The Evolution of Consciousness

There are two ways of looking at the universe from an evolutionary perspective. The first way is from the perspective of many scientists who declare that we live in a world that is first and foremost physical. The second is the theological or according to some philosophical explanations, that the universe began in the way of consciousness. This paper explores the second of the two, the theological view, that the origin of the universe was consciousness. It then proceeds to explain evolution as the manifestation of that consciousness, along the line of the plank epoch//inflation, (formerly the big bang) stars, biological and various life forms of the scientific explanation.

To continue, I turn to the beginning of John's gospel which declared, “In the beginning was the word and the word was with God, and the word was God. All things were made through him and without him, nothing was made that was made.” The word has been described as variously as intelligence or reason. I prefer to use the more contemporary description of consciousness as in the case of author Vincent Bedogne. It is more comprehensive but carries the same qualities, implying reason.

John continues, with this consciousness described as“… life and the life was the light of the world and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” The darkness implies the state of being that was at the beginning. Once life was manifest with light its reality could be stopped by nothing.

In his book, Bedogne describes the process by which the expanding consciousness or originality, initially described as emptiness, took place. I have determined the best way of describing this is via a spiral. The spiral begins from a centre point with no time or space. You cannot say eternally because that would imply time. It just is. This is a hard concept for humans to grasp for it is beyond our comprehension other than saying it is emptiness. If this implies God then we are left to merely ponder its meaning. The Buddhists speak of emptiness without specific meaning. It is beyond understanding.

From the gestation of the creative process this emptiness takes form spiralling outward. It is the movement outward in a spiral, bending in a circular fashion, and as a consequence generating the notion of time with each change of trajectory. The more the spiral circulates the more time and space develops until the spiral is progressing virtually at right angles to the initial outward movement. Thus time and space are set as we are familiar with today. The spiral continues with its trajectory ultimately implying a return to the centre where it reaches fulfillment.

Returning to the commencement of the creative process we describe the process as one of the motivation for fulfillment. Conscious of its unfulfillment is perceived and the need for fulfillment urges the movement forward. It repeats this process time and time again, conscious of its state but seeking fulfillment, ultimately creating the world of a unity poised for the manifestation of matter. All this is described as involution within some Asian spiritualities. It is primarily on its outward trajectory increasingly but moving more and more deeply into its circular trajectory whereby it commences its evolutionary journey. It begins with the Plank epoch, then the inflationary period (formerly referred to as the Big Bang). It then proceeds with the same procedure urging itself toward fulfillment through a form of gases, structure, organisation, design, and finally life. It crosses each of these thresholds in time, estimated to be 15 billion years. Therefore, involution and evolution are the two processes of this creative process.

The evolutionary story continues its history of time we know of with its sketch of cellular life leading to dinosaurs and neanderthal beings and finally humans. It replaces the brief history of man as approximately six to ten thousand years as depicted in the story of Adam and Eve. An ancient story of mythic nature for a time of simple knowledge. Humankind has even progressed in its evolutionary journey across this period of ten thousand years. The major story confronting us is the story of Jesus. What do we make of him? I turn to the belief of St John who wrote distinctively of Jesus in his gospel.

John is very clear that there was something distinctive about Jesus and proceeds with the statement, “ and the word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth, we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son of the Father.” This has primarily been applied to the birth of Jesus and that is the case. But the word is applied by John to the entirety of creation in his first verse. The two applications are not mutually exclusive. The word become flesh is applicable to both creation and to the human Jesus. That is the extent of the incarnation. Life is incarnational to the all of life.

This explanation is the truth of consciousness and is reinforcing that consciousness is fundamental to all creation. It is fundamental to the whole evolutionary process, all gaseous states, all structural formation, and all life forms. This is reinforced when Jesus stated that before Abraham was I AM. I AM is the great statement of being, another expression that implies consciousness. Because Abrahan was loosely referred to as the beginning of history as it was known, the implication is that there was no history before Abraham, but in truth Jesus was implying that he as I AM was timeless. The story is of the word becoming flesh in both creation and the birth and life of Jesus.

That means that the universal consciousness became particular in the life of Jesus. John brings that to the fore in the way that he shapes the gospel. It is structured around the seven I am sayings. I am the bread of heaven, I am the light of the world, I am the door to the sheepfold, I am the good shepherd, I am the way the truth and the life, I am the resurrection and the life, and I am the true vine. Finally, he concludes by saying, “before Abraham was I AM.” This is the joining of the eternal with the particular. It is a list of the core truths of the life of Jesus as the eternal consciousness.

The final twist in the story is in the resurrection. The story of Mary at the tomb, the appearances in the upper room amongst the disciples, the gathering on the beach of Galilee, the account on the road to Emmaus and the appearance before 500 people at once. These stories were introducing the birth of a new consciousness, an awakening to a deeper consciousness, in the mind of humanity which comes to fruition at Pentecost. Pentecost speaks of a community gathering of people from all different backgrounds and cultures. Something happens to speak of that new consciousness that has birthed in the minds of humanity. They all spoke in different languages but understood in their own. This spoke of a unity of community, a unity of humanity. That signifies the destiny of humanity. The story has proceeded very sadly a long way from fulfilment. But the dream still stands and beckons humanity forward. One day in the future all people will truly live in understanding, peace and harmony.

I return once again to reflect upon the life of Jesus. Who was he? what was he? He was a humble carpenter of Israel, brought up as a Jew. He participated in that religious culture, but he was far more than that. He was a universalist. We see the signs of this universalism in the meeting with the Samaritan woman at the well, the encounter with the Syrophoenician woman, and the story of the Centurian. He spoke of them as having faith beyond that which he had found in all Israel. He crossed the boundary of Judaism in all these encounters. Just as the feast of Pentecost was a multicultural experience so were his brief encounters with these three individuals. When the time became right, the arrival of the integral world of the past two centuries and its awakening to all things inter-related we are bound to embrace the universal Christ. Not that we denounce our cultural heritage but we must embrace the new consciousness that Christ foreshadowed.

The evolutionary story has produced for us the story of the quantum world and its interactive, nature and the growing realisation of the deeper understanding of different religions brings us closer together. But more than these universal trends it was Bedogne who claims that the creative urge of life contributes to the collective universal mind of humanity. Whenever one awakens to that creative urge one contributes, no matter how small, to the universal consciousness of all humanity. This is to take us back to the beginning and fulfill the words of John. “In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. All things were made through him and without him nothing was made that was made.”