Addressing the Existential Crisis We Face in Today's World

0:02 Today's topic is the existential crisis of humanity and the evolution of consciousness as a solution to this crisis. First, I'd like to thank you for your interest in this critical issue for the future survival of our entire human race. There's a positive way forward for humanity as we face the intense challenges before us. When we are under intense pressure, we have the impetus to make needed changes. That's the lesson of nature and the lesson of human history.

0:46 What do we each worry about as we live our lives? We worry about our health and that of our family. We don't generally tie our health issues to our environment, but there is a clear link. We are filling the rivers, the oceans, the earth and the air with toxic chemicals which are migrating into our bodies. We find increasing stress in our lives as we struggle to survive, deal with health and family issues, and try to deal with the increasing climate impacts that we notice every day. We are inundated with constant news of wars, mass migrations, increased homelessness, drug use, alcoholism, and the breakdown of health. But there's more.

1:37 The ocean fisheries are on the brink of total collapse, threatening the food supply for billions of people. Freshwater aquifers are being drained and freshwater is running out. The oceans are dying, and with it the greatest source of oxygen we need to live. As the problems increase, tensions increase, and we continue to develop ever more destructive weapons that can destroy all life on the planet many times over at the push of a button, so to speak. Anyone who experienced the nuclear bomb drills in schools in the 1960s carries this fear in a very real way. All of these things have one common cause. Our business and economic leaders, religious leaders, political leaders all try to find ways to solve these issues. But we are met with failure to act, gridlock and finger pointing rather than any real answers. The problems continue to get worse. Our despair deepens.

2:51 So what is the solution if it is not to be found in technology, business, religion, economic systems, or politics? First, we need to step back a little bit and understand the problem from a foundational perspective. In order to do so, let's talk about consciousness for a moment. When we look at physical matter, there's no way or method for consciousness to arise spontaneously. Rock remains rock. When we see life emerge, we find that certain types of material forms have been modified to hold the energy we call life, and we see that each life has encoded within its material shell a specific formulation that makes it what it is.

3:44 The seed of a dandelion brings forth a dandelion. The seed of a Redwood tree brings forth a Redwood tree. Life is the first major evolutionary emergence of consciousness in the material world, and it came about with encoded data and modified forms that could carry out that data set. Eventually, life forms evolve that could hold a new level of consciousness, the animal consciousness. Animal consciousness has an enhanced vital force, includes the ability to move and eventually utilize at least rudimentary mental powers to carry out the encoded data set included in animals.

4:32 Out of animal life we see the development of full mentality with the emergence of thinking mind, the ability to analyze developed organized pattern recognition, create logical step by step inferences, develop complex communication methods and create and utilize tools. And then the ability of self reflection and recognition of a broader world and universe arises and we become truly human in our viewpoint. The steps we see here, each with ever increasingly complex outer forms suited to expressing an ever more complex and coded data set, each bring with them a paradigm shift.

5:21 And with that paradigm shift comes new opportunities and new challenges. The new level of consciousness is tasked with finding ways to solve the issues created by the action of the prior level. Evolution of consciousness is not done. We believe that the challenges facing us in today's world are basically unable to be solved, and thus many people simply have given up hope. And one way or the other, through despair or through uncaring pursuit of personal enjoyment, they let the problems get worse. A wise man once said that we cannot solve the problems we face with the same level of thinking that led to those problems in the 1st place.

6:11 He was so right. It is time therefore, to understand and embrace the pattern of the evolution of consciousness and take up the challenge and carry out the opportunity to develop a new paradigm representing the next evolutionary stage of development beyond the mental level. We have explored under the oceans, climbed mountains, searched the jungles and plains and frozen regions of the planet and started exploring outer space. It is time to undertake the exploration of inner space and open ourselves up to the further encoded opportunities that lie within as we become more than mind driven human beings and embrace our greater destiny.

6:59 As the next phase of consciousness develops and manifests, this involves a paradigm shift. Humanity has already started to undergo this paradigm shift. At one point in our history, we believed that the Earth was flat. It became revolutionary when we finally recognized that the world was round and could be circumnavigated. At another point, we believed that the sun revolved around the earth and we were actually the center of all existence. Those who researched and determined otherwise were treated as heretics and had to undergo tremendous suffering in their day.

