Evolution #11: Changing Times

Tomas: You ever wonder if the world is changing? Like, for the worse?

Abe: All the goddamn time.

Tomas: I see it all over. Not just in the big ways. It’s little ones. Sure, the weather is changing, resources are running out, and everyone seems to be loads crazier than before… But whatever is happening now? It seems way bigger. End of days-type business, you know?

In this issue, two men are on a train, discussing changes in humanity. It’s hard for this to not resonate. Our world, and everything in it, including all of us, is changing at a pace that we have not seen in the history of humanity. Change breeds uncertainty, and rapid change creates such a high level of uncertainty that the result is fear. You can see it everywhere, regardless of political leaning or spiritual belief. People are afraid and trust in others is diminishing. This fear is being exploited by media and corporations who see it as an opportunity to capitalize on this trend, offering home security systems, homes in “safe” gated communities, healthy this, secure that.

If you pause and take a step back, it is easy to see how insane this has become. Personally, I feel there is still a way out. Yes, the world will change. Yes, people will change. How that change manifests is still up to us. I choose to help foster a more positive change, and as such am doing small things on a personal and local level. Small changes ripple out and become larger shifts. Never underestimate the impact that your smallest decision has on the world.

Evolution #10: Creating Our Own Horrors

We made a world where everyone is alone. Full of locked doors and safe rooms, away from the horror. But we’re all locked in with the monsters. The ones we create. The ones we are.

It is difficult to look around these days and not see the fear, isolation, and fragmentation that is rampant in our society. The level of distrust against the “other” has created pockets of people who are willingly keep themselves separate from all people who are not like them, who do not think and act in exactly the same way. And this isolationism is leading to more fear and distrust, creating a vicious whirlpool that threatens to suck us all down into a dark vortex.

I was told once that we are only as sick as our secrets. This is why I feel it is imperative that we break out of this habit we are in of isolating ourselves from people who we label as different and begin to have open, honest, and empathetic conversations. Because if we don’t, we are increasing the risk that we will end up with a world of horror, with all of us locked away in with our own internal monsters in cells of our own construction.

Thoughts on “Evolution: #09”: The Effect of Ideas

The effect of ideas. The placebo effect. Fanatics who worship different gods “blessed” to walk across fire, or take venomous snake bites without pain. There’s real evidence that our minds can be trained to trick our bodies into wondrous things. So what if the opposite is true…? Isn’t it just as possible that we convince ourselves the world is going to Hell — and our bodies start to believe it?

When I read this passage, it resonated with me. Thoughts are powerful and definitely have an impact on how reality manifests. As I look around and see all the tension and anxiety permeating our world right now, it’s no wonder that more and more negativity seems to be manifesting. This is why I have taken myself out of a lot of social media platforms that have just become too toxic. I’ve also limited my news intake. Just by doing these small things, I’ve noticed a dramatic change in my life. I’m much happier, less stressed, and far less fearful.

We are all active participants in creating the world. As such, we have a choice as to what kind of world we want to bring into being. I for one will do all I can to envision and work towards something better than what we have now. I refuse to allow myself to mentally construct my own Hell.

 

Evolution: #7

I can see now that the world has evolved, too. So much it can’t even see the threat inside it. Everyone pretending that all this is normal. An entire planet gone mad.

When I read this quote in Evolution this morning, it captured how I have been feeling about the world lately. Much has changed and evolved in the last 20 to 30 years, and very rapidly, both for good and bad. But many of us are so caught up in the frenzy that we are unable to take a step back and get some perspective on the radical changes that our world is experiencing. I speak from experience. I was caught up in the frenzy of change, but have lately been making a conscious effort to slow down, practice some mindfulness, and filter out some of the chaotic noise that is accompanying all that is occurring. Doing so has allowed me to begin to see my role in the world a little more clearly, and help me navigate these turbulent waters.

Take a few moments to slow down and reflect today. It is important to do so. Cheers.

