The Living Universe (15 page)

The universe is a single living being embracing all living beings within it.

—P
LOTINUS

Is there a discernible direction to the unfolding of the universe? If so, where is the universe going? How do we fit into its unfolding? Is our evolution as a species in alignment with the developing universe? To explore these core questions, let's first consider the nature and expression of life in the universe.

At the foundation of existence is a pervasive life force—unstoppable, unquenchable, untiring, and forever manifesting itself. Not only does this life force burst irrepressibly into the everyday world and then tenaciously cling to existence (think of grass growing through cracks of a busy sidewalk) it is also found nearly everywhere we look.
Living forms have been found beneath the polar ice caps, in high deserts with no water, beside erupting volcano vents thousands of feet under the ocean, and in pools of water as caustic as battery acid. Communities of microbes have also been found more than two miles underground in pockets of water that have been isolated from sunlight for at least two million years, living only on the chemicals in the rocks and the water that was likely carried there by meteorites. Life presses at the edges of material existence at every moment and in every place, seeking opportunities to emerge and find expression. No matter how remote or harsh the circumstances, the life force will seek to express itself and to organize itself into some kind of sentient entity.
¹

The deeper we look, the more complex the living universe becomes. An exquisitely creative, inexhaustibly intelligent, and infinitely aware life energy is both
immanent
(present throughout the cosmos) and
transcendent
(present in ecologies that extend far beyond our cosmos). This life force is simultaneously
personal
(upholding the most intimate aspects of our existence),
impersonal
(sustaining all of creation with great freedom), and
transpersonal
(extending beyond the boundaries of the cosmic system we inhabit).

A core insight comes into view from the combined wisdom of science and spirituality. Life is both fundamental and emergent: It is the fundamental ocean in which we all swim and it is ever emergent as life-forms organize themselves into higher levels of complexity and consciousness. The
sustaining
life force is fundamental, whereas
surpassing
life-forms such as ourselves are emergent. The aliveness of the Mother Universe has given birth to and continually sustains our living universe. In turn, our universe is able to give birth to planetary systems that can give birth to beings able to look back at the universe and reflect upon the magnitude and mystery of existence.

Because consciousness is an integral property of the aliveness of the universe, it means that
everything has a consciousness or knowing capacity that is appropriate to its nature.
Instead of emerging only recently with the development of complex life forms, consciousness is a fundamental property of the universe that has always been present. Different material forms mobilize this capacity with modes of reflection that are appropriate to their material nature.

We are life-forms who live within a living universe that, in turn, emerges at every moment from the aliveness of the Mother Universe. Life is nested within life, which is nested within life. Instead of a cold, gray, and empty place, the world around us is thick with aliveness, dense with unfathomable life energy, and sparkling with immeasurable potential.

Assuming the universe is a completely dynamic living system, a core question emerges: How does the transparent aliveness of the Mother Universe enter into material form and manifest itself as coherent and persisting structures like galaxies, planets, and conscious beings? How can we live in a universe of flowing movement that nevertheless appears as the stable forms we see in the world around us? That, I believe, is a central project of our daughter universe.

Everything that exists is a flowing movement that endures, not because it has inherent solidity but because the life energy of the universe flows through it. Like an eddy in a stream or vortex in a whirlpool, all that exists depends upon the flow-through to sustain a persisting pattern. If the flow-through stops, the whirlpool or the eddy disappears. What is true for the fabric of reality is also true for us.
Human beings are not solid or permanently existing entities—we
are flow-through beings whose very existence depends completely on the life energy of Mother Universe flowing through us.

Instead of spraying energy in all directions and losing coherence, the universe is continually focusing and conserving its flow-through energy by creating self-organizing systems. Everywhere we look the universe is busy with one overriding project—creating and sustaining dynamically stable entities. Throughout the natural world, we see a recurring organizing pattern of dynamic stability. This form is called a
torus,
and has the shape of a donut. At every level of the cosmos, we find the characteristic structure and geometry of torus-like, or toroidal, forms. The torus is significant because it is the simplest geometry of a dynamic, self-referencing, and self-organizing system that has the capacity to keep pulling together and sustaining itself. By virtue of a reflexive nature that curves back upon itself, the torus has the potential to be connected with and “know” its own dynamics.

The accompanying figure shows six expressions of this easily recognizable form—from atoms, to humans, to galaxies.
²
The physical forms found throughout the universe are visible expressions of nature's evolutionary intention and direction. We see forms that are turning back upon themselves in a reflexive process—connecting with themselves so they can become self-possessing and self-stabilizing.

Because we find this characteristic form at every level of the universe, it shows that a fundamental activity and evolutionary intention is being expressed in nature's designs. Life is constantly seeking to connect with itself—to know itself and grow itself to higher levels of self-organization. A natural expression of this deep, evolutionary impulse is humanity's striving to fulfill our species name as the creatures who are doubly wise (we are able to directly experience
and be aware of our capacity for knowing). Humanity's efforts to awaken and evolve are a direct expression of the central project of the cosmos. In turn, we can learn a great deal about ourselves by considering the most basic properties of the self-organizing systems found throughout the cosmos.

