August 28, 2017

CLIFFORD GOLDSTEIN

In my last online column, Bias in Science! Say It Aint So! (Aug. 11, 2017), a commenter chided me for ignoring the progress that science, despite its bumbles, stumbles, and missteps, always makes toward the truth. When I used the obvious corruption of science in regard to the deleterious health effects of smoking, my critic said that this was actually a good example of science eventually correcting itself and getting closer to truth.

Fair enough.

He then cited other examples of science progressing toward truth, including, he said, our origins.

Origins?

You have no idea how funny I find that. Funny, but sad, too.

How far has science progressed toward the truth about our origins?

Well, for starters it has progressed to where it claims that the universe arose from nothing. None other than the worlds most famous living scientist, Stephen Hawking, has assured us that because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself out of nothing. No doubt that a great deal of mathematics and cosmogony involved here float beyond my petty reach, but doesnt Einsteins Theory of General Relativity teach that gravity is mass bending space and time? So how did mass bend space and time when there was nothingno mass, no space, no timeto begin with?

Just a minor detail, Im sure.

Anyway, science, progressing toward the truth, declares that gravity (mass bending space and time) turned nothing (no mass, no space, no time) into mass, space, and time, what is commonly known as the universe. Then, billions of years later, some of this mass (created from nothing by gravity) congealed and cooled into a lump of matter, our earth.

Then, through laws of physics and chemistry (also created by gravity out of nothing) organic molecules arose either in the famous pre-biotic soup, or in thermal vents, in shale, in clay, or in (some argue) molten rock 1,000 degrees Centigrade. Whatever their origins, according to another famous scientist, Richard Dawkins, one of these molecules by chance became a replicator. This means that it had the extraordinary property of being able to make copies of itself. Dawkins concedes that the conversion of this single molecule into a replicator was exceedingly improbable, but given enough time it was, he assured us, bound to happen. Perhaps, then, a potato chip, more organic than a single molecule, will eventually start replicating itself, too; that is, given enough time.

Scientists remain baffled at how consciousness works, or how brain matter translates whats outside of it into qualia, images, thoughts, and rationality.

Were told by those who are progressing toward the truth about our origins that, next, this replicator molecule (still fermenting in the primeval soup, or in the thermal vent, or in the molten rocks 1,000 degrees Centigrade) copied itself again and again until some became living cells filled with DNA, RNA, and the other amazingly complex stuff of a single cell. And this spontaneous generation happened through the laws of physics and chemistry alone, though no one has ever seen the laws of physics and chemistry alone spontaneously generate molecules into anything close to life; scientists cant even do it in tightly-controlled labs.

Then, billions of years later, now through random mutation and natural selection, these living cells evolved into beaucoup de living entities, including dinosaurs, some weighing about 70 tons. (From a microscopic replicator molecule to 140,000 pound Brontosaurs; what a trek that much have been!) However, something knocked off the dinosaurs, and the theory du jour is that a giant asteroid, filling the air with dust and dirt, did them in. Others hypothesize that volcanic activity caused their demise; and, finally, some blame it on, yes, good old climate change.

Whatever killed off the dinosaurs paved the way for new life to arise, everything from peach trees (though I still wonder, in an evolutionary model what came first, the peach or the peach pit?) to human beings with conscious rational minds, a transition about as likely as organic molecules spontaneously generating into life.

In another online column, The Neo-Darwinian Inquisition (Jul. 21, 2017), I mentioned that an atheist philosopher, Thomas Nagel, disputed the idea that carbon-based matter, even as complicated as human neurons, could on its own evolve into conscious, rational, and loving beings. In response, a commentator railed against Nagels position, arguing that Nagel obviously hadnt read much in evolutionary neurobiology.

Evolutionary neurobiology?

You have no idea how funny I found that, too.

I mean, we have living and breathing bona fide rational conscious human beings to study every day; we scan brains, map brains, dissect brains, and scrutinize them in devices worth millions of dollars. We watch neurons fire and even peer into their guts. Yet with all this here and now and immediately before us, scientists remain baffled at how consciousness works, or how brain matter translates whats outside of it into qualia, images, thoughts, rationality, and the ability to make and to appreciate music. Human consciousness persists as perhaps the greatest physical (or is it only physical?) mystery before us.

Yet what? This commentator claimed that if only poor Thomas Nagel had read some scholarly papers, written by conscious beings speculating about what might have happened millions of years ago, with things that do not exist now but that, nevertheless, supposedly caused carbon-based, non-conscious matter to become thinking and loving human beings; if only he had done so, then Thomas Nagel wouldnt have challenged evolutions ability to explain the origin of human thought and consciousness. I found that funny because scientists dont know what consciousness is, much less how it works, even with it before them in flesh and blood and grey matter. Yet according to this comment, evolutionary biology has answers to how it arose millions of years ago.

But I digress. Back to the issue: What does science teach about origins? It teaches that because of gravitydinosaurs, peach trees, rational human beings, everythingcame from nothing, with no forethought or planning.

Any wonder, then, I find the notion that science is progressing toward the truth about origins funny, but sad, too?

Clifford Goldstein is editor of the Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide. His latest book, Baptizing the Devil: Evolution and the Seduction of Christianity, will be released by Pacific Press in September 2017.

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Cliff's Edge - Science and Progress Toward the Truth - Adventist Review

Big Think has an interesting article, The Basis of the Universe May Not Be Energy or Matter but Information. The author, Philip Perry, writes:

There are lots of theories on what are the basis of the universe is. Some physicists say its subatomic particles. Others believe its energy or even space-time. One of the more radical theories suggests that information is the most basic element of the cosmos. Although this line of thinking emanates from the mid-20th century, it seems to be enjoying a bit of a Renaissance among a sliver of prominent scientists today.

Consider that if we knew the exact composition of the universe and all of its properties and had enough energy and know-how to draw upon, theoretically,we could break the universe down into ones and zeroes and using that information,reconstruct it from the bottom up. Its the information, purveyors1of this view say, locked inside any singular component that allows us to manipulate matter any way we choose

Perry discusses various approaches to information theory (e.g. Shannon information), and he brings up eminent theoretical physicist John Archibald Wheeler:

[Wheeler] in his later years was a strong proponent of information theory. Another unsung paragon of science, Wheeler was a veteran of the Manhattan Project, coined the terms black hole and wormhole, helped work out the S-matrix with Neils Bohr, and collaborated with Einstein on aunified theory of physics.

Wheeler said the universe had three parts: First, Everything is Particles, second, Everything is Fields, and third, Everything is information.1In the 1980s, he began exploring possible connections betweeninformation theory and quantum mechanics. It was during this period he coined the phrase It from bit. The idea is that the universe emanates from the information inherent within it. Each it or particle is a bit. It from bit.

In 1989, Wheeler produced a paper to the Santa Fe institute, where he announced every it every particle, every field of force, even the space-time continuum itself derives its function, its meaning, its very existence entirely even if in some contexts indirectly from the apparatus-elicited answers to yes-or-no questions, binary choices, bits.

In the materialist-dominated world of modern science, it is natural to infer that matter (or fields that move matter) is the fundamental reality. But careful consideration of nature, and particularly biology, suggests that information is the basic reality, of which matter is a medium in which information is manifest.