Evolution: #02

This graphic series is good so far. The story demands attention from the reader, since it basically weaves three storylines together around a central plot. I suspect that the creative team will eventually weave this all into a grotesquely intricate tapestry of science fiction horror. I’m looking forward to how the tale will progress.

Because of the structure of this tale, it is difficult to critique it, since the story still feels fragmented (in a good way), and feels like the characters are still being developed and the background story established. But there is an interesting passage regarding evolution that is worth sharing.

Evolution never stopped. There are still changes happening all around us. Bedbugs disappeared for almost 50 years, then came back with a vengeance, aided by a new exoskeleton and a faster metabolism. Moscow dogs that learn to ride the subway, knowing which stop to get off at. Cardiologists whose exposure to x-rays increased the hydrogen peroxide levels in their blood, leading to more glutathione, which helps protect them from radiation. Fundamental changes on a cellular level. The ones we know about. There are new species we’re still discovering. People living in remote, extreme areas, who never see a doctor, never mingle with civilization. Evolution used to be slow, methodical. A defensive measure to adapt life to new conditions. Now it’s fast, brutal and playing offense.

What I find interesting about this passage is that it is very plausible, especially when you consider how rapidly things change in our highly technical world. Everything moves faster and faster, so it stands to reason that evolution would also have to speed up to keep pace with global changes. Consider how fast viruses and bacteria mutate now, exhausting our antibacterial resources. It certainly is worth exploring through sci-fi literature.

Thanks for stopping by, and keep reading interesting stuff.

Evolution: #01

I recently went with my older daughter to the local comic store. While we were there, she pointed out to me a new comic called Evolution. She was very excited because she had done an internship at Skybound and was tasked with reading the early scripts for this graphic tale. She strongly encouraged me to buy it, saying it was really good and I would like it. There were two installments available, so I purchased both.

This first issue piqued my interest. There is not a lot to write about, since it is basically some background story and the introduction of the principal characters. My daughter told me that there are three story lines woven together and that it will get very good. I’m looking forward.

I will share a quote from Christopher Sebela, one of the writers, which is included at the end of this issue. He shares about how the socio-political uncertainty of the 1980s influenced his interest in horror and ultimately served as inspiration for this story.

Horror is about the personal apocalypse, the destruction of a human body, of a group of friends or a family or the very idea of safety. It’s about the things you trust the most betraying you, standing over you with an axe in its hands, unable to be reasoned with or avoided. With EVOLUTION, we’re setting out to destroy all of that and more, building a world where nothing and no one can be trusted, where even our bodies themselves don’t belong to us. For a kid who used to stay up late watching horror movies my mom never knew about and who spent his days wondering when the air raid sirens would go off and we’d all be vaporized into shadows, this book has been a lifetime in the making for me.

That’s all I have to share for now. I may have more to say after I read issue #02. Cheers!

“A Path with Heart” by Jack Kornfield

I recently attended a party at my friend Sonia’s house, and she had a copy of this book on her living room table. Since I am ever fascinated with books and which ones my friends are reading, I picked it up and scanned it quickly. I immediately realized that it was a book I needed to read, so on my next trip to the bookstore, I purchased a copy.

The book is essentially a how-to guide for meditators, offering practical suggestions for how to develop your practice and address certain challenges that may arise. In addition to being insightful and helpful, it is extremely well-written. Jack weaves in wonderful stories to elaborate upon his ideas, and does so in a style that is engaging and never dull.

There is a wealth of rich material in this book, and if you are interested in meditation, I encourage you to read it. But I would like to share a few passages that really resonated with me.

The first passage I would like to share concerns the pitfall of dramatic spiritual experiences.