7:41 Now we know that the Earth revolves around the sun, and even the sun is not the center of the universe, but a small player in a much larger universal existence. We have not yet caught up with the implications of these shifts in our way of relating to our lives and the world we live in. We still act as if each one of us is the center of the universe. We work to optimize our own situation at the expense of everyone and everything else. This is the strict mental and vital consciousness at work. When we saw the image of the Earth seen from space, it crystallized for many people the oneness and interdependence of all existence. Many people began to reflect on this and open themselves to another paradigm shift, this time away from the mental logic to a more complete global way of seeing things. This process needs to be developed and it is our role as part of the solution towards saving the planet and our species to begin to implement this shift of awareness in the day-to-day decisions we make and the way we evaluate our lives and our actions.

9:08 From this new viewpoint, we can find solutions that are not all black and white either or, but which find the solution of harmony that begins to heal the planet and our relations with each other. There are ranges of consciousness beyond the mind that many are beginning to recognize. Scientists are starting to work with intuition, inspiration, and the essential basis of consciousness, which is the source of specific encoding that is involved in matter and which manifests once the conditions are ripe. There are practical steps one can take to participate in this evolutionary development.

9:54 So we ask ourselves, what can we do about all of this? Is there any solution? The evolution of consciousness is an inevitable development, but will it occur quickly enough to forestall the damage that has already occurred and is accelerating as we speak? Individuals who become awake to this possibility and aid the process and help speed it up. And that is where you and I come into this picture. You can find out more. Sri Aurobindo has been a leading researcher in this field. The book Integral Yoga, Shriorobindo's Teaching and Method of Practice, is a great guidebook for understanding both the concept and the implementation of the practice to begin to realize these next stages of consciousness beyond the mind into one's own life.

10:54 Another great introductory text is Shriorobindo, or The Adventure of Consciousness by SAT Prem. We can also practice integrating the new global perspective of oneness into our lives. It may begin as a purely mental practice, but eventually you begin to see and respond based on that unity of the entire creation. You will notice your reaction to events and beings changing as you do this, with a growing and greater understanding taking place of more rigid mental viewpoints. Take up practices, whether they are part of a spiritual or religious path or a spiritual endeavor, or a scientific seeking or artistic path that opens up your receptivity to intuition, inspiration, insights that are not driven by the fragmented and stepwise process of the logical mental intellect.

12:00 Begin to look at the major issues the world faces and see how they can be addressed with a sense of harmony and balance instead of fixed ideological approaches. This may involve technology or not. All human endeavors have their place in the massive adjustments we need to make in order for humanities to survive and thrive. Whatever you are doing in your life, your career and your relationships, try to bring compassion, goodwill, understanding and harmony based on the interrelated nature of all your approach to these things. Encourage and support others who are trying to solve the issues and focus time, attention and where possible funds into approaches that rely on building a harmonious balance rather than A1 sided approach with unintended consequences. Look into organizations that are working to make a difference, for instance Oroville International USA. You can find it at AVIU sa.org.

13:16 Oroville aspires to be a laboratory of spiritual and material research to address the existential problems of humanity from a new perspective and standpoint. For more information and for a brief daily study, you can visit theblog@shriorobindostudies.wordpress.com or the YouTube site at Santosh Krinsky 871, or you can visit ourwebsite@holisticinstitute.org. If you're interested in books to find out more, you can visit lotuspress@lotuspress.com. Their publications are also available in most cases, both in print and as ebooks, and the ebooks are widely available on Amazon, Apple iTunes and Google Play. These may look like small or simple things, but be assured as you begin to make changes in your life and the focus of your time, attention, energy and resources, things begin to change around you.

14:27 Every individual who takes up this effort makes a real difference and helps us to reach the tipping point where humanity can begin to solve the problems rather than make them worse. It is not a matter of converting anybody or proselytizing, but in effectuating real change inwardly. It is not as easy as it sounds, but it is far more rewarding than the endless round of entertainment and avoidance that we normally engage in when we confront the endless challenges of the world that are vital and mental elements have created.

15:09 Thank you for your caring, your interest and your efforts.