The Living Universe (27 page)

4.
This description is drawn primarily from: Sorokin, op. cit., p. 67, and Eknath Easwaran,
The Compassionate Universe
, Petaluma, CA: Nilgiri Press, 1989.

5.
Gitanjali Kolanad,
Culture Shock!India
, Portland, OR: Graphic Arts Center Publishing, 1994, p. 23.

6.
Ibid., p. 69.

7.
Arnold Toynbee,
A Study of History
(abridgement of Vol's I-VI, by D. C. Somerville), New York: Oxford University Press, 1947, p. 198.

1.
Another useful resource for appreciating a sense of the human scale: Go online and look for “powers of ten” videos; they provide a fascinating look into the realms of the very large and the very small relative to the human scale.

2.
See
Chapter 1
of Elgin,
Promise Ahead
, op. cit., “Is Humanity Growing Up?”

Note: Page references in
italics
denote illustrations

Abil-Kheir, Abu-said, poetry of,
106
–107

Aborigines (Australian), view of the universe,
77

agape,
teachings of Jesus,
106

ages, the axial,
144
–147

al-Arabi, Ibn, the Beloved,
106

Al-Ghazali, Islamic theologian,
66
–67

aliveness, consciousness,
119

Almaas, A.H., modern day Sufi teacher,
68

American Indians, lore of the three miracles,
19

amoeba, rudimentary consciousness of,
45

animals, elements of human-like consciousness in,
45
–46

Arabi, Ibn, thirteenth century Islamic leader,
67

Aristotle, living by the golden mean,
172

atheism, vs. theism,
201

Atman, Hindu cosmic spirit,
68
–69

attitude, indifferent or welcoming,
12

Aurobindo, Sri, Hindu philosopher on the substance of the universe,
70

awakening

co-creating our story of,
160
–166

compassionate understanding,
127

completeing our journey of,
186

enlightenment,
113

flow consciousness,
153
–155

into the living universe,
147
–149

oceanic consicousness,
151
–153

our collective,
140
–142

reflective consciousness,
149
–151

society's journey of,
131

the three major stages of,
149

Awakening Earth
(Elgin),
6
,
29

awareness

scope of our conscious,
95

self-recognition,
113

Beethoven, Ludwig von, on music,
104

Bergson, Henri,
elan vital
life force,
79

Berry, Thomas

bearing the universe,
83

communion and community,
1

Bhagavad-Gita,
Hindu view of the universe,
69

Bible

references to the creation of the universe,
61
–65

the Word,
103

Big Bang, theory of the,
24
–25,
27

biophilia,
connection between humans and other life forms,
10

black holes

doorway or wormhole into a new universe,
86

reproduction,
53
–54

Blackmore, Susan, living in a dead universe,
7
–8

Bohm, David

calculating energy in empty space,
38
–39

continuous creation,
42

description of matter,
98

theory of non-locality,
36
–37

Book of Mirdad
(Nimay),
166
–167

Born, Max, the living universe theory,
40
–41

Brahman,
Hindu supreme cosmic spirit,
68

Brahman, “sound body” of
OM,
104
–105

Bruno, Giordano, philosophical teachings of,
78

Buddhism

clear light,
100
–101

core practice of
metta
(lovingkindness),
108

encouraging a lifestyle of simplicity,
172

existence of a soul,
215

flow of life force within us,
126

the Golden Rule of,
145

interdependent co-arising and co-origination,
71
–72

Japanese practice of,
72
–73

self recognition,
111

unbounded love,
107
–108

view of the universe,
71
–73

Campbell, Joseph

Duane Elgin, et al.,
Changing Images of Man,
5

the hero's journey,
132

wisdom traditions,
86

Carver, George Washington, wisdom of,
51

catastrophe, the Toba,
135
–136

Catholic Church,
creatio
doctrines,
65

centered, becoming,
72
–73

centering, self-organizing systems,
122

Central Project, Humanity's,
125

Cernan, Gene, the view of earth from the moon,
11

Changing Images of Man
(Campbell, Elgin, et al.),
5

ch'i,
life energy in Taoism,
74
–75

Children of the Light, Quaker view of the universe,
99
–100

choice

freedom of,
52

of simplicity,
176

Christianity

foundation of love,
106

the Golden Rule of,
145

view of the universe,
61
–65

wisdom of simplicity,
172

CIA, psi research,
48

circles, conversation,
195

cities, creating “eco-cities,”
178

civilization, creating a sustainable world,
141
–142

clear light, practice of the,
101
–102

climate, disruption,
139
–140

co-arising, Buddhist teaching of interdependent co-origination and,
71
–72

common sense, finding,
141
–142

communication

between plants,
45
,
209

instant non-locality,
36
–37

single cell creatures,
44

using the power of electronic,
182

communion, era of spiritual,
