Читать книгу Beyond Soul Growth - Lynn Sparrow Christy - Страница 16

Just what is it that makes the evolutionary approach different from other spiritual paths? Isn't all spirituality, by its very definition, evolutionary? Well, yes—and no. We might say that the main difference is one of context. From any spiritual standpoint that includes the long view of the soul's history, we're used to thinking of evolution in terms of our personal path of development. Traditional spirituality often presents the path to enlightenment as an evolutionary one, whereby we transcend the bonds and limitations of the flesh and this three-dimensional world and return to fully realized consciousness of our oneness with God.

The evolutionary world view would agree that this opening up of consciousness is crucial. But it sees that as not an end in itself but rather as the means to an ongoing evolutionary advance that can be traced back to the Big Bang. And the primary arena of that evolutionary advance is here, in this world of flesh and blood and rocks and plants. In other words, a spiritual path that emphasizes getting out of this world is not evolutionary in the sense that I will be using the term here. “Evolutionary spirituality,” as presented in these pages, is a world view—an interpretation of the facts at hand—that holds central the idea that the manifest universe is evolving. Not just the cosmos, not just plants and animals, but consciousness itself is evolving on a cosmic scale, influencing every atom of manifest creation. Therefore, evolutionary spirituality is a commitment to take responsibility for bringing consciousness into our thoughts, our bodies, the world, and creation itself.

For that reason, this world of three dimensions has intrinsic meaning and purpose. It is far more than just an illusion to be rolled away or a dream to be awakened from. Furthermore, our purpose here in this earthly realm goes beyond personal spirituality and “soul growth.” We are called beyond soul growth to participation in an ongoing creation. In one sense all living things are participants in ongoing creation. But in the case of humanity, that participation is a bit more pointed if, in fact, we are at the leading edge of evolution as most contemporary evolutionary world views claim. In us and through us comes the evolutionary advance of all that is. Therefore, evolutionary spirituality entails a commitment to embrace the unique opportunity of incarnation. This book is both a call to that commitment and an exploration of what it might look like in our daily habits, priorities, and actions, if we were to truly seize the evolutionary opportunity before us.

The story of that opportunity begins with an infinitesimal point outside of time and space, where nothing burst forth into something and when time and space and matter were born. From that moment on, a forward-moving process began, and this process is still taking place today. While traditional approaches to spirituality (even New Age ones) will often assume that this earth plane is a fixed environment through which the soul moves for its own growth, evolutionary spirituality sees us as developing entities in a developing environment. The universe is up to something that has significance beyond us, yet it also carries us along on its astounding journey toward the future. As this occurs, we become significant shapers of what that future will be. We—all sentient beings and the cosmos we inhabit—are all going somewhere together.

The evolutionary perspective differs from other spiritual paths in another significant way as well. Because it is characterized by a deep appreciation for the science of evolution, it may well offer the world's first science-based spirituality. It's not that cooperation between people of faith and people of science is unprecedented. There have always been theistic scientists as well as those among the religiously devout who respect the contribution of science to our knowledge of the world. There have also always been those who sought and found bands of connection between scientific and theological inquiry, and so it would not be at all accurate to allow either the anti-scientific stance of some fundamentalist groups or the strident atheism of some scientists to represent the entire spectrum of positions when it comes to views of science and religion. But regardless of whether their relationship was friendly or adversarial, the domains of science and religion have been treated as separate since the beginning of the modern scientific era. Never before have the interests of science and spirituality been so completely intertwined. The theist and atheist alike can (and do) come to the story of evolution and find in it a perspective that unites them in a common work toward the collective good.