In my experience of the world, I can say that energy that is “invisible” plays at least as big a role as the “seen” universe. Or, if you like, I know that there is a deeper dimension to reality from my own experience. I know that there is a guidance system that exists more fully in that deeper dimension, but that we can access (or communicate with) from our three dimensional space with linear time – or from our perspective as humans living on the earth at this time. Whether we are conscious of it or not, it is there. This is not a form of destiny, it is not an all-knowing god, and it is not something that only exists in the imagination. It is a function of the universe as consciousness expansion and of evolution. The process of evolution takes place in manifest reality, or our three-dimensional space with time, in the form of organisms changing over time across multiple generations. It also takes place across generations and across multiple species together by way of the deeper dimension, or the collective consciousness of the universe, or whatever you would like to call it. As we become more consciously aware of what our guidance system is telling us as individuals, we enter into communication and dialogue with our “higher self,” and our previously completely unconscious directions as to what we may best be doing with our time become accessible to us.
It seems to me that these directions – this blue print for our own deepest desires and purposes – is our human body and mind receiving through our consciousness (or, the part of us that is in connection with this manifest reality as well as with the deeper dimension) that part of a larger scale evolution that we, as individuated consciousness in a human body on earth, can implement. Our guidance system lets us know directions we could go that would be of service to both our selves as individuals and to the universe. We are each a part of this living universe that is evolving. More specifically, we are each an integral part of the system that is our planet. Our guidance system can work with us to evolve ourselves and our consciousnesses in more and more conscious ways (meaning in ways that we have more and more awareness of as they are occurring). Ultimately, there is the potential for humans to develop an untold level of consciousness of the evolutionary impulse. This is also the life force.
In the natural world here on earth, nature functions in a generally symbiotic fashion. As humans we have separated ourselves from nature and from our natural state. We have done so over many years and many, many generations. But otherwise the planet earth and the life here naturally evolve over time. Balances are established for different periods and in different areas, but change is always occurring. The plants inherently “know” how to grow. The animals “know” what to eat (and what not to eat). And in the face of even almost complete annihilation, nature and life will repair what is left and will heal itself and then go right on evolving. Where does this information come from? Well, we know that a lot of it is stored in DNA. Also, however, the different elements of our earth system co-evolve and adapt during each life cycle – across a multitude of organisms.
My sense and understanding are that this occurs because all elements of the world are all connected in the deeper dimension. This is basically the same concept Plato was pointing to with his shadows on the cave wall (and what so many other people, religions, theories, etc. – including evolutionary theory in biology and quantum physics as well). All the information generated by life comes together in the deeper dimension, or within the collective consciousness of the world, and then the system processes the information at that level so that new information can be sent back. This information is the evolutionary impulse, carried on, or at least received by, the manifested beings here on earth. Animals and plants receive this information purely unconsciously – at least that seems to be the case. Human beings receive a lot of this information unconsciously as well. We also, however, can receive and process some of it consciously. When we do, what we are tapping into is the evolutionary impulse or the collective consciousness.
How we receive information is completely unique to us, as we are evolving our conscious awareness to the point where they can integrate the information without interpreting it from our limited egoistic perspective. This is because we, as humans, are currently on the cusp of the next stage in the evolution of our collective consciousness. The information will come in a form your conscious awareness is able to understand. For many people this is in the form of a god, a higher power, guides, spirit animals, intuition, psychic abilities, or some combination. Language is somewhat difficult here, but one way to conceptualize the deeper dimension and its connection to us is this: first, consider humans to be each an individual drop of water within a flowing stream of water. Now, the water in the river is the universe, and its flow is the evolutionary impulse. Its flow of water is made up of all the connected drops, and each has an impact on the flow – and the flow has an impact on each drop at the same time. As obstacles appear the water responds. Consider these obstacles to be lessons, or sticking points, in evolution. The stream will flow past no matter what, but the flow may be faster or slower or rougher or more calm depending. The evolutionary impulse will continue to act to drive us (along with everything else) in the direction of evolution towards higher and higher-order systems and levels of consciousness and conscious awareness. It seems likely this is an endless/timeless process.
