Ascending Through Spirit
We continue on with our exploration of the book, Birthing a Greater Reality, by Robert Brumet.
Please note: Our service will not be livestreamed this month as we consider viable alternatives for staying connected.
We intend to post the audio recording of the service our website and app on Monday.
You are encouraged to join us in person if you are able.
Brumet, R. (2010). Birthing a Greater Reality. Unity Village: Unity Books.
Chardin, P. T. (1959). THe Phenomenon of Man. New York: Harper Row.
Fillmore, C. (1959). The Revealing Word. Unity Village: Unity School of Christianity.
Last week we considered the role that involution plays in the purpose of evolution. Involution is the process by which Spirit involves itself within all of creation. Spirit literally imbues itself into all of creation for the purpose of knowing and expressing itself more fully. The great purpose behind evolution is for Spirit to wake up to the fullness of itself within creation. We humans seem to play a unique role in this process due to our capacity for awareness.
Not only are we are aware, but we are able to be aware that we are aware!
Before moving on, I would like to clarify that the process of scientific evolution need not be at odds with this expanded purpose for evolution based on the process of involution. I did not mean to imply that science is inadequate or inferior to spirituality. I believe that science and spirituality are equally important, and valid.
Not only are we are aware, but we are able to be aware that we are aware!
Before moving on, I would like to clarify that the process of scientific evolution need not be at odds with this expanded purpose for evolution based on the process of involution. I did not mean to imply that science is inadequate or inferior to spirituality. I believe that science and spirituality are equally important, and valid.
Considering them both through the lens of involution, meaning that Divine Intelligence is imbued in all that is, the work and wisdom of science is naturally included. Robert Brumet asserts that science and spirituality serve two distinct purposes. The purpose of science is to study and understand the mechanics and processes at work in this masterfully designed Universe. Spirituality seeks to know the greater purpose of it all.
The theories around involution presented in chapter two offer the foundation for that purpose.
“The purpose of evolution is for the Absolute to unfold itself within the relative universe. Human history is the Absolute unfolding through the consciousness of humanity” (Brumet, pg. 60).
This book is exploring and expanding on the premise that evolution based solely in biological adaptation has taken humanity as far it can without a corresponding evolution in the realm of consciousness.
What do we mean by consciousness?
Unity Co-Founder Charles Fillmore defined consciousness as,
“The sense of awareness, of knowing. The knowledge or realization of any idea, object, or condition. The sum total of all ideas accumulated in and affecting {our} present being”
(The Revealing Word, 1959).
Consciousness is awareness. Awareness is gained through the various ways we come to know or become aware. We gain awareness through our senses, our intellect, our emotions, and our spiritual experiences. Our awareness is also influenced by the values of our family, our culture and society at large.
This week, we will finish this chapter by reviewing the highlights of the theories presented about the structures of consciousness. Specifically the work that has culminated in the current theory of Spiral Dynamics by Don Beck and Chris Cowan, and inspired by the work of Clare Graves.
Spiral dynamics offers a tool for consdiering how people and cultures have, and continue to go through stages of development. It provides the framework through which we can see where we are individually and collectively within those stages.
According to this theory, the population of our world currently spans over four distinct stages of development. This is helpful in understanding the tension we currently see playing out in our world. It can also support us in finding ways to navigate our seeming differences from a place of compassion and understanding.
It may be tempting for those with value systems that appear “higher up” on the spiral to see themselves as somehow superior or “more evolved”.
Brumet make a point to clarify this using the example of education. “Higher does not mean superior in an absolute sense. Higher education does not necessarily mean superior education; it simply means education aimed at a different level of development. {Similarly with the spiral}, 'higher’ simply means having developmentally progressed through the previous stages” (Brumet, pg. 52).
Each stage is needed in order for the corresponding progression through them to be possible.
We need not misuse this tool as yet another way to divide ourselves. If anything, it offers a meaningful way to better understand what seems to be dividing us.
This was the foundational message of Pierre Theilard de Chardin who proposed that conscious evolution “will happen only if humankind becomes a ‘collective human organism’ drawn together by radial energy, that is, by love. Only by uniting can we progress”
(Brumet, pg. 42).
