Chapter 6
There can be no greater foolishness than to deny the reality of something only because one has not experienced it.
Al Ghazzali
On 16–17 August 1987, the Harmonic Convergence gathering took place. This brought many people together to celebrate the planetary alignment that was then occurring. The aim of the gathering was to facilitate the shift towards a new era. Planet Earth was again placed as the central focus of people’s thoughts. Perhaps not since the Apollo space programme, and the first photos of the Earth from space, had humanity been so focused on the blue dot. The iconic photo of Earth taken on 7 December 1972, by the crew of Apollo 17, has been instrumental in focusing peoples’ minds toward unity consciousness. With the emergence – and convergence – of transcendental philosophies, ecological awareness, space travel and technologies that connect us over distance and time, the human psyche has been undergoing preparation for a new era of social organization and communication.
Recent decades especially have seen an advance in the ecological view of living systems and the interconnectedness and interaction between humans, nature and environment. Moreover, this shift toward integral thinking has also embraced the nonmaterial levels of the human psyche and consciousness. Through our various cultures, and with our recently created vocabulary of the psyche, we are developing the language, the skills and nuances to sense and articulate our personal, revelatory experiences. The inner ‘shamanic’ realm is being explored by more and more people within the contexts of their everyday lives. We are slowly learning to externalize our internal states. Even our new scientific discoveries are explaining and validating the energetic threads that connect our internal states with external reality. The latest in scientific discovery now confirms that there is no ‘out there’, and that all living beings are inherently enfolded within an energy entanglement. Up until now the dominant paradigm has been that the solid things we experience are real, and the space around them is empty and passive. However, science is now informing us that it is the space that is real, and the solid things that are secondary. This concept emerges from the findings of cutting-edge physics. Space, quantum physicists now realize, is not empty and passive but is a ‘full’ and dynamic field (even though some physicists still refer to it as the ‘quantum vacuum’!).
Latest discoveries have found that atoms and particles (in the quantum state) can be instantly projected across any finite distance. This phenomenon is referred to as ‘teleportation’, and is already an intense research area for such things as secure quantum encryption in communications (with obvious military uses). It has also been found that instant quantum-resonance-based interactions operate in living systems, and in the known physical universe. What this means is that ‘nonlocal’ interaction (action at a distance) occurs between the parts or elements of systems and transcends the recognized bounds of space and time.
We have been conditioned to think of space as being the empty and passive background from which things manifest – or it is the ‘nothingness’ that hangs between objects. In fact, the truth is the reverse to this. It is the undulating cosmic matrix – which forms the background of what we refer to as space – that is real; and matter is a manifestation that emerges from this underlying reality. Perhaps a good way to visualize this is by the following analogy. When we look at the sea we think of waves as moving along the surface, toward the shore or spreading out behind ships. The waves appear to move from one point on the sea toward another. Yet in fact the molecules of water do not move laterally from one place to another – they only move up and down. The view of waves travelling across the surface of the sea is an optical effect. It is not the waves that travel across the sea, but rather the surface that fluctuates and gives the impression of rolling movement – like the shake of a blanket. This is the same for the quantum field of space – things do not move across or over space, they move within space. Everything is contained within the sea of immense underlying energy, from which matter emerges as a secondary phenomenon.
The vision the emerging paradigm gives us is very different from the still dominant vision. The world that meets our eye is not an illusion, but it is not what it appears to be either. The real world is not an arena of separate things moving across an empty space. All things manifested in our reality are conveyed in, and are a part of, a richly dense and dynamic energy matrix. This, however, does not mean that the existence of solid objects is an illusion, only that their separateness is. This may sound like science fiction to some people – yet it is quantum science fact. We can now state that reality, as we currently under stand it, is a giant quantum system in which all things are intrinsically and instantly interconnected. In a previous book I have referred to this paradigm as the ‘Akashic Age’.1
On a biological level also, the latest research in the study of biophysics and biofields reveals that a form of quantum coherence is present within living biological systems. Biological coherence operates through what are known as biological excitations and biophoton emission. In this context ‘coherence’ refers to wave patterns that converge harmoniously. A popular example of this is the laser in which multiple waves of amplified light are directed in a narrow coherent beam of condensed and directed energy. Biophysics tells us that metabolic energy is stored as a form of electromechanical and electromagnetic excitations. It is these coherent excitations that are considered responsible for generating and main taining long-range order via the transformation of energy and very weak electromagnetic signals.2 Researcher Fritz-Albert Popp hypothesizes that biophotons are emitted from a coherent electrodynamic field within the living system.3 What this means is that each living cell is giving off, or resonating, a biophoton field of coherent energy. If each cell is emitting this field then this results in the whole living system becoming a resonating nonlocal energy field. This, claims Popp, is the basis for coherent biological organization – referred to as quantum coherence. Coherence, it appears, is the byword for living systems.
