First Causes and the Council of Light

I’m a little busy this week preparing for an important job interview in Australia later in the week, so I won’t be writing too much here for a while. I’ll get back to writing more of Light after that date.

But here’s an interesting thought for the day. It is mentioned by Eldon Taylor in his book Mind Programming. It is this;

First causes are not provable.

A first cause is a foundational concept, principle or structure that one believes to be the basis of reality. 

Taylor is right, if you think about it. Mainstream dominant science begins with the first cause that matter is the basis of the universe, and that it began from nothing via the Big Bang (although this theory is being hotly debated at present). But how would one actually prove that matter is the founding basis of reality? What experiment would one conduct? The answer is that there is none. Thus the “matter is foundational” principle of science is actually metaphysics. 

In the Eastern idealist tradition, consciousness is believed to be the foundation of the cosmos, with matter being an emanation of cosmic mind. This is also metaphysics, in that no experiment that I know if could prove it.

One might then logically question how any foundational principle might be considered more correct or superior to another. What if I said Uri Geller created the universe while in a particularly bad mood. There’s no way to prove or disprove that.

With the scientiifc method, peer review essentially determines what “facts” are real or not real. It’s the best system we have, given the current typical level of human consciousness evolution. However I believe that in time scientific peer review will evolve in to Wisdom Council review which incorporates other ways of knowing, including direct spiritual perception or Integrated Intelligence. This claim I make is in itself based on personal perception, and from direct experience working with people with advanced levels of consciousness. I have seen how decisions can be made via a collective employment of Integrated Intelligence. 

The Wisdom Council will eventually happen, once the veneer of scientific materialism is stripped away, and begins to evolve into a more deeply conscious understanding of the universe and the humanity’s role within that universe.

This Wisdom Council process will most likely go through various phases of evolution, as initial attempts to work with such consciousness will inevitably be contaminated by the ego projections of its members, and interference from external consciousness fields (individuals with malevolent intentions, collective consciousness fields, alien and discarnate influences. In my working with groups I have seen the way that the consciousness fields of the individuals involved can become entangled. This is because there is almost nobody – least of all me – who is beyond some degree of influence from the power and control agenda of the ego. This agenda is what gets people ensnared in other people’s energy fields.

I suspect that in time, whatever Wisdom councils forms will learn from the mistakes that are made, and in turn will deepen in consciousness. Ultimately the “drama” will be minimised, and eventually completely eradicated. It will then become a true Council of Light. The Council will be able to form a kind of "peer review", helping humanity decide the what realities and truths to pay heed to. By that point human beings will be far more "transparent" than they are now, and people will be able to sense lies and deception more readily. So the chances of people giving their power away to the Council will be minimal. Still, it has to be admitted that the current "self-made man" culture of some modern western nations will find this idea an affront to their dignity. Yes, it will involve a surrender to something greater than the self. This will be perceived as a loss of power by the ego, despite the fact that it is actually the opposite.

All that however, is a long, long way off. I can’t prove any of it, and won’t try. You might like to consider all this a provocation – something to stir the imagination.

Marcus

Alfred who?

Alfred Russel Wallace

Today I bring you a short extract from my book Beyond the Frontiers of Human Intelligence. Yep, it's another one in the closet unpublished, but who knows, maybe I'll pull it out again one day! In line with yesterday's post about forgotten geniuses, today I bring forward the contrasting tales of the two men at the forefront of evolutionary theory in the mid 19th century. One would be effectively canonised in the halls of science, the other given a footnote in science history.

Darwin’s name lives on well beyond his death, and Darwinism has reached almost mythical proportions in modern science. Yet few people outside of evolutionary theory know of Darwin’s contemporary, Alfred Russel Wallace, who was an instrumental figure in the development of evolutionary theory. The reason for this is perhaps best stated by popular writer Bill Bryson, who relegates Wallace to a single sentence in his book A Brief History of Almost Everything. Bryson writes that Wallace: “…fell from scientific favour by taking up dubious interests such as spiritualism and the possibility of life existing elsewhere in the universe” (Bryson 2003 p 389). Likewise, science writer John Gribbin in Science: A History finds that Wallace’s interest in vitalism and spiritualism “tainted his scientific reputation” (Gribbin 2003 p 357). 