The centrality of information to the natural world, and particularly to the biological world, has been the guiding thesis of the intelligent design movement. My colleagues Bill Dembski and Stephen Meyer in particular have written extensively on the importance of information theory in understanding nature. We in the ID movement are merely continuing a line of research that goes back quite a way into the past.

What we call information is best defined as limitation of outcomes in nature. Information is the limitation of particular configurations and functions of matter. Low information systems are chaotic, displaying a multitude of states and relationships (think of the uncountable configurations of water molecules in the ocean). High information systems, such as living things, have a restricted ensemble of states and functions. Living things are kept alive by homeostasis, which is the remarkable tendency for life to maintain a constant internal physiological environment. Understanding and maintaining homeostasis is, for example, essential to the practice of medicine, in which disease and injury may be understood as derangements of homeostasis.

The traditional hylemorphic understanding of nature as developed by scholastic philosophers who were the precursors to the Scientific Revolution stressed the centrality of information (as limitation) in a rather dramatic (and I think quite accurate) way. In the hylemorphic understanding, matter and form are manifestations of a more fundamental reality, which is potency and act. Potency is the range of possibilities inherent to a thing. Act is the actuality of the thing, as it really is. That is, act (form) is what makes something actual, and not just possible. Using modern terminology, information (form) is what makes nature real.

In nature, form is reflected in the intelligibility of a thing. Final cause, which is teleology, is the goal toward which natural change is directed, and in nature (unlike artifacts) formal and final causes are usually the same. The growth of an acorn into an oak tree has a formal cause which is all that can be known about the oak tree its structure, function, etc. and has a final cause which is identical to its formal cause. The form of the oak tree is also what makes the oak tree actual, and not just potential.

Formal and final causes are thus limitations in particular states and functions a thing can have. In that sense, formal and final causes reflect the information inherent in a thing. This is reflected in the word itself in-form-ation.

Information then, understood classically as formal and final cause, is not merely the basis for nature, it is what makes nature actual, rather than just potential, and this actuality is just what is intelligible about nature. The actuality and intelligibility of nature is what is most basic to it, and it is information that confers actuality and intelligibility to the natural world.

Perry closes with a reflection on the source of natures information:

If the nature of reality is in fact reducible to information itself, that implies a conscious mind on the receiving end, to interpret and comprehend it. Wheeler himself believed in a participatory universe, where consciousness holds a central role. Some scientists argue that the cosmos seems to have specific properties which allow it to create and sustain life. Perhaps what it desires most is an audience captivated in awe as it whirls in prodigious splendor.

Perry came close to acknowledging a designer of nature, but one suspects that the materialist/atheist ideological correctness that plagues science dissuaded him from drawing the obvious conclusion. The centrality of information to nature implies a mind on the receiving end form is after all just that which is intelligible about a thing but even more importantly, information presupposes a mind on the creating end.

Forms can exist in minds and in things, but the existence of formal and final causes in nature presupposes a mind that directs natural processes to actual intelligible ends. As Thomas Aquinas wrote in his Fifth Way, just as we infer an archer when we see an aimed arrow fly through the air, it is reasonable to infer a mind that aims natures processes according to regularities and physical laws.

Information, understood as formal and final cause, is what makes nature real. And information presupposes a designer.

Read more:
Is Information the Basis for the Universe? - Discovery Institute

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Can you really have an out of body experience on command? Absolutely. While this is something that will take some time to practice and get good at, there are many methods to having out of body experiences or spiritual experiences on command using only your consciousness and physical body.

There is also a purpose to these experiences; they arent simply to trip out (although if you wish to do that its up to you). These experiences can help you dissolve fears, move past trauma, expand your consciousness and much more. I personally dont feel inspired to do anything other than explore and expand myself when I engage in experiences like this.

Many of the stories you hear of out of body experiences happen through dreams, near death experiences, from thestate between sleep andawake, and when people experiment with psychedelics like magic mushrooms, DMT or ayahuasca. But we are capable of having out-of-body experiences with just our thoughts, breath and consciousness.

I say CAN BE helpful because they have that ability, but it doesnt mean we always use it. We may want to explore a past trauma, and meditation or OBEs could help us do that, but if we dont use them for this purpose or do the work afterwards they wont be helpful. Likewise with any substance like ayahuasca, mushrooms or DMT. They dont do the work for you and dont save you. You still have to do the work afterwards and its for this exact reason that most people who experiment with these substances or experiences still dont make shifts in their lives because its still work. And its the work that we often arent willing to do that stops us from moving forward.

Your intention for wanting tohave these experiences is important. Sometimes when we think about psychedelics or having out of body experiences we are seeking atrippy-like experience out of curiosity. And thats totally fine. Curiosity can be how we explore and learn things. But while it may be fun to play a couple times,I generally say it isnt the best motivation for wanting to have these experiences. I typically tend to encourage people to reflect on a deeper sense of exploration and growthwithin ourselves when it comes to exploring our consciousness, which is a big part of what we do in CEs Explorer Lounge you can check out here.

The reason why I believe focusing on having a trippy experience is not ideal isbecause I have seen many people get lost in the need to just experiencing something trippy. Not only that, but it can often become an escape from thechallenges we face. Which is why I feel society utilizes cannabis, alcohol, TV and food addictively.

DMT, mushrooms, Ayahuasca and so forthwereinitially put on this planetwhen we had difficult times exploring our consciousness and external tools assisted us in doing that. Today, a resurgence of these substances is taking place as peoples curiosity to explore is once again popular. After all, there is a shift in consciousness taking place.

However, I do not believe we still need these substances today in order to have these types of consciousness based experiences. While I thinkthey can be helpful for some of us who are in difficult situations like drug addiction or have serious trauma from war or violent experiences,I feel we are all very equipped within ourselves to explore without them, and Im personally inspired to encourage that.

Ultimately its not as much about any substance or experience as it is about what the end goal helps us to see more about ourselves. They tell us to look within to find answers and move past our challenges. So many experiences in life are all pushing us to do that exact same thing, look within. Our core teaching here at Collective Evolution is change starts within. All for the reason that its at the core of how we will create a profound shift in our lives and on this planet. So what can we take from this?

If we know the core truth is about us looking within, why not just begin looking there right now?

I was in California, attending Wim Hofs retreat in Beverly Hills. It was day two and we were doing a breathing exercise that was about focusing on energy in our body and learning how to control and use it.

At the Wim Hof retreat in California.

There was a focus on utilizing it to activate our pinealgland in such a way that may or may not release a little bit of DMT in your brain, allowing us to have some form of experience that would be beyond the physical.I would like to say at this point that this is certainly not the core message of Wims work, nor is it something that I think the method is truly for. Its simply something that you can use in order to obtain this result. These forms of breathing exercises are not new either, they have been used by yogis and gurus for many years to attain differentstates of consciousness.

There were about 60 of us, we were in a beautiful room with 15 foot ceilings and the sun was shining in through the side windows. I was laying flat on my back on a yoga mat patiently waiting for the exercise to start. This would not be the first time I was going to have an out of body experience,but it would be the first I would attempt on command. My previous experiencescame from dream-states, meditation or simply.. happening.

