It could even be argued that nothing is more important for ensuring a just and thriving future than aligning the natural self-interest of individuals, corporations, and nation-states with the wellbeing of the body of life as a whole. The outcome of this shift would be to make competition co-operative, self-interest nontoxic, and society wise. By organizing and managing ourselves so that the impact of parts on the whole, for good or ill, are reflected back to the parts, we shall create a system through which individuals, corporations, and nations are incentivized to do what is just and ecological — while simultaneously being incentivized to not do what is unjust or un-ecological.
This aligning of self-interest at multiple scales would ensure that what is perceived as the cheaper, easier, more convenient thing to do is also the right thing to do, rather than the harmful thing, as it is now.
The following was written and emailed to me by John White, author of The Meeting of Science and Spirit see end of post for contact information. Can science which attributes human origin to evolution and religion which attributes human origin to special creation ever agree on the subject of humanity's genesis? They can if they recognize a transcendent perspective which reconciles them. It is found in enlightenment traditions. Human evolution is characterized primarily by our ascent in consciousness to ever-greater degrees of intelligence and noetic power.
Cro-Magnon, for instance, are distinguished from Neanderthal not so much by physical body design as by their greater intelligence which resulted in the world's first art, statuary, engravings, music, personal ornamentation and starcharts. Their superior tool-making ability gave us the bow and arrow.
They were the first to domesticate animals, invent fishing as a food supply, create calendars and bury their dead with funary objects. Neanderthal were the first to simply bury their dead. Anthropologists also infer that Cro-Magnon had more highly developed social systems. Altogether, they showed a superior degree of consciousness and qualify to be called a newer species.
Homo sapiens succeeded Cro-Magnon. But evolution has not stopped with us, enlightenment traditions say. Higher forms of humanity await future emergence. Our race is evolving to a godlike state, marked by states of consciousness which include the rationality and intellect of Homo sapiens but go beyond that with new faculties and depth of intelligence.
In the strict scientific sense, evolution means a process by which life arose from nonliving matter and subsequently developed as a succession of types, entirely by natural means—i. On the basis of my reason, research and personal experience with enlightenment traditions, I reject the part which prohibits supernaturalism. From the perspective of enlightenment, all is divine and everything in the cosmos is the work or play of God the Creator-Spirit—what America's founders, in the Declaration of Independence, called "nature's God.
The following is a guest post written by my dear friend and colleague Jon Cleland Host Hundreds dead on July 21st, with hundreds of thousands to follow.
That day, just around the corner, will be the thanniversary of the first major battle of the War Between the States or the American Civil War. Being a Northerner, somehow I missed the emphasis on the enormity of this conflict when growing up, and so I was shocked to learn that well over a half million brave men died in that war. No other war, not even World War II at , American casualties, and certainly not Vietnam with less than 60, comes close.
Some of us have a personal connection to those soldiers by knowing of an Ancestor who fought in the American Civil War, perhaps great-great-great-grandpa Jim. Reflecting on that person can change the American Civil War from a note in a history book into a stunning chapter in the family history that got you here today — a part of who you are.
Can we make a reasonable estimate of the odds? First, consider how many Civil War era Ancestors you have. For the moral qualities are advanced, either directly or indirectly, much more through the effects of habit, the reasoning powers, instruction, religion, etc.
Words create worlds. What we habitually tell ourselves and others about the nature of reality profoundly influences the quality of our lives and relationships.
Replacing outmoded ways of thinking with inspiring, evidence-based concepts can be transformative. The following affirmations may assist you in integrating The Great Story into your life and habitual ways of being in the world. As you read or, better yet, read them aloud , I invite you to pause after each and notice if anything opens up for you.
Consider the statement long enough to begin to feel it. Edit or adapt them however you'd like. Memorized, even just one or two of these affirmations can influence how you habitually see your inner and outer world. I am an interdependent cell within the body of Life. Everything I see, hear, and feel is part of me—part of my larger Self, my true Nature. I am the sum total of 14 billion years of unbroken evolutionary development now reflecting on its immense journey.
I am graced by a growing awareness of the awesome implications of my larger sacred story. I am one with the living face of evolution. I participate in, and as, the ongoing emergence of the Universe and planet Earth. I do so with courage, compassion, gratitude, and care-full action. I feel a deep connection to the whole of reality.
I know that my breathing, seeing, hearing, and feeling are acts of communion. My senses are portals to the holy. I am grateful for the prehuman components of my evolved mind—and for my physical, social, and interpretive instincts. I trust that whatever happens on the other side of death is just fine. I can find comfort in mythic night language without clinging to any particular belief about the afterlife. We are both hard at work yes, that is bliss!
But we take time every day to hike a trail that Connie brushed out last fall on the property here, and we look for signs of spring. Yesterday we discovered salamander eggs in the ephemeral pond.
Honoring this now indisputable fact can help us channel our deepest drives in ways that serve, rather than sabotage, our joy in life and the quality of our relationships and legacy. As well, we can appreciate how this inspiring, science-based perspective REALizes, or naturalizes, ancient mythic insights.
Beneath the video player is a brief description of some of the main points I covered. Most of us, including evangelicals, know that our trials and temptations, our inner struggles, our troubling habits of thought and behavior, our personal and relational challenges, are not literally the result of our great-great-great-great Within each of us are instincts molded by millions of years of evolution to have us think and behave in ways that certainly benefitted our ancestors.
Indeed, all of us alive today owe our existence to those very same instincts. But what have they done for us lately? To be blunt, they've made many of us fat, some addicted, and most of us in denial about how we are impacting the planet. Our instincts can hardly be faulted. We are surrounded by 'supernormal allurements': processed foods, feel-good drugs and alcohol, Internet porn, and media sources that are no longer tethered to reality. Our ancestors faced none of these challenges.
Our ways of getting news, interacting with friends, and dealing with enemies have been altered beyond recognition by modern technologies. Our opportunities for indulging romantic or sexual urges, or wasting time and distracting ourselves, would be unrecognizable even to our great-grandparents.
The cultural contexts have changed enormously -- but our brains and bodies have not. We still have the same fears and desires as our ancestors, but now those instincts are out of sync with life conditions.
Compounding the problem is that we've all inherited exquisite skills for self-deception. The human brain not only distorts perception and memory; it then uses its extraordinary powers to rationalize or justify the distortion.
Published by Nic Paton Composer of music for film, television and commercials. Next Post Next post: The most skilled healer.
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