, judgements, interpretations, complaints, worries, ‘what-ifs’, memories, regrets, wishes, desires, dreams about our future, anger about our past, and on and on. I’ve seen statistics indicating 95% of them are similar from day to day. Some thoughts seem completely random, others can hijack us as we follow a thread and let our emotions react to what are sometimes completely irrational, twisted versions of reality. For me, it has been a major breakthrough to understand that I am NOT my thoughts. For too long, my thoughts ran me. They still try to, every single day, but I am watching them now. I used to look to my thoughts for meaning, wondering why I was suddenly upset when nothing had happened.

So how much of an average person’s thoughts are rooted in the present moment? Some suggest that the majority of our thoughts are rooted in the past (somewhere between 70 and 90%) with about 10-20% ruminating or dreaming or imagining what will happen in the future. A small percentage of our thoughts actually focus on the present moment in a purely experiential manner. Within our minds, our perception of the past, how it is affecting us now and into the future can often become warped.

Eckhart Tolle, author of “The Power of Now” and “A New Earth” and other books is a well-known speaker and teacher in this area. Tolle tells us: “Stay fully present in the now-your whole life unfolds here. In the now there is joy of Being and deep peace”.

In Deepak Chopra’s “Seven Spiritual Laws of Success”, he says that pure potentiality is pure consciousness, the field of all possibilities and infinite creativity. Meditation to connect with our inner being to be present and master our thoughts can help us to find that state of pure consciousness.

2. Your Thoughts Create your Reality

When you start to understand that you are not your thoughts, that you are a being with a powerful inner spirit that happens to also have a brain that does what brains do, non-stop generation of thoughts, you can step back and observe this and take control. Consider how you can choose how your brain operates just as you make these decisions about using your arm or your fingers or your eyes every day of your life.

The realization that you actually could control and direct your thoughts to create whatever reality you choose can open up a whole new world. If, for example, you tell yourself that you cannot succeed at something – then you probably won’t. So, the obvious question is why tell yourself that? And yet we do it all the time..

There’s so much groundbreaking work in this area over the past decade, everything from the books on the Law of Attraction (including the blockbuster work called “The Secret”) and new science indicating that thoughts are actually bits of quantum energy (see my post entitled “The Science behind the Mystery”), which opens up even more unbelievable implications for our potential capabilities if we can master our mind.

Louise Hay (founder of Hay House) is an inspiring example of this powerful concept in action. Her countless books and CD’s on Affirmations show how you can change your life by the very simple practice of constantly generating positive, life-affirming thoughts. From “Power Thoughts” by Louise Hay: “Trust life to hear and respond to your positive words. Say these affirmations every day and your whole world will change for the better.”

3. Be Grateful

Expressing gratitude, especially if you can make it a daily practice to declare everything you are grateful for in your life, can create positive self-affirming thoughts instead of negative ones and align your attention to everything that is good in your life. This alone can be transformational. Many current thought leaders and spiritual teachers encourage people to keep a gratitude journal.

If you do a search on Gratitude quotations, you will find many empowering thoughts. Here’s a few:

“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” G.K. Chesterton

“God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say ‘thank you?’ ” William A. Ward

“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, ‘thank you’, that would suffice.” Meister Eckhart

4. Trust that the universe is unfolding as it should..

Or perhaps an easier way to say this is, Have Faith. Sometimes in our darkest hours, when nothing seems to be going as we had wanted or expected, we can’t see this. We want only to fight against what is. Everything will not always go our way but, if you trust life and let it unfold, as Mick Jagger said, “you just might get what you need”.

For some this could mean a belief in God, aligned with one of the great faith traditions, for others it might just mean knowing that there is a greater life force, that we are all a part of it, and that life will take us where we need to go if we surrender to it.

5. Practice Forgiveness

Oprah and others, have defined Forgiveness as recognizing that you can’t change the past. We hold onto a lot of resentment and in the end, who does it hurt? We hurt ourselves more than anyone else. Accepting what has happened and creating the space to move on can be a powerful step forward.

Sometimes, particularly if you have been a victim of crime or abuse, whatever happened may seem ‘unforgiveable’. In these cases, remember that forgiveness does not mean you have to let that person back into your life but it can release you from the hold that this has on you.

In other cases, we may have imagined transgressions that were in reality, minor. Caroline Myss, medical intuitive and author of a number of bestselling books including “Sacred Contracts”, outlines the common archetypes that drive our behaviours. She identifies the “Victim” as one of the four archetypes for survival which can lead you to believe that “you are always taken advantage of and it’s never your fault.” If this feels familiar, her work may be of interest.