We began with Wims standard method of breathing. Heavy breaths in and out of the mouth. Stomach, chest, head, out. After about 8 minutes of this, I went into my breath holds (as part of his method) and I began to focus energy from around the base of my spine and brought it up my back, into my brain and pinged my pineal gland with it.

Recommended: If you want to join our members area of conscious explorers and support CE at the same time, check out our Explorers Lounge.

As I brought the energy up into my pineal gland I felt what I had felt in the past with these types of experiences.Ringing and vibrations in my body and mind starting to increase. With my eyes closed, I began to see the room. I could feel my essence slowly leaving my body up straight into the air. It moved slowly and peacefully. It wasnt a fast jolt or uncontrollable in a sense, it was very light.

The pineal gland.

As Idrifted upwards more and more I eventually made it to the ceiling and rested there. What happened next was what you might experience indeep meditation which is havingall of your thoughts emotionsset aside and you begin to feel like a massive, massive, massive presence that is so far beyond your physical body that you no longer identify with being a physical body. You begin to realize you are a vast consciousness that is pure unconditional love and pure potential.

From this state of being you have the ability to utilize your awareness to look at your life, situations, the planet or whatever it may be from a completely non-judgmental and unconditionally loving way so as to deeply understand why thingshappen. You gain clarity and awareness as tohow you may move forward with something from this space. These experiences help us to get a glimpse at what is beyond the stories and the drama of our minds.This is VERY powerful in clearing our fears, worries, and traumas.

Back to my experience here. As I continued to feel immense at the top of the ceiling, I could see all of the bodies in the room having their own experience. I felt connected to them, the building, and everything around us. The difference between myself and everything else drifted away, and I was simply an essence or consciousness observing. This, is precisely how I know experientially that consciousness does not originate in the mind but is our existence. Mainstream science has not caught up to this understanding yet but its getting close, and that is very inspiring.

After what could have been 10 or so minutes, I slowly came back down into my physical body and began to integrate back into it. I opened my eyes and began to feel the desire to go outside and enjoy the sunlight. I felt slightly emotional at this point as I had gottena glimpse of the difference between feeling fully clear outside of my body vs feeling certain emotional pains and mind stories that were in my physical body. This right here, is where the magic is. This is how we see more clearly what it is that we are being challenged by and have a reference point to compare what letting it go feels like.

When you are in meditation, you are able to re-tune into these types of higher states of consciousness and be an observer looking back at the challenges you face at any moment in your life. With detachment from them you can ask yourself how you created or co-created the experience you are having and what lesson is in it for you. How does it serve you? How can you move forward with action and so forth? You can see the greater workings and perfection that comes with these experiences to help you move beyond them.

So thats pretty well it! Utilize and explore these experiences with clear intentions of evolving yourself and you will have the best results in not only creating these experiences but attaining more peace in your life. Have fun and keep exploring!

Once again, feel free to check out our Explorers Lounge if you want to support CEs work and explore your consciousness deeply at the same time.

Your life path number can tell you A LOT about you.

With the ancient science of Numerology you can find out accurate and revealing information just from your name and birth date.

Get your free numerology reading and learn more about how you can use numerology in your life to find out more about your path and journey. Get Your free reading.

Read the rest here:
How I Induced An Out Of Body Experience Without Substances - Collective Evolution

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When it comes to the origins of life, or what we believe to be reality, there is no shortage of theories. Despite how unanswerable this question may seem, theories will always emerge attempting to accountfor the many unknowns we have yet to understand and discover. One thing is for certain, however: Despite the fact that we still have much to learn, weve come a long way inunderstanding the true nature of our reality.

The Big Bang theory implies that everything in existence resulted from a single event that launched the creation of the entire universe and that everything in existence today was once part of whats referred to as the singularity, a single, infinitely dense point.

This of course begs the question, if the Big Bang created the universe, who or what created the Big Bang? And who or what created whatever created that?

At any rate, it remainsthe most popular theory behind theorigin of the universe, born of theobservation that other galaxies are moving away from our own at tremendous speeds, in all directions, as if being propelled by a very powerful force.

Big Bang believers suggest that this event occurred approximately 15 billion years ago, from some ancient, unknown type of energy.

National Geographic explains that, according to this theory, in the instanta trillion-trillionth of a secondafter the big bang, the universe expanded with incomprehensible speed from its pebble-size origin to astronomical scope. Expansion has apparently continued, but much more slowly, over the ensuing billions of years.

Theorigins of this theory stem from Georges Lemaitre, a Belgian priest who proposedthat the universe camefrom a single primordial atom. After Edwin Hubbles observation that galaxies are hurtling away from us, the theory gained more traction.

That being said, its just a theory, yet many accept it as fact.The truthis, we simply dont know, and can only make educated guesses. Several major questions remain unanswered, the most popular one illustrated in the image below.

The book Gravitation by Wheeler, Thorne, and Meisner is one of the more foundational books in physics, as it explains the origins of thistheory. Many novicephysics students have to read this book in their studies. On page 719, you find the current and most accepted model of the known universe, according to the standard model, which is a drawing of a guy blowing up a balloon with pennies glued to it. The balloon represents the universe expanding as it is being blown up and the pennies glued to the balloon move away from each other as the universe expands.

Yet, according to Nassim Haramein,the Director of Research for the Resonance Project:

If, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, then why have we not heard about The Big Contraction?!

For every action there is an equal opposite reaction. is one of the most foundational and proven concepts in all of physics. Therefore, if the universe is expanding then the guy (or whatever he is), who is blowing up that balloon, has to have some huge lungs that are contracting to be able to blow it up. This a concept that Nassim Haramein began exploring when creating an alternative unified field theory to explain the universe.

He felt that there had to be something fundamental and universal that was contracting in order to cause the expansion of the universe, and that the current theory does not account for this. His work has led him to develop his unified field theory, which includes an explanation for the expansion of the universe. The thing that is contracting and allowing for the expansion of the universe is space itself, not just curving as Einstein suggested, but curling toward singularity at every point.

Below is a great talk given by him. After researching this topic myself, I believe non-material scienceis a fundamental key to discovering the origins of our universe. Most of physical reality is birthed from the non-physical, from empty space.

No point is more central than this, that empty space is not empty. It is the seat of the most violent physics.

John Archibald Wheeler

Space is actually not empty and its full of energy. The energy in space is not trivial, theres a lot of it, and we can actually calculate how much energy there is in that space and that reality might actually come out of it, that everything we see is actually emerging from that space.

Nassim Haramein

Below is an excellent talk discussing this.

Another factor that supports the Big Bang theory, in a sense, is Quantum Entanglement, a phenomenon that Einstein thought was so spooky that it could not be valid. It suggests two things, either that the space between physical objects isnt actually empty space as our senses perceive it to be, or that information is travelling faster than the speed of light, or, better yet, instantaneously, with no time involved. It implies that everything is connected, that if there was a Big Bang, it happened when all physical matter was one, and then exploded out into little pieces that spread throughout the cosmos. The tricky part to understand is that all those little pieces, those planets, those stars, and all the intelligent life that has most certainly formed, is still all connected in some way we have yet to understand.

Quantum entanglement was recently achieved in space.

Again, there are always new theories emerging. For example, a group of Canadian academics published a study in the journalPhysics Letters B which postulatesthat the Big Bang singularity can be resolved by their new model, in which the universe has no beginning or end.