The Torus Found Throughout Nature

•
Centering.
A self-organizing system requires a center around which and through life energy can flow. The center must remain open to flow if the system is to be healthy.

•
Consciousness.
A self-organizing system has a level of consciousness that is appropriate to its form and functions. From a capacity for primary perception at the level of atoms, to full reflexive consciousness at the level of humans, systems must be able to reflect upon themselves in order to be self-organizing.

•
Freedom.
To be authentically self-organizing and self-creating, living systems must exist within a context of relative freedom, as life-forms interact and affect one another in a co-evolutionary dynamic.

•
Paradoxical nature.
Self-organizing systems are both stable and dynamic (they are flowing systems that manifest as stable structures); both open and closed (they are continuously opening to the flow-through of energy and continuously closing into an identifiable entity); and both unique and unified (they are uniquely manifesting themselves at each moment while being completely immersed within and connected to the whole universe).

•
Community.
Communities of self-organizing systems are the foundation for life. An expanded scope of community supports new levels of learning and life-experience. Self-organizing systems grow in concert with other systems in a mutually supportive process of co-evolution.

•
Emergence.
We cannot predict what creative configurations will emerge as self-organizing systems grow to higher levels of connection and synergy. Smaller systems do not reveal the potentials that can emerge from larger combinations. To illustrate, we could not predict the properties of biological cells by looking only at molecules. In a similar way, we could not predict the ability of molecules to build cells by only looking at the structure of an atom, the building block of molecules. There is an extraordinary jump in aliveness at each level that could not have been anticipated by the properties of the previous level.

Where is the universe going? The universe is rolling out self-reflective systems at the local scale that are able to join into communities at larger scales that offer the opportunity for learning and creative expression in a context of ever-broadening freedom. If we want to go with the flow of our cosmos, we will orient ourselves in this direction.

If the universe is busy nurturing the development of self-organizing systems at every scale, then how does our journey of awakening align with nature's evolutionary intentions? If we fight against
nature we are fighting against ourselves, and our evolutionary journey will be one of alienation and frustration. If we cooperate with the cosmos, we are serving our deepest potentials and our journey will be one of satisfaction and learning. Although we may not have been aware of it, the human community is on a path of development that is aligned with the self-organizing direction of the universe.

As mentioned in
Chapter 2
, our full name as a species is
Homo sapiens sapiens,
or doubly knowing humans.
³
Simply stated, this means we can see ourselves as objects in the mirror of our own consciousness. Being able to observe ourselves gives us an entirely new level of freedom and creativity.
If we use our scientific name as a guide, then our core purpose as a species is to realize—both individually and collectively—our potential for double wisdom or conscious knowing in a living universe.
As we awaken, the cosmos also awakens. This is what I have called the “great awakening.” The cosmos is bending back upon itself as we humans cross the threshold of reflection and begin to contemplate ourselves within the cosmos. As the bending arc of evolution follows its course and consciousness returns to itself, we are fulfilling the potentials of the universe for creating self-organizing forms of life that are progressively ever more self-reflective. A simple visualization of stages of awakening follows. These stages are discussed in detail in the next chapter.

Does our development as doubly wise beings align with the universe's central project of developing self-organizing systems? As the figure's simple images suggest, I believe that
humanity and the universe are evolving in the same direction.
After billions of years of evolution, a life-form has emerged on the Earth that is literally the universe looking back at herself and her creations through the unique perspective and experience of each individual person. A gardener
appreciating a flower or an astronomer peering out at the night sky actually represents the closing of a loop of awareness that began with the birth of our cosmos some 14 billion years ago. We are the eyes, hands, voices, and heart of the cosmos. Our universe gave birth to and sustains living planets, which, in turn, have given rise to life-forms that are now able to look back at the universe with
wonder and awe. The awakening of a reflective human consciousness enables the universe to know itself and to experiment consciously in its own evolution.

A Simple Visualization of Humanity's Central Project

We can see a fundamental principle at work in the universe: Evolution requires both matter and consciousness. Matter is blind in its evolutionary ascent without the mirroring capacity that consciousness provides; consciousness is blind in its evolutionary ascent without the grounding capacity that matter provides. Evolution is a mutually supportive process whereby matter seeks reflective affirmation of its presence through consciousness as much as consciousness seeks clarity of expression through matter.
The goal of evolution is not to move from matter to consciousness; rather, it is to integrate matter and consciousness into a co-evolving spiral of mutual refinement that ultimately reveals the Mother Universe from which both continuously arise.
Matter and consciousness support one another in their mutual ascent toward an ever-wider scope of integration and differentiation, unity and diversity. At very high levels of mutual refinement and dynamic alignment, the Mother Universe from which both arise is directly evident as non-dual or unified awareness.