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Integral World: Exploring Theories of Everything
An independent forum for a critical discussion of the integral philosophy of Ken Wilber
Jóse Díez Faixat is an architect, non-violent conscientious objector, ecologist, rural community member. From 1979 he has focused on research into basic reality, of form both as experienced (mystical, non-dualistic) and as theoretical (study of spiritual traditions and the sciences of the New Paradigm). In 1993, he published his hypothesis in the journal of general evolution World Futures (ed. Ervin Laszlo), and later, in 1996, develops this work in the book Between Evolution and Eternity (Editorial Kairos). He later published Being nothing, I am All (Editorial Dilema).
Manifesto for an integral and non-dual politicsJOSé DíEZ FAIXAT
IntroductionWe live in a creative, dynamic, and complex world. Throughout history, human beings have been dealing with the circumstances they have encountered in very different ways, depending on their own capabilities and those of their environment. Since all the ways of life that proved valid at certain stages eventually revealed their limitations, humanity has repeatedly generated new, progressively more insightful and complex paradigms to give meaning to existence. It so happens that, at present, the evolutionary vanguard of postmodernity, which began by accurately highlighting the limitations of the modern era, has devolved into extreme and dysfunctional forms that, far from providing an inspiring message for humanity, have become a pure invitation to unbridled nihilism and narcissism. It seems, therefore, that this might be a good moment to propose a revolutionary vision of reality, capable of bringing some order and meaning to this dizzying, polarized, disenchanted world plagued by populism. Perhaps, in the end, we can begin to glimpse that this life, our concrete, everyday life, may truly be far more fascinating than we could ever have imagined.
The evolutionary spiralLet me briefly explain, from the outset, the framework within which the proposal presented in these pages has emerged, in order to clarify the foundation, context, and scope of this exposition. For more than forty-five years, I have been investigating a harmonic and fractal pattern in evolutionary dynamics both in human phylogeny and ontogeny that unfolds and folds through a double spiral divergent-convergent from an original pole A of energy (Big Bang) toward a final pole Ω of consciousness (an attractor located around the year 2217).. This research into the pattern of evolution reveals an intriguing characteristic: all creative processes in the universe whether physical, biological, or cultural unfold quantumly along a spectrum of progressively complex and lucid levels of stability that emerge, one after another, at a very precise harmonic rhythm. These successive emergent levels of the evolutionary ladder reach, over time, increasing breadth and depth, contributing, at each step, ever more comprehensive and unified perspectives. Each new perspective, as it integrates with those already emerging in the preceding stages, gives rise to progressively complex and conscious entities and organisms. The process has been identical since the very beginning of time: elementary particles, atoms, molecules, multicellular organisms… Every step each contributing its own characteristic novelty is essential for the complete construction of the evolutionary spiral, because if any one of them were to disappear, the entire structure above that level would collapse. Each evolutionary level is built upon all the previous ones and, in fact, could not have even arisen without the active and simultaneous presence of all of them. Focusing on the specifically human stages of the process, our research situates the successive levels of basic emergence in the Upper Paleolithic (B-4), the Neolithic (B-5), Ancient Age (B-6), the Middle Ages (B-7), the Modern Age (C-1), and the incipient Postmodern Age (C-2), following a very precise spiral pattern that accelerates history vertiginously toward a point of attraction that will be reached within a couple of centuries. In each of these basic stages, novel and simultaneous transformations took place, both internally and externally, in individuals and communities. In all cases, creative emergences biological, psychological, social, and cultural appeared with a specific “flavor” characteristic of each of these periods. It is truly surprising to see the enormous harmony between the spectrum of evolutionary levels revealed in our research and the lists of developmental levels presented by both scholars of socio-cultural processes and their transformations, and by the most renowned developmental psychologists in their respective research on a wide range of growth lines, such as cognitive, moral, self-identity, values, needs, worldviews, orders of consciousness, stages of faith, etc. The six tables below compile a couple dozen of these lists of developmental levels proposed by leading researchers in the various fields where the integral evolutionary process unfolds. Simply noting the specific characteristics of any of the levels listed in these tables will give us a clear idea of ??the inherent "flavor" of each stage. To simplify things, we can summarize the core characteristics of each of these developmental levels using