Regardless of the situation (and many may lie in between these two extremes), if you have anger or bitterness in your heart, you must do the work needed (whatever that is for you) to let it go. It literally will suck the life out of you and can affect all your relationships. The serenity prayer from AA says it all: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference.”

6. Follow your Bliss

One of Joseph Campbell’s famous quotations…

Many will say that they would love to follow their bliss but they have to pay the bills, don’t have time, it’s too late to change course, or any other number of excuses.

I would contend that for many of us, we don’t really know what our ‘bliss’ is. Of course, it seems like it must be the greener grass on the other side. Certainly, the idea of walking away from a tough job and living in luxury seems blissful – but this is not what Campbell intended.

Sometimes we need to take a hard look at our life circumstances and make adjustments along our journey. The important thing is to be conscious. Make conscious choices. Embrace work that you love. Remember, even when you’re “following your bliss”, there will be tough sledding at times. This is certainly not a free ticket to quit.

7. Choose your Life

This is another perspective on “Follow your Bliss”. Sometimes, it’s not our outside circumstances that need to change but our interior dimension.

I took a course called the Landmark Forum many years ago, and this was a key concept after three long days of workshop. It correlates back to the idea that ‘your thoughts create your reality’.

When you declare that your life, your spouse, your children, your job, your world are all exactly what you always wanted, then they will become that for you.

8. Don’t take yourself too seriously

Or, put another way: “Get over yourself”.

No one likes criticism and we all have fragile egos… but sometimes, when our thoughts hijack us, we can turn the simplest comments into conspiracy theories.

The truth is that not everything is about you, sometimes when people scowl at you, it’s because they’re unhappy inside. If a person says something to you that you don’t like, you don’t have to react in kind. In fact you may be able trigger transformation in another by not letting your ego take over, instead be present with that person and be compassionate.

Deepak Chopra asserts that “… the ego is not who we really are. The ego is our social mask, it is the role we are playing.”

If you are aware and present with people, not coloured by past injustices or imagined indignities, then you can choose to always have powerful, meaningful conversations.

Not being driven by ego takes focus, commitment, and courage…

9. We are all one

When you take steps to be present, become committed to not ‘be your ego’ or run by your thoughts, to be grateful for the people in your life, and to create your reality then you will start to sense more and more that you are not alone but a part of something much greater, the collective spirit of humanity.

Even the latest scientific breakthroughs with respect to quantum consciousness and unified field theory are demonstrating that the universe and everything in it, ourselves included, are interconnected by a vast field of energy.

In this collective space, love and contribution become natural which in turn can fuel harmony and peace in your life.

10. Conscious Evolution

Last year, I took the Evolutionary Worldview Course through Enlightennext Magazine and Andrew Cohen and later, watched the event: “A Call to Conscious Evolution, Our Moment of Choice” which was also hosted by this group. Both experiences were inspirational and eye-opening. As Deepak, one of the many renowned speakers at the Evolutionary Leaders’ event, said: “… the only way to transform the world is to transform yourself..” and “… even well-meaning activism is often coming from a place of outrage rather that creative consciousness..”

This jives with many of the teachings of Andrew Cohen and his team with respect to the evolution of our interior dimension and our culture. Our mind, our being, or our “interior dimension” as they call it have evolved just as our bodies have. They talk about 4 billion years of evolution on this planet and how we, as sentient, powerful beings, can now choose where we go from here. They ask questions like: “how does your own evolution come into the culture, into changing the world?” and “To what degree are you enabling this process of evolution through your own heroic efforts?” so that we can leave the world a better place because we were here.

Making conscious decisions everyday to feed and exercise your body for optimal health and well-being is the other side of the coin to choosing the thoughts that you feed yourself for optimal mental health and well-being.

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Inspirational Science about the power of our Hearts

Posted by Eden

Earlier in May, I attended Day 3 (Sunday) of the Hay House “I Can Do It” event in Toronto.  My main reason for going was to see Gregg Braden who was the keynote speaker on Sunday morning.  While there, I also enjoyed attending sessions with John Holland (the first time I’d ever experienced a “medium in action”), Dr. Christiane Northrup, and Dr. Bruce Lipton who gave the closing keynote address.  I’ve since been absorbing more material from both Gregg Braden and Bruce Lipton.  I love the mix of scientific breakthroughs in the areas of biology and quantum physics as they relate to human spirituality intermixed with findings from our wisdom traditions.

I’m still absorbing some of this information and couldn’t possibly do this justice here, however, I thought sharing a few insights might be of interest.