The theory suggests that the universe is filled with a quantum fluid, which is itself filled with gravitons.

As far as we can see, since different points in the universe never actually converged in the past, it did not have a beginning.It lasted forever. It will also not have an end. . . . In other words, there is no singularity. The universe could have lasted forever. It could have gone through cycles of being small and big. Or it could have been created much earlier.

Study co-authorSaurya Das, University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

Pretty hard to wrap your head around, isnt it?

Whats even more interesting is that this theory dates back thousands of years. Famous Greek philosopher Aristotle believed that the universe exists eternally, that its something thats been around forever. The question of whether the universe hasa beginning was also explored byGerman philosopher Immanuel Kant.

This topic has been debated and theorized aboutthroughout the ages, and if we lookeven further back through time, there is always a source, a creator, or a God.

That being said, God and religion have, in my opinion, been used to manipulate the human race in several different ways, for multiple reasons. That is not to say there is no validity behind God and religion, but rather that its a very deep discussion, perhaps worthy for another article. For now, you can check out this one:

Retired American Bishop Explains How The Church Invented Hell & What Religion Is Really Used For

Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking explains:

The expansion of the universe was one of the most important intellectual discoveries of the 20th century, or of any century. It transformed the debate about whether the universe had a beginning. If galaxies are moving apart now, they must have been closer together in the past. If their speed had been constant, they would all have been on top of one another about 15 billion years ago. Was this the beginning of the universe? Many scientists were still unhappy with the universe having a beginning because it seemed to imply that physics broke down. One would have to invoke an outside agency, which for convenience, one can call God, to determine how the universe began. They therefore advanced theories in which the universe was expanding at the present time, but didnt have a beginning. One was the Steady State theory, proposed by Bondi, Gold, and Hoyle in 1948.

The expansion of the universe from the Big Bang to the present. Digital illustration.

Theres a good reason why so many scientists are gathering to emphasize that matter is not the only reality, and that consciousness could play a huge role in the creation of matter itself.

Almost all of the founding members of quantum mechanics have emphasized, multiple times, that, as Max Planck (the originator of quantum theory) said,I regard matter as derivate from consciousness, everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness.

In 2010, one of the most respected scientists in the world, Robert Lanza, published a book titledBiocentrism: How Life and Consciousness are theKeys to Understanding The True Nature of the Universe.

An expert in regenerative medicine and the scientific director of Advanced Cell Technology Company, Lanza is also very interested in quantum mechanics and astrophysics, an interest thatledhim on a path to developing his theory of biocentrism: the theory that life and consciousness are fundamental to understanding the nature of our reality, and that consciousness comes prior to the creation of the material universe.

There are many examples.

Does this mean that the catalyst for the Big Bang was a conscious observer? Or was that big pile of matter simply, itself in some way, conscious? What comes first, consciousness or physical material reality? Is there even a physical material reality, or is it, as some new physics implies, a complete illusion? Are we living in a holographic universe?

Is there a source from which we all come? Are there worlds about whichwe are unaware? If there is a soul, what about the world it residesin? A number of observations within the fields of neuroscience and quantum mechanics suggest that consciousness is actually not even a product of the body, that it exists somewhere else, separate from the body. If this is true, does that world or place that we cannot fully perceive play any role inthe creation of our own world?

What about other dimensions? What about multiple universes? If there are multiple universes, does that mean each universe was created by a Big Bang? Or was there one giant Big Bang that created multiple universes with multiple Big Bangs?

The list of questions can continue into eternity, but I truly believe that the truth about the origins of what we call reality lies within non-material science, and examining aspects of reality we have a difficult time perceiving.

The day science begins to study non-physical phenomena, it will make more progress in one decade than in all the previous centuries of its existence.

Nikola Tesla

This requires science to completely change, and take something verging ona spiritual perspective. Because, as Harameinhimself says,looking for consciousness in the brain is like looking in the radio for the announcer.

My point is,we just dont know. And constantly perceiving our world from a materialistic, physical perspectivewill not allow us to establish a proper explanation of the origins of reality.

If we do indeed live in a spiritual universe, were clearly missing a lot with regards to our consideration about how the universe began. Perhaps its origins are in the non-physical worlds, or worlds, while in this body, we are unable to perceive.

Ill leave you with a great quote to ponder on, its from R.C. Henry, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins University wrote in a 2005 publication for the journalNature:

According to [pioneering physicist] Sir James Jeans: the stream of knowledge is heading towards a non-mechanical reality; the Universe begins to look more like a great thought than like a great machine. Mind no longer appears to be an accidental intruder into the realm of matter we ought rather hail it as the creator and governor of the realm of matter. . . .The Universe is immaterial mental and spiritual. Live, and enjoy.

Your life path number can tell you A LOT about you.

With the ancient science of Numerology you can find out accurate and revealing information just from your name and birth date.

Get your free numerology reading and learn more about how you can use numerology in your life to find out more about your path and journey. Get Your free reading.

Continued here:
If The Big Bang Started The Universe, What, or Who, Started the Big Bang? What About The Multi-Verse? - Collective Evolution

The title sequence of the FX animated series Archer creates the artful illusion of a serious spy-related program. Designed as a direct homage to the Saul Bass cut-out style prevalent in the 1960s, the sequence focuses on a bouncing white dot, fired from main character Sterling Archers gun in the first title card. The cast is introduced one by one in a series of connected vignettes that relay character information while propelling the action forward.

Judy Greers heartbreaker secretary Cheryl Tunt is shown with a heart-shaped locket, Amber Nash as Pam Poovey is operating a dolphin puppet, demonstrating her characters commitment to anarchic references, Cyril Figgis (Chris Parnell) fiddles impotently with his cell phone, and Lana Kane (Aisha Tyler), Archers super-spy sometimes love interest, shoots her gun right at Archer himself. Arms raised and against the wall, the projectile prompts Archer to jump straight into his mother Mallorys drink. He emerges cleansed, striking a James Bond-esque stance and regarding silhouettes of women arranged in provocative poses. The sequence ends with both Archer and the women hes objectifying literally falling from their positions, as if the ground beneath their feet has given way.

Sterling Archer: The Spy Who Loved Himself

This title sequence tells us that Archer is, among other things, a deadly accurate takedown of entitled white American masculinity. Its satirical target is not so much an individual (or an individual nation), but the swaggering, narcissistic underbelly of white male privilege. His first pose emits quiet authority, but by the end of the sequence hes literally running for his life, away from the woman he claims to love and towards the most important woman in his life: his rapacious and abusive mother. Its only through the cleansing rinse of alcohol and maternal neglect that he can emerge at the sequences finale, a parody of a real man.

The original Archer title sequence (described above) opened the show for its first four seasons. Since then it has evolved along with the show to accommodate changes in theme, setting, and even casting, but the essential style and metaphors have remained. The sequence, in an original and daring way, sums up the tone of the show serious surroundings with deeply unserious characters and its most compelling theme: entitled white masculinity. As for Archer himself, his swaggering arrogance provides a perfect satirical target, and the opening sequence drives the point home with admirable visual storytelling economy.

A discussion with Producer/Art Director NEAL HOLMAN and Lead Motion Designer MARK PATERSON.