the straightforward framework of Spiral Dynamics proposed by psychologists Don Beck and Chris Cowan, advisors to Nelson Mandela during the South African transition. Spiral Dynamics is a transdisciplinary (bio-psycho-socio-cultural) model that originated in the meticulous research of psychology professor Clare Graves on the evolution of individuals and societies. Analyzing the different ways of thinking and ways of being of human beings, he identified a series of common patterns or basic value systems and integrated them into a multi-layered model of progressively complex levels. Graves stated that human nature is an open, constantly evolving system that proceeds by quantum leaps from one stationary state to another, through a hierarchy of ordered, relatively stable systems that unfold in a spiral fashion throughout the entire historical process of humanity from its beginnings to the present day. He proposed that these emergent levels are not rigid steps, but rather fluid, overlapping, and interconnected waves that give rise to the expansive spiral dynamic of individual and collective development, driven
by its own internal dynamism and by the variable conditions of life. Each emerging wave, possessing a broader perspective and a more complex organizational capacity, transcends and includes all previous waves, gains prominence for a time, and is ultimately transcended and included by a new, more encompassing and complex wave. After Graves's death, his collaborators Don Beck and Chris Cowan continued to develop and corroborate their mentor's theoretical model. They called the successive paradigms that define each of the eight basic levels of the spectrum “value memes” or “vMemes” and had the brilliant idea of ??identifying each of these levels with a specific color, thus facilitating the understanding and dissemination of their model. The basic characteristics of these levels, or colors, are as follows: Beige: Survival instinct. Satisfaction of physiological needs. Impulsivity. Biological automatism. Immediate action. [Nomadic hordes]. Purple: Kinship spirits. Loyalty to the chief, the clan, to tradition. Ethnocentric culture. Security. Magical-animistic thinking. Superstitions. Taboos. Rituals to appease ancestral spirits. [Tribal villages]. Red: Power Gods. Egocentrism. Grandiose, impulsive, omnipotent self. Myths of heroes. Triumph of the strong. Struggle. Conquest. Domination. Exploitation. Tyranny. Slavery. [Ancient empires]. Blue: Truth force. Absolutist thinking. Certainty. Existence ordered by a divine code. Moral rules. Norms. Traditions. Obedience. Discipline. Guilt. Self-sacrifice. Delayed reward. Order. Stability. Conformity. Ethnocentric culture. [Feudal kingdoms]. Orange: Strive drive. Effort. Pragmatism. Empiricism. Positivism. Scientism. Strategy. Competition. Dynamism. Growth. Success. Results. Achievements. Free market. Materialism. Consumerism. Capitalism. Law and order. Individualism. Autonomy. Control. [Nation-states]. Green: Human bond. Communities of value. Solidarity. Collaboration. Associationism. Consensus building. Relativism. Pluralism. Multiculturalism. Sensitive self. Emotional communication. Feelings. Equality. Sense of injustice. Human rights. Pacifism. Feminism. Environmental awareness. Sustainability. Ecology. [Supranational units]. Yellow: Holistic vision. Flex flow. Systems thinking. Process integration. Complexity. Interdependence. Networks. Multiple realities. Open systems. Acceptance of uncertainty. Questioning mindset. Inquiry. Functionality. Spontaneity. Turquoise: Integral paradigm. Global view. Fractal reality. Life as an unfolding of holarchies. Spiral dynamics. Multiple levels intertwined in a conscious system. Communion with the whole. Understanding of universal harmony. Collective consciousness. Holographic connections. Transpersonal mindset. Cosmic spirituality. A characteristic of the evolutionary process throughout the first six levels of this series has been the exclusivist nature of each of the paradigms unfolded in those stages, with the consequent intransigence toward any other worldview that emerged before or after, and the pursuit, on many occasions, of its complete elimination and destruction. In none of those early stages of human development was it understood that each and every paradigm that emerged along the way represented an important and valuable step in the development of individuals and communities, since, one after another, they managed to unfold the basic structures of the successive rungs of the evolutionary ladder. Unfortunately, none of them was able to see beyond their limited perspective. One need only observe the complete intransigence and mutual incomprehension between, say, an urban gang member red, an Islamic radical blue, a neoliberal capitalist orange, and an environmental activist green. Each, passionately defending their narrow relative truth, proves incapable of appreciating and integrating the valuable contributions of the other perspectives. It will only be with the emergence of integral levels which, according to our research, will take place within a century that humanity, individually and collectively, will finally come to understand and value in all its richness the creativity of the spiral dynamic as a whole, at each of the fractal levels that constitute it, and in the fascinating interplay of resonances and harmonies among them all.