Darwin developed the theory of natural selection, but Wallace also made a tremendous contribution to evolutionary theory. As early as 1855, Wallace had written in his “Sarawak Law” essay of his belief in an organic evolutionary process which could account for geographical differentiation of species. It is unlikely however, that he appreciated the process of natural selection. Wallace continued to make great contributions to the field, but in 1866 he came out publicly in support of “spiritualism.” His “scientific reputation” never fully recovered after that point, and his contribution to evolutionary theory remains understated. More significantly, the kinds of mystical evolutionary processes within nature which he avowed had became relegated to the status of "superstition", and thus dismissed without consideration.

In an essay originally published in 1885, Wallace wrote:

…man consists essentially of a spiritual nature or mind intimately associated with a spiritual body or soul, both of which are developed in and by means of a material organism. Thus the whole raison d'être of the material universe--with all its marvellous changes and adaptations, the infinite complexity of matter and of the ethereal forces which pervade and vivify it, the vast wealth of nature in the vegetable and animal kingdoms--is to serve the grand purpose of developing human spirits in human bodies. [i]

This is clearly a mystical/spiritual worldview, where mind animates nature.

Further it is fascinating to note that Wallace got the inspiration for his ideas on evolution during a non-ordinary state of consciousness. He had a series of visions while experiencing a fever. Non-ordinary states of mind are another effective taboo in modern science.

Wallace’s excommunication from mainstream science was effectively because his worldview was influenced by mystical spirituality.  He failed to heed the "psi taboo". That his interests are deemed “dubious” indicates the degree to which such issues have become ridiculed and scorned within modern scientific discourse. So Wallace became the “other man” (Gribbin 2003 p 350) in early evolutionary theory, and a point of potential debate in the development of science and evolution became incontestable. The Western mechanistic hegemony continued unabated.

I have to say I have some sympathy for Wallace, and can relate to how he must have felt. Despite having a PhD and scores of academic publications no university has thus far been willing to hire me, not even for a part-time position.  Meanwhile I see uni positions go to PhDs who have studied relatively uncreative subject matters and done a fraction of the work that I have. As parapsychologist Marilyn Shiltz wrote in one of her papers, there is a genuine price to pay for being a "proponent".

Marcus

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[i] Wallace, A.R.1885, “Are the Phenomena of Spiritualism in Harmony With Science?” Originally published in The Sunday Herald (Boston) of 26 April 1885. http://www.wku.edu/~smithch/index1.htm

Julian Assange: Saviour or Demon?

Julian Assange: looking to come in from the cold (others hope he stays there)

The question in the title is, of course, rhetorical. The tendency in many commentaries has been immediate deification or condemnation of Assange. Yet as I have argued, if we move beyond the immediate judgment of the man and his actions, there are much more fruitful questions to explore.

So Julian Assange is no saint. But who is? In my last post I used the WickiLeaks saga involving Julian Assange as a means to explore the way the male ego tends to project, namely through the Rebel and God-man archetypes. The idea of the Rebel requires little explanation, while the God-man is basically the part of us that likes to believe we can achieve masterful power and control over the world. The Superman character is the ultimate God-man. My intuitive reading of the situation leads me to sense that these archetypes are strongly represented in Julian Assange’s psyche – his subconscious, if you like.

Still, having soul issues which perpetuate drama does not make one’s cause or life a mere waste, or some kind of evil (although it may). It does, though, logically lead to a query. Is there a healthy expression of the Rebel archetype, or even the God-man archetype?

THE AGONY OF ROMANES

Today on 22c+ I bring you a fascinating extract from Dr David Loye's new book, Darwin's Second Revolution. David Loye is a former Princeton and UCLA faculty of medicine academic and psychologist. For some years now he has been writing about "Darwin's lost theory of love". This is important and intriguing research which shows that Darwin clearly was not the dry mechanist that he is often purported to be in science text books of the modern era. Instead he a a man who believed that there were overriding agencies in life and nature which were above and beyond natural selection.

The following extract centers on the final years of the life of a man who knew Darwin intimately, George Romanes. The last days of Romanes life are shown to be somewhat tragic, but deeply informative, because he left record of his personal knowledge of Darwin the man. It's definitely worth the read. For more information about Darwin's second Revolution, see www.davidloye.com.