Lipton and Braden have a lot in common as they both come from a science background, however, Lipton has a PhD in Biology and is more focused on that field.  I just finished listening to his CD’s called the “Biology of Belief” which go quite in depth on genetics but in a way that everyone (even me) can understand.

Braden seems to balance his scientific inquiry with his parallel mission of investigating ancient wisdom traditions which makes his material really fascinating.  I’ve heard them both dispute Darwin’s theories on evolution as it relates to human evolution and the ‘survival of the fittest’.  It’s the first time I’ve really considered that this wasn’t just pure fact but some really interesting points were made.  Braden’s upcoming book will cover this in detail.  The idea that ‘cooperation’ works better for our survival than ‘competition’ is certainly true today.

While there, I was able to briefly meet Gregg Braden and have him sign two of his books (“The God Code” and “Fractal Time”) and slip him a wrapped copy of “Vision Speak”.  I don’t know if he’ll find time to read my novel but I can always dream.  He was very gracious in accepting it. 🙂  I also picked up his DVD, “The Language of the Divine Matrix” which I enjoyed watching over a rainy weekend in May.  (which would be most of May this year..)

In this 4 hour DVD, Braden walks us through real science demonstrating some exciting concepts, for example:

  • the universe is an intelligent, evolving consciousness of which we are all connected.  He calls this the ‘divine matrix’ (based partly on Planck’s reference to the field as the ‘matrix’)
  • we are beings of energy and the strongest electrical and magnetic energy forces in our body come from our heart
  • the language of our heart – beliefs and feelings, human prayer energy – (generated by our thoughts and emotions) can change our world, affect our reality, connect us to the divine matrix…

He explained some fascinating, related experiments, including the “Global Consciousness Project” out of Princeton University which is measuring changes in human consciousness on a global scale using devices planted around the earth.  A key result from this experiment occurred around 9/11.  The measurements recorded both just before and after 9/11, indicate some astounding results which not only demonstrate the power of our collective energy but also that we may sense something is about to happen before it actually reaches our conscious state.

He then shared some of his research into ancient traditions, including his visit to Tibet, his knowledge of the Essenes, and the lost scriptures including the Lost Gospel of Thomas and related this to the science.  One of his quotations came from Thomas Verse 106 which referenced the potential power mankind can have: ‘when you can marry thought and emotion into one potent force’..

Ancient wisdom seekers were perhaps more in touch with this ‘prana’, energy body of humanity than we are today in our busy, materialistic world.

If you’re not already a fan of Gregg Braden (http://www.greggbraden.com/) and his work, as well as Bruce Lipton (http://www.brucelipton.com/), then I highly recommend you have a look at the work they are doing (and sharing).  They both have hugely inspiring insights, based on real science, that could rock your world.

Conscious Evolution

Posted by Eden

I’ve just finished viewing the Evolutionary Leaders’ “A Call to Conscious Evolution, Our Moment of Choice”.  This was a special evening held at UCLA on August 31st.  They had some technical challenges with those of us who signed up to watch the evening event live online so this weekend was our opportunity to view the program with the sound issues resolved.

The roster of speakers at this event were a long list of the “Who’s Who” in the evolutionary, quantum consciousness, personal transformation world of thought leaders (see list).  The common message was that we are all living at a unique moment in time, facing global crises.  In this pivotal time, we must consciously evolve or face the danger of extinction.   Gregg Braden gave an impassioned talk and referenced Scientific America’s recent cover: “A World of Crisis, Crossroads for Planet Earth…. will we choose to create the best of all possible worlds?”

Deepak was the opening speaker.  He must be one of the most prolific authors/speakers in this area today.  With over 50 books, a radio show, and connections or partnerships with countless, it seems like I’m hearing something from him everyday – whether it’s an email, a tweet, his radio show or something I’ve found on youtube.

A couple of Deepak’s significant points were that the only way to transform the world is to transform yourself and that even well-meaning ‘activism’ is coming from a place of ‘outrage’ rather than creative consciousness.   Conscious evolution calls for more creative powers.   A couple of hours ago, en route to the Home Depot to pick up paint supplies, I turned on my XM radio and guess who I heard?  Deepak chatting with his pal Stuart Hameroff about Consciousness.  Yippee, my favourite topic!  They were comparing the Vedic concept of pure consciousness being before ‘perception and thought’ with Hameroff’s “proto-consciousness” and how this relates to the quantum super-position idea where observation of a particle collapses it down to one place (just like conscious thought collapses us down to a specific reality).