We are at a point where we can become more aware of the direction of the river, feel its flow more. We can control what we do with the information, if anything. We will never control the river or its direction. We can choose to resist the flow, or we can go with it. Going with the universal flow in our own lives and learning to understand how it acts in our lives in a more conscious way opens a whole lot of potential for healing and for change. This healing and change occur across multiple levels within the earth system. It is true for our cells and organs, it is true for each of us as individuals, it is true for any group of humans (such as a marriage, a family, an organization, a country, etc.), it is true for the entire system that is the planet earth, and it is true, I am sure, at even higher levels as well. For now, I will speak to the level with which I am personally the most familiar – that of the individual human being and individuated consciousness.
When we figure out how to communicate with our own energetic guidance system, we have access to a lot of self-healing power and growth potential. This power and potential come from the collective stream of consciousness and can be characterized as the evolutionary impulse. It is a place that is made up from all our experiences, as well as the experiences of much more beyond us. What we receive gives us some idea of where we might be in the stream, and of what we can do to become more aware of more parts of it – and more of service to our selves and the collective. The basic format of the information or guidance we can receive from the evolutionary impulse, or the Universe, in the simplest and most neutral language I have come up with, is intuition and emotions. Our emotions are reads on both information in our physical universe, and information at that deeper level. Our intuition guides us to what is right for us. Not, however, towards what we in our human egoistic selves think is right for us – not towards what we want, necessarily, but towards what we “need” to grow.
Since most of us have been taught from a young age to ignore this guidance, or even to go against it as we work away towards the accumulation of material wealth at the cost of everything. Although we have developed the physical capacity in our human bodies to receive and be consciously aware of more of the universe than what our physical senses can detect, or than our science can prove, we are still only babies in terms of developing the conscious awareness necessary. Part of this is because, as we focused on developing reductionist science and our materialistic, deterministic world (in accordance with the operating mental model we collectively have of the universe and our place within it) we actually suppressed progress with respect to the evolution of our own consciousnesses. This is largely due to the imposition of western values on everyone and the destruction of native cultures and disregarding of ancient wisdom that has taken place in our known history. But we are at a point where more and more people seem to be waking up to their connection with the collective oneness that is our universe. All humans have the capacity.
The path to conscious awareness of one’s guidance system involves going inside and doing a lot of work to heal, to uncover unconscious coping mechanisms, and then learning to get in touch with and then to trust your own system of guidance (whatever that ends up looking like for any one of us). This really can be as simple as learning to trust and then hone your intuition. And there are many ways to get there, but simply paying attention is a very good place to start. Next comes planning time to slow down and really be with oneself. This can look like long walks in nature, meditation, painting, writing, exercise, or simply cleaning the house, but the idea is to clear space for yourself to see yourself. Therapy, energy work, yoga, psychedelics, plant medicines, spiritual teachers and books, and much more are also tools that may prove useful, or even necessary, along the way. Once this is achieved, then personal patterns and addictions and wounds will naturally surface to be healed. This basically happens as soon as we create the space for it. Working with oneself and with the help of resources that you find resonate with you in terms of helping you to frame and hold space for the healing information, as well as integration of the information into ones active model of self and universe, are hugely important. Although it is a very individual journey, there are certainly elements that seem universal, and there is plenty of wisdom out there to learn from. What is important is that one does have the direct experience and develop own processes – not just to copy someone else’s process or gain intellectual knowledge.
No one can really tell anyone else what the experience of finding that deep connection to your intuition or learning to trust the guidance of the universe will be like, or exactly what will start the cycle of healing. What seems true is that once the process starts, healing and growth follow. We can become more and more consciously aware of the processes within our own mind, consciousness, and body that have been there all along. With this awareness we can better understand our self and our emotions, as well as our connection with the universe and with all others. We can feel into any areas of self or life path which seem at odds with our inner self, deeper meaning, or truest life path. In other words, we can come into alignment with ourselves and with the universal flow – and we can start to work with the flow of the stream of consciousness to learn and to co-create a brighter future for ourselves and our planet.