Friday 14 December 2018

Butterflies are Free to Fly - A New and Radical Approach to Spiritual Evolution

Butterflies are Free to Fly: A New and Radical Approach to Spiritual Evolution is a free ebook written to examine how quantum physics and recent scientific experiments are radically changing our understanding of life, our reality, and our spirituality – and giving us a new model for the way our universe works and the practical steps to take toward true joy and excitement and peace of mind.

You can download the free ebook in various different formats (including for Kindle, Sony, and other pocket readers) by clicking here.

It is also available as an audiobook for free to listen to on any mp3 player. You can download the free audiobook (or listen to it here, now) by clicking here.

Monday 15 October 2018

Fritjof Capra and the Dharmic Worldview

by Aravindan Neelakandan

On 18-June-2004, a 6.5-foot statue of dancing Siva was unveiled at CERN by its Director General, Dr. Robert Aymar. A special plaque next to the statue explained the traditional symbolism of Siva’s dance also quoted Fritjof Capra a particle physicist himself, ‘For the modern physicists, then, Shiva’s dance is the dance of subatomic matter.’ The statue, a gift from the Indian Government, was to commemorate the long association of Indian scientists with CERN that dated back to 1960s.
Fritjof Capra became a well-known name among ‘New Age’ aficionados as well as serious thinkers (not necessarily mutually exclusive groups) in the 1970s. His fame in India has been largely through the way he integrated the image of dancing Siva with the dynamic nature of sub-atomic particles. Capra wrote quoting Ananda Coomaraswamy (edited by Zimmer) in his cult classic 'Tao of Physics':
Dravidian Propaganda Panel from 1972
For the modern physicists, then, Shiva’s dance is the dance of subatomic matter. As in Hindu mythology, it is a continual dance of creation and destruction involving the whole cosmos; the basis of all existence and of all natural phenomena. Hundreds of years ago, Indian artists created visual images of dancing Shivas in a beautiful series of bronzes. In our time, physicists have used the most advanced technology to portray the patterns of the cosmic dance. The bubblechamber photographs of interacting particles, which bear testimony to the continual rhythm of creation and destruction in the universe, are visual images of the dance of Shiva equalling those of the Indian artists in beauty and profound significance. The metaphor of the cosmic dance thus unifies ancient mythology, religious art, and modern physics. It is indeed, as Coomaraswamy has said, ‘poetry, but none the less science’ (The Tao of Physics, p. 272).
It was the powerful way in which the physicist–author wrote about the parallels between the dancing Deity and the web of relations emanating and dissolving in the realm of sub-atomic particles that ultimately led to the establishment of a Siva statue at CERN.

THE DANCING SIVA

For Hindus who had been constantly abused as worshippers of barbarous grotesque deities, the book and its imagery came as a sort of scientific vindication of ancient wisdom.
Book Cover Fluctuations
How the ‘Tao of Physics’ actually affected the psyche of educated Hindus is in itself an interesting phenomenon. Just a few years before its publication, Dravidian racists had put up a poster which showed the very cosmic dance as nonsensical superstition with American astronomers putting their feet right on the crescent moon adorning the dancing Siva – thus Siva was under the feet of the American astronaut. For Hindus who had been constantly abused as worshippers of barbarous grotesque deities, the book and its imagery came as a sort of scientific vindication of ancient wisdom. Interestingly, while Capra saw the symbolism of Siva’s cosmic dance in the sub-atomic particle trajectories captured in the bubble chamber, the famous chemist, Illya Prigogine who was best known for his concept of dissipative structures, had used the dance of Siva to symbolize the thermodynamic ‘theory of structure, stability and fluctuations.’ Siva’s cosmic dance, even as a metaphor, thus pervaded both the sub-atomic and molecular levels of reality. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Carl Sagan saw in the cyclic cosmic dance of Siva ‘a kind of premonition of modern astronomical ideas’ like the oscillating universe. More recently Dr. V. S. Ramachandran, the modern cartographer of the dynamic brain, used the metaphor of the dance of Siva in an existential sense: “If you are really part of the great cosmic dance of Shiva, other than a mere spectator, then your inevitable death should be seen as a joyous reunion with nature rather than a tragedy.” One wonders if there is another spiritual/ artistic/mythological symbol like that of the dancing Siva that humanity has created which can accompany our own understanding of the universe, inner and outer!
Unfortunately, the interest mostly stopped right there. In 1982, Fritjof Capra delivered a series of lectures at Bombay University, arranged by University Grants Commission of India that accompanied the publication of his next book, ‘The Turning Point.’ In the lecture series, the physicist enlarged upon his vision and spoke of a systems view of life. Interestingly among the Hindu circles, the founder of the trade union with Indic ideology BMS (Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh: Association of Indic workers), Dattopant Thengadi alone seemed to have been aware of the importance and relevance of Capra’s expansive vision in relation to their ideology – particularly in the larger context of ‘Integral humanism,’ an ideology advocated by Jan Sangh (a party perceived as rightwing, though such categories do not accurately apply to Indian politics) ideologue Deendayal Upadhyaya.

PARADIGM SHIFT

Sri Yantra
In ‘The Turning Point’ (1982), Capra explored how the changed vision of nature emanating from the ‘new physics’ also changes the way we look at life, our psychology, society, politics, economics, and environment. He identified the interconnectedness that the theoretical physicists like David Bohm were talking about in such a powerfully poetic language as having an impact on the way other disciplines viewed and approached their own subject matter. In general, a ‘paradigm shift’ has been happening, he claimed, from the Newtonian-Cartesian essentially mechanistic vision of the universe to a more holistic, interconnected, organic vision of universe.
From a reductionist mechanical view of life, we are moving towards a systems view of life. From Freudian and behaviorist models in psychology, we are moving towards the more holistic and humanistic approaches to the psyche propounded by Maslow and Jung. In economics, Capra also identified a shift as reflected in the ‘Buddhist economics’ of E. F. Schumacher. His book explored all these developments in detail.
Here Capra takes a sympathetic view of Marx that would later become central to ecological movements throughout the world.
Here Capra takes a sympathetic view of Marx that would later become central to ecological movements throughout the world. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, many Marxist activists as well as scholars have shifted their focus to an ecological critique of capitalism. Capra does see Marx as a sort of pioneering holistic thinker far ahead of his times:
Many of these experiments were very successful for a while, but all of them ultimately failed, unable to survive in a hostile economic environment. Karl Marx, who owed much to the imagination of the Utopians, believed that their communities could not last, since they had not emerged "organically" from the existing stage of material economic development. From the perspective of the 1980s, it seems that Marx may well have been right (The Turning Point, p. 203).
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, many Marxist activists as well as scholars have shifted their focus to an ecological critique of capitalism
In Capra’s assessment, Marx comes out as a pioneering, organic process-philosopher studying social dynamics:
Marx's view of the role of nature in the process of production was part of his organic perception of reality, as Michael Harrington has emphasized in his persuasive reassessment of Marxian thought. This organic, or systems view is often overlooked by Marx's critics, who claim that his theories are exclusively deterministic and materialistic (The Turning Point, p. 207).
Bat Quai Do Symbal
However, Capra makes it clear how he differs from Marx:
The Marxist view of cultural dynamics, being based 'On the Hegelian notion of recurrent rhythmic change, is not unlike the models of Toynbee, Sorokin, and the I Ching in that respect. However, it differs significantly from those models is in its emphasis on conflict and struggle. ... Therefore, following the philosophy of the I Ching rather than the Marxist view, I believe that conflict should be minimized in times of social transition, (The Turning Point, p. 34-35).
In terms of the history of political ecology, others differ from Capra’s assessment of Marx. As economist Joan Martinez-Alier points out, the neglect of ecology has been inherent in Marxism from the very beginning as seen in the rejection of the work of Sergi Podolinsky by Marx and Engels. Podolinsky, an Ukrainian physician and socialist, tried to integrate other issues with the theory of value of the laws of thermodynamics – particularly the second law. Martinez-Alier points out that Podolinsky had analyzed the energetic of life and had applied it to the dynamics of economic system. Podolinsky had argued that the human labor “had the virtue of retarding the dissipation of energy, achieving this primarily by agriculture, although the work of a tailor, a shoemaker or a builder would also qualify, as productive work, affording 'protection against the dissipation of energy into space,'“ (Martinez-Alier, Energy, Economy and Poverty: The Past and Present Debate, 2009, p. 40).