Relatively new developments in biophysics have also shown that DNA is a liquid crystal lattice-type structure (which some refer to as a liquid crystal gel) in which body cells are involved in a holographic instantaneous communication via the biophoton field. Moreover, bio physics has discovered that living organisms are permeated by quantum wave-forms. This incredible new information actually positions each living being within a nonlocal quantum field consisting of wave interferences (where bodies meet). The liquid crystalline structure within living systems is also responsible for the direct current (DC) electrodynamic field that permeates the bodies of all animals. It has also been noted that the DC field has a mode of semi-conduction that is much faster than the nervous system.4
Human consciousness, we now learn, is not only in a ‘wave-interference’ relationship with other mind-fields, but is also constantly transmitting and receiving information. Clinical psychiatrist Daniel Siegel notes how the body’s neural networks operate as a form of ‘extended mind’ to receive and transmit data and sensory information. The body thus acts as a vital field source of intuition that powerfully influences our reasoning.5
Similarly, researchers at the Californian HeartMath Institute have been investigating cardiac coherence through exposure to specific emotions. It has been found that when a person experiences positive feelings like love, care, appreciation and joy, their electrocardiograph becomes coherent. On the other hand, when exposed to negative emotions like anger, worry or hostility, the electro cardiograph shows incoherent patterns. The phenom enon of biological coherence has been speculated to be the factor behind the transfer of healing energies between people. It has also been shown that people who meditate can achieve an extremely high level of cross-hemispheric synchronization. Similarly, people who mediate together have been discovered to synchronize their brain activity. Through the use of EEG brain scanning it has been shown that brainwave activity is synchronized amongst the participants in such groups. There have also been studies in which human neurons were separated and sealed in so-called Faraday containers in order to block out physical communication. Yet, when one set of neurons were stimulated with a laser, the other separated group of neurons registered the same changes at the same time. Former chief-of-staff of Medical City Dallas Hospital Larry Dossey refers to such phenomena as ‘One Mind.’6 Likewise, families may, according to some psychotherapists, possess a common shared emotional field; such as the established research proving brainwave correlations between the brains of identical twins. There are literally hundreds of verified scientific studies that show the inherent coherence between humans biologically, mentally, emotionally and energetically. The scientific validation of nonlocal fields of consciousness places greater emphasis upon our recognition of collective or group coherence within humanity.
As discussed in Chapter 5, the notion of mirror neurons and empathy are the forerunners to understanding our fundamental interconnectivity as a species. We are learning that extended fields of conscious information and communication exist between individuals and groups as a medium of coherence that may further entangle humanity into a collective ‘grand family’. It is interesting to note how nowadays there are increasing numbers of people who are becoming sensitive to human fields of connectivity, whether through empathy-at-a-distance or, for example, perceiving the presence of subtle energy fields around others. Also, the general interest in meta physical subjects these days has exploded, with a psycho logical language and mindset emerging to deal with these increasingly well-recognized phenomena. It is now becoming commonplace to speak of reiki, chi, pranic energy and even of quantum energy. Not only are many cultures and societies learning to deal with a modern wave of techno logical networks (as already discussed), but also with an increase in conscious awareness of human connections within an extended mind. In this way humanity is learning how to be a more interactive, empathic and collective extended family. Never before in the known history of our species have we come to a point where we are sailing in the same ship, afflicted by the same concerns, and affected similarly by a range of planet-wide impacts. The realization is now dawning on the peoples of the world: that we are all a part of the field fabric of a collective family.