We close here with the quote from Chardin that we closed with last Sunday:
The theories around involution presented in chapter two offer the foundation for that purpose.
“The purpose of evolution is for the Absolute to unfold itself within the relative universe. Human history is the Absolute unfolding through the consciousness of humanity” (Brumet, pg. 60).
This book is exploring and expanding on the premise that evolution based solely in biological adaptation has taken humanity as far it can without a corresponding evolution in the realm of consciousness.
What do we mean by consciousness?
Unity Co-Founder Charles Fillmore defined consciousness as,
“The sense of awareness, of knowing. The knowledge or realization of any idea, object, or condition. The sum total of all ideas accumulated in and affecting {our} present being”
(The Revealing Word, 1959).
Consciousness is awareness. Awareness is gained through the various ways we come to know or become aware. We gain awareness through our senses, our intellect, our emotions, and our spiritual experiences. Our awareness is also influenced by the values of our family, our culture and society at large.
This week, we will finish this chapter by reviewing the highlights of the theories presented about the structures of consciousness. Specifically the work that has culminated in the current theory of Spiral Dynamics by Don Beck and Chris Cowan, and inspired by the work of Clare Graves.
Spiral dynamics offers a tool for consdiering how people and cultures have, and continue to go through stages of development. It provides the framework through which we can see where we are individually and collectively within those stages.
According to this theory, the population of our world currently spans over four distinct stages of development. This is helpful in understanding the tension we currently see playing out in our world. It can also support us in finding ways to navigate our seeming differences from a place of compassion and understanding.
It may be tempting for those with value systems that appear “higher up” on the spiral to see themselves as somehow superior or “more evolved”.
Brumet make a point to clarify this using the example of education. “Higher does not mean superior in an absolute sense. Higher education does not necessarily mean superior education; it simply means education aimed at a different level of development. {Similarly with the spiral}, 'higher’ simply means having developmentally progressed through the previous stages” (Brumet, pg. 52).
Each stage is needed in order for the corresponding progression through them to be possible.
We need not misuse this tool as yet another way to divide ourselves. If anything, it offers a meaningful way to better understand what seems to be dividing us.
This was the foundational message of Pierre Theilard de Chardin who proposed that conscious evolution “will happen only if humankind becomes a ‘collective human organism’ drawn together by radial energy, that is, by love. Only by uniting can we progress”
(Brumet, pg. 42).
We close here with the quote from Chardin that we closed with last Sunday:
“Love alone is capable of uniting living beings in such a way as to complete and fulfill them, for it alone takes them and joins them by what is deepest in themselves” (Chardin, p. 56).
No matter where we are on the spiral or in our seeming ability to proceed to the next level of our own personal development, what is deepest within us all remains the same; the presence of Spirit. May we each turn to that presence within for the wisdom and guidance needed in order to progress through all that we are dealing with; both in our individual lives and our shared collective experience.
No matter where we are on the spiral or in our seeming ability to proceed to the next level of our own personal development, what is deepest within us all remains the same; the presence of Spirit. May we each turn to that presence within for the wisdom and guidance needed in order to progress through all that we are dealing with; both in our individual lives and our shared collective experience.
Join us Sunday at 10am to continue this exploration.
We intend to post the audio recording of the service our website and app on Monday.
You are encouraged to join us in person if you are able.
Sources Cited:
Brumet, R. (2010). Birthing a Greater Reality. Unity Village: Unity Books.
Chardin, P. T. (1959). THe Phenomenon of Man. New York: Harper Row.
Fillmore, C. (1959). The Revealing Word. Unity Village: Unity School of Christianity.
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We close here with the quote from Chardin that we closed with last Sunday:
ReplyDelete“Love alone is capable of uniting living beings in such a way as to complete and fulfill them, for it alone takes them and joins them by what is deepest in themselves” (Chardin, p. 56). Oh yes!! In some ways it seems very simple; trusting our souls and spirits to guide us through love. For me that is less thinking and more following my gut. I don’t have to understand so much; I can trust and be.
Thank you Trish!