TOWARDS ECO-FEMINISM

The Turning Point also reveals a growing influence of eco-feminists on Capra like Charlene Spretnak, Adrienne Rich, and Hazel Henderson.
Spertnak seems to advocate the indigenous Goddess tradition of Marija Gimbutas, according to which the Kurgan people descending from the steppes brought with them patriarchy and sky gods and destroyed the earth-goddess tradition then prevalent throughout Europe.
Particularly important is Charlene Spretnak, an eco-feminist. Capra coauthored with Spretnak ‘Green Politics,’ subtitled ‘Global Promise’ (1984). The book projects Green politics as an alternative politics emerging from the new vision of reality. In 1983, 27 parliamentarians elected in West Germany belonged to Green Party – a new phenomenon then. Capra and Spretnak saw this as the Greens transcending ‘the linear span of left-to-right.’ The Marxist influence was very much visible. What was even more visible was the way Marxists within the Greens were out of sync with the cardinal principles of the holistic Greens. Capra and Spretnak record:
We began to perceive friction between the radical-left Greens and the majority of the party as we travelled around West Germany and asked our interviewees whether a particular goal or strategy they had described was embraced by everyone in this heterogeneous party: ... 'Does everyone in the Greens support nonviolence absolutely?' we asked. 'Yes... except the Marxist-oriented Greens.' 'Does everyone in the Greens see the need for the new kind of science and technology you have outlined?' 'Yes ... except the Marxistoriented Greens. 'Does everyone in the Greens agree that your economic focus should be small-scale, worker-owned business?' 'Yes ... except the Marxist-oriented Greens.' (pp. 20-1)
Spertnak seems to advocate the indigenous Goddess tradition of Marija Gimbutas, according to which the Kurgan people descending from the steppes brought with them patriarchy and sky gods and destroyed the earth-goddess tradition then prevalent throughout Europe. Spertnak herself had written a book on the lost goddesses of early Greece. This of course is the ‘Aryan invasion Theory’ of Europe that was later relegated to the sidelines of the academic stream in the West. Marxist historian and polymath D. D. Kosambi had attempted a similar model for ancient Indian history.

DISCOVERING THE DYNAMIC UNIVERSE

Heisenberg was intrigued when Capra showed how ‘the principal Sanskrit terms used in Hindu and Buddhist philosophy - brahman, rta, lila, karma, samsara, etc. - had dynamic connotations’ (p. 49).
Capra’s next important book, (‘Uncommon Wisdom,’ 1986), was about his encounters with the remarkable personalities who shaped his worldview. In some way, this book is an autobiographical account of the evolution of his worldview. It was in this book that Capra documents Heisenberg being ‘influenced, at least at the subconscious level, by Indian philosophy’ (p. 43). During his second visit to Heisenberg, Capra shows the venerable old man of physics the manuscript of ‘Tao of Physics’. To Capra the ‘two basic themes running through all the theories of modern physics, which were also the two basic themes of all mystical traditions’ are the ‘fundamental interrelatedness and interdependence of all phenomena and the intrinsically dynamic nature of reality.’
Interestingly Heisenberg, while agreeing with Capra on his interpretation of physics, states that though he was ‘well aware of the emphasis on interconnectedness in Eastern thought.
Even the great minds like Heisenberg, while not unaware of the depth of Indian culture and philosophy, were still susceptible to the stereotype of a passive, fatalistic, mystic India
However, he had been unaware of the dynamic aspect of the Eastern world view.’ Heisenberg was intrigued when Capra showed how ‘the principal Sanskrit terms used in Hindu and Buddhist philosophy - brahman, rta, lila, karma, samsara, etc. - had dynamic connotations’ (p. 49). Even the great minds like Heisenberg, while not unaware of the depth of Indian culture and philosophy, were still susceptible to the stereotype of a passive, fatalistic, mystic India. It is interesting to note that Capra could find dynamism in the terms, especially Karma, for the term has been singled out in academia for stereotyping Indian culture as fatalistic. There is also the encounter with Geoffrey Chew – the physicist who pioneered the S-Matrix theory that today survives largely in string theory. He also recounts how he was shocked to find parallels between his own formulation and the philosophical vision of ancient Buddhists (particularly Mahayana school) when his son in senior high school pointed it out to him (p. 53). Comparing David Bohm, another cult-physicist who also looked for a deeper order under the quantum realm, Capra emphasizes the influence of J. Krishnamurthy on both David Bohm and Capra himself.
The book wades through the thoughts of anthropologist and cyberneticist Gregory Bateson, whose emphasis was on the connections and circularity of cause-effect relations, particularly in biological systems.
Capra also details his interactions with psychiatrists R. D. Laing and Stanislav Grof. To Capra they signified a shift from Freudian psychology, while sharing a deep interest in Eastern spirituality and a fascination with ‘transpersonal’ levels of consciousness.
To Capra, Chi is ‘a very subtle way to describe the various patterns of flow and fluctuation in the human organism’ (p. 160).
In medicine, he emphasizes holistic medicine. When he talks of the Eastern medical systems, it is Chinese medicine and Chi that get mentioned. It is through Margaret Lock, a medical anthropologist, that the physicist gets his knowledge of the Eastern medical system. To Capra, Chi is ‘a very subtle way to describe the various patterns of flow and fluctuation in the human organism’ (p. 160). What he says for Chi can also apply to Prana as well, and this framework allows those who synthesize Indian knowledge systems with modern science escape the Aristotelian/Cartesian binary trap of vitalism. Another very important person in the book is Hazel Henderson, the author of ‘Creating Alternative Futures.’ Often described as an iconoclastic economist and futurist, one important aspect of Henderson’s thinking is, according to Capra, her prediction that ‘energy, so essential to all industrial processes, will become one of the most important variables for measuring economic activities’ (p. 236). Here again she has been anticipated by Podoloinsky. Henderson today champions the cause of what she calls ethical markets.
What he says for Chi can also apply to Prana as well, and this framework allows those who synthesize Indian knowledge systems with modern science escape the Aristotelian/ Cartesian binary trap of vitalism.
Vyasa Shrine in Kerala
Belonging to the Universe’ (1991) is a dialogue between Capra, and David Steindl-Rast, a Benedictine monk. Thomas Matus, another Catholic theologian, was also present during this exchange. Here Capra reveals how he turned away from Catholicism, the religion of his birth, and ' found very striking parallels between the theories of modern science, particularly physics [which is Capra’s field], and the basic ideas in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism.' Then he reconnects with the religion of his birth through David Steindl-Rast. Here one sees how Capra, a lapsed Catholic now returning with an acquired Eastern heritage, struggles to belong to a common human spiritual heritage. He says: "Now Juliette (his daughter) is two, and soon she'll be at the age of stories.
I want to tell her tales from the Mahabharata
and the other Indian stories, the Buddhist stories, and some of the Chinese stories. But I certainly also want to tell her Christian and Jewish and Western stories of our spiritual tradition and Sufi stories, too" (p. 4).
However, there are problem areas. For an Indian reading this conversation, he might find how amazingly Capra’s questions reflect his own, and some of the answers that Steindl-Rast gives are elusive and not exactly what one can call honest (For an example, see pages 78-9). In hindsight, Capra might not have known then, but both Matus and Steindl-Rast would have known for sure, that Mother Teresa was definitely engaging in conversion activity and that, more often than not, the native spiritual traditions were branded by missionaries as agents of ‘oppression, exploitation, human misery,’ with secular terms that are the equivalent of ‘Satan’ and ‘Devil’ of the bygone medieval and even early colonial ages, when inquisition was openly called Inquisition.
Nevertheless this book is important for Hindu scholars who want to study and have dialogue with Christianity. It reveals the inner churning happening in the Christian psyche - not at the institutional level perhaps but at the individual level. If Hindus want to have a global Dharmic network as they often imagine, then they have to seriously look for networking nodes in such spaces. Capra also provides an insight into how Christianity created a new narrative of its missionary activities – which remain almost the same as it was during the colonial times, yet couched in a new language that even the admirers of Eastern systems in the West would accept.
In EcoManagement (coauthored with Ernest Callenbach, Lenore Goldman, Rudiger Lutz and Sandra Marburg, 1993), Capra proposed ‘a conceptual and practical framework for ecologically conscious management.’ In 1995, he co-edited a collection of essays with Gunter Pauli, an eco-entrepreneur, (Steering Business toward Sustainability), with essays by likeminded people in economics, business management, and ecology, trying to chart a practical model for sustainable development through private enterprise.