The dazzling effect of lights and visions, the powerful releases of rapture and energy, all are a wonderful sign of the breakdown of the old and small structures of our being, body, and mind. However, they do not in themselves produce wisdom. Some people have had many of these experiences, yet learned very little. Even great openings of the heart, kundalini processes, and visions can turn into spiritual pride or become old memories. As with a near-death experience or a car accident, some people will change a great deal and others will return to old constricted habits shortly thereafter. Spiritual experiences in themselves do not count for much. What matters is that we integrate and learn from the process.

(p. 129)

I have had a fair amount of powerful and profound spiritual experiences, and I confess in my younger days they lured me into complacency, as well as down some less-than-wholesome paths. But it was all a learning process that brought me to the place I am today. I now try (yes, I only try) to practice humility as I progress along the path, and I am searching for ways to incorporate what I learn from my spiritual practice into my daily life. Because, really, all we have is this moment and we need to be the best we can be right here and right now.

These are extraordinary times for a spiritual seeker. Modern spiritual bookstores bulge with texts of Christian, Jewish, Sufi, and Hindu mystical practices.

(p. 157)

How true! And this does not even consider the wealth of digital texts available through online libraries. Rare texts that were once only available to academics and clergy are now readily available to those who seek the wisdom and insight. I have often pondered why I was fortunate enough to make it through the difficult stages of my life, especially when I saw many of my friends suffer an early demise. I can only assume that I was meant to be here, to explore the vast abundance of spiritual wisdom that is now a click or purchase away. It is certainly a great time to be alive, in spite of all the obvious social and environmental challenges that we face.

And with that, I would like to close with a quote that succinctly sums up the power of spiritual practice.

Spiritual practice is revolutionary. It allows us to step outside the limited view of personal identity, of culture, and of religion and experience more directly the great mystery of life, the great music of life.

(p. 325)

Yes, I believe that the next human revolution (or evolution) will be one of the spirit. Our species cannot survive unless we let go of our fear, our greed, and our hatred, and instead embrace and nurture that which we all share—the spark of the divine which exists within each and every one of us.

Thanks for taking the time to share my thoughts. I hope you found them inspiring.

“Promethea: Book 5” by Alan Moore: On Consciousness and the Apocalypse

This is the final book in the series and the focus is on the shift in human consciousness that accompanies the apocalypse. In order to fully grasp what Moore is expressing, it is important to understand that the apocalypse is a symbolic end of the world. It is the end of reality as we perceive it and signifies the crossing of the threshold into the new stage of human evolution.

“It’s like she’s had some massive breakdown in her sense of what’s real. Maybe that’s what ‘end of the world’ means.”

Reality as we know it is only a shared perception. We are taught that a table is a table and a building is a building, and we filter our sensory input accordingly. The apocalypse, therefore, will be a collective shift in how humans perceive the world around us.

“Yes, space and time, our selves, our whole world… these things only ever existed in our perceptions. Now those perceptions are changing.”

There is a conception that when the apocalypse occurs, that it will signal the end of humankind, that we will all be magically transported from the earth to a heavenly place. This will only occur symbolically. We will still exist on this physical plane, we will still have to deal with life, but our perceptions will be vastly different.

“”I mean, it’s not like there weren’t going to still be questions and choices after the apocalypse. What, did we just think we’d all just go to heaven and there’d be no more problems, or diseases, or earthquakes? No, we all woke up one day after the world ended, and we still had to feed ourselves and keep a roof over our heads. Life goes on, y’know? Life goes on.”

The final chapter in this book goes deep into the exploration of consciousness and the symbols used to express it. Since it is impossible to study consciousness using the scientific method, we must turn to art and mysticism as ways to explore this aspect of ourselves.

“Both angels and imaginative thoughts, being phenomena not highly reliable under laboratory conditions, are equally outside the province of empirical science. Consciousness, unprovable by scientific standards, is forever, then, the impossible phantom in the predictable biologic machine, and your every thought a genuine supernatural event. Your every thought is a ghost, dancing.”