This realization is being keenly felt, too, by the younger generations: generations that are growing up accustomed to sharing intimacy and empathizing easily with others inter nationally. This younger generation is manifesting, whether conscious of it or not, a nonlocal-field level of relationships. It is a form of energy resonance that mimics the quantum state of the particle and the wave: each person is clearly isolated from another by physical distance (particle), yet at the same time very much entangled in a conscious field of connectivity and communication (wave). In other words, each is participating in a field view of reality, a reality that creates an extended set of responsibilities as one’s thoughts and actions can reverberate to greater distances. This then becomes a participative world view, as inner experiential states connect with outer events and experiences. In this worldview the psychic aspect of reality becomes more dominant as the person integrates them selves into the fabric of the connected world rather than being an external participant. By immersing ourselves in the world as a whole we are embracing our empathic and compassionate communion.
We each have the choice – and response-ability – to develop consciously from each of our multiple inter actions, whether face-to-face or at-a-distance. Sociologists have, up until now, been largely focused on human identity as characterized by individualization, especially so in ‘modern/postmodern’ societies in which the service-to-self attitude has been rampant. Yet this is a myopic vision on two counts: on one hand it neglects that humans instinctively seek groupings and attachments; and on the other it fails to recognize that the nature of human consciousness also undergoes change along with socio-cultural shifts. The hypothesis I put forward in this book is that, in accordance with our evolutionary trajectory, a new form of consciousness will emerge as new generations arrive on this planet. This new wave of consciousness will then gradually seep into the core of all our future societies.
These emerging states have already been appearing sporadically, often in exceptional individuals, although sometimes also as freak occurrences or after traumatic shocks. The transition at hand is for these infrequent manifestations of a new form of human consciousness to become more universal – toward a planetary integral consciousness. As I explain in Part Three, the Phoenix Generation will be perhaps the first wave of new arrivals to exhibit these patterns of consciousness – as a natural, organic progression. Eventually, the ‘new age’ will become the ‘new normal’ as new patterns of thinking and perception seep into the general collective consciousness. The new paradigm will wash over the old with its new models and new ways of doing things.
Already the integrated perspective is slowly per-colating into our patterns of perception as more and more people embrace and instinctively trust non-material infor mation. The dominant materialist worldview is under increased scrutiny as more people awaken to the possibility that their intuitive glimpses – dreams, visions, premonitions and so on – are reliable sources of information that originate from alternative senses. Through seeking practices that were once considered meta physical, such as yoga, meditation, psychotherapy, trans personal therapy, bio-feedback and altered states of consciousness, people are accessing a once hidden, or rather neglected, realm of senses and self-knowing. As more people realize that the subtle realm of extrasensory information is not a figment of fantasy or delusion, but in fact has a scientific foundation, these states of consciousness will become more widely accepted, and assimilated. Philosopher Ervin László notes that:
In time, however, a more evolved consciousness is likely to spread over all the continents. It will spread by a form of contagion. An evolved mind is ‘infectious’, it affects less evolved minds . . . A more evolved consciousness will motivate people to develop their own consciousness, it will transform humanity’s collective unconscious.7
Whilst the transition may not appear to unfold suddenly to us, within evolutionary terms it will be an exceptional surge. As we continue through these years of social and cultural change – of challenges to our world view and models – we are almost certainly going to be coerced into rethinking and re-evaluating our perceptions and modes of conscious awareness.
Our latest scientific discoveries and technological innova tions are helping to prepare humanity for the realization that meaningful relationships can operate at a distance. Dynamic and empathic connections can manifest through nonlocal fields of exchange. It is as if we are initially manifesting outwardly – exteriorizing – our inherent internal attributes as a pre-model, or type of blueprint. We are establishing the exoskeleton of human entanglement around the planet – a physical expression of our internal states. Also, with the latest discoveries in the quantum sciences, we are learning more and more about how all living organisms are in fact swathed in energy fields and waves of information flows. This realization of our hidden connections has been percolating through the corridors of human science as well as through our popular consciousness over the last few decades.
In coming together physically, through the external structures of our social networks and planetary communications, we are also coming together psychically as individuals around the world. In our diversity lies our unity: united through our connection, communication, conscious ness and compassion. Already we are seeing the potentials when energetically connected individuals come together in the world today.
The Power of Energetically Connected Individuals
The fact that we are now increasingly connected around the planet means that we each have the potential to invest our individual energies as never before. And this is especially important for those people living outside the so-called ‘privileged’ societies. Whilst many may think that technological innovation is only available for developed nations, the reverse is true. Tech nological innovation has in fact had some of its most startling impacts in empowering poorer regions and peoples.