What was the original concept for the Archer opening title sequence?

Neal: My plan from the very start was to do an opening using silhouettes in some form or fashion. Saul Bass and some later Bass-esque opens, like Catch Me If You Can and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, were pretty heavy influences even the end sequence of The Incredibles. Anything that had that sort of deft blend of fun and action went into the pot.

I saw the mock Saul Bass Star Wars open around the time when we were working on our previous series, The Xtacles, and I loved it. Just the playfulness of it. It was simple, but really fun, so that prompted a lot of research into that style and who had done it before.

So once you had the Basss influence as the jumping off point, what were the next steps?

Neal: Originally, I had this idea that the silhouettes would be made of fire, moving over top of a burned or textured background. I loved the end titles of 300 the depth they achieved by zooming past elements to reveal the next scene in the sequence. The grungy textures in the back would be separated into various elements, so we could move past them or pan off of them, creating a 3D effect. We'd created mock-ups to test that look.

Image set: "Duchess" look test mock-ups

Neal: The mock-ups werent perfect, but the idea was there. At this time we were all starting to tire of grunge logos and effects, so ultimately we decided not to go that route. Another approach was to go for a more clean halftone effect. I liked it as a still frame, but it wasnt translating in motion.

Though it might be hard to tell, the last mock-up was the start of the opening sequence as we know it. Once Id found the typeface, the rest followed suit. Every time I finished another bit of the sequence, I would show it to the others there were only nine of us total and get feedback. Each of them, Archer creator Adam Reed especially, had an important hand in shaping the direction of the sequence.

The challenge was to do this entire opening sequence with as few new drawings as possible. By using silhouettes as our main character pieces, I could reuse every element we created for the pilot. I felt like simple shapes could be doable and effective given the incredibly short time frame we had. Also note that the show was titled Duchess up until around the last day or so of animating the sequence.

How long was production on first version of the opening?

Neal: I animated this sequence in about four days, just as we were wrapping production on the pilot. We added some bells and whistles once the series got the green light, just to finesse some of the background animations and improve some small timing issues. Overall, Im still pretty happy with it.

Image set: OriginalArcher title sequence element breakdown

So Mark, Archers now been on for seven seasons and the opening titles have evolved with the show. What's been the process for modifying the sequence for recent seasons?

Mark: After we returned to the original titles for season six, following the Archer: Vice switch up, Im sure only the most eagle-eyed viewer noticed that they werent the original titles at all, but a meticulous remake.

So why did we do that? The original title sequence was only intended to be a placeholder for the pilot episode, hastily constructed by Neal in a grueling week long After Effects session just in time for FXs submission deadline. After the show was picked up, Neal never found the time to go back and fix what he calls his sloppy mistakes, so it stayed untouched for four seasons.

Since early in the series Ive been tasked with creating the shows motion graphics. When Adam Reed decided that Archer: Vice, the shows fifth season, would have an 1980s slant, the task to re-skin the title sequence fell into my lap.

Archer's season one opening (top) versus the season six opening (bottom).

So did you start completely from scratch?

Mark: Rather than go back and patch up the existing sequence, I felt the most prudent path would be a complete do-over, before we even began the Vice treatment. My reasoning was to have something future proof, laying a solid foundation for re-skins and further modifications in the future. We had no idea how long Vice would run for, but I was wagering at some point the show would return to its origins and need the original titles again which it did for season six.

Neal and the producers were on board, leaping at the opportunity to address a laundry list of small notes wed all gathered over the years and tackle some bigger ones too such as replacing all the artwork and redoing the character animation with the latest body rigs. It was no small task.

How involved was Neal in all of this?

Mark: The Archer titles are Neals baby, so I was a little anxious about working under his direction to create a brand new, polished up interpretation of his original vision. So with a little trepidation and a deep breath in my lungs, I fired up After Effects and began the reconstruction work from the ground up. Far from being the backseat driver, he was very cool about it and pretty much just let me get on with it. No egos were harmed in the (re)making of this title sequence.

Neal: I'm a hack animator. I can do it, but I'm not Mark. Turning the titles over to he and the After Effects department was the easiest decision in the world. All I had to do was sit back and watch and maybe suggest a colour change here or there.

So structurally the sequence remained the same, but many of the details changed, like the new title card for the Archer: Vice season. Walk us through updating the sequence.

Mark: Once we had solid ground to work on, it became almost trivial to re-skin it year in and year out. The first re-skin was for Archer: Vice, which introduced a more pastel palette. The blocks of colour featured new background schematics, their edges take on a more hand cut feel, and a layer of real airbrush added a texture. Of course, the highlight of the Vice re-skin was the title card blowing away in a puff of cocaine, an inspired suggestion from Chad Hurd.

Archer: Vice (2014) title sequence

Mark: I tried to create the cocaine digitally, but it was too synthetic and just didnt look right. The only way to achieve the look we wanted was to shoot it as a real life practical effect. We got a stencil made, and after some experimentation I settled on double zero pizza flour and an electric air pump from an inflatable bed. Ideally youd do something that messy outdoors, but Atlantas humidity affected the flour. I volunteered to do it in my bathroom at home, and thirty takes later I had a thin coating of flour throughout my entire apartment. Im pretty sure thats how you get ants.

Shooting the title card stencil with fake cocaine

Mark: Back in the digital realm, I recoloured the word "Vice", which was shot separately, and went to work on making the practical effects integrate with the digital as seamlessly as possible. All the footage was hidden over the top of the digital artwork, retaining its clean lines until the last possible moment when the air blows across and breaks it apart.

So weve talked about seasons five and six, whats changed in the latest version of the sequence?

Mark: Season seven has seen another re-skin as the series moves to Los Angeles and into the private eye game.

Archer season seven (2016) title sequence

Mark: The blocks of colour shift to hotter LA-inspired hues, and the background schematics are replaced with appropriate P.I. imagery. For the first time we see a textured background, and the whole piece has the feel of a letterpress printed poster. LA landmarks replace New York skyscrapers, and I made use of the decorative Chinese Theater to hide two puzzle pieces for the ongoing Archer Scavenger Hunt. They go by so fast it took fans five episodes before they noticed them!

Is there a particular element of the sequence either past or present that you're most happy with?

Mark: Im really happy with how the Vice cocaine shoot turned out. The beauty of the unexpected is exponentially better than CGI. No matter how much you practice, you have very little say in how real world physics will react. From the way the powder breaks apart in clumps, to the organic motion as it blows away, to the vortex of air that whips it back into shot for a brief moment before we fade to black theres nothing like the real thing.

Neal: I love the Archer: Vice titles, with the cocaine blowing away at the end. Chad threw that idea out as a joke, but all of us instantly jumped on it. The new LA titles are just perfect. Really, I'm truly just happy to see the sequence evolve, much like the show has gotten bigger and more cinematic as the seasons have progressed. It still has the same heart, but there is a lot more to the sequence now and I believe it's the better for it.

What are some of your favourite title sequences, either classic or contemporary?

Neal: There are so, so many and most are on your site! My newest love is the title sequence for The Night Manager. It's just gorgeous and perfect.

By Any Means has a title sequence I adore, even though I've not actually seen the series. Simple as they are, I really love the titles for Samurai Champloo. And I know it was 80s schlock, but I have an undying love for the M.A.S.K. title sequence.