147

community

the “eco-village,”
177

new levels of,
176
–179

self-organizing systems,
123

concentration, balance between mindfulness and,
150

conflict, facing,
13

Confucianism

the Golden Rule of,
145

view of the universe,
74
–75

connections

biophilia,
10

cosmic,
3

cosmophilia,
10

intuitive,
25
–26

with a living universe,
12

new level of,
9
–10

with other living things,
14

connectivity, nonlocal,
108
–109

consciousness

aliveness,
119

cosmic,
108

the deep ecology of,
167
–168

feeling,
137

from reflection to communion,
149

Humanity's Central Project,
125

Kabbalah view of light as the carrier of,
100

level basic to life,
43

the mirror of,
148

properties of,
46
–47

on the quantum level,
43

self-organizing systems,
122

sending and receiving potential,
47

sensing,
136
–137

slime mold,
44
–45

thinking,
137

validating,
51

conversations

about sustainability,
181
–182

authentic inquiry,
166

Do we make a difference?,
196

the effects of mass media on our species,
197
–198

integrating simplicity in your lifestyle,
199

Is the universe dead or alive?,
195
–196

our place on the hero's journey,
197

personal cosmic connections,
198

scenarios for the future,
198

self-reflection,
197
–198

What are your talents and true gifts?,
199

What is the current life stage of humanity,
196
–197

Cosmic Feminine, evolution of the universe,
143

cosmophilia,
relating to the universe,
10

cosmos

continuous creation of the,
40
,
204
–208

flow of the living,
153

the “great awakening,”
124

life energy,
31

requirements for building a,
27
–29

creatio continua,
doctrine of,
65

creatio ex nihilo,
doctrine of,
65

creation, continuous,
40
,
128
–129,
204
–208,
211

creationism, vs. continuous creation,
211

crisis

the emerging world systems,
140
–142

the global systems,
182

resolving the world systems,
161

whole systems,
3

culture, wisdom,
143

Dalai Lama

preparing for death,
111

Tibetan Buddhist perspective,
72

dancing, to our internal music,
104
–105

death

enduring aliveness,
112

recognizing the existence of our soul,
109
–110

design, intelligent,
27
,
203

dimension, going beyond the third,
127

dimensions, invisible framework of the universe,
24

discoveries, recent scientific,
34

doctrines

creatio continua,
65

creatio ex nihilo,
65

Sufisim,
67
–68

Dreamtime, Aboriginal teachings,
77

dynamics, at work in the universe,
128

Dyson, Freeman, consciousness on the quantum level,
43

Eastern Orthodox Christianity, view of God's energy,
63
–64

Eckhart, Meister

creation of the universe,
65

intimacy with the sacred,
89

eco-communities, creating,
177
–178

ecology

of consciousness,
167
–168

sustainable harmony for future generations,
169

economics, narrowing the disparities in wealth and opportunity,
168
–169

ecosystems, creating sustainable,
29

Einstein, Albert

existence of a vastly superior spirit,
33

question for God,
2

space vs. matter,
41

time as the fourth dimension,
24

elan vital,
life force,
79

Elgin, Duane

about the author,
227
–229

Awakening Earth,
6
,
29

and Joseph Campbell, et.al,
Changing Images of Man,
5

personal perspective,
3
–7

Voluntary Simplicity,
6

emergence, self-organizing systems,
123

empathy, between animals,
46

empires, built on war and violence,
171

energy

dark,
22
–24,
202

flow in living systems,
38
–39

life,
31
,
74

particles,
103

shortages,
139
–140

zero point,
38
–39

ephemeralization, Buckminster Fuller's process of,
173
–174

era

the agricultural,
137
–138

the industrial,
78
–79,
137
–138

of spiritual communion,
147

eternity, preparing for,
112
–113

etherialization, Toynbee's process of becoming more efficient,
173

ethics, fostering a new level of,
166

ethnic cleansing, healing the wounds of,
168

evolution

from dead matter to consciousness,
8
–9

goal of,
126

self-organizing systems,
123
–128

self-reflective life forms,
29

existence, maginitude of the mystery of,
118

experiences

awakening,
148
–149

mystical,
11
,
202
–203

experiments

intuitive knowing,
48
–49

with
psychokinesis,
49
–50

receiving and sending potential,
47

Father Giovanni, the journey home,
131

feedback, and meditation,
48
–49

feminine archetype, expanding on a cosmic scale,
151

flow-through, sustaining life,
119
–120

framework, invisible,
24

freedom

of choice,
52

self-organizing systems,
122

Fromm, Erich,
biophilia,
10