LIFE AS COGNITION: A NEW SYNTHESIS

‘The Web of Life’ (1996) is equally as important as the ‘Tao of Physics.’ It was a great integration of evolution, ecology, and cybernetics. It was a veritable manifesto of systems biology directed towards the common man as well as the professional biologist who lived compartmentalized lives. The book explains in great detail how the paradigm shift much discussed in physics with the emergence of now a century-old new physics, has also been happening in biology. The concept of biosphere formulated by Edward Suess at the end of nineteenth century was developed by Russian geo-chemist Vernadsky. His conception of biosphere comes closest to the Gaia theory–earth as an evolving living system independently arrived at by James Lovelock, a bio-physicist, and Lynn Margulis, the microbiologist who also proposed symbiogenesis which was opposed fiercely by orthodox Darwinians but eventually accepted by mainstream biology today. The book conceptualizes evolution more as a cooperative dance rather than a struggle for existence. At another level the book looks at life fundamentally as a process of cognition. This view of life is based on the path-breaking work of two Chilean scientists, Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela.
Earth
The concept of biosphere formulated by Edward Suess at the end of nineteenth century was developed by Russian geo-chemist Vernadsky. His conception of biosphere comes closest to the Gaia theory–earth as an evolving living system independently arrived at by James Lovelock, a bio-physicist, and Lynn Margulis
Influenced by Buddhist epistemology, these two biologists see cognition as not representing ‘an external reality, but rather specify one through the nervous system's process of circular organization.’ Capra quotes Maturana’s decisive statement with agreement: “Living systems are cognitive systems, and living as a process is a process of cognition. This statement is valid for all organisms, with and without a nervous system.” (pp. 96-97).
Another important view of biological systems developed by Maturana & Varela team is autopoiesis. Capra points out from the original paper of Maturana & Varela that this model enquires not into the 'properties of components,' but studies the 'processes and relations between processes realized through components.' One cannot miss the overtone of Alfred North Whitehead’s process view of consciousness here. In Indian culture the autopoiesis is celebrated as Divine and we have a name for it – Swayambu. Most of the Lingams today enshrined in the grand splendor of stone temples are Swayambu. So are many of the roadside deities under the trees. In South India a self-evolved termite mound is venerated as a living manifestation of Divine Feminine. Autopoiesis can be traced to the non-linear dynamics of Illya Prigogine’s dissipative structures. And curiously, he like Capra had used Siva’s dance as a metaphor for the basic process of the realm he studied – the molecular dynamics of chemical systems. The book is a veritable odyssey into the billion years of evolution of the phenomenon of life at the planetary level and lays the foundation for the future work of Capra.

DISCOVERING THE NETWORKS

The next book 'The Hidden Connections' (2002), as the subtitle of the book suggests, aims to integrate the ‘'the biological, cognitive and social dimensions of life into a science of sustainability'. It speaks of networking at the social level based on the views of life he had presented in his ‘Web of Life’. He sees this as already happening. One of the hardest problems in integrating social sciences with the physical sciences is the tendency to ‘reduce’ social, economic or psychological phenomena into simplistic, sweeping, and hence often wrong as well as dangerous generalizations.
The most glaring examples are social-Darwinism along with many pop bio-psychological explanations which appear in popular magazines.
In this book, Capra provides that much-needed yet elusive connection between social sciences and other physical sciences in a non-reductionist framework that is more importantly also workable and can have practical applications in community welfare and sustainable development without compromising the freedom that a market economy provides. From the molecular communications networks slowly evolving in the proto-cells of the primeval ocean to the digital social networks connecting the planet, Capra charts out a path for sustainable development by bringing to notice connecting strands of life, cognition, nature and community which have hitherto gone unnoticed.