Some basic points of the integral paradigmIf the approach we have just outlined is fundamentally correct, its implications for certain social and political issues are more than evident. Let us list some of them below. Each and every evolutionary stage emerges simultaneously and coherently in the four basic domains of manifestation biological (individual-external), psychological (individual-internal), social (collective-external), and cultural (collective-internal). The four domains are mutually implicated. The healthy unfolding of the intrinsic potential of any one of these domains is not possible without the synchronous and concurrent presence of the other three. Therefore, any attempt to explain global reality by considering only one of the four domains that comprise it will inevitably be doomed to failure. If, in addition, this biased attempt at explanation focuses exclusively on only one level of the long spectrum of evolution, the result will be utter nonsense. There are no “interiors” without “exteriors.” Nor vice versa. There are no “objects” without “subjects”, nor “subjects” without “objects”. Both terms are mutually implicated. They are like the two poles of a magnet. Both need the presence of the other for their own existence. There is, therefore, no external universe, out there, apart from the individuals who contemplate it. It is impossible to describe integral reality by referring only to the objective aspect of “energy” as materialist science has attempted to do until very recently without taking into consideration, at the same time, the subjective aspect of “consciousness”. In the field of politics that we are addressing here, this consideration leads us to affirm that the external progress of a society is not possible in any case without the simultaneous internal development of the individuals who compose it. In our previous discussion of the spiral of evolution, we saw the intrinsic and unavoidable relationship between social, cultural, and psychological transformations in each and every stage traversed by our ancestors. That is to say, the social, cultural, and political structures of a given society have been determined by the level of psychological development achieved by the majority of its population. For example, nation-states, modern democracies, industrial technology, and the capitalist way of life all emerged simultaneously with the rise of the "orange" paradigm that is, formal operational thinking, a rational worldview, empiricism, scientism, a culture of effort and achievement, and individualism. This observation regarding the complete coherence between socio-political forms and the psycho-cultural content of a given community at a specific moment highlights the utter naiveté of any well-intentioned attempt to adopt forms of social and political organization divorced from the true level of psychological development and worldview of a specific human group at a given stage. The result of these naive attempts has been nothing other than the proliferation of so-called “failed states” in many different parts of the world. Perhaps the real “failure” has been precisely this attempt to adopt, for example, “orange” forms in “purple” or “red” regions. There are no “collectives” without “individuals”. Nor vice versa. The existence of individual entities is impossible at any level of the evolutionary spectrum without the constant interaction with other entities of their same species. “Ones” and “many” are mutually implicated. Any attempt to consider only one of these two facets exclusively is, in the long run, utterly pointless. Our research demonstrates that both the global evolutionary process of human phylogeny the path traveled by our ancestors since the very beginning of time and our individual ontogenetic development the life unfolding of each human being from conception to death traverse precisely the same spectrum of stability levels, following an identical harmonic pattern of unfolding and folding, and within a shared temporal framework. Everything seems to indicate, then, that both global collective evolution and the development of each individual, far from being independent, separate, or conflicting matters, are merely the expression, on different spatial and temporal scales, of the same single spectrum of shared energy-consciousness. [We will clarify this point later]. It goes without saying that this perspective demolishes any attempt to justify either collectivist totalitarianism which disregards individual rights or individualist anarchism which disregards the rights of the collective. All levels of the evolutionary spectrum are essential for the healthy unfolding of the spiral dynamic, both in the grand global history and in the individual development of each of its protagonists. Since each stage of the process is built upon each and every stage that has unfolded previously, the mere absence or destruction of any one of them would automatically cause the entire rest of the evolutionary spiral above that level to collapse. In other words, the active and simultaneous presence of all levels of the evolutionary spectrum is absolutely necessary for the spiral dynamic to continue unfolding, moment by moment, its full intrinsic potential. All levels are