From the archive: a presentation on the universe as a living system

I have been going through some of my old letters, university documents, drawings, and so on.

Here are the overheads (!) for a presentation I made in the Human Bias class at the University of Utah in 1995. The class was a systems view on understanding ourselves and our place in the universe, and my presentation reflected my passion in my teens and early twenties. It’s still here, although in a slightly different form. (I chose University of Utah since I saw health and environmental psychology classes in their curriculum, and also systems view classes in the psychology department. At the time, none of that existed in Norway.)

The topic of the presentation came from direct noticing, in the sense that the oneness I am noticed itself and sought out stories to match it. Back then, it took a more intellectual and elaborate form. I read a lot at the time outside the curriculum, including the authors referenced at the end.

There was an actual paper that went with this presentation, but that seems to be lost (along with my other things from the US).

Looking at the overheads, I am not sure why I called it “unfoldment” instead of unfolding! I also see much I now would talk about in a more immediate and simple way.

The Unfoldment of the Universe and Everything in It – in Five Minutes

Written by MoE, March 1995

Universe and Mind

• The universe may be part of a larger whole.
• The universe can be seen as mind.
• Mind is a property of every system – both living and nonliving.
• The signs of mind are self-organization – including self-transcendence and self-renewal.
• Every aspect of the universe is ultimately a part of the mind of the whole universe.

The Phases in the Self-Transcendence of the Universe

• Nonliving systems
• Living systems
• Half-awake dualistically aware systems
• Fully awake transdual awareness

The examples of self-aware systems are necessarily from this planet, which is not to say these are the only self-aware systems in the universe.

Universe and Mind II

• The universe has evolved awareness through living systems, including the Earth and humans.
• Everything in the human mind and formed through the human mind – like any other aspect of the universe – is a part of the universe and born from the universe.
• Culture, technology, wars, blind desire and blind repulsion, compassion, love, art, science, religion, philosophy, dance – are all part of the Earth just as rainforests, butterflies, and clouds are, and they are also part of the universe just like galaxies, nebulas, and other solar systems.
• Everything in and formed through the human mind is a part of the evolution of the universe and the Earth – any parts of the universe are integral aspects of its evolution.
• Everything is both a whole and a part of a larger whole at the same time. Through duality we experience ourselves as wholes (“individuals”); through transduality we also experience ourselves as parts of a larger whole.
• The world is always more than and different from our perception of it. We never mistake a painting or sculpture for what it is – an abstraction or representation – but we tend to do so in science and religion.

Duality and Transduality

Duality

Duality is the first phase of awareness, both for humanity and for the individual – through this we learn to discern aspect from aspect.

The Qualities of Blind Duality

• Blindly dualistic perception of existence
• Half-awake / half-asleep (in a relative or more absolute sense)

The Signs of Duality

• Fragmented perception
• Perceiving aspects of existence as existing “in itself” – not as part of a larger whole
• Perceiving poles in polarities – but not the polarity as a whole
• Seeing desired qualities in one pole, and undesired qualities in the other
• Different behavioral guidelines for the different poles
• Blind aversions and sympathies; blind desires and repulsions
• Blind arrogance and blind sense of inferiority

The Fragments – Discontinuity

• Mind–Body
• Self–Other
• Creator–Creation
• Humans–Nonhumans
• Culture–Nature
• Living–Nonliving
• God–Devil
• Truth–Nontruth

Duality and Transduality II

Transduality – The Transcendence into a Fully Awake Nondual Awareness

(a) Transcend beyond blindly dualistic awareness:

• Dissolve blind arrogance and sense of inferiority
• Dissolve blind anti- and sympathies
• Dissolve the sense of anything, including oneself, as existing “in itself”
• Perceive everything as part of a larger whole

(b) Transcend beyond half-awake awareness:

• Dissolve lack of concern
• Unfold spontaneous compassion with all beings
• Unfold spontaneous sense of gratitude, humility, and joy

Duality and Transduality III

The Spiritual Traditions

There are individuals in many traditions who may have unfolded fully awake nondual awareness. Here are a few:

Theistic traditions:

• Hinduism – Yogananda
• Christianity – Jesus, St. Francis, St. Theresa, St. Hildegard, Jacob Boehme
• Islam – Rumi (Sufi tradition)

Non-theistic traditions:

• Taoism – Lao Tsu
• Buddhism – Buddha Sakyamuni, Milarepa

The Esoteric Parts of Spiritual Traditions (teachings for a few):
Surprisingly similar across traditions, especially teachings on way of life, prayer, and meditation.

The Exoteric Parts of Spiritual Traditions (teachings for the masses):
More influenced by cultural context and focused on behavioral guidelines, yet still play an important role in human evolution.

The Methods of Transcendence

The First Boundary – Psyche/Psyche
We are unaware of parts of our psyche due to repression or undeveloped potentials. “Psyche” here refers more to personality. By recognizing projections and seeing in ourselves what we see in others, we begin to transcend this boundary.

The Second Boundary – Mind/Body
Transcending this boundary allows us to experience ourselves as an integrated whole. We see the influence of mind and body on each other, and we begin to experience the larger whole (e.g. the Earth) as one.

The Third Boundary – Individual/Larger Whole
We transcend the illusion of separateness and experience everything as part of a larger organic whole. This is nondual awareness.

The Methods of Transcendence II

An Important Principle: As You Relate to the Outer, You Relate to the Inner

• How we relate to the larger whole reflects how we relate to ourselves.

Examples:

• If you have strong aversion or sympathy toward something or someone, that quality likely exists in you.
• If you lack concern for the larger whole, that likely reflects a lack of concern for parts of yourself.
• Lack of care for long-term collective consequences reflects the same inwardly.

Becoming aware of this can:

• Dissolve arrogance and inferiority
• Open up the experience of being a small part of a vast living whole
• Lead to natural compassion and empathy

The Methods of Transcendence III

Buddhism and Meditation

Create conditions where the mind can self-transcend.

Way of Living:

• Do no harm
• Cultivate mindfulness
• Recognize interconnection of all things

Meditation:

• Unfold spaciousness, mindfulness, and non-attachment to internal and external phenomena

Important:

• Realization comes through experience, not intellect
• Guidance from someone with lived realization is helpful
• Let go of mental obscurations

The Situation Today

How the system may have formed the conditions for its own self-transcendence.

Certain global factors support a broader nondual awareness:

Large Number of Humans (Critical Mass):

• Shared behavioral patterns have amplified impact
• Globally interconnected society

Technological Developments:

• Global communication
• Space exploration – seeing Earth as a whole
• Weapons that can destroy the web of life
• Climate change due to pollution
• Potential global resource crises

References and Related Writings

Teilhard de Chardin – Evolution of universe and mind in a Christian perspective
Steiner – Evolution of the larger whole of the universe and Christian mysticism
Jung – Nature of mind and integrating projections at the personality level
Bertelsen – Western psychotherapy and Eastern philosophy
Wilber – Western psychotherapy, Islamic & Christian mysticism, Eastern philosophy
White – Planetary “overview system” and self-awareness through space exploration
Buddhism – Writings of Dalai Lama, Chögyam Trungpa, Sogyal Rinpoche, Thích Nhat Hanh
Jantsch – The Universe and the Mind
Capra – Systems theories
Sagan – Gaia model