Participating in the Evolution of Love Based Consciousness

About 30 years ago I was in South Africa in the Drakensberg Mountains delivering a program in transformational leadership for the KwaZulu-Natal health department. At the time, South Africa was listed as the most dangerous tourist destination in the World and KwaZulu-Natal was the most dangerous province. It was a volatile time as the country was trying to find peace after so many years of separation and conflict.

Nelson Mandela was still President and was leading the peace efforts, but as well as this there were a number of community and spiritual leaders who were also doing things at the community level. One of these leaders was a Zulu Sangoma (a traditional healer or Shaman) – and he had an idea to work with an American Indian Shaman to create medicine wheels around South Africa to bring people together and create the opportunity for healing in the community.

I was fortunate enough to be there when they came to the Drakensberg to create a medicine wheel and hold an activation ceremony to align the physical structure with the spiritual energies. The wheel itself was quite large and similar to the picture above honoured the four sacred directions. In the centre was a huge bonfire ready to be lit as the sun went down.

Word had gone out into the communities that a healing ceremony was to be held and as day began to turn into night people started arriving from everywhere crammed into bakkies (utes or pick ups depending where you’re from) with food, drums and rattles – many dressed in family or tribal colours. Sangomas in the midst wore different coloured beads to signify their different abilities.

Soon the fire was lit and as can only happen in Africa, drumming, dancing and melodic singing stirred the hearts and spirits of all who were there. The fire roared, food was shared and connection and community was made.

Late into the night when many of the children were asleep the American Indian Shaman said that he would now give a teaching. We all gathered around.

“In the beginning,” he began, “there was only one. But one could not know itself as it could not see itself, so it decided to separate into two. And when there was two then the two went far far apart in different directions so there was contrast. Each could see each other but now they had gone so far apart they were different so not only could they see each other they also had judgement about each other. They could criticise each other and point out each others faults and weaknesses.”

“But now this time is ending,” he said, “we have gone far enough apart and now we must come back together and be one again. We must realise that we came from the same place and now we must return to that place but we can only do this if we first let go of the idea that we are not one.”

At the time I thought this was a profound teaching that gave me much hope for the future of humanity but in the last 30 years there have been many times when that hope has been questioned – none more so than some of the events of recent times.

If you read these posts you would have seen the last couple on ‘The evolution of love based consciousness’ and ‘The Intentional Manifesto’. In these two posts I have been exploring the idea of consciousness and what it is and how it could evolve. In my explorations I have come across the work of Federico Faggin, a Physicist and Engineer, and also James B. Glattfelder, a Physicist and Complexity scientist – author of ‘The Sapient Cosmos’.

These two Physicists are not alone in revisiting some of their earlier beliefs that consciousness arises in the mind and have now taken the view that consciousness is the universe and humans actually channel this consciousness. If everything began as one and the ‘Big Bang’ was what split things up then everything that exists now came from one and is entangled in the quantum field. Consciousness then learns about itself by the way that itself is reflected back through the relationships with other aspects of the field – in other words other conscious beings. Reality in this way is participative and the way we participate is through our consciousness.

This aligns very much to the view espoused by the American Indian Shaman so many years ago…

So, back to my question – if you are on board with the idea of the evolution of love based consciousness – then how would you participate in this evolution??

First, I think we should start with what evolution of consciousness actually might mean. To my way of thinking consciousness could be simplified in the present moment into awareness and presence. Eckhart Tolle talks a lot about this – the distinction between horizontal and vertical consciousness. Deepening awareness in the present moment leads us to be more present and accepting of uncertainty – as a grounded present being we can be free from uncertainty. Deepening awareness in the moment also frees us from the mind chatter and allows for the possibility of higher consciousness and intuitive guidance. Being completely present and open would then allow us to connect more deeply with the universal consciousness. All of this requires us to be free from fear and more embracing of love. Love of self, love of others and the releasing of the idea and feeling of separation. So if we are evolving consciousness then we are becoming free of fear and embracing love.

The participation part then is intentionally choosing in every moment – remembering that choice requires freedom – to embody in all our actions and inter-actions – because relationships are key – love based actions that align to the interconnected nature of all things. Simple eh?

“If you feel pain, you’re alive. If you feel other people’s pain, you’re a human being.”

Leo Tolstoy

In peace and love always.

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