TO SCIENCE THROUGH ART: DA VINCI AS SYSTEMS THINKER

Da Vinci
The next two books review the science of Leonardo da Vinci and the relevance of his science to the present evolution of systems science. Leonardo was known more as an artist and technological innovator than as a scientist. For Capra, Leonardo arrived at science through art and that makes all the difference. Thus he avoided the pitfalls of reductionism we encounter in Newton, Galileo and Bacon. In ‘The Science of Leonardo’ (2007), Capra reveals many interesting dimensions of Leonardo’s worldview that far exceeded his own time. He was the first systems thinker according to Capra. Leonardo envisioned rivers as almost beings with life. In planning any city, he would make the river an integral part of the city landscape – almost a biological integration. He was asked to build Cathedrals and he designed “temples”. His architecture, his town planning, and his view of nature – all these emerged from his holistic understanding of nature. Capra shares how he arrived at this vision of Leonardo da Vinci:
As I gazed at those magnificent drawings juxtaposing, often on the same page, architecture and human anatomy, turbulent water and turbulent air, water vortices, the flow of human hair and the growth patterns of grasses, I realized that Leonardo's systematic studies of living and nonliving forms amounted to a science of quality and wholeness that was fundamentally different from the mechanistic science of Galileo and Newton (Preface, XVIII).
Europe unfortunately never adapted Leonardo’s ideas for city planning. However, centuries later another European, a Scot, would discover a similar organic city planning in another civilization.
Capra sees in the painter of The Last Supper “a systemic thinker, ecologist, and complexity theorist; a scientist and artist with a deep reverence for all life, and as a man with a strong desire to work for the benefit of humanity.” Clearly in the centuries that followed Leonardo, the science he envisioned was lost to the science of Newton, Bacon and Descartes. One interesting aspect of Leonardo is his novel approach to city planning. Capra points out:
It is clear from Leonardo’s notes that he saw the city as a kind of living organism in which people, material goods, food, water, and waste needed to move and flow with ease for the city to remain healthy (p. 58).
Europe unfortunately never adapted Leonardo’s ideas for city planning. However, centuries later another European, a Scot, would discover a similar organic city planning in another civilization. In the planning of the temple cities of South India, Patrick Geddes saw an integration of the social life and cultural life cycle of the people that was unheard of in the West. According to Leonardo, if one wants to change the course of a river for human purposes then it should be done gently through such sustainable technologies like small dams. He wrote: “A river, to be diverted from one place to another, should be coaxed and not coerced with violence” (p. 263).
In the planning of the temple cities of South India, Patrick Geddes saw an integration of the social life and cultural life cycle of the people that was unheard of in the West.
An Indian mind cannot but remember the legend of young Sankara singing and appealing the Purna River to change its course. Buried in this legend of Sankara is perhaps a poetic invitation for the science of sustainable water management.
In Learning from Leonardo (2013) Capra studies the notebooks of Leonardo, and the book provides a new approach to the history of science. With a detailed timeline of milestones in science from the time of Leonardo (16th century) onwards into twentieth century, Capra purports to show how the artist anticipated or even independently discovered many of the later developments of science. According to Capra, Leonardo developed an empirical method. The Church that considered Aristotelian philosophy its theological bedrock viewed experimental science with suspicion. But da Vinci broke with that tradition. Capra claims:
According to Capra, Leonardo developed an empirical method. The Church that considered Aristotelian philosophy its theological bedrock viewed experimental science with suspicion. But da Vinci broke with that tradition.
One hundred years before Galileo Galilei and Francis Bacon, Leonardo single-handedly developed a new empirical approach to science, involving the systematic observation of nature, logical reasoning, and some mathematical formulations— the main characteristics of what is known today as the scientific method (p. 5).
In almost every field from mechanics to ecology – some of these disciplines not even imagined at his time - Leonardo through observation, experimentation and contemplation- had made a remarkable addition to human knowledge. For example, Capra points out:
“Leonardo did not pursue science and engineering to dominate nature, as Francis Bacon would advocate a century later.”
Leonardo understood that these cycles of growth, decay, and renewal are linked to the cycles of life and death of individual organisms: Our life is made by the death of others. In dead matter insensible life remains, which, reunited to the stomachs of living beings, resumes sensual and intellectual life. . . . Man and the animals are really the passage and conduit of food (p. 282).
This remarkable insight according to Capra anticipates the concept of food chains and food cycles that was developed by Charles Elton almost four centuries later in 1927. Finally Capra distinguishes the basic difference between the science of Leonardo and the science of Francis Bacon: “Leonardo did not pursue science and engineering to dominate nature, as Francis Bacon would advocate a century later.” Leonardo had a ‘deep respect for life, a special compassion for animals, and great awe and reverence for nature’s complexity and abundance.’ If this assessment of Leonardo by Capra makes the artist sound like a Jain born in late medieval Italy, check this statement by Leonardo himself “One who does not respect life does not deserve it.” Does it not reflect the Jain dictum, ‘Live and let live?’

A LIFE IN HOLISTIC DIALOGUE

The most recent work of Dr. Capra is ‘A Systems View of Life – A Unified Vision,’ coauthored with biochemist Pier Luigi Luisi. Published by Cambridge University Press in 2014, the book is intended to serve as a text book for students as well as the general reader who want to study sustainable development integrating the physical, biological, cognitive, ecological, and social dimensions. In the first part Capra explores the rise of mechanistic world-view and in the second part the emergence of systems thinking. The third part studies the new concept of life and the fourth is about sustaining the web of life even as human societies develop. The book is actually the encapsulation of the entire pilgrimage of exploration that Capra undertook from the dance of Siva to the drawings of Leonardo. The book is of immense relevance to India, a developing nation with rural communities that are almost lost in the era of globalization with a skewed playing field.
The book is actually the encapsulation of the entire pilgrimage of exploration that Capra undertook from the dance of Siva to the drawings of Leonardo. 

The book is of immense relevance to India, a developing nation with rural communities that are almost lost in the era of globalization with a skewed playing field.
With eco-conflicts set to escalate in the future and divisive forces try to exploit them in both sides of the left-right fence, the worldview of Capra provides a holistic alternative. Preservation of local knowledge systems, creating networks of green innovators and eco-entrepreneurs at the local level and globally networking them – all these are possibilities envisioned in Capra’s worldview. While most leftwing eco-militants devalue local spiritual and cultural elements, Capra has also brought out a powerful reading of the Eastern spiritual symbols in the light of modern science. For sustainable development, we ultimately need a drastic change in the educational system. Capra, though not explicitly or perhaps even intentionally, has provided a Dharmic framework, or at least has sown the seeds for developing a broader inter-disciplinary science of sustainable development with a Dharmic framework. Using his pioneering works spanning a lifetime, each native culture and tradition can chart out a spiritual, holistic pathway to sustainable development. After all, the native traditions which are struggling for their very survival on a planet dominated and to a significant extent devastated by the supremacy and expansionism of Abrahamic values, can now knowledge-network themselves with mutual spiritual validation to become important vehicles for the sustainable development and preservation of the web of life. In this they may even transform the expansionist and monocultural tendencies in the Abrahamic value system.

Links: http://www.sutrajournal.com/fritjof-capra-and-the-dharmic-worldview-aravindan-neelakandan


Monday 1 October 2018

Transition from Emotional to Mental Polarization


Back in the days of Atlantis we were emotionally polarized and evolving the emotional consciousness. That was our evolutionary goal in the Atlantean period. Today, however, we have a new evolutionary goal which involves a transition from emotional to mental polarization.

With polarization we mean the body in which the evolving Soul predominantly lives and from which it directs its affairs. When we are emotionally polarized (which we all are given our past evolution), we, as evolving Soul, mainly live out of our emotional nature and direct our affairs from there. When we become mentally polarized (which we all are to become now, given our current evolutionary goal), we, as evolving Soul, will mainly live out of our mental nature and direct our activities from this aspect of our nature.

So, to reach our evolutionary goal, we have to raise our consciousness out of the emotional nature and focus it in the mind. And from this place of mental polarization, we need to learn to control our emotional nature and integrate our threefold service instrument (body, emotion, mind) into a working unit through which the Overlighting Soul may work.

We literally have to learn to live on the mental plane. Right now, we – speaking of humanity as a whole – we literally live on the emotional plane (the plane of desire) and have been doing so since the days of Atlantis. That’s why there is so much drama in this world. That‘s why we are so obsessed with sex and the gratification of lower self desire. That‘s why, when we are confronted with the death of a loved one, the first thing we usually do is, we cry (= emotional reaction).

As we shift the focus of our consciousness more and more out of the emotional nature into the mind, we will begin to think, and as we learn to think scientifically, we will begin to realize that death is not the monster we made it out to be. Death is just the withdrawal of the Soul from its temporary instruments so it may continue its evolution elsewhere (when the evolutionary goal of the Soul for the incarnation has been reached). Therefore, no reason to cry. (I know, this is easier said than done, given our current emotional polarization, and I am the first one who will cry at the passing of a loved one, smiles, however, in the Age of the Soul death will soon be recognized for what it is, and grief and sorrow will thus make room for joy and peace.)

