Can Human Beings Participate in the Change of Human Nature?

0:00 Many people are skeptical about the possibility of humanity participating consciously in the transformation and change of human nature. They believe that our nature is fixed and every attempt to change it has shown the futility of the effort. If we observe carefully, or even quite casually, we can see that this skepticism is not well founded and in fact is refuted by the facts. We can observe the role that humanity is playing in changing the physical evolution and in the development and manifestation of both an optimized human capacity and the start of a transformational effort that is intended to exceed the current limits of human evolutionary capacity.

0:51 We can categorize this human intervention and evolution in three primary ways. They're the changes to the nature itself, the process that leads to genetic changes, whether through conscious intervention or through unintended consequences of actions of the mind to try to manage the world environment, the material foundation of existence and the operation and development of life in plants and animals. The developments in the use of stem cells to grow custom tailored human organs are making it possible to envision replacement parts tailored to an individual, thereby further extending life expectancy.

1:37 Then there are the changes that occur through what we may call nurture, education, training, increased understanding that leads to more precise application of diet, exercise, lifestyle focus, biofeedback mechanism, all act to help optimize and take human capacity to its limits and once the limits are reached, going beyond them. Then there is the societal intervention that has led to increased health and Wellness opportunities, expanded life expectancy, increased average height, and brought about a new foundation of Wellness that aids in the utilization of our human capacities. For example, we see an emerging science of genetic manipulation, whether through scientific intervention or through societal manipulation of genetic pairing of individuals through development of educational and class stratification, provision of enhanced opportunity for certain groups of people to form families and create children of that pairing who bring forward qualities desired by the society. We now see even the possibility of gene editing using what is called CRISPR technology to remove certain genetic mutations or abnormalities prior to birth, as well as research being done to turn on or off certain genes

3:10 to either enhance certain abilities such as regrowing teeth or limbs, or for preventing certain potential disease conditions. The search at the scientific and technological level for the perfection of mankind has, of course, inherent risks, either through unintended or intended consequences, but it nevertheless illustrates the power of human intervention into the future development and transformation that can occur as humanity continues to explore. Along these lines, they're also the consequences that lead to mutations through application of a very limited understanding by human intelligence, for instance through pollution, climate change, poisoning of the air, water and soil, destruction of habitats and breaking of the chain of life and the food chain in all its complexity. These things also are results of human conscious intervention in the action of nature that lead to changes in the very genetic structure of humanity itself.

4:21 Evidence of this can be found in the decrease of sperm counts and motility that appear to be linked to chemical pollutants we spew into our environment, and the resultant changes in fertility and in the sexual characteristics of the population at large. We can observe the development of training routines, dietary regimens that enhance human performance. Virtually all the first rank athletes in the world undergo training and discipline to hone their skills and take them to the edge of human performance capacity. We continually see world records being broken and standards being reset to account for enhanced performance in the sports competitions.

5:11 This is just one example of what is actually a widespread phenomenon across all fields of human development. Societal intervention on a general level also has enhanced and developed human capacities far beyond levels of the past. The development of sanitation, disinfection protocols and the use of vaccines, understanding of hygiene and the use of surgery and antibiotics, all of increased general Wellness, life expectancy and allowed innate potential of the human instrument to appear. If we look back only 150 or 200 years, we can see the differences in human life and development of the human instrument that have occurred as a result of this type of applied understanding.

6:06 But the question goes beyond that of understanding human capabilities and optimizing for them. It goes beyond our ability to intervene in nature and control and change matter and life through use of our mental capacities. We see an increasing focus on the development of powers of consciousness that are latent but not active generally, and the transcendence of our mental limitations through development of what we call spiritual consciousness. Technology relies on fixed mechanism and specific applications through tools we create. We see, however, a movement in the world away from reliance on generating apparatus wires and cumbersome mechanisms pointing towards a wireless world.

6:56 Some are experimenting with implanting microchips to provide instant access to a wider data set and ability to respond to increasingly technical demands of society. Others have taken up meditation, spiritual practices of various sorts, the focus on development of powers of intuition, inspiration, clairvoyance, clairaudience, distance, vision, out of body travel, and even development of new forms of knowledge that do not rely on mental process, but on what Shrioro Bindo calls a knowledge by identity. This represents the cutting edge of human conscious intervention to tap into powers and capacities that far exceed our current human limitations, and which can act without needing all the external tools that we have developed heretofore.

7:54 While many still expressed doubt about the reality of these phenomena, enough study and scientific review has taken place by now to put the possibility far outside the realm of doubt. The phenomena are documented and real, even if they are not currently within reach of most of humanity, by virtue of either lack of focus or interest or lack of readiness to utilize them or even appreciate them. Sri Urubindu observes. Quote In the previous stages of the evolution, nature's first care and effort had to be directed towards a change in the physical organization, for only so could there be a change of consciousness.

8:40 This was a necessity imposed by the insufficiency of the force of consciousness already in formation to effect a change in the body. But in man a reversal is possible, indeed inevitable, for it is through his consciousness, through its transmutation, and no longer through a new bodily Organism as a first instrumentation, that the evolution can and must be affected. In the inner reality of things. A change of consciousness was always the major fact. The evolution has always had a spiritual significance, and the physical change was only instrumental. But this relation was concealed by the 1st abnormal balance of the two factors, the body of the external in conscience outweighing and obscuring in importance the spiritual element, the conscious being.

9:36 But once the balance has been righted, it is no longer the change of body that must precede the change of consciousness. The consciousness itself by its mutation will necessitate and operate whatever mutation is needed for the body. It has to be noted that the human mind has already shown a capacity to aid nature in the evolution of new types of plant and animal. It has created new forms of its environment, developed by knowledge and disciplined considerable changes in its own mentality. It is not an impossibility that man should aid nature consciously also in his own spiritual and physical evolution and transformation. The urge to it is already there and partly effective, though still incompletely understood and accepted by the surface mentality.

10:32 But one day it may understand, go deeper within itself and discover the means, the secret energy, the intended operation of the consciousness force within which is the hidden reality of what we call nature. End Quote Reference Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, the psychic being soul, its nature, mission and evolution. Section 3. Growth and Development of the Psychic, pages 75 to 76.