I wrote:
In article <4818e1$eu4@usenet.srv.cis.pitt.edu> mps2@pitt.edu “Wayne” writes:
I for one do not have a problem with this concept. We will only truly be
able to contact any advanced life, be it God or what/who-ever, when we
have developed the prerequisite sensitivity to that Consciousness. The
analogy is with recently discovered lives in some of the depths of the
oceans, or of new discoveries by Hubble. These lives and discoveries
always existed. We simply did not have the sensitive instruments to
record or, in the case of deep sea creatures, to visit their environment.This is a different issue. If, as I was speculating, there is an analogy
between neurons in the brain and individuals on the Earth – and thus in
some sense the Earth itself is, or has the potential to become, a thinking system, is it meaningful to talk of “contacting” this system?What you are saying seems to imply two ( or more ) separate entities, one of which may be able to become aware of the other by special techniques. But if we, as individuals, are a part of the larger system in the way I described, I suspect that we could neither contact nor observe it. How could a neuron “contact” the brain?
But, Chris, that is why it is an analogy and not a correspondence. I
think we touch on deep issues here – perhaps, for example, what the
purpose of consciousness is. The lower, concrete mind can be both the
“slayer” of the Real and the “revealer” of the Real, depending upon its
use.
For instance, what if the Earth is already a thinking entity? It is the
lower mind, or the use of the mind in concrete manner (as opposed to
abstract), that prevents us from being sensitive to its thinking, i.e.,
we lack the requisite sensitive receiving apparatus. This leads to the
perception by humans that things are indeed separate. The spiritual path
of antiquity is not really a mystical path, although frequently couched
in those terms. The reason is simply because certain descriptive phrases
were needed to relate strickly to concrete mental types (or even those
with little, true mental activity.)
It is precisely the right use of consciousness that will enable a
bridging of consciousness toward that higher state. The spiritual path,
so-called, is merely a disciplined way of expanding consciousness, just
as much as a college curriculum is a specific way of expanding knowledge
and awareness along a particular field. And one of the important ways to
work toward, or bridge toward, any area of consciousness is to try to
take on the qualities of that area. At the very least, if the Planet has
a consciousness of its own, a quality we could easily ascribe to it is
cohesiveness, i.e., non-separativeness. It holds all forms of life in
its environment, even relating them to each other in ways we are only now
discovering with any depth. What would occur, in the planetary life
experience of humans, if we began to work within our thinking to build in
this quality of cohesiveness, non-separativeness, or synthesis? Our
inner life would then become coherent with the outer reality of the
greater life of this planet.
Please do not misunderstand. This is no mystical attitude. It is merely
an understanding on my part that if humans begin to think in synthesis,
without separativeness, we begin to create a thought form that is more
congruent with the wholeness of the planet. Currrently, however, we
seem to be putting the horse before the cart. We look at the
environmental sciences and say, “Ah-hah! The is a wholeness to the
earth.” Call it Gaia or whatever. But could the outer apparent
interrelated wholeness not be the effect of an underlying thought of the
planet toward wholeness? Bringing it down to human levels, are the
separative attitudes in the human minds not the cause of the resultant
effects that work out in hatred among humans?
A synthesis of thinking is seen, in this light, not as a “religious” goal
or attitude. It becomes a survival tool that brings humanity into
congruent living experience (livingness?) with the planet. We cease to be
asynchronous functioning cells (a defribillating mass of cells) and begin
to function in congruency that enables the life of the planet to proceed
and be correctly circulated(regular cardiac rhythm). (BTW, is this not
the beauty of the Internet, where so many “cells” are in such frequent
and immediate contact? Imagine the Internet evolving to coherence of
purpose, plan and thought, toward the upliftment, education, and cohesion
of humanity?)
Wayne