In emotional polarization, the emotional body is positive to the mental.
 In mental polarization, the mental body is positive to the emotional.

What does that mean?

In emotional polarization – when the emotional body is positive to the mental body – since the consciousness is focused in this vehicle, the emotional nature is all activated and therefore more „active“ whereas the mind is rather „passive.“ As a result, the active vibrations of the emotional nature play upon and impact the more quiescent vibrations of the mental nature. Means: Our emotions and desires greatly influence our thinking.

In mental polarization – when the mental body is positive to the emotional body – since the consciousness is focused in this vehicle, the mental nature is activated and therefore more „active“ whereas the emotional body is more „passive.“ As a result, the active vibrations of the mental nature play upon and impact the vibrations of the emotional nature. Means: Our thoughts direct our emotions.

Mental polarization leads to emotional control (and thus: to inner peace). Emotional polarization leads to emotional victimization (and thus: inner peace is not possible).

To be emotionally polarized means:

  • to go with the emotions (the line of least resistance) and to react emotionally to any given situation (rather than to think it through)
  • to go with mass consciousness (which does not think for itself; mass consciousness, by definition, is emotionally polarized)
  • to use mental energy to gratify lower self desires

A transition from emotional to mental polarization is not achieved overnight. This is a step-by-step process that extends over many lifetimes.

Here is an idea of steps to take to become more mental in our orientation:

  • Self-observation (to become familiar with our emotions)
  • Study (to learn about the nature of emotion)
  • Training (to discipline the emotional nature based on the knowledge gained)

When we purify our emotional nature, move from emotion to feeling to intuition, and transcend the desires of the lower self into the aspirations of the Soul, the emotional body slowly but surely becomes attuned to the mental nature and becomes negative to it. Hence, mental polarization is achieved and we have mastered one very important lesson on the Spiritual path 🙂

Source: https://www.iamuniversity.org/how-to-transition-from-emotional-to-mental-polarization/

Wednesday 12 September 2018

Systemic Constellations

What are Systemic Constellations?


Systemic constellations are a way of working with issues within human systems. Developed by Bert Hellinger, a German psychotherapist, they originally focused on family systems to disclose the deeper forces that unknowingly influence our thoughts, behaviors and emotional experiences through multiple generations.  Family Constellations create a model of the family system to reveal and transform hidden patterns that are difficult to understand and change.

Over time this systemic approach has been applied to other human systems including organizations, our connection to nature and larger issues in our communities and the world. Together these Systemic Constellations approaches explore ways for understanding our relationships as well as giving us options to resolve our most complicated problems.

In Systemic Constellations, we set up a model of a system with volunteer representatives, objects or guided visualizations. In a typical workshop, participants are chosen to represent members or elements of the family or organization that is being addressed. In this process hidden and unexpected dynamics operating within the system are revealed and addressed in a way that aims to find a healthy and respectful place for all members of the system in question.

A powerful insight of Bert Hellinger is that each family system has a conscience that requires that all members be connected and remembered in a particular way.  If someone in the system is not remembered correctly then younger members, out of love or the need to belong, can become "entangled" with their ancestors, particularly with those who have been excluded, forgotten or shunned or have experienced a difficult fate.  Unconscious entanglements are behind many of the issues that are explored in these constellations.

During the process, we search for possible solutions that can release entanglements and restore order and balance to the family system.  The process provides the client with a new image of their place in the family system with the proper honor to the ancestors and to the events.  Exploring what is hidden in our family system can help  us to heal our deepest wounds.

Systemic Constellations take place in an energy field that connects family, ancestors, organizational members, the natural world and all of humanity. This "knowing field" is a conscious energy that we can enter to experience the feelings and sensations that mirror those of the real family members they represent and everyone and everything to which we are connected.

British biologist Rupert Sheldrake explains this field phenomenon, which he calls a “morphogenetic field,” as an organizing force that accounts for patterns of behavior in social groups, such as schools of fish and flocks of birds.  Dr. Albrecht Mahr first used the term “the knowing field" to describe this energy field as it applies to human family systems. He referred to the experience through which volunteers in a constellation session access information about a family system as “representative perception."

During a Systemic Constellation, representatives begin to take on the essential qualities of who or what they are representing, and begin to sense thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations through the “knowing field”. They are able to reveal what is true even if they have no prior knowledge of what has occurred historically.

A key part of the Systemic Constellation process is the use of healing sentences that speak the essential truth of entanglements or issues. There can also be powerful sentences that bring a resolution and a compassionate restoration of balance to the system. Bert  Hellinger created many sentences that are still effective, but new ones are created spontaneously during the process.   Healing sentences are transformative when spoken in the right moment.

Organizational Constellations are an evolution of Family Constellations that can reveal the hidden dynamics in companies and other kinds of organizations and communities. Organizational facilitators can set up representatives to look at leadership issues, conflict resolution between colleagues, dynamics between founders and successors, relationships between various stakeholders, challenges of innovation and organizational restructuring.  This approach can also be used to discover a deeper understanding and resolution for larger social, cultural, ethnic and racial issues by shifting perceptions, creating new insights and uncovering different forms of action for moving forward.

Nature Constellations can explore the relationship between human systems, natural systems and the earth.  They explore the interconnectedness between the health of human systems and the larger natural world.  These constellations often include elements of indigenous peoples' insight into nature, shamanism, ecology and other environmental perspectives.  They can include global environmental issues, individual relationships with nature, using resources, dynamics with animals and plants, and insights and wisdom from being in nature that support a deeper understanding of family systems.

Systemic Constellations are an innovative approach to the hidden dynamics that influence our lives that has a solid foundation originally developed by Bert Hellinger.  They are continually applied in ways that reflect the creativity and insight of each facilitator and their growing understanding of the natural laws that govern human systems and the complexity of human life on planet earth.
Systemic Constellations

“I can’t change.”

For me this belief was sticky, resistant, relentless, hard to find the cure for. My brother had killed himself and I didn’t fit into life any more. I couldn’t seem to find a reason for going forward that would stick with me. After a few days a sense of emptiness always returned. Months of this passed and my confusion hardened into despair. 
I was drifting like a ship with a hole in the side, but every time I tried to figure out how to find a sense of direction I would start feeling physically uncomfortable, then get sleepy or anxious. Also, thoughts started swirling in response to the emotional triggers, confirming the sense of helplessness. At some point, I would give up and find some distraction to avoid the sense of overwhelm. But after years of trying to find a way to change, I experienced a systemic constellations session that shifted things for me fundamentally in about two hours.

Beyond ‘Therapy’

I have found value in various kinds of therapies as I tried to loosen the knots in me left over from my brother’s suicide. Each brought some kind of help, which I really appreciate. Also, I think each person needs to find a way that works for them personally. The reason I want to share this, though, is that systemic constellations brought me both understanding and healing in an incomparably clear, direct and efficient way. No amount of talking, thinking or feeling about the situation brought me the resolution that constellation work did.
I remember waking up a few days after a systemic constellations session and realising I was different. Then I realised that after about 15 years of dragging around a sense of lostness and anguish about my brother’s suicide, I was now feeling a tender stillness in which I was simply holding my love for him.
I remember making coffee and going to work, waiting for the familiar background noise of despair to return. It did not.
As I write now I can literally feel within my body a difference. It’s a sense of relaxed lightness now where before I had a sensation like a tight, heavy knot in my abdomen.

