Evolution Today = Revolution Now

We are witnesses of continuous changes on every level of our being. Change is perhaps the only constant in the Universe. If changes occur slowly we call it Evolution, if they occur fast we call it Revolution. Someone said that people don’t change, they just become more of the same. I see how this is true for myself. I also see how much misery it brings to my life. Hidden behind a wall of superstitions, expectations and assumptions, we wait for the world to stop and join us in a carefully constructed castle of our wishful thinking. No wonder we suffer so much trying to resist the change. So much energy invested in the battle we cannot possibly be won. Life is evolving constantly – that’s a fact; we may jump on board and adapt or stay behind and suffer consequences. The bad news is that our brains are embedded with old software; an equivalent of Windows 3.11 perhaps. We have very fast processor that unfortunately runs a very old operation system which main functions are: survival and reproduction (i.e. 95% of the time). For the raining 5% of the time, some of us, may use higher functions like kindness, compassion, creativity etc. The good news is, we have ability to override the system and program new functions. How to do it? Wait a second, let me tell you a story first.

For the first billion years of life on Earth the world was ruled by bacteria. The evolve, grew and did pretty well. Then bacteria rich their limit and realised (literally) that they no longer can grow as an individual and need to form a collective. A group of cells surrounded by the external membrane started collaborating and became an ameba . Ameba is in a sense a cluster of single cells that specialised in performing specific functions. Ameba is no different to a human being in its functions: it can move, eat, reproduce, excrete and has a primitive consciousness. A consciousness that creates an urge to evolve. That was the case for another billion years until ameba reached its limit and only way to further evolve was to form a community where each unit takes a specific function. History repeats itself, and as you can imagine the same process repeated a couple of more times until a human being in the present form started ruling the Earth. The morale of the story is that the basis of every evolutionary breakthrough is the community. We live in a society that prays individualism and independence. We have forgotten that “no man is an island” and survival of the individual is very much dependent on the happiness of the collective. In the world where less than 10 individuals own as much as 3.500.000.000 individuals, which is half of the human population this may sound like a joke; I know. However,  recognising the needs of your fellow human being is not only a right thing to do, it’s a necessity that our survival depends on. You may ask yourself a question how we suppose to coordinate our efforts to achieve a harmony in the world, which is so out of balance. Let me use an example of a human body. Human body consists of more then 37 trillion cells  – that is a BIG number! Each of those cells has it’s function, each cell communicates with others, adjust its processes to be part of the whole. Nervous system it’s a network that allows communication between parts of the body. If everything works harmoniously we are healthy, if some cells decide to rebel, there’s a response of the whole body, and the whole body (i.e. you) experiences discomfort. Imagine if there’s no communication amongst cells and some of them decide to no longer be a part of the whole and do what they will. A cancer starts to spread and I don’t need to tell you what are the consequences of that. The bottom line is: a harmonious communication and cooperation is a must. Wellbeing of one cell depends on the wellbeing of the part and vice versa.

Now, let me extrapolate the evolutionary process a bit further: single cell ->> ameba ->> complex organism ->> … ->> human being. What’s the next step in evolution? What is the next step for humanity? It may be a wild guess on my part but it seems that the Internet acts like some sort of nervous system that connects human cells. As every organism, humanity needs energy – we get it by burning fossil fuels. We excrete – produce tons of garbage. We grow – 10 billion very soon. Our society possesses all the functions of the living organism, doesn’t it? Think about it for a second. Can one cell ignore the rest of the body and live happy life independently?

10 MIN PRACTICE:

1. Settle down in a comfortable position. Sitting or lying down. Take a couple of deep breaths through your nose and exhale through your mouth releasing all the stress that accumulated in your body.
2. Ground yourself in the place where you are (home, office, indoor, outdoor). Recognise your environment; is is quiet, is it noisy, is there someone else near you?
3. Keep your eyes open.
4. Drop into your body and recognise the processes that are going on right now: blood circulation, function of your brain, different sensations, getting oxygen to your blood stream, new cells being born, old cells die. Be aware of 37 billion units that form your body, that connect in one living organism.
5. Stay with that awareness for a while.
6. Now expand your awareness to your nearest surroundings, your room, your apartment, your house. Recognise living and nonliving parts of this unit. What is the purpose of each living cell? What is your purpose?
7. Now expand your awareness even further. Include your suburb, your city, country, continent. Let the awareness expand indefinitely.
8. Allow yourself  to be a part of a large organism. You are a very important part of it. Consciously connect with all the cells, all the people.
9. Bring back your attention to your body.
10. Take a couple of deep breaths.
11. Thank yourself for this time. Express gratitude to yourself and the Universe.