Would You Love to Evolve?

I see so much suffering in America and around the world. I see unhappiness, alienation, broken families, isolation, sickness, war, poverty, injustice and a planet out of balance. And it makes me both sad and angry. Sad, because it's me and my fellow human beings who are suffering and we deserve better. Angry, because most of this suffering is preventable and unnecessary.

It is caused not by Nature but by ourselves. Human ignorance, cruelty, laziness, selfishness, hatred, greed, anger, apathy, arrogance all combine to create this toxic suffering. Although there are some shining lights of hope amidst the darkness, overall the social, biological and ecological conditions on this planet are deteriorating. Each day's news can be condensed into one brief sentence: "Things are getting worse."

I believe human beings are capable of living at a far more evolved level than our current behavior would indicate.Humanity needs to look in the mirror and say, "I'm the cause of my problems. I'm sabotaging myself. I'm messing up my planet. I'm fighting with myself. I'm wrecking the future for my own species, for my own children. I'm doomed unless I transform the way I think and live."

Our fundamental problem is our way of thinking, our level of consciousness. We evolved to become human by breaking through to a new level of consciousness that led to tool-making, language, and culture. This level of consciousness that has helped humankind survive the Ice Age and grow to dominate the planet has taken us as far as it can. Our relentless drive for domination now threatens our species with self-destruction.

We need to evolve to the next level of consciousness so we can use the vast powers we have gained with wisdom. Now that we're all connected on this small planet we need to evolve so we can co-create with each other instead of trying to dominate each other.

Our previous evolutionary advance involved a dramatic increase in brain growth, increased brain cell capacity in the cerebrum. But scientists believe we have reached our physical limit in terms of cranial capacity. We can't fit anymore brain cells into our cranium. And a bigger head won't make it through the birth canal. We've got to find another way to evolve. So how do we evolve without adding more brain cells?

The answer is simple: By using the ones we have more effectively. Specifically, we need to evolve more connections within the brain itself. Surprisingly this possibility has both a sound scientific and spiritual basis. We need greater communication between the right brain and left brain to enable more holistic, "big picture" thinking.

As usual women lead the way in evolution. Neuroscientists recently discovered that women have already developed greater neural pathways in the corpus callosum that connects the two brain hemispheres, suggesting that it is possible to evolve the brain by changing the way we use it. Scientists don't know what caused this evolution. My guess is that women have evolved a more connected brain because they think in a more connected, holistic way -- about relationships, other people, about the whole family.

In addition to strengthening the left-right connection, we also need greater higher-lower coordination within the brain. We need much better intercommunication between our thinking "human" brain (neocortex), our emotional "mammalian" brain (limbic system) and our instinct-driven, flight-or-fight "reptilian" brain (brainstem and cerebellum).

The good news is that we have all the hardware we need, but our software is overdue for a major system upgrade. When we use our mind differently we not only reroute the electrical impulses in the brain cells (changing the software), we eventually grow new neural pathways (upgrading the hardware too!).

With a more evolved, interconnected brain we can think more clearly and solve problems at a higher level by seeing the big picture. We can have far greater self-control (fewer unhealthy habits and addictions, fewer emotional overreactions, far less selfishness and violence). With the higher brain better able to direct the lower brain we can finally live according to our highest values and spiritual principles.

So how do we evolve our brain? Some humans evolve before others -- the evolutionary pioneers. The most evolved humans of the past few millennia of human history have been trying to point the rest of us in the right direction. Spiritually evolved leaders such as Jesus, Buddha, Moses (and many other wise men and women throughout the ages on every continent) all have given us the same advice: "Love God, love Creation, love yourselves and love one another."

The practice of love is what actually evolves our brain. Consistently acting from love instead of selfishness and fear is the only way we humans will evolve our brains to the next level. Scientists will never come up with a pill or a genetic fix to evolve us. No savior will swoop down from the sky and transform us. We have evolved to the point where we ourselves direct our evolution with our own thinking.

When people asked Jesus when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus kept reminding them, "It's not going to come by looking here or looking there. It's within you--look inside." (see Luke 17:20-21).

Buddha also taught that "heaven" or "nirvana" was a state of consciousness and that only through using our minds in a new way based on love, unconditional acceptance and non-violence could we experience inner peace and create an outer world of peace.

Humanity needs to evolve in order to avoid self-destruction and to fulfill our destiny as inhabitants of an intelligent, loving universe. We are either part of the problem or part of the evolution.

Three simple (and challenging) ways to evolve:

(1) Link up the higher and lower parts of your brain by developing your mind-body connection. Use techniques and therapies from the realms of holistic health, personal growth and authentic spirituality to develop greater awareness and create health and harmony within your body, heart, mind and soul.

(2) Integrate all the dimensions of your brain, your body and your spiritual being by practicing love. Think from love at every moment. Act from love in daily life. Love heals and makes whole the fragmented parts of our being. Love rewires our brain so we can create a heaven on earth.

(3) Love dissolves the barriers between people so we can live happily under one roof with our friends and family, and so we can live happily on this planet as one great human family. Then collectively we can begin to create a "politics of love" -- new leaders and new social structures motivated by love instead of fear and guided by spiritual wisdom instead of ego power. Love is the next stage in our species' evolution.

Think it's impossible? Do you think evolution is over and done with -- that we are just stuck with who we are? That's a tempting thought because then we don't have to try. The truth is that it's challenging work, but far from impossible. It's simply up to us whether we do the work or not. Our love-ability develops through practice and exercise.

Love is a verb. It's not just a feeling. It's something we do. Think evolutionary change sounds good, but it can't help us with today's crises because evolution takes thousands, even millions of years? Transformation of consciousness can occur in the twinkling of an eye. Resistance is the limiting factor, and resistance has its roots in the ego and in fear. If we resist the death-rebirth of transformation, our energy goes into holding onto the past instead of creating the future.

Like the trapeze artist we need to let go of one bar in order to catch the bar that will carry us forward. Each new instant of time bursts forth into being, freeing itself from the confines of the past moment. Need motivation? Our life, our children's lives and the future of humanity depend on what we do in this generation. Imagine humanity finding the courage and faith to embrace the transformation that is struggling to take form. Imagine us fulfilling our divine destiny to become fully consciousness loving beings.

Imagine that we change direction and narrowly succeed in avoiding the many disasters that could end the human experiment during the twenty-first century. (It's going to be a cliffhanger!) Next imagine that we begin to think clearly, cooperate and actually solve some of the problems we face regarding such vital issues as food, fuel, health and human relationships.

Finally, imagine the paradise this planet could evolve into if enough of us wonderful, amazing, creative human beings practiced love consistently for the next few hundred years. Would you love to evolve?

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