What Systemic Constellations Are

Systemic constellations are not incredibly easy to explain if you have not experienced one. You can bring a question or problem to be constellated. It could be a personal issue, like a difficult family relationship. It can also scale up to the world level and you could look at global warming, for example.
Then the less-explicable things happen.
Systemic Constellations
Embodying the larger whole through physical movement
People in the group take on the role of representatives of the different actors in the issue. This could be the role of the questioner’s father, a hereditary disease or the Amazon River. Simply by holding a focus on the question that the group is constellating, representatives will feel in their physical bodies an appropriate movement to make. They sense emotions or images or gestures that will reveal something about the part of the situation they are representing. In some way they are touching into life’s interconnectedness. 

Life Lesson: Death is Fun!

For example, during one family-oriented constellation, I was asked to represent someone’s uncle. I said yes, and instantly felt a sense of lightness. My body wanted to stand on tiptoes. I sensed a kind of humorous ease. Non-intrusive sensations and impulses suggested themselves to me. In the accepting and comfortable space of the group, it was easy and natural to follow along with them. (I could also have stopped at any time or ignored the inner suggestions.)
I was curious: why was I feeling so light, pleasantly detached and benign about everything going on in the situation? The answer surprised me a bit: I was dead.
(The person I was representing was, that is.)
In itself, that experience was life-changing for me. I believe it was a little felt-sense preview of what it will be like when my physical body dies (spoiler alert: actually very relaxing.)
Systemic constellations had let me experience through physical movement the deeper dynamics that governed my life

Systemic Constellations Beyond the Personal Level

Since then I have also experienced constellations on an organisational level. Participating in a massive constellation for the Findhorn Foundation, I experienced the various forces at play in the organisation. Waves of emotion, sensation and mental images came up in me and the other members of the group. As it was going on, I had a felt sense of my place in the bigger whole. I also saw how each individual within that bigger group experienced the changes we were going through very differently. Some felt enthusiasm and eagerness, others felt resistance and sadness. Being present with the collective personality of the community made sense to me of a change process that at other times had felt incoherent and confusing.
Moreover, physically feeling and sensing what was going on in the group brought insight home to me on a level that went far beyond just conceptually knowing something.
I could have sat through the world’s most dynamic powerpoint presentation illustrating how group dynamics work and I wouldn’t have retained a fraction of what that experience gave me.

Four Things that Systemic Constellations Do:

Systemic Constellations
tapping into life’s unseen flow

Systemic constellations bring the real issues to light. Master constellator Doris Fischer says “With the help of the constellation work you can go deeper into an unconscious field and find out where you are unsuccessfully bound in entanglements. You must first discover them to solve them.”
Systemic constellations give you space and freedom to make decisions that change the situation. Is there anything that is not easy about being the gender you are? My guess is that about 100% of people probably said yes to that. Doris has recently worked with the changing ideas about and ways of dealing with gender. She notes that constellations can give “a new understanding of the disorders and stories that lie in the masculine and feminine fields of our time.” This is just one example of how constellations give a sense of choice in an area where it often feels like there is none.
Systemic constellations affect all levels of our being. Physically embodying something changes things on more than one level. Talking about issues we have in our lives might help something, thinking about them might also help, feeling strongly about them: ditto. But holistic change only comes when we act.
In a mysterious way constellations allow us to embody the most relevant elements within the situation. (I could refer here to quantum physics or various spiritual traditions, but that would digress too far for this post.) This means that they directly affect us on the level we need change on. It also explains why they easily handled a problem that seemed intractable to me. I had been trying to think my way through something that needed to be felt and engaged with spiritually. As soon as I partnered with the larger energetic system I am a part of, it helped me with the needed answers.
Systemic constellations bring healing to our wider circles. We all live within networks of connection – to our family members, work mates, societies, countries. After my experiences of systemic constellations, I believe that what people do in them affects these wider circles as well. As Doris says, “You will be surprised how much you can solve and heal – not just for yourself but also for your entire family, especially your children and for the collective field we all work for.”

Master constellator Doris Fischer will be returning to Findhorn on 26 May, 2018 for Systemic Constellations: Restoring the Flow of Love

Source: http://consultosee.com/en/
https://www.findhorn.org/blog/systemic-constellations/
http://www.nasconstellations.org/what-are-systemic-constellations.html


Saturday 25 August 2018

Sacred Geometry

Geometry is a vast field of study and Sacred Geometry is a term used to indicate a particular field where the qualitative as well as quantitative elements are addressed.

Other terms for this study include:

• ancient geometry: many ancient traditions used this form of geometry

• organic geometry or bio-harmonic geometry: the geometry of nature

• archetypal geometry: illustrates the self-organizing forces of creation

• classical geometry: all can be reduced to divisions of circle and sphere

• philosophical / theosophical geometry: the nature of creation

• universal geometry: because it pervades the universe

• inter-dimensional geometry: functions on all levels of creation

Sacred geometry is a universal language that describes the inner workings of nature and the intrinsic order of the universe. It is the natural sanction that unites all forms of life… from microbes, plants, animals and humans to the motions of the planets and stars. Sacred geometry shows the quality of relatedness between unique and individual differences and demonstrates how diverse elements can be organized into a whole, while still preserving their individual uniqueness. Everything has an underlying geometric template which links it into the cosmos. Geometric cosmology provides a tangible means of examining the intrinsic order of the Universe. It shows how the microcosm reflects the macrocosm. It is both exoteric and esoteric, providing an interface between the seen and unseen, the quantitative and qualitative, the finite and infinite. It symbolizes the relationship of form, movement, space and time. Everything that appears solid in the world is actually in a state of vibration. Nature is abuzz with pulses, oscillations, wave motions, rhythms and cycles in a vast spectrum of universal energies—all of which can be defined as vibration and frequency. Frequency can be expressed through number and number through shape and form—which is geometry. Everything in the world is energy in a continual state of change. The sum total of energy in the universe does not increase or diminish but is continually transformed from one state to another. There is no end, only change. The end of one cycle marks the beginning of another.

From the dance of atoms to spiraling galaxies, every type of growth and motion is governed by the same set of mathematical laws. These laws are contained in the primary shapes and patterns that develop from uniform divisions of the circle and sphere. They are graphical representations of the mathematical principles upon which nature operates. They describe the self-organizing forces that manifest in infinite diversity. The patterns are reflected in nature as natural forms, but with an important distinction. While natural forms are geometrically organized, every form is unique and can only approximate the mathematical principle upon which it is based. Although governed by mathematical rule, natural form always gives way to physical constraints. Natural forms are determined by the interaction of intrinsic and extrinsic forces. In the case of a plant, for example, the intrinsic forces are governed by the genetic coding that geometrically organizes the molecular arrangements to shape the vegetal characteristics of that particular plant. The extrinsic forces are those influences that are external to the plant’s biological form. They are largely environmental such as soil content, temperature, humidity, wind, rain and sunshine. They influence the options and create limitations affecting the plant’s existence. Nature, as a response to the action of force, creates an infinite diversity of forms from a basic inventory of archetypal mathematical principles. The archetypes are the basic pattern-forming processes that, operating within strict limits, create limitless varieties. Natural forms are diagrams of the forces that created them. Every natural form is a blend of beauty and function, demonstrating how nature develops the most refined, regenerative technology based on a geometric system that combines economy of energy with optimal performance.

