A couple of years ago, I discovered something shocking,
extraordinary, and completely obvious: Most of us simply don't
believe in the evolution of consciousness. And I don't just mean
those who are convinced that God created the world in six days.
I mean those of us who accept the theory of evolution and who
are, at least to some degree, aware of the multidimensional
nature of its manifestation all around us. We believe in
cosmological evolution and understand that we live not in a
static universe but in one that is part and parcel of a
deep-time developmental process. We don't doubt that the
universe was born many billions of years ago in a blinding flash
of light and energy. We believe in biological evolution and have
little difficulty comprehending how life itself has evolved from
lower levels of development like worms and butterflies to higher
ones like dolphins and humans. And many of us even recognize
that culture evolves over time and see that development as the
expression, at a collective level, of our human capacity for
greater and greater complexity and integration. We believe in
the evolutionary process because in so, so many ways we can see
it all around us: moving, stretching, changing, reaching, from
life to death to new life. But when it comes to
consciousness—especially our own—I have discovered
that our conviction in that same process is often nowhere to be
found.
We believe in evolution as an objective fact of life and of
the creative process but not necessarily as a living potential
inherent in our own subjective experience. It stunned me when I
first realized that even many of us who are already dedicated
seekers never consider that our very own consciousness, our
deepest sense and experience of our self, could actually evolve
and develop. It must be because it is such a quantum leap for
the subject to become the object—for consciousness to
become the object of its own attention and intention. I'm not
just speaking about awakening to the experience or fact of
consciousness at the level of pure subjectivity, which is what
the spiritual experience is typically all about. I'm pointing to
something even more difficult to grasp, which is the living
potential inherent in consciousness itself for development and
growth.
So what does this mean? It means that the feeling/knowing
experience of being ourselves can evolve, change, and develop in
ways we simply cannot imagine. What is it like for consciousness
to evolve? We cannot picture it in the eye of our mind because
such development is a journey from the gross to the subtle and
is unreachable with thought. How can we possibly imagine that
which we cannot conceptualize?
We can imagine our own development as long as we can
objectify it with thought. For example, we can imagine ourselves
losing weight and building muscle. We can imagine ourselves
learning algebra, Chinese, or how to play the guitar. We can
even imagine ourselves becoming less selfish and more
compassionate. But we simply cannot imagine our own self
evolving at the level of consciousness itself. It is important
to recognize what an alien concept this actually is in our
culture. We are almost never encouraged to grapple with our own
evolutionary potential at such a fundamental level, and as a
result, most of us have never even considered it. Think about
it, just for a moment: What would it be like for my self to
evolve in its very essence? What would it be like to develop and
grow at a level so profound that I would never be able to see it
and yet others would be able to recognize its expression? If we
can even begin to look deeply into this question, mysteriously,
we will already be participating in the very evolution of
consciousness I've been speaking about. And if we pursue it
wholeheartedly, we will be helping to make conscious a
miraculous process that was born many billions of years ago in a
flash of light and energy and is only now beginning to awaken to
itself, through us.
Andrew Cohen, founder and editor-in-chief of What Is
Enlightenment? has been a spiritual teacher since 1986 and is the author of numerous books, including Living Enlightenment and Embracing Heaven & Earth.
For more information, visit andrewcohen.org