fundamental. There are, therefore, no “good” levels and “bad” levels, but only “successive” levels within a single, integral spectrum of development. Each plays its characteristic and indispensable role within the great evolutionary chain. As we have seen, this great chain encompasses a vast spectrum of stability levels, from the original pole of enormous energy and very low consciousness to the final pole of enormous consciousness and very low energy. The successive entities and organisms that have emerged throughout the evolutionary process have integrated, within their own structure, an increasing number of levels of this energy-consciousness spectrum. Therefore, ultimately, we can affirm that present-day human beings are, in fact, a living recapitulation of the entire history of the universe up to the present moment. That is to say, the development of our concrete lives is nothing other than the successive unfolding and integration of all the levels of the energy-consciousness spectrum, from the elementary particles generated at the moment of the Big Bang to the emerging green vMeme of the postmodern paradigm. The political implications of this evolutionary understanding of integral reality are both evident and inspiring. Unfortunately, as explained above, the unfolding of the first six stages of the specifically human phase of the evolutionary process has been characterized by the exclusivist nature of each and every paradigm that emerged during those stages. In every case, the mistake has been made of assigning absolute value to one's own relative perspective, with the consequent intransigence towards any other worldview that emerged before or after. In none of those early stages of human development has the evidence been grasped that each and every paradigm that has emerged along the way has represented a valuable and essential step in the development of individuals and communities. What would become of human beings without the physiological instinct for survival of the beige paradigm? Or without the protective spirit of kinship ties of the purple paradigm? Or without the courageous drive for conquest of the red paradigm? Or without the stable order of dogmatic certainty of the blue paradigm? Or without the pragmatic pursuit of success of the orange paradigm? Or without the ecological and social sensitivity of the green paradigm?... Each of these successive stages has emerged to provide a new perspective capable of overcoming the limitations and dangers exhibited by the preceding paradigm. The magical protection of the purple tribes transcends the mere struggle for survival of the beige hordes of the Paleolithic. The heroic drive for conquest of the red empires of antiquity transcends the fearful search for security of the Neolithic purple tribes. The order and stability provided by absolute truth during blue feudalism transcend the chaos and exploitation originating from red power in the ancient world. The rational, empirical, and entrepreneurial spirit of modern orange transcends the conformist and submissive herd mentality of the medieval blue kingdoms. The pursuit of social and environmental justice by postmodern green organizations transcends the predatory instinct driven by profit in the modern orange world…
On the holarchic dynamics of evolution and historyEach and every stage of evolution and history has successively unfolded novel worldviews of increasing breadth and clarity, enabling us to grapple with progressively complex situations in ever-expanding spheres. Therefore, instead of using the metaphor of the rungs of a ladder to refer to the succession of stages in the evolutionary spectrum, it would be better to compare them to the series of dolls nested inside a matryoshka doll. By this, we mean that successive evolutionary stages are not simply consecutive, monotonous, and independent realities, like the rungs of a ladder, but rather like the successive layers of a Russian doll, each containing all the previous ones within itself. As successive levels of the long spectrum of energy-consciousness have gradually reached increasing levels of intelligence and empathy, integrating with the complete series of preceding levels, they have given rise to progressively complex and unified organisms that contain the entire evolutionary spectrum within themselves, as part of themselves. The writer Arthur Koestler, in his book The Ghost in the Machine, coined the concepts of "holon" and "holarchy" to try to explain how life is organized at all its levels, without resorting to the older, more rigid notion of "hierarchy". The term holon refers to any entity or system that functions relatively autonomously as a whole, but which, simultaneously, also functions as part of a larger system. Elementary particles form atoms, atoms form molecules, molecules form cells, cells form tissues, tissues form organs… Holarchy is thus a network of interconnected systems in which information flows bidirectionally between smaller and larger systems, so that each part influences and is influenced by all the others. Holarchy is therefore a natural and organic structure in which each level transcends and includes the previous ones in an endless series. Understanding evolutionary and historical