As well as the world being geometrically organized, it is also geometry that determines how we perceive it. We experience the world through our senses, which respond to energy fluctuations in our field of awareness. Each sense is tuned to a different range of frequencies. On the most fundamental level, our senses react according to the geometrical and proportional differences of the stimulus involved. If we smell a rose, it is not actually the chemical substance of its perfume that we respond to but rather the geometric nature of the chemical’s molecular structure. If blindfolded, many of us would not be able to distinguish the aroma of a garden rose from a perfume that had been produced in a laboratory. This is because the molecules of the chemicals were bonded similarly to those of the rose—in other words they shared the same geometry.Our sense of sight differs from our sense of touch because the nerves of the retina are tuned to a different range of frequencies than are the tactile nerves. The same applies to the nerves involved in the senses of taste, smell, or hearing—it is the geometric distinctions among the frequencies that we respond to.

Geometry is the constant amidst a continual process of change. Our physical bodies are in a constant state of change—every atom of every molecule is continually changed and replaced. The DNA molecule is generally considered to be the vehicle of continuity. However, the information to replicate is not encoded in the physical DNA molecule; or the carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen elements that compose DNA—because they too are continually changed and replaced. The vehicle of continuity is a geometric spiral (helix) which provides an invisible blueprint upon which DNA is structured. The spiral is based upon archetypal geometric proportions that exist prior to the physical state. It is these invisible geometric proportions of the spiral that are responsible for the replicating power of the DNA.Similarly, the process of photosynthesis in plants occurs because the geometry of the carbon, hydrogen, magnesium and nitrogen elements of the chlorophyll molecule is organized into a harmonic twelve-fold arrangement. These same elements in any other arrangement will not transform radiant energy into life substance.

 The concept of a tree of life has been used in science, religion, philosophy, and mythology. A tree of life is a common motif in various world theologies, mythologies, and philosophies. It alludes to the interconnection of all life on our planet and serves as a metaphor for common descent in the evolutionary sense. The term tree of life may also be used as a synonym for sacred tree.



The tree of knowledge, connecting to heaven and the underworld, and the tree of life, connecting all forms of creation, are both forms of the world tree or cosmic tree, and are portrayed in various religions and philosophies as the same tree.

VESICA PISCES

Drunvalo Melchizedek, in his Flower of Life symbolism, uses the Vesica Pisces as the geometric image through which light was created.

Geometry is a vast field of study and Sacred Geometry is a term used to indicate a particular field where the qualitative as well as quantitative

elements are addressed.



Other terms for this study include:

• ancient geometry: many ancient traditions used this form of geometry

• organic geometry or bio-harmonic geometry: the geometry of nature

• archetypal geometry: illustrates the self-organizing forces of creation

• classical geometry: all can be reduced to divisions of circle and sphere

• philosophical / theosophical geometry: the nature of creation

• universal geometry: because it pervades the universe

• inter-dimensional geometry: functions on all levels of creation

Sacred geometry is a universal language that describes the inner workings of nature and the intrinsic order of the universe. It is the natural sanction that unites all forms of life… from microbes, plants, animals and humans to the motions of the planets and stars. Sacred geometry shows the quality of relatedness between unique and individual differences and demonstrates how diverse elements can be organized into a whole, while still preserving their individual uniqueness. Everything has an underlying geometric template which links it into the cosmos. Geometric cosmology provides a tangible means of examining the intrinsic order of the Universe. It shows how the microcosm reflects the macrocosm. It is both exoteric and esoteric, providing an interface between the seen and unseen, the quantitative and qualitative, the finite and infinite. It symbolizes the relationship of form, movement, space and time. Everything that appears solid in the world is actually in a state of vibration. Nature is abuzz with pulses, oscillations, wave motions, rhythms and cycles in a vast spectrum of universal energies—all of which can be defined as vibration and frequency. Frequency can be expressed through number and number through shape and form—which is geometry. Everything in the world is energy in a continual state of change. The sum total of energy in the universe does not increase or diminish but is continually transformed from one state to another. There is no end, only change. The end of one cycle marks the beginning of another.

From the dance of atoms to spiraling galaxies, every type of growth and motion is governed by the same set of mathematical laws. These laws are contained in the primary shapes and patterns that develop from uniform divisions of the circle and sphere. They are graphical representations of the mathematical principles upon which nature operates. They describe the self-organizing forces that manifest in infinite diversity. The patterns are reflected in nature as natural forms, but with an important distinction. While natural forms are geometrically organized, every form is unique and can only approximate the mathematical principle upon which it is based. Although governed by mathematical rule, natural form always gives way to physical constraints. Natural forms are determined by the interaction of intrinsic and extrinsic forces. In the case of a plant, for example, the intrinsic forces are governed by the genetic coding that geometrically organizes the molecular arrangements to shape the vegetal characteristics of that particular plant. The extrinsic forces are those influences that are external to the plant’s biological form. They are largely environmental such as soil content, temperature, humidity, wind, rain and sunshine. They influence the options and create limitations affecting the plant’s existence. Nature, as a response to the action of force, creates an infinite diversity of forms from a basic inventory of archetypal mathematical principles. The archetypes are the basic pattern-forming processes that, operating within strict limits, create limitless varieties. Natural forms are diagrams of the forces that created them. Every natural form is a blend of beauty and function, demonstrating how nature develops the most refined, regenerative technology based on a geometric system that combines economy of energy with optimal performance.

 As well as the world being geometrically organized, it is also geometry that determines how we perceive it. We experience the world through our senses, which respond to energy fluctuations in our field of awareness. Each sense is tuned to a different range of frequencies. On the most fundamental level, our senses react according to the geometrical and proportional differences of the stimulus involved. If we smell a rose, it is not actually the chemical substance of its perfume that we respond to but rather the geometric nature of the chemical’s molecular structure. If blindfolded, many of us would not be able to distinguish the aroma of a garden rose from a perfume that had been produced in a laboratory. This is because the molecules of the chemicals were bonded similarly to those of the rose—in other words they shared the same geometry.Our sense of sight differs from our sense of touch because the nerves of the retina are tuned to a different range of frequencies than are the tactile nerves. The same applies to the nerves involved in the senses of taste, smell, or hearing—it is the geometric distinctions among the frequencies that we respond to.

Geometry is the constant amidst a continual process of change. Our physical bodies are in a constant state of change—every atom of every molecule is continually changed and replaced. The DNA molecule is generally considered to be the vehicle of continuity. However, the information to replicate is not encoded in the physical DNA molecule; or the carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen elements that compose DNA—because they too are continually changed and replaced. The vehicle of continuity is a geometric spiral (helix) which provides an invisible blueprint upon which DNA is structured. The spiral is based upon archetypal geometric proportions that exist prior to the physical state. It is these invisible geometric proportions of the spiral that are responsible for the replicating power of the DNA.Similarly, the process of photosynthesis in plants occurs because the geometry of the carbon, hydrogen, magnesium and nitrogen elements of the chlorophyll molecule is organized into a harmonic twelve-fold arrangement. These same elements in any other arrangement will not transform radiant energy into life substance.