“Why?”

Up from the yellowed pages, over the confusion and bloodshed of a whole century, long forgotten but now of urgent meaning for our time, still rises Romanes’ dying cry.

Rich, widely respected, known throughout the science of the time as Darwin’s disciple and a foremost British psychologist, George Romanes was the founder of the field he called comparative psychology. In keeping with Darwin’s own strong interest, considerable research and thought, Romanes’ goal for this new field was to probe the similarities between the minds of animals and humans.

 George Romanes

Typical among Romanes’ pioneering books were Mental Evolution Among Animals, and then Mental Evolution in Man. Of special interest today, however, is a book that quickly dropped out of science and history. In keeping with the mysterious disappearance of Darwin’s own completion of theory, following publication in 1897, Romanes’ Darwin and After Darwin virtually dropped out of print until picked up and published online in its entirety first by Project Gutenberg in 2008 and then more recently by Google Books. Almost wholly ignored for a century, today it looms as a prophecy of  haunting accuracy.

Why, Romanes wrote, “not only do the Neo-Darwinians strain the teachings of Darwin; they positively reverse those teachings— representing as anti-Darwinian the whole of one side of Darwin’s system ...”

Why, he asked, was one of the new Neo-Darwinians “unjustifiably throwing over his own opinions the authority of Darwin’s name.” More specifically, why “so greatly have some of the Neo-Darwinians misunderstood the teachings of Darwin, that they represent as ‘Darwinian heresy’ any suggestions in the way of factors ‘supplementary to,’ or ‘cooperative with’ natural selection.”

The great man himself, Romanes wrote with difficulty but determination as he lay there dying, “was always ready to entertain ‘additional suggestions’ regarding the causes of organic evolution—several of which, indeed, he himself supplied.” What was being done to Darwin was, for Romanes, like a knife being twisted in the fatal wound.

The Hole in Evolution?

 Strange Evolution: The Tasmanian Tiger (extinct)

The theory of natural selection is undoubtedly one of the greatest theoretical formulations in human history. However my sense as an intuitive is that it is not quite right, or perhaps a better way to put it is that it doesn’t go far enough. Today I present you with a little food for thought. This is purely a philosophical issue, but one that has important implications for evolution and human futures.

More About Extraordinary Mind

To order your copy of Extraordinary Mind, email Marcus today, mindfutures@gmail.com, for a personally autographed copy. You will also receive the eBook absolutely free! Total cost including postage, US$19.95.

It is my hope that Extraordinary Mind will broaden readers’ awareness, and encourage them to think more deeply about the future and the way our minds function. The book details much about Integrated Intelligence, the way it functions, and even how to develop and apply it. The context for this is Deep Futures – futures that are profoundly meaningful; which honour universal human values such as compassion, connection and spirituality; and which permit the expression of a full range of ways of knowing. To this end, I have included what I consider to be the most interesting and informative material for the book. There are many personal stories included.

Extraordinary Mind: Integrated Intelligence and the Future will be published by Benjamin Franklin Press Asia, which of course, is my own little publishing venture. It will be available here directly through www.22cplus.blogspot.com, and through the normal online book retailers, such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Quite possibly though, at a later date I will share it with my agent and seek a broader publication.

Extraordinary Mind book is a compilation of some of my best writings, specifically about Integrated Intelligence, and its potential impact on the future. You’ll note that many of my articles and blog posts are quite long and detailed. Some are 2000-3000 words long. The re has been a considerable amount of research,  time and effort that’s gone into my articles and posts, and now I would like to make them available to a wider audience. Lots of people don’t  surf the net anyway; and of those that do, the exact time they spend at any given  site or blog is probably just a few minutes. Most people agree that reading a book is far more conducive to holding one’s attention.

Peace,

Marcus

Table of Contents

Extraordinary Mind:

Integrated Intelligence and the Future

Foreword

Introduction: What Does It Mean to Have an

Extraordinary Mind?

Section 1: About Integrated Intelligence

What Is Integrated Intelligence?

Where Integrated Intelligence Comes From

Is the Psychic Real?

Should We Pursue Psychic Development?