processes as holarchic dynamics leads us to a fundamental fact. Successive stages of the evolutionary spectrum, as they develop increasingly deep mental structures, with broader scopes of understanding and progressively more complex and unified worldviews, have the capacity to transcend and include the entire range of previously emerged levels as part of themselves. The conceptual mind developed throughout the Neolithic period transcends and includes the symbolic mind of the Upper Paleolithic; the concrete mind developed throughout Ancient Age transcends and includes the conceptual mind of the Neolithic; the abstract mind developed throughout the Middle Ages transcends and includes the concrete mind of Antiquity; the formal-rational mind developed throughout the Modern Age transcends and includes the abstract mind of the Middle Ages; the pluralistic mind that is developing throughout the emerging Postmodern Age transcends and includes the formal mind of Modernity; the vision-logic that will develop throughout the future Integral Age will transcend and include the pluralistic mind of Postmodernity… Just as cognitive development has reached increasing levels of depth and clarity, affective development has progressively broadened the scope of its integrative embrace. Suffice it to say that the beige (Paleolithic) and purple (Neolithic) stages are essentially "egocentric", that the red (Ancient Age) and blue (Middle Ages) stages are "ethnocentric", that the orange (Modern Age) and green (Postmodern Age) stages are "worldcentric", and that only the upcoming yellow, turquoise, and subsequent stages will be truly "holistic," "integral," and ultimately, "non-dual". Currently, it appears that approximately 10% of the world's population still operates at egocentric levels, 55% at ethnocentric levels, 30% at worldcentric levels, and less than 5% at integral levels. Given this panorama, it is easy to understand why, throughout history and even today violence and armed conflict have been and continue to be the prevailing norm in virtually all human conflicts. Only with the recent emergence of the green level of development worldcentric and pacifist has the possibility of non-violent modes of self-defense begun to be suggested. Starting from this holarchic framework we are presenting, we believe it is possible to bring some clarity to today's turbulent and polarized world, rife with exclusionary sectarianisms and populisms. For example, we can bring some order to the issue of the so-called "culture wars", that is, the bitter ideological and symbolic conflicts between different civilizations and social groups vying to impose their values, beliefs, and worldviews. The four main ideologies currently competing for hegemony both within individual nations and globally correspond, essentially, to the four paradigms that have unfolded in the last four stages of history, which, using the language of Spiral Dynamics, we have named red (Ancient Age), blue (Middle Ages), orange (Modern Age), and green (Postmodern Age). It doesn't take a genius to see which of these different worldviews each of the current political parties aligns itself with. According to the argument we are presenting here, it's impossible to imagine that these culture wars can end with winners and losers, for the simple reason that all these competing paradigms, supposedly separate and opposed to each other, are nothing more than different holons of the same developmental process, actively present both in each individual human being and in the various communities in which they live. As we have discussed, the life trajectory of each of us, from the moment of conception to the moment of death, naturally unfolds the entire spectrum of developmental levels that have emerged to date… provided, of course, that the environment in which this maturation process takes place has the full range of appropriate structures with which to resonate, in order to facilitate the healthy emergence of each and every one of these successive levels, one after the other. From this perspective, it is evident that any attempt to marginalize or destroy any of these holons, whether in individual or collective processes, is inherently destructive and suicidal, since, if successful, it would fatally obstruct the natural flow of growth and development of individuals and communities. Therefore, it is crucial to be aware of the enormous danger posed by the sectarian and exclusionary attitudes adopted time and again throughout the development of all recent paradigms, from antiquity to the present day. Indeed, even today, it is common to find proposals, even from the supposed postmodern avant-garde, about the construction of “walls” and “sanitary cordons” to marginalize and erase from the map any vision of the world foreign to one's own. Or, with the same aim, we see strange, unnatural alliances between, for example, progressive leaders (green) and radical Islamists (blue), with the sole intention of eliminating their common enemy, the liberal positivist world (orange), which occupies precisely the intermediate stage between the two in the natural process of the unfolding of the great evolutionary holarchy. It seems high time to begin transcending this entire chain of