When we are talking about the next step of evolution for humanity, we are not talking just of the mind.
The soul is the first, the oldest part of us with so much knowing, intuition, the thing which holds the capacity for possibility, creativity, for Something to spring from Nothing.
The body comes next, the body and all its sensations, the millions of inputs from nerve endings, taste buds, light receptors, sound receptors and what we can smell. And then there is the body language of ourselves and of others; physical comfort, physical pleasure and physical pain; birth and death. So much information to be processed.
Then comes our heart, our emotions, our capacity for love, connection, separation, mistrust, anger, fear, joy, wonder. The body is the first brain, the heart is the second. Again, so much information to be processed, looked for, sought, given.
And of course on top of all that comes the mind with its capacity to understand, to communicate with words. And as the mind has developed, so too has our ability to choose what we do with all of the information we receive from our body and heart.
The thing is, our mind is like a child in evolutionary terms, but we put it in charge, because it is new, strong, it is totally supported in our society as being champion of all and it feels infinitely superior often to all the other parts of ourselves - simply because it is the most recent. This has happened to such an extent that millions of people are cut off from their feelings, from any kind of awareness of their body, to hugely detrimental effect.
When we can understand that our mind is a child, we can begin to engage our heart to have compassion for it, our wise ancient body to bring it to presence, our knowing soul to guide it in the right direction.
This is what it means to evolve. Evolution is not some great leap into the light, it is simple. It is awareness of self. Not easy perhaps, a constant practice for certain. But simple: awareness of who we are, as a whole, complete being. Integrated awareness. This has been my passion for many years and will continue to be for the rest of my life because it requires total commitment, total surrender and the humility to know you cannot do it alone.
Guides come in many forms: spirit, heart, body and mind, and the ones who can guide us on this path are the ones who are already travelling it for themselves. I have many guides and each and every one of them teaches me something different. I have daily lessons in trust and in letting go. I have not written this piece for example, I simply got out of the way for it to be written.
And now, after thirty years of practice, I feel I am at the beginning of understanding. It is a beautiful and privileged place to be.
The soul is the first, the oldest part of us with so much knowing, intuition, the thing which holds the capacity for possibility, creativity, for Something to spring from Nothing.
The body comes next, the body and all its sensations, the millions of inputs from nerve endings, taste buds, light receptors, sound receptors and what we can smell. And then there is the body language of ourselves and of others; physical comfort, physical pleasure and physical pain; birth and death. So much information to be processed.
Then comes our heart, our emotions, our capacity for love, connection, separation, mistrust, anger, fear, joy, wonder. The body is the first brain, the heart is the second. Again, so much information to be processed, looked for, sought, given.
And of course on top of all that comes the mind with its capacity to understand, to communicate with words. And as the mind has developed, so too has our ability to choose what we do with all of the information we receive from our body and heart.
The thing is, our mind is like a child in evolutionary terms, but we put it in charge, because it is new, strong, it is totally supported in our society as being champion of all and it feels infinitely superior often to all the other parts of ourselves - simply because it is the most recent. This has happened to such an extent that millions of people are cut off from their feelings, from any kind of awareness of their body, to hugely detrimental effect.
When we can understand that our mind is a child, we can begin to engage our heart to have compassion for it, our wise ancient body to bring it to presence, our knowing soul to guide it in the right direction.
This is what it means to evolve. Evolution is not some great leap into the light, it is simple. It is awareness of self. Not easy perhaps, a constant practice for certain. But simple: awareness of who we are, as a whole, complete being. Integrated awareness. This has been my passion for many years and will continue to be for the rest of my life because it requires total commitment, total surrender and the humility to know you cannot do it alone.
Guides come in many forms: spirit, heart, body and mind, and the ones who can guide us on this path are the ones who are already travelling it for themselves. I have many guides and each and every one of them teaches me something different. I have daily lessons in trust and in letting go. I have not written this piece for example, I simply got out of the way for it to be written.
And now, after thirty years of practice, I feel I am at the beginning of understanding. It is a beautiful and privileged place to be.