M.A.S.K. (1985) title sequence

Neal:Almost every work by Saul Bass was a heavy influence on Archer. Many people have pointed to the similarities to Cowboy Bebop, but honestly, that was more sub-conscious than conscious.

Mark: I was turned on to Bass in art school, and hes been an inspiration ever since. He was a true original whose style really defined an era. In Psycho, he set the unsettling tone of the movie using only text and simple lines. Amazing. North by Northwests transition from his grid lines into live action windows is right up there with Stanley Kubricks famous match cut from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Incredible stuff. The Archer titles are obviously influenced by Bass, and his style continues to endure.

SUPPLEMENTARY: Archer season seven (2016)teaser trailer

Art Director CHAD HURD details the creation of the Archer season seven teaser trailer.

What was the genesis of the Magnum, P.I.promo created for theseventh season?

Chad: The Magnum, P.I. promo was a joy to work on Every year we want to tease our fans with a fun promo to get them excited for the new season. The year before last it was the shot-for-shot remake of the Top Gun music video. This year we wanted to do something similar, but tease some elements we knew would reflect the upcoming season.

Adam Reed wanted to switch things up by moving the gang to Los Angeles where they would open a detective agency. Old cop shows like Starsky & Hutch, Charlie's Angels, and Magnum, P.I. were all referenced. In fact, Adam was such a fan of Magnum, P.I. he planned for Archer to have the same Ferrari. Once we knew the premise of season seven and that Archer would be driving Magnum's Ferrari, the decision to recreate the Magnum P.I. opening was easy, but the process was not.

What kind of challenges does making a shot-for-shot remake of a classic title sequence pose?

Chad: As I'm sure you've seen, the original Magnum, P.I. opening is filled with lots of action and movement, something we normally limit to just a few scenes in Archer. But in order for our Magnum, P.I. trailer to be a true homage it needed to precisely match the movement of the actors. Thankfully our talented animation directors Marcus Rosentrater and Megan Johnson were up to the challenge.

Magnum, P.I. (1980) title sequence

Chad:The animation and illustration teams studied the opening credits frontwards and backwards so we could get our version as close to the original as possible. Our EP's Matt Thompson and Casey Willis guided us towards which of our characters would be funniest replacing the Magnum actors. But really, the humour came from how closely we stayed true to the original title sequence. I'm extremely proud of the work our team put into recreating the opening. Not only does it look gorgeous, but it encapsulates the spirit of Archer season seven and adds a humorous twist to a classic television series.

Do have a favourite moment or shot from the teaser?

Chad: Pam dressed as the rodeo clown makes me laugh every time I see it. It's a great bit of design work and animation.

Was there a particular shot or scene that caused headaches for the team?

Chad: The shots of the helicopter riding along the cliffs was a very tricky thing to get right.Those shots took a lot of trial and error to get the depth we needed. We originally tried to create this totally in 3D, but it didn't look right. We finally settled on a combination of cliffs painted in Photoshop parallaxing with water animated in After Effects and a 3D animated helicopter. It was a challenging scene to create the same motion as the Magnum title sequence and keep it looking like it belonged in the Archer universe.

View the credits for this sequence

Seasons 1-4Art Director and Title Designer :Neal HolmanCharacter Animation: Mack Williams

Season 5Art Director: Neal HolmanAssociate Art Director: Chad HurdLead Motion Designer: Mark PatersonCharacter Animation: Bryan Fordney, Mark Paterson

Season 6Art Director: Neal HolmanAssociate Art Director: Chad HurdLead Motion Designer: Mark PatersonCharacter Animation: Bryan Fordney, Mark Paterson

Season 7Art Director: Chad HurdAssociate Art Director: Adam ToewsLead Motion Designer: Mark PatersonCharacter Animation: Bryan Fordney, Mark Paterson

Music:Scott Sims

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Archer (2009) Art of the Title

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Taylor Swift's new single, "Look What You Made Me Do," is a dark departure for the singerpretty much everyone seems to agree on that. Old Taylor might be dead, but she's died before (as Swift self-awarely alludes to in the song's lyrics); on each album, we've met a New Taylor. The new New Taylor just happens to be the starkest change we've seen so far.

Here's a look at how Taylor's sound has changed over the years and yet how, as an artist, she's definitively stayed the same.

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It's fitting that Taylor's debut album was self-titled because, more than anything else she released after, it conveyed a sense of authenticity. Taylor is a songwriter and a storyteller first and foremost, so it's not surprising that she gravitated to country music. And, considering she was 17 when the album was released, it's also not surprising that listening to it feels like reading someone's diary.

"Teardrops on My Guitar" established Taylor's willingness to not just draw from her life in songs, but to put in real details (like not changing names to protect the not-so-innocent).

In 2008, Taylor made her first big steps toward the pop world. Fearless was still considered a country album, but the big singles, "Love Story" and "You Belong With Me," were infused with pop. Here, we get a more cheerful Taylor. Whereas 2006 Taylor was a girl who felt like an outsider and who let sadness seep into her sound, 2008 Taylor was reborn as a, well, more fearless version of herself.

In 2006, a crush not liking her back meant teardrops on her guitar; in 2008, it was a chance to confidently declare that he was making the wrong decision if he wasn't with her.

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For 2010's Speak Now, Taylor made the conscious decision to write the entire album herself. The result is her most uniform album, sonically. Speak Now is folkier than Taylor's other albums and the songs are, musically, much more straightforward, which puts the lyrics (the heart and soul of all Swift songs) front and center.

A highlight of the album was "Back to December," which is unique in Taylor's catalogue in that it's a breakup ballad, but also an apology song. Writing a whole album solo seemed to lead Swift toward some very deep introspection.

Taylor might not have *officially* gone pop until 2014, but 2012's Red towed that line as much as it possibly could without totally stepping over it. Singles like "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and "I Knew You Were Trouble" felt like beta tests for the Taylor that was to come, while tracks like "All Too Well" were firmly old school Swift.

What's notable about Red, aside from the sonic dissonance, is that it really served as an almost perfectly chronological record of the two years between Speak Now and its release. At this point, Taylor's private life was largely on the public record, and rather than fight against that, she used it as a framing device for the album.

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The Fascinating Evolution of Taylor Swift's Sound, from 2006 to Now - MarieClaire.com

You start to go numb.Everything goes silent. And yet, you know there should be sound. Because you see the anguish on your mom's face as she tried to push all the new flurry of confetti into a pile. You see how she's hit by the clock as to remind her about time and going over his curfew. Your brothers and sisters are bumping into each other trying to get to their rooms.Tue Tue,I remember you being filled with adrenaline; it was about survival mode. Fight or flight? I remember your whole body feeling swollen, like the blood was pushing through your palms and your ears felt erect. You felt like you couldn't move, but you find peace staring at the blank screen of the floor model TV set. I remember Mario (5 years old at the time) sliding next to you and joining your stare at the TV.

He whispers to you,"Tue Tue, whatever you do . . . please, break that record."

You say, "OK."

You sit there until it's time to run your 1:46.45.

Even today, I am a fan of your bravery. You ignore his efforts to communicate on the way and during the meet. To your surprise, your standoff doesn't lead to more chaos. He leaves you be. I remember during the warmup you stay quiet and distant. As the final call for your semi-final is announced, he now needs to say something to you.