exclusivist perspectives which, given the enormous destructive capabilities that exist today, could ultimately lead to the destruction of all traces of life on the planet. The unfolding of the orange paradigm throughout the modern age represented a great advance in the history of humanity, with the emergence of rational thought, empirical science, individual rights and freedoms, the abolition of slavery, personal autonomy, nation-states, liberal democracies, the culture of effort and achievement, progress, industrial development, wealth creation… but, unfortunately, these values, taken to the extreme, have ended up leading to a disenchanted, individualistic, consumerist, materialistic world, predatory of nature, compulsively driven by ruthless competition and the pursuit of profit, with an obscene concentration of wealth in a few hands, in the midst of a gradually impoverished society. Given this panorama, the recent emergence of the pluralistic mindset of the green paradigm has brought with it the capacity to critically analyze the dangerous outcomes of modernity and, with its sense of injustice and its social and environmental sensitivity, has given rise to the movement for the defense of civil rights, equality, solidarity, plurality, multiculturalism, ecology, sustainability, feminism, pacifism, non-violence… Unfortunately, this healthy version of the green paradigm has drifted toward extreme relativism and the denial of any universal truth, which, in the end, has translated into pure destructive nihilism and widespread narcissism. Thus, the supposed postmodern vanguard, which in theory should lead the dynamics of evolution, has proven incapable of providing an inspiring worldview or suggesting an exciting guiding direction. Given the proven inadequacy of extreme relativism to lead a genuine dynamic of evolution and development, humanity, in many parts of the world, has begun a reactive movement of regression toward traditional worldviews, in an attempt to rediscover a meaning and security that the green vanguard has failed to provide. This reactive movement can be understood as a temporary mechanism of self-defense, but ultimately, returning to old paradigmssuch as the blue onedoes not appear to be the healthiest way to activate the holarchic dynamic of development. The green paradigm demonized any form of hierarchy, understanding that this term was always synonymous with exploitation. The green political, cultural, and academic elites have failed to grasp the radical difference between "hierarchies of domination" and "holarchies of development", and, in their eagerness to destroy any worldview different from their own, they have relentlessly denigrated and ridiculed the blue and orange paradigms, and, even, denying the possibility of the existence of other paradigms above themselves. Having eliminated, on the one hand, the order and stability of the blue paradigm, and, on the other, the wealth generation of the orange paradigm, the once noble aspirations of equality and social justice of the green left have unfortunately led to widespread instability and poverty. It is easy to understand that wealth cannot be distributed if it has not been generated beforehand. It seems the time has come to begin activating the emerging holistic and integral paradigms about which numerous developmental psychologists have already begun to contribute given their capacity to transcend and include the green paradigm and all previous ones. When the center of gravity of a significant number of human beings' sense of identity shifts to these levels of the psychological development spectrum to the early logical-vision (yellow holistic worldview) and the late logical-vision (turquoise integral worldview) humanity will have taken a decisive step toward its full self-realization, both individually and collectively. The simultaneous presence of a wide range of different paradigms will no longer be viewed as a cultural or physical war between them, but rather, on the contrary, will be understood as the natural expression of the holarchic dynamic of bio-psycho-socio-cultural evolution in its creative unfolding of successive levels of the energy-consciousness spectrum, at a progressively accelerating harmonic rhythm, oriented toward a pole of attraction located around the year 2217. The approach we are presenting here is not the product of mere naive and optimistic speculation about the future of humanity, but rather the most consistent conclusion drawn from all the information gathered over nearly half a century of transdisciplinary research on the pattern of evolution. This research integrates both the surprising proposals of cutting-edge science in diverse areas of the external-objective world, and the age-old experiential inquiries carried out in virtually all the great wisdom traditions in the internal-subjective realm. All of this has given rise to a robust, integral, and non-dual worldview that, we believe, can bring some clarity and meaning to human life after the immense void created by the nihilistic version of the green paradigm in recent decades. Therefore, we will now outline the general principles of this non-dual worldview as the final conclusion to this brief manifesto for an integral politics.