Moore goes on to assert that consciousness is dependent upon language and symbols, that without these tools, we as unable to grasp and understand our conscious selves. Words and symbols actually give our consciousness form and shape.

“Consciousness is an astonishing gift, too precious to be squandered on material concerns alone. And consciousness, modern theory maintains, is built on language. Before we’re conscious of something, we must have a word for it. The only reality we can ever know is that of our perceptions, our own consciousness, while that consciousness, and thus our entire reality, is made of nothing but signs and symbols. Nothing but language.”

I’d like to conclude by saying I have read a fair amount of comics and graphic novels so far in my life, and this series is by far the best that I have read. And the genre is perfect for conveying this type of deep metaphysical information, because, as Moore points out, the genre naturally communicates with both aspects of the psyche simultaneously.

“Pentagon studies in the 1980s demonstrated that comic strip narrative is still the best way of conveying understandable and retainable information. Words being the currency of our verbal ‘left’ brain, and images that of our pre-verbal ‘right’ brain, perhaps comic strip reading prompts both halves to work in unison?”

Hellboy and the B.P.R.D 1954: Black Sun

This tale is told over two issues, which I read consecutively. It’s kind of a cross between Indiana Jones and the X-Files, with Hellboy fighting Nazis who have reverse-engineered an alien craft and built a fleet of saucers which they plan to use to conquer the world and establish the 1000-year Reich.

Overall, the story was very entertaining, well-written, and the artwork was great. There were also a couple themes that were addressed that I found particularly interesting.

In the first installment, when Hellboy arrives with his field partner in the Arctic, the partner, who is black, is met with racial disdain.

Oh. Didn’t think they’d be sending a colored.

What I found most striking about this short scene is that while the U.S. was fighting against an enemy that was claiming racial superiority, people in the U.S. also had their prejudices and biases. And as proven by recent events, these prejudices are still thriving in our society.

The other part of this graphic tale that resonated with me was how myths and legends are used as symbols for aspects of human consciousness.

There are, of course, countless legends about the hollow earth, and hidden passages that connect one pole to the other. I had assumed these to be a metaphor for the hidden recesses of the human mind, but they may have been a material reality.

I am reminded of the classic Journey to the Center of the Earth. I have not read the book (yet), but watched the film numerous times as a kid, fascinated with the idea that hidden below the surface of the earth was an entirely different world, populated by dinosaurs. Now as an adult, I understand the metaphor. The center of the earth is a symbol for the center of our brains, the primordial root of our consciousness, the primal animalistic part of our psyches that exists in the amygdala within the limbic cortex. The dinosaurs symbolize our collective lizard brains, a residual that we never lost through our stages of evolution.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

“Have You Seen the Stars Tonite” by Paul Kantner

Image Source: Wikipedia

Last night I read that another of our great artistic individuals passed away. Paul Kantner, one of the founding members of the Jefferson Airplane, died at the age of 74 from multiple organ failure and septic shock. I thought I would look at the lyrics to one of my favorite songs written by the late musician.

Have you seen the stars tonight?
Would you like to go up on A-deck and look at them with me?
Have you seen the stars tonight?
Would you like to go up for a stroll and keep me company?

Do you know
We could go?
We are free.
Anyplace you can think of
We could be.

Have you seen the stars tonight?
Have you looked at all the family of stars?

This song appeared on the “Blows Against the Empire” album, which I highly recommend listening to. Kantner performed this song the last time I saw him in concert, which was a free July 4th show in Miami years ago.

What I find so moving about this short song is the powerfully optimistic view of the future. Kantner is looking toward the distant stars and envisioning the next stage of evolution for humanity, a place where we recognize the connection between all people and accept that we are one family, no matter how distant and scattered.

In our insane world, it is easy to lose touch with Kantner’s vision for humanity, but we cannot do that. We need to visualize the future in order for it to manifest. Tonight, when I look up at the stars, I will know that Paul is up there, still guiding us to our next phase of evolution.