Sorry, I digress!  Back to the Evolutionary Leaders’ event..

Jean Houston gave an energetic view of the evolution of the universe, our planet, life on earth, and humanity, with special emphasis on the “jumps” that caused significant transformation.  She said we need to be the ‘creative wellspring’ to trigger our new evolutionary path.

Bruce Lipton talked about the collapse and rebirth of various civilizations and reiterated that we now face crises at the global level unlike ever before.  He reviewed four ‘Myth Perceptions’ that we must overcome to build the foundation for the next civilization where we live in harmony and balance with the universe, with nature.  To give you an idea of his four myth perceptions, he talked about our current understanding that our biological processes employ quantum physics (not classical), that our perceptions can control our biology, overcoming genetic, that rather than the survival of the fittest which says our evolution is driven by competition, it can be driven by cooperation, and that evolution is not just random but adaptive.

There were so many fabulous speakers and the messages all coalesced.  I was thrilled to see Lynn McTaggart of “The Field” and “Intention Experiment” fame talk about the power of intentions and how we must be committed to an “enormous paradigm shift” together, in order to overcome the world’s challenges.  I think it was Barbara Marx Hubbard who talked about the physical emergence of a co-created world and introduced a video talk by Marianne Williamson whose message on our evolutionary potential and the danger of a species who has become maladaptive to its environment (yikes, that’s us!) was very powerful.

For more information on this organization, the evening event and the conference they are planning for 11/1/11, go to the Evolutionary Leaders web site.

I’m inspired by this event as I continue to discover how best to contribute and consciously evolve – along with these transformational leaders.

Maybe I’ll see you there in 2011.

Can our Conscious and Unconscious become one?

Posted by Eden

I wonder if the next great stage in mankind’s evolution will occur when our conscious and unconscious “minds” become so connected and in tune with one another that they become one.  What would this mean for future generations?   If one believes that the unconscious mind is akin to our soul, our spirit within, which connects us to the greater life force and to every other living being in the universe, then this transformation could indeed be glorious.

Some of my readers may be thinking that I have just taken a great leap with my opening statements, so let me back up, starting with the early pioneers of the unconscious mind – Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud.  Jung was also a key influencer for Joseph Campbell, a mythologist who applied Jungian theory to his vast knowledge of mythology, spirituality, and religion.  Campbell’s work, among many others, has continued to advance us on this journey to understand our psyche and our connection to one another throughout time, particularly at this ‘unconscious’ level.  And today’s thought leaders are progressing these concepts to new realms as we are now able to connect quantum theories into our understanding of consciousness.

So first a (very) brief history…

One book I recommend in this area is Carl Jung’s last work, before his death in 1961 which was his only project not targeted for psychology and medical professionals but rather it was intended for the general public, so that we could all benefit from an insight into his lifework.    This book – “Man and his Symbols”, edited with an introduction by Carl Jung – was a great source of information for me when I was working on “Vision Speak”.  Jung’s quotations referenced below are all from his writing in this book.

“Man and his Symbols”, although intended for the ‘layman, is still not exactly a ‘light read’ so for those who may not be familiar with the breakthroughs and disconnect between the two most famous psychologists of all time, here’s a brief (and simplified) view of Freud and Jung’s material on the topic of the conscious versus unconscious mind. 

In the nineteenth-century psychologists, psychiatrists, and neurologists were beginning to inquire into both the existence and importance of the ‘unconscious’ or ‘subconscious’ mind.  The most renowned figure of this period, Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), developed comprehensive theories on this subject and early psychoanalytical techniques with an emphasis on the importance of dreams. 

Freud believed that dreams were the key to exposing repressed desires and memories, using techniques such as free association, to cure people of neuroses. 

Freud’s younger colleague – Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) – disputed some of Freud’s theories on the unconscious mind.  He said Freud “worked on the assumption that dreams are not a matter of chance but are associated with conscious thoughts and problems.”  Jung maintained that a psychoanalyst could work directly with a patient without need to lead them away from the actual dreams which he believed had “some special and more significant function of their own”.  In other words, “one should pay more attention to the actual form and content of a dream, rather than allowing free association to lead one off through a train of ideas to complexes that could as easily be reached by other means.”

“..part of the unconscious consists of a multitude of temporarily obscured thoughts, impressions, and images that, in spite of being lost, continue to influence our conscious minds.”  These hidden areas of our unconscious can be uncovered – sometimes triggered by our senses (such as the sound of music or smells from the past), possibly revealed by unconscious behaviours.  Sometimes lost memories can be exposed in hypnosis and often appear symbolically in our dreams.  But the unconscious is much more than just a repository of past information that is no longer ‘stored’ in our conscious.