Transcending the Rational Mind

The Greatest Gift

Section 2: Tales of Integrated Intelligence

Bright Lights in the Sky

The Aboriginal Shaman Woman

The Amazing Power of Synchronicity

An Extraordinary Woman, an Extraordinary Time

Entangled Minds

The Terror and the People

Out of Body, Out of Mind?

The Long Journey into Now

Go West!

Section 3: Applying Integrated Intelligence

The INI Tools

Can Psychic Ability Be Developed?

Can We See into the Future?

Making Wise Decisions Using Integrated

Intelligence

Is Your Spirituality Delusional?

Can Intuition Be Distorted by Those Around You?

Reading Synchronicity

Are You Living Your Bliss?

The Idiot Opposite Me

The Great Fall of Sedona

You Attract What You Are, Not What You Want

The Not-So-Simple Law of Attraction

Section 4: Integrated Intelligence in the

Modern World

Deep Futures: Beyond the Machine

Sleepwalking Through the Extraordinary

The IT Trap

I See Dead People

How to Make Monday Disappear Forever

The Subway as a Path to Enlightenment

He Stoops to Belong

The Dead Heart of the Orient

Section 5: Integrated Intelligence and Education

The Machine of Modern Education

Piled Higher and Deeper

The Battlefields of the Mind

How Darwin Lost Half His Mind

When the Loonies Come Round

A Rejected Genius Who Dared Say “No!”

Section 6: Integrated Intelligence and Human

Consciousness Evolution

How Enlightened are You?

Can Consciousness Levels be Measured?

When Gaia Speaks

Obama: Saviour or Anti-Christ?

The Death of Michael Jackson

Love Is Blindness

China, Islam, the Love and the Anger

Section 7: Thinking About the Future

2012: The End of the World?

Digging Deeper for Oil

Entanglement: The Next Big Idea?

Entanglement and Deep Connection

Biophobia: Be Very Afraid!

Mechanical Mind, Mechanical Eye

Will You Fall in Love With Your Robot

Psychiatrist?

Rise of the Machines, Ascent of the Spirit

Like Tears in the Rain

When the Aliens Come, What Will You Say?

They Come to Feast!

Conclusion: Integrated Intelligence and the Future

Appendices

Glossary of Important Terms

Recommended Reading

About Marcus T. Anthony

Index To order your copy of Extraordinary Mind, email Marcus today, mindfutures@gmail.com, for a personally autographed copy. You will also receive the eBook absolutely free! Total cost including postage, US $19.95.

Are You Enlightened?

I rarely ever use the word “enlightened” because, like many people (including those on a spiritual journey), the concept is heavily culturally laden. It seems arrogant to think of being enlightened, or to say that my representation of enlightenment is truer than yours. It’s also fashionable, and indeed politically correct, to state that enlightenment is relative, and that each representation of spiritual development is perfectly valid according to the culture and time in which it occurs.

Yet those who have reached the higher stages of human spiritual development do not seem terribly interested in such arguments.

Can Consciousness Levels be Measured?

 Marcus T Anthony's new web site and blog can be found at www.mind-futures.com.

The evolution of consciousness is central to the overall purpose of humanity here on this planet. Ironically, it is in part, the fixation with measurement in modern science which has seen this understanding vanish from the annals of modern scientific literature. There has not been a verifiable means to measure consciousness levels, so science has tended to ignore the idea. The advancement of consciousness in any given lifetime is also heavily dependent upon exploring inner worlds, and especially the waves of thought that emerge from the substrate of consciousnesses within the mind. Since meditation and reflection have largely been extracted from modern education and science, very few people working there understand consciousness very well at all.

To even begin to measure consciousness evolution, we first have to perceive that such a thing exists, then define it. Consciousness evolution refers to the process of never-ending unfoldingfrom ignorance to cosmic bliss - or enlightenment. This progresses through various stages - which have been mapped by sages throughout history. In a sense it is the journey from darkness to light, illusion to truth, fixation with form to the recognition of the essential role of self in structuring and emotionalising reality.

There are ways, however, to measure the consciousness levels of people, books, movies, newspapers, curricula, institutions, entire populations and so on.

One method which has recently surfaced is outlined by David E. Hawkins in his books such as Power Vs Force, and the Discovery of the Presence of God.