As mentioned previously, in the coming years there will be nearly 3 billion new minds coming online. The majority of these minds, voices and hearts will come from the developing nations as they connect to the planetary nervous system. They will be able to leapfrog over the need for an industrial revolution and jump directly into the digital age. Many people have failed to recognize the potential of the participation and input of the billions due to come online in the coming years from such cultures. After all, the human brain is an almost unlimited resource, unlike other resources on the planet. As the five billion poorer people become increasingly connected they will utilize global networks in ways the older generation will not be prepared for. It is likely that the future will be more defined by these ‘poor peoples’ than our current jet-setting crowd. When the future is open, networked and available for innovation, then it will be in the hands of those who can think out of the box or even without a box.
The game is already afoot in many ways, as we saw in the networked protests of the Arab Spring. Many regions and peoples that have suffered oppression and barbaric cultural restrictions will no longer tolerate these anachronistic ways of living. The new consciousness arising in these areas will also push forward new models that seek to override the incumbent status quo. The older power-orientated regimes will have a hard time trying to hold back the tidal wave of change demanded by the rising youth. As one commentator has referred to this situation – the ‘desert’ will want to have what the ‘oasis’ has . . . and they’ll be ready to move out of the desert for it.8 People are feeling the inherent inner potential to reach out, connect and be empowered. A single individual can energetically connect and catalyze thousands, if not millions, of other people within this new-paradigm era.
One example of this involves Oscar Morales, a resident of Columbia who one day felt so much anger against the FARC rebels9 of his native country that he felt he had to express himself. That evening he created a Facebook page and named it Un Millón de Voces Contra Las FARC (‘One million voices against FARC’). Morales created the group and made it public just after midnight on 4 January 2008. At 3 a.m. he went to bed. At 9 a.m. the next morning he woke up to check his group and found that 1,500 people had already joined. What was more astonishing was that by the late afternoon the same day the group had grown to include 4,000 members. By 6 January, the second full day, the group not only had 8,000 members, but people were actively posting on the discussion board and wishing to connect physically and publicly. In itself this event may not seem remarkable. However, the result is that on 4 February 2008 – a mere four weeks after the group was begun – millions of Colombians dressed in white marched throughout the country and in major cities worldwide to express their anger at FARC. Within a month one individual had managed to catalyze millions of people to come together in 27 cities in Colombia and 104 worldwide to march in empathy and solidarity. This is one example of the power of energetically connected individuals. We are seeing similar connected uprisings throughout the world.10 However, these are early signs and may involve what I discussed earlier about being a frustrated part of the Bridge Generation. Yet those young individuals who will form part of the Phoenix Generation will not need to create conflict with existing systems, as they will create their own systems that will make the old models obsolete. As I have said, the young people today are born into change; whereas those that are to come will be born as change.
We do not necessarily need to connect with thousands of other people to share our energies. We can connect – and indeed are already connecting – in countless ways. In fact, each encounter we have with another person is an energetic exchange. George Kaponay, the originator of the EnergeticXChange concept,11 and his family were travelling through South America on a journey to promote the values of energetic exchange when they bumped into a young Argentinian called Lugas in the jungle. Lugas had been travelling throughout South America without any money. When asked why he chose to travel like that Lugas replied that he had arrived in Chile with money, yet one day he happened to come across a very young girl, a child, in the street selling sweets for a living. There and then he decided to give her all his money. His reasoning was that if she could live on virtually nothing, then so could he. Lugas had been travelling since then on the kindness of strangers and the kindness of human ‘energetic exchange’.12
Coming together involves a conscious under standing and appreciation of our connectivity as a diverse yet united species. Although we share information, it is much more than just the content we share. After all, information is not intelligence, and intelligence is not wisdom. Our networks (and governmental systems) can collect as much information as they wish. They can analyze as much data as they wish – yet data-collectors (whether humans or machines) are not necessarily intelligent. And if they be classed as intelligent, we cannot assume that they will be wise. True wisdom is the greatest resource we have on this planet, and the human being is the living essence that can act as an integral part of the dynamic intelligent whole.
Coming together as one involves our empathy, our humanity, our integrity and our ingenious capacity for innovation and creativity. In the next chapter I examine some of the creative innovation and new-paradigm models that are taking us into the future and toward the Phoenix Generation.