CREATION OF THE FLOWER OF LIFE
In the earliest traditions, the supreme being was represented by a sphere, the symbol of a being with no beginning and no end, continually existing, perfectly formed and profoundly symmetrical. The addition of a second sphere represented the expansion of unity into the duality of male and female, god and goddess. By overlapping, the two spheres, the god and goddess created a divine offspring.  The Vesica Pisces motif (and its derivatives, the Flower of Life, Tree of Life, and fundamentals of geometry) has a history of thousands of years and easily predates virtually all major religions of the current era.

The goddess of any and all religions which recognize her power and significance invariably use the Vesica Pisces to identify her.  From the overlapping pools of water and the chalice well cover in the goddess’s garden in Glastonbury (aka Avalon) to any number of representations of the Tree of Life, the goddess and her ability to create and birth life are celebrated.

The Seed of Life represents the seven stages, steps, or days of creation. The creation of a vibrating pattern of space (electromagnetic radiation) is the actual process of creation itself which otherwise is symbolized by various concepts such as “days of creation” to make something otherwise almost impossible to explain, much easier to handle.   

The creation of the Octahedron is the first step or “day of creation.” The next stage involves the revolution of the Octahedron on its axes, forming a sphere. At this point, all of reality, including the Cosmic Designer’s awareness, exists as the Sphere itself. All that really exists is the sheath of the sphere itself.

The next stage is “the spirit of the Creator floating upon the face of the waters” which was mentioned in the Old Testament. In other words, the Cosmic Designer’s next spontaneous realization or expansion in self-awareness was to venture outside the edge of the sphere and project another sphere using the previous step of materializing an octahedron and spinning it into a sphere.

In the second sphere that was created by the Cosmic Designer, a photon or particle of light was sent out. In transmitting a second spinning octahedron into a sphere on the membrane of the first sphere, the image appears of two circles crossing each other in their centers, a design recognized as the Vesica Pisces.

This configuration is a geometrical formula which symbolizes the electromagnetic spectrum. In Drunvalo Melchizedek’s book The Ancient Secret of The Flower of Life, Vol. 2 can be found much more information regarding this whole process. “Let there be light” and light was the primary (first cause) phenomenon that God intended.

In the ongoing process to replicate the spheres and form more Vesica Pisces, multiple forms of creation can be seen emanating from the endless cascade (reproduction) of further geometrical patterns.

The continuation of the “seven-day” creation process looks like the successive division of cells illustrated here in a fertilized egg until there are seven cells or circles overlaping one another creating the perfect flower-shaped “Seed of Life” pattern.

On the seventh day, the process ends. On the “SHABBAT,” or day of rest, the Seed of Life is completed. The whole form of the primary vortex which contains the blue print of the cosmos is finally completed.

The Seed of Life is a primary building block of the Flower of Life, from which comes forth the Fruit of Life. Another blueprint for everything, the Fruit of Life creates all elements, molecules, organisms, and even everything else in the universe. In other words, everything that abides in reality comes from the form of the Seed of Life.

SEED OF LIFE

The Seed of Life Is the Symbol of Creation and the Blue Print of the Universe

Radiating the Most Spirtual Geometry Pattern Throughout the Universe: The Flower of Life is a sacred symbol found within all major faiths of the world and even in the first vibratory patterns of the universe itself.

The components of the Flower of Life may even be found in the very first impressions of energy from the “Great Void” during the first stages of creation. All things materialize from the perfectly organized quantum energy patterns of the Supreme Being; all matter, all creation is the emanation of God.

The Flower of Life, forever radiating a pattern of profound elegance and meaningful beauty, is considered to be the most sacred of all geometry symbols.

The Construction of the Flower of life

Several stages occurred in the creation of the Flower of Life, one of which was the Seed of Life, which through the same kind of “vortex movement” became the Egg of Life In three (3) dimensions, as all the lengths between the spheres are the same as the lengths between the notes and half notes in the application of music, this design provides the foundation of all melodies.

The configuration of the third stage of cell division in the embryo is that of the Egg of Life. Each time a cell divides, it becomes two cells, which then divide into four, and then eight, etc. until a complete human organism emerges along with all the energy patterns, chakras, and spiritual bodies such as the Merkaba. When more and more spheres are added, one arrives at the design known as the Flower of Life.

The Flower of Life Contains a Secret Symbol

Within the Flower of Life, one can discover a secret design by selecting thirteen (13) spheres from the Flower of Life. By drawing out these thirteen (13) circles, one finds the origin of everything, this sacred geometric symbol is known as the Fruit of Life. These thirteen (13) circles provide thirteen (13) systems of knowledge with each one illuminating a different facet of existence.

All information regarding the human being to the island universes throughout the cosmos is available through these systems.

In the first system, for example, it’s possible to create any molecular structure and any living cellular structure that exists in the universe. Any thriving cellular organism or molecular configuration in existence, for instance, could be constructed using information from the first system. In other words, all thriving beings.

The Tree of Life in its various forms is recognized in all cultures as a symbol of immortality and eternal life. From ancient Chinese and Egyptian culture to Germanic paganism and Mesoamerica, it has been sought after throughout the ages. And, while depicted in many different contexts, the imagery across all cultures is essentially the same. Not to be confused with the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, the tree of Life is the tree whose fruit gives eternal life to all who might obtain it. In addition to its religious references, it is a reminder of our past (roots - ancestry), present (tree body - knots included) and future (fruit – labor and posterity).

METATRONS CUBE

PLATONIC SOLIDS

The 5 Platonic solids (Tetrahedron, Hexahedron, Octahedron, Dodecahedron and Icosahedron) are ideal, primal models of crystal patterns that occur throughout the world of minerals in countless variations. These are the only five regular polyhedra, that is, the only five solids made from the same equilateral, equiangular polygons. To the Greeks, these solids symbolized fire, earth, air, spirit (or ether) and water respectively. The cube and octahedron are duals, meaning that one can be created by connecting the midpoints of the faces of the other. The icosahedron and dodecahedron are also duals of each other, and three mutually perpendicular, mutually bisecting golden rectangles can be drawn connecting their vertices and midpoints, respectively. The tetrahedron is a dual to itself.

Metatron’s Cube is a Sacred Geometrical symbol that forms a map of Creation, and it is this ‘map’ that the mystics, sages and ancient civilizations have revered throughout the ages of time.

Over 13 billion years ago, during what is referred to on Earth as the ‘big bang’, Source (God, Infinite Intelligence) gave birth to the Universe/s… and it is this symbol of Metatron’s Cube that explains this ‘birth’ and the infinite expanding field of Creation in all directions of time and space.

Source energy, through the field of Metatron’s Cube, creates the potential field of creation – a field of high vibrational frequencies that ripple out through creation eventually creating colour, then sound and finally at their lower levels of vibration –  physical matter.

Thus the field of Source energy (represented by Metatron’s Cube) permeates through every level, through every aspect of Creation.  As that original spark of LOVE of Source expands in all directions of time and space, God is the energy waves, God is the colour, God is the sound and God is the physical matter and God is the entire field of LOVE – Live One Vibrational Energy.

God’s light expands infinitely through Metatron’s cube via one or more of the elements of creation – Earth, Fire, Air, Water coming together through Spirit.   Galaxy’s, solar systems, planets, humans, plants, animals, DNA, the atom, sub-atomic particles and hence the energy / space between all matter is made up of one or more of these elements.

Metatron’s Cube is composed of 13 spheres held together by lines from the midpoint of each sphere.


Link: https://www.consciousawareness.info/sacred-geometry