An integral and non-dual worldviewIn this final section of the manifesto, we will attempt to outline the new paradigm that is beginning to emerge naturally when we consider all the elements that have come to light throughout our research. To achieve a truly integral understanding of everything presented, it is absolutely necessary to refer to at least three different realms within the All-One: A) non-dual absolute reality, B) potential relative reality, and C) spatio-temporal relative reality. We will now attempt to clarify the meaning of each of these expressions. A) Non-dual absolute reality: Since all manifested reality appears, inexorably, in the form of interdependent dualities subject/object, inside/outside, origin/end we can understand them as polar manifestations of a reality that transcends them and is “prior” to that polarization. Physicists speak of infinite potential energy in the original quantum vacuum, and sages speak of infinite, diaphanous consciousness in the final mystical void. Our proposal is that these two voids are the same and only absolute Emptiness, perceived objectively by physicists and subjectively by contemplatives, but which, in itself, is neither objective nor subjective, but rather the unity, identity, or indifference of both facets simultaneously. At this point, it is important to note that we are not talking about a distant, mysterious, or unknown reality, but about the closest, most intimate, and obvious experience of our existence; that is, the pure and simple, ever-present Self-Evidence that we are in essence. Is there anything more evident than the pure Certainty-of-Being in this precise present moment? This realm has been described in all the great non-dual wisdom traditions, such as philosophical Taoism, Hinduism Advaita Vedanta, Kashmir Shaivism, Mahayana Buddhism Ch'an, Zen, Vajrayana Buddhism Mahamudra, Dzogchen, Judaism Kabbalah, Christianity Rhenish and Castilian mysticism, Islam Sufism… B) Potential relative reality: Since non-dual Emptiness completely lacks any separation between subject and object, it cannot be perceived in any way. Therefore, if it wishes to contemplate itself, it has no choice but to appear dualistic as an original objective pole essentially energy and a final subjective pole essentially consciousness while fully maintaining its empty essence. At that very instant, a vast spectrum of equilibria is generated between these two polar facets, spanning the entire range from the most basic states of enormous energy and little consciousness to the highest of little energy and enormous consciousness. As this illusory distance of energy-consciousness like a guitar string becomes vibratory, it instantly produces a characteristic fundamental sound and its entire unlimited range of harmonic sounds (standing waves). This means that, let's look closely, the entire potential archetypal spectrum of energy-consciousness is already fully present in a unified, overlapping, and resonant form from the very origin. The successive second harmonics that arise with the vibration of this fundamental "superstring" of energy-consciousness are precisely the potential levels of stratified stability that will be actualized, one after another, through the successive stages of universal evolution. This potential realm can be likened to R. Kastner's "quantumland", D. Bohm's "implicate order", C. Jung's archetypal "unus mundus", R. Sheldrake's "morphogenetic field", E. Laszlo's "akashic field", D. Meijer's "quantum acoustic code", N. Haramein's "unified spatial memory network"... C) Spatio-temporal relative reality: The unified potential spectrum of energy-consciousness “collapses” (as they say in quantum physics), at every instant, into a concrete form of the manifested universe. Thus, a toroidal dynamic is produced through which the potential reality of the archetypal ground is actualized and unfolds in and as the holographic world of spatio-temporal forms. The projection from and introjection towards this potential ground, instant after instant, allows for the continuous actualization of successive potential levels of stability of the energy-consciousness spectrum. This recursive, intrinsically creative dynamic between “potential reality” and “actualized reality” is mediated by the unified field of memory, which is generated step by step at a fundamental level. All the information gathered at any point-instant in the manifested world is immediately introjected into the basic field of collective memory which, in this way, increases its creative potential moment by moment and is projected into the next instant in the spatio-temporal universe. Over and over again. Now. Now. Now… Considering what we have just discussed, everything points to a fascinating toroidal dynamic of energy-consciousness, instantaneous and eternal, at all scales, as the key element for a comprehensive understanding of the universe. According to this scheme, the flows originate from a dimensionless Center, follow a spiral trajectory a diverging vortex reach the outer surface of the torus, and return to the same Center through another spiral a convergent vortex to restart their endless process from there. Everything seems to indicate that the ultimate aim of universal evolutionary manifestation is none other than to reproduce, in a detailed and integrated way, in the world of finite appearances, the non-duality of undifferentiated energy-consciousness, characteristic of fundamental Emptiness. It is, in short, the inexhaustible attempt of Emptiness to contemplate its invisible face in infinite ways. If what we are presenting here is essentially correct, the path that humanity will have to travel over the next two centuries is, quite simply, fascinating. During this time, new evolutionary stages will emerge, one after another, accelerating until reaching a dizzying pace of creativity around the year 2217, when, finally, the ultimate non-duality of energy and consciousness will be revealed in the world of finite forms. Then it will be discovered, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that pure Self-Evidence, always present, has been, is, and will be the true and only Identity of everything and everyone. That there has never been another. Or, put another way, that all others are but different faces of the one and self-evident Myself.
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Jóse Díez Faixat is an architect, non-violent conscientious objector, ecologist, rural community member. From 1979 he has focused on research into basic reality, of form both as experienced (mystical, non-dualistic) and as theoretical (study of spiritual traditions and the sciences of the New Paradigm). In 1993, he published his hypothesis in the journal of general evolution