You were expecting an apology for HIM being the distraction, or even something like, 'I love you no matter what the outcome.' But he says, "The wind is not blowing, this is the day to do it!" And Tue Tue, you don't break your silent protest. You only nod in agreement. By then, you had your mind made up already. You were strong enough to figure it out: sprint the third two hundred meters to exhaustion. I know you would always run the first 200, jog the middle 400, then sprint the last 200. But here on this day, you decide to run the third 200 so hard that you would fatigue out at the 600 meter mark.

That didn't happen.

Tue, I remember the splits. The first lap felt like a 100 meter wind sprint. The clock clicks 49 ... 50. The bell lap rings at 51. It's hilarious to me now, and I know you feel it still. You making a pow noise in your head to signify the start of the real race, the third 200m. You hit the third 200 in 26 seconds! You get to the 600 and don't feel tired, but you can start hearing your breathe and the feeling of your feet hitting ground as you come around the last turn.

Da dum, da dum, da dum, da dum!

With 100 meters to go, you hear your dad at the 700 meter mark shouting, 1:27, 1:28, 29, 30 ... You do the math and believe you can do 14 or 15 seconds for the last 100! At this moment you feel alive! The crowd noise starts to filter in, you see the clock, 1:38, 39 ... Your legs suddenly become tree trunks that feel planted to the ground with every step, but you push past the finish line with the biggest smile on you face. 1:46.45!

You see two of your best friends from Bell Gardens High School, Juan and Bern Dawg, at the finish line. You run to give them some respect for the support. Twenty years from today, you will make a 100 t-shirts commemorating 20 years of setting the national record using the accutrak print out given to you by the officials. You are smiling with your right index finger pointing to the heavens (and, the wind reading says 0, lol!).

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Dear Younger Me: Michael Granville - MileSplit

Photo provided by Bernard Tucker

Bernard Tucker is the owner of Brand Visions, a branding company that serves to encourage individuals to be confident in branding their businesses, talents and lifestyles. Here, the entrepreneur shares his vision and why its about more than branding.

Tell us about Brand Visions LLC.Brand Visions provides custom branding on apparel and sublimated items to help market and promote your business ideas to the public. Small ideas become big not only at the right time but also with the right method. The first brand that we began branding was our own clothing line Urban Intellect, which bridges the gap between street smarts and book sense, natural ability and the trained eye. In many ways, Urban Intellect serves as a physical and tangible mission statement for everything that Brand Visions stands for and hopes to accomplish.

Why did you become an entrepreneur?Ive been an entrepreneur most of my adult life to one degree or another, with most of it due to having a creative mind that keeps on ticking. Growing up in Hammond, Indiana, I was surrounded by people who owned things in the neighborhood and circulated those dollars amongst each other daily. That served as early fuel for using my creative abilities to become an owner, a driver, and a creator of my own career path. Even on the several occasions where jobs felt good enough to put my dreams on the back burner, that would downsize or lay people off, pushing me right back on that path. In the 90s, I started an independent record label to produce, record and distribute my own hip-hop/rap music. Those years of experience paved the way for Brand Visions LLC.

How has your music career influenced your company?My music is an identical reflection of the company that Ive formed through Brand Visions LLC. Throughout my 20 plus years of writing hip-hop/rap lyrics, my aim was to encourage and empower people to not only see the greatness within, but to really live it. Its also given me that creative space in which I operate to create my branding ideas. The key difference to me between branding ideas and creating the type of music that I dois that the message through my branding speaks directly to the audience that my music was meant to reach. In some ways, I think the music was before its time, whereas Brand Visions is right on time. Either way, one gives life to the other and that will always make them both relevant.

What do you think about racism today?Theres this phrase that has stuck around with me for years: make it plain, which to me sums up racism in the world today. Racism, along with many other forms of social control, has been made plain today, that theyre here and are here to stay. Urban Intellect represents that space of thinking that allows one to navigate around such barriers as racism and classism by using the minds natural ability to not be denied. So to answer the question of what do I think about racism today, I believe its in fear of the intellectual mindset of what I consider to be sleeping giants awaiting a conscious evolution of thinking.

What type of feedback have you received from your positive messaging?The feedback has been very positive. Whats real is that urban Intellect is nothing more than just your real conversations that are talked about daily in barbershops, universities, and places of worship. Im getting to the point where Im taking the word positive and calling it what it is, the truth. Honestly, it reminds me of how my music was often stuck with the label of just being a positive message, even though lyrically it was very well respected against the best. My vision for this company is to erase those labels that allow people to judge ones movement before their movement ever gets off the ground.

In the next five years, where would you like to see your business?In the next five years, I see us being more than just a branding company but also an entrepreneurial school for training individuals to believe in their ideas and to persistently pursue them until they become reality: Dont just make it a brand, make it a movement.

Where can people follow you to continue experiencing the positive messaging and purchase your clothing?By visiting our website atwww.thebrandvision.com

Follow us on FaceBook at /brandvisionsllcor /Urban-Intellect

The rest is here:
Urban Intellect fashion designer Bernard Tucker has classic views on race - Rolling Out

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Stephen Parato, ContributorWaking Times

Have you ever wondered About what level of consciousness youre truly at?

Not in terms of it being a contest, or to say youre better/worse than other people, but as a kind of inner GPS that simply tells you where you are.

As humans, we tend to have very distorted and biased perspectives, especially when it comes to ourselves.

Its really easy to go on a yoga retreat and think youve transcended stress forever, or think youre enlightened after reading a few spiritual books.

This is why its crucial to have references that tell it like it is and objectively reflect where youre at.

I recently came across what can be described as a map of consciousness. Its a research paper by Justin Faerman entitled Mapping the Evolution of Consciousness: A Holistic Framework for Psychospiritual Development.

This paper describes, in plain English, eight stages of consciousness. And its not abstract or woo-woo. Its straightforward, simple to understand and backed by a lot of research.

Here are the stages outlined in the paper

Note: The first 2 stages are considered lower consciousness, while stages 3-8 are considered higher consciousness. This is not a judgment of being better or worse, but simply a means of classification.

Stage 1 is categorized by patterns of externalization and an overall victim mentality. The dominant emotions are fear, disdain and hopelessness. There is also a belief that life cannot be trusted.

In this stage, blame is placed on other individuals, society, government, nature, disease, etc. and other elements believed to be outside of ones conscious control and influence.

The motivating forces of stage 1 are safety and security.

Dominant Belief Structures:Life is not safe; I am not safe

Mantra for Evolution:God does not play dice with the universe. Albert Einstein

In this second stage, individuals realize that they have some degree of control. Yet this control is often motivated by fear and survival.

For example, war is an extension of this stage of consciousness. The enemy is perceived as a threat, and because of this, people believe they are morally justified to kill, eliminate or repress that enemy.

We also see various reflections of this stage of consciousness in our collective world. Look at how most people treat the environment and interpersonal relationships. Or consider the dominant mentality of politics and business.

This level of awareness is cut off from the following deeper understanding: Life is not a random series of events over which control must be exerted, but a deeper reflection of the internal psychodynamics of a persons own mind and consciousness.

Dominant Belief Structures:I must make it so; What I cannot control will destroy me.

