I am so glad that you are reading this! It tells me that you are seeking, that you are open to exploring, that you care about ideas and what is happening on the Planet. Congratulations!
Sometimes it is difficult to have a discussion with someone who has closed their mind to new ideas and wants only to reinforce what they already believe. But this person is usually operating out of some fear that controls their thinking and, thus, their life.
Are you that kind of person in some area of your life? Oh, you might wish to think of yourself as broad-minded and open to new ideas, ready to shift your thinking, but what about that relationship in which you are certain that you have formed the correct opinion about the other person? What if you don’t know the whole picture, and, if you did, you would be more sympathetic, more understanding?
Big ideas can be like that. We THINK we know all we need to know about something and then we form an opinion. For many, that opinion then gets set into concrete, never to be brought out for re-examination or re-consideration. These are the ‘don’t confuse me with the facts’ people. Just as you might think you know enough about another person to form a solid opinion, what if they are dealing with cancer, just lost their job or a loved one, are coming from court after losing custody of their children? Would that alter your opinion?
You have many ideas about how the world is that were formed when you were growing up and making decisions about what to believe. You had a little kid’s perspective. You knew what that little kid knew, probably not the whole picture, and you decided to believe something.
This belief might be something like, ‘Daddy yelled at me because my report card isn’t good enough. I’ll never be good enough.’ Or, ‘My sister is the smart one. I can’t get as good a grade as she can.’ There are so many beliefs that are insidious because they live with that little child within who dwells in your unconscious mind. That inner child is making decisions for you in your life, at the unconscious level, based on the belief formed many years ago.
Have you ever planned to do something and then not carried through? How many New Year’s Resolutions have you broken? It’s this belief in your unconscious mind that trips you up.
But, when you really decide to grow, to wake up, to evolve, you can change your beliefs!
If you want to Live Your Richest Life, then you start with shedding anything that is holding you back or blocking you from the path you desire. This starts with the beliefs you hold that might not be true anymore, and, perhaps, were never true.
What if you believed that the Earth was flat? Would you get into a ship and sail across the ocean into that unknown and scary edge of the world? And then what if NASA launched a satellite that took a picture of Earth from Space that showed the blue ball hanging in Space without a flat edge showing at all? Would you take in that new information and change your belief about the Earth and accept that it is round?
This is the basic question about ‘evolve or not.’ If you can be presented with new evidence, if you are open to new ideas, if you are willing to consider that you might have to change your mind based on new data, then would you be willing to have the conversations that might open you up?
Evolution isn’t about the monkeys. It’s really about the Evolution of Human Consciousness. In order to evolve, we must first Wake Up!
Mystic Messages 
Change. Evolve. Change. Evolve. – Richard’s Commentary
April 9, 2014 — RichardWe are spiraling toward something…do we know what that something is? Do we have a choice?
Rosemary uses the digital age of recording advances; 1.0, 2.0…she claims:
Each of us is ever evolving into the next version of ourselves – Me 2.0, Me 3.0, etc. Are you making conscious choices about your own evolutionary process or are you reacting to what is happening around you and evolving unconsciously into the next you?
Sometimes I wonder if each of us is truly evolving. Or are some of our fellows content to have things remain just as they are; content with the status quo? Are you evolving consciously or are you content to maintain your position and standing in life? Can you maintain it without changing?
I spent a good part of this past weekend immersed in Integral Theory, as best articulated by Ken Wilber. The specific topic of this Integral Life conference was “The Fourth Turning.” This “Turning” refers to the evolution of Buddhism. To summarize the background, there have been three “turnings” of Buddhism, or evolutions of the movement: there are three current forms or “schools”, namely the Theravada School, the Mahayana School and the Vajrayana School. The first school, or turning, is closely associated with the Buddhism originated by Gautama Buddha about 2600 years ago. About 200 AD the Mahayana School evolved out of and included original Buddhism. And in the 8th Century AD Vajrayana evolved out of and included Mahayana Buddhism.
Integral Life is proposing it is time for a “fourth turning” – a next generation of Buddhism; think of this as a progression from Buddhism 1.0 (Theravada) to Buddhism 2.0 (Mahayana) to Buddhism 3.0 Vajrayana to Buddhism 4.0! (A name or “yana” for this 4.0 was not offered!)
Here is the main point and argument: there has not been a real evolution in religion (any version, any sect, Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, Judaism, Hinduism…) for at least a thousand years. Perhaps it is time for an advance in spirituality.
I am not writing here to support or deny the specifics of what I heard at the “Fourth Turning Conference.” The specifics while interesting are not my point. The point is to support Rosemary’s premise:
The important aspect of humanity’s interaction with change is that we must be conscious of the choices we are making to bring about change, in ourselves and in the world around us.
Ken Wilber and company are making a conscious effort to define a New Spirituality, to embrace scientific, sociological and psychological advancements and to expand Consciousness and celebrate Humanity. They chose Buddhism because it has demonstrated an ability to evolve over its 2600-year history. And it already offers a high degree of advanced spiritual technology on which to build.
They are making conscious choices; they are looking forward and embracing the past; they are leveraging the advances in all areas of human technology to create a robust Spirituality to help carry humanity forward into its uncertain future.
I welcome and applaud this effort. Yes, we are spiraling toward something; and it can be of our choosing, if we choose to be involved!