“..it is a fact that, in addition to memories from a long-distant conscious past, completely new thoughts and creative ideas can also present themselves from the unconscious…”  In fact, our most creative and innovative ideas and inspirations come from this part of our psyche and, we can also attribute our instinctive, psychic, and intuitive insights as coming from the unconscious.

However, one of Jung’s most important theories – the collective unconscious – came when he explored the unconscious mind as it related to more spiritual realms such as religion and mythology, which Freud thought ‘unscientific’. 

More on this in future posts …  but, for now, here are some more words from Carl Jung from “Man and his Symbols” on the subject of the collective unconscious.

“Just as the human body represents a whole museum of organs, each with a long evolutionary history behind it, so we should expect to find that the mind is organized in a similar way.  It can no more be a product without history than is the body in which it exists.

The experienced investigator of the mind can similarly see the analogies between the dream pictures of modern man and the products of the primitive mind, its “collective images,” and its mythological motifs.

My views about the “archaic remnants,” which I call “archetypes” or “primordial images,” have been constantly criticized by people who lack sufficient knowledge of the psychology of dreams and mythology.”

The Journey of Man

Posted by Eden

Excerpt from “The Joinings“:

As we were born into new bodies and new capabilities, we walked upright and surveyed our world.  Our instincts and intellect drove us forward.  We built tools and fire.  We mastered the planet and its creatures.  We became self-aware and questioning.  We formed tribes and worked together to build homes and families.  We hunted together, collectively sensing the mystical forces at play in the universe.  Our early cultures honoured our elders, worshipped the beasts that we killed, developed cunning and resourcefulness, as well as a spiritual sense to help us not only survive but thrive in an untamed world.

But as our populations grew and agriculture led us to create permanent homes and settlements, our aggressive tendencies turned us away from our instinctive, spiritual natures and instead forged warriors and conquerors.  We built empires and dominated those that were weaker physically.  Groups that remained in the more primitive, mystical world of the past became easy targets for slavery and slaughter, oppression and cruelty.  Individual power became an ambition of man, overcoming the clan lifestyle.  The value of human life was low if it stood in the way of progress and domination.  Instead of honouring the natural world and the creatures that sustained us, we created new gods, powerful ones that would lead us forward in our quest for domination.

Ultimately, we awoke to a more sophisticated age and began to move away from the barbarianism of the past.  We formed governments and religion.  We created classes and rulers.  Laws governed our behaviour in society; religious leaders dictated morality.  The human consciousness imagined exultant possibilities and followed the new orders without question.

But our curious minds would always lead us to new territory. While authority and discipline, piety and unquestioning belief in a higher power may have been necessary at a particular stage to drive us forward, eventually, it became oppressive.  Despite the answers to life and creation offered by religion, we dug deeper.  Science and astronomy, philosophy and art triggered a renaissance of new ideas and new abilities.  We discovered ways to manipulate our planet’s resources, asked new questions about our existence, and uncovered previously unimagined answers.  Humanity’s progress could not be stopped.  Prosperity and technological advances transformed our way of life at an increasingly rapid pace.  Empire-building again became a focus but we discovered that war was not the only way to dominate other cultures.

 At each stage in the development of our culture and our consciousness, the life conditions of previous stages influenced our direction, in some cases as a negative force.  We reacted to that which seemed wrong instead of out of pure creation and conscious choice.  Not all areas of the world progressed at the same pace and within regions one might find evidence of past and present cultures.  Yet, overall, our progress was steady.

A natural next stage was a revolutionary worldview, an understanding that many of our advances were endangering our planet.  For peoples who had been born and bred in a prosperous environment free of war and struggles, many grew more sensitive to less fortunate citizens of the world.  They understood the effect that man’s rapid progress was having on our natural resources.  They fought to bring harmony and spirituality, a return to more primitive principles when the earth was worshipped for sustaining us – not destroyed and used without concern.  This led to a philosophical merging of all great wisdoms, religion, and spirituality and a natural disdain for past structures that still sought to dominate the planet.

But a power struggle remained and for those cultures left out of the prosperity and advancement curve, still rooted in past cultural stages, resentment and violence brewed – particularly towards those who dominated the world stage. 

And it came to pass that with so many disparate cultures and worldviews, with violence and unhappiness rampant in some areas of the world, that a relatively small percentage of the human population were able to instigate unprecedented death and destruction upon the entire planet.

Copyright © Eden Remme Watt 2010