Mantra for Evolution:If you bring forth what is within you, then that which is within you will be your salvation. If you do not bring forth what is within you, then that which is within you will destroy you. Gnostic Gospels

In this stage, the individual begins to understand the direct connection between their own perceptions, beliefs and emotional state and the conditions of their life, relationships, experiences and reality as a whole.

This level of consciousness is represented by a fundamental shift, from disempowerment to empowerment.

In order to fully complete this stage, an individual must undergo a deep transformational process that includes the purging of all perceptual distortions (limiting beliefs) and the healing/release of all emotional wounds and traumas. The emergence of consciousness into later stages is observed in direct proportion to the evolution of an individual through this process of deep inner healing and transformational work.

Dominant Belief Structures:I am in control; I am creative

Useful Psycho-Spiritual Practices:Mindfulness, Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy, Emotional freedom techniques, Neuro-linguistic programming, Trauma release exercises, Psychotherapy, Hooponopono, Introspection

Mantra for Evolution:Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakens. Carl Jung

In this stage, we see the evolution of the self into the beginnings of deep joy and peace.

As the resistance to perceived undesirable circumstances in life falls away and one begins to understand that there is an intelligent flow operating in every moment guiding the evolution of consciousness on both an individual and collective level through what could be dualistically termed positive and negative experiences.

The individual realizes here that even in great suffering, there is great wisdom and potential for expansion and evolution and that nothing is out of place, ever has been or ever will be.

Dominant Belief Structures:I am loved; I am supported

Useful Psycho-Spiritual Practices:Seeing everything as perfect, Surrender, Acceptance, Letting Go, Embracing Flow and Effortlessness, Meditation

Mantra For Evolution:Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at the moment. Eckhart Tolle

At this stage of consciousness, the individual begins to understand and observe that the Universe is evolving itself through them.

The individual begins to realize that all perceived suffering or negative events are either:a) Created or called into their reality by aspects of their own consciousness in an effort to be resolved and transcended as part of their individual evolution and as part of the larger collective evolution orb) Exist due to their conscious or unconscious resistance to what is unfolding, which is essentially a resistance of oneself.

Individuals in stage 5 live more through their intuition, as intuition becomes clearer and clearer as one moves up the stages.

Dominant Belief Structures:I am safe; Everything is perfect

Useful Psycho-Spiritual Practices:Intuitive Development, Kinesiology

Mantra For Evolution:Everything in the universe is within you. Ask all from yourself. Rumi

At this stage of awareness, the individual begins to understand that reality does not exist independent of consciousness, and therefore consciousness, or awareness if you prefer, is the causative factor of the universe and all that existsthat consciousness is creating all reality.

Individuals in this stage experience a profound sense of unity and oneness with everything.

When an individual fully enters and embodies this stage of awareness, their simple presence itself becomes a transformative experience for others. Individuals in this stage often become teachers or leaders, dedicate their lives to service of others or seek solitude to spend time in introspection, although they may also choose to live very normal and inconspicuous lives.

Dominant Belief Structures:I am one; I am whole

Useful Psycho-Spiritual Practices:Service, Contemplation, Meditation

Mantras For Evolution:You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself. Alan Watts

Stop acting so small. You are the Universe in ecstatic motion. Rumi

Individuals at this stage of growth begin to transcend the physicality within which we are proverbially trapped until we reach this point.

Here individuals begin to harness conscious control over this process by directing their awareness in such a way (through belief, emotion, thought, visualization, the manipulation of energy, intent, accessing transpersonal aspects of the self and likely other mechanisms not yet discovered) as to be able to make use of these higher order quantum-transpersonal abilities of the self.

Individuals at this stage perceive and know themselves to be limitless and are in various sub-stages of actualizing that reality beyond a simple intellectual understanding.

As individuals move more deeply into this stage they proportionally complete lower stages which leads to an embodied confidence, power and knowingness, which is palpable to most all who they come into contact with.

Dominant Belief Structures:I am infinite/limitless; Anything is possible

Useful Psycho-Spiritual Practices:Esoterics, Visualization, Kabbalah, Sound/Vibration/Mantra, Qi/Nei Gong, Kriya Yoga

Mantra for Evolution:Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one. Albert Einstein

Individuals at this stage tap into phenomena like:

Those who have near death experiences as well as users of psychedelic drugs or plant medicines (ayahuasca, DMT, LSD, mushrooms, etc.) are often able to have highly embodied first-hand experiences of this state of awareness pre-development into this stage, giving them a proverbial taste of this reality without necessarily having done the psychospiritual foundational work necessary to experience this stage organically and therefore they often lack a deeper understanding of the larger framework of what is happening along with the ability to maintain it beyond a transitory phenomenon, still nonetheless forever changed by the experience.

As an individual becomes more grounded in the later phases of stage eightwhich encompass this dimensional awarenessand simultaneously completes their evolution through lower stages, one would theoretically achieve complete enlightenment or non-dual self-realization.

Dominant Belief Structures:Everything is energy; I am awareness; Reality is an illusion

Useful Psycho-Spiritual Practices:Energy healing, Esoterics, Visualization, Kabbalah, Qi/Nei Gong, Kriya Yoga, Meditation, Visualization, Remote Viewing, Astral Projection, Telekinesis

Mantra for Evolution:We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Although this model ends at stage 8, this doesnt imply that no further stages exist and that somehow stage 8 is the pinnacle of conscious evolution. However, any claims as to what happens beyond stage 8 at this time are simply conjecture.

At this point, you probably have a pretty good idea of where youre at.

When the descriptions are objectively laid out, it forces you to be honest with yourself.

Its also helpful to accept where youre at right now, while continuously learning and growing. Dont resist where you are right now or beat yourself up, neither of those serve your highest interest. Choose love, gratitude and compassion in each moment and you cant go wrong.

Heres another important point: youre not limited to one stage! Chances are that youre dipping into different stages on a daily basis. But it should be fairly apparent as to what stage youre grounded in at this point in your life.

For me, Im pretty grounded in stage 5, though I often fluctuate between stages 3 and 6. Ive tasted stages 7 and 8, yet these experiences have been few and fleeting. Sometimes Ill even find myself in stage 1 or 2, and thats okay. Its all a part of the human experience.

This framework is beautiful because it allows you to effectively calibrate where you are. It naturally creates self-awareness. Awareness is the first step toward any change, and transformative in and of itself.

I encourage you to read the full paper, which you can download for free here:Mapping the Evolution of Consciousness: A Holistic Framework for Psychospiritual Development

Which stage are you in at this point of your journey? Is this framework helpful for you?

Leave a comment below.

Much love to you on your path.

Stephen Parato (akaStevieP) is a holistic health & wellness advocate, philosopher, writer, and positivity connoisseur. He is also the founder ofFeelin Good, Feelin Great. Website link:http://www.feelingoodfeelingreat.comFacebook link:https://www.facebook.com/FeelinGoodFeelinGreatTwitter link:https://twitter.com/SteviePThatsMe

This article (The 8 Stages of Conscious Evolution) was originally created and published by Stephen Parato of Feeling Good, Feeling Great, and is re-posted here with permission.

The 8 Stages of Conscious Evolution was last modified: May 31st, 2017 by WakingTimes

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