Is there a direction imbedded in the very fabric of evolution?  Are we moving toward something, or is reality as we know it just an infinite process of trial and error, with no overall wider evolutionary directive. What are some of the most current observations of the nature of our universe, and what deeper knowledge of our existence is this information communicating? Jonas Salk made the following statement of what he thought the process of directional evolution appears to be:

"The most meaningful activity in which a human being can be engaged is one that is directly related to human evolution.  This is true because human beings now play an active and critical role not only in the process of their own evolution but in the survival and evolution of all living beings.  Awareness of this places upon human beings a responsibility for their participation in and contribution to the process of evolution.  If humankind would accept and acknowledge this responsibility and become creatively engaged in the process of metabiological evolution consciously, as well as unconsciously, a new reality would emerge, and a new age would be born."  Jonas Salk

How do we globally accelerate and capture the momentum of what is already emerging in terms of the growing awareness amongst political, corporate, and grass root leaders? How do we most effectively inform a global movement that is ensured to have success in reaching the critical mass that is necessary to tip the scale for massive collective change? We are at the beginning of the UNISSANCE, a neo-enlightenment and neo-renaissance of science, consciousness and life. It is great shift and great turning toward a greater alignment based upon a unified understanding of the evolution of life and consciousness from the largest possible time and space perspective that exists--- the universe as a whole system perspective. We have arrived at a critical juncture in human history where it is prudent and critically necessary to expand the collective metaphors and worldview that informs our lives, values and ethics. We must look beyond our current cultural, political, economical partial views and perspectives. It is due time to facilitate a new framework of metaphors that we call the Unissance and a new worldview that we call the New Universe Worldview. This new worldview and Unissance is awakening individual and collective consciousness. It informs and habituates a sustainable global culture, includes and celebrates all of our collective partial views of the past, is in alignment with the science that we are just coming to know about ourselves and our universe and, it artfully and joyously reverences the miracle of our beingness in the universe. 

The following is a most recent article of a new informed evolutionary meaning of the Great Story of Christmas as we are an evolved intricate part of the wondrous diversity of this planet, solar system, galaxy, and the bubble we view as our universe, floating in an unknown territory of internal inflation (a most recent explanation of why the big bang occurred).  We are the current peak and the visible luminant reflection of 13.7 billion years of the evolutionary 'big bang radiance' a creative progression of trial and error SELF, ESSENCE, SPIRIT, DARK ENERGY, AND MATTER shaping and forming endless/infinite potentiality BIRTHING ITSELF through the many expressions of diversity in matter. We are possibly an intricate part of a web of subtle and physical energies that is informing, synthesizing, and evolving the I, we, it, and it's into an expanding  THEOGENESIS. We are the SELF awakening in the illuminated playground of matter. 

Evolutionary thinking is the zeitgeist of the 21st century. Not since the Copernican Revolution have we experienced comparable revelations about the natural world and our place in the universe. How will society ultimately reconcile science and religion? "Marry them!" exclaims Reverend Michael Dowd, author of THANK GOD FOR EVOLUTION: How The Marriage of Science and Religion Will Transform Your Life and Our World . Michael Dowd, a minister and author, and Connie Barlow, a biologist and author, have created and facilitated a body of work consisting of numerous books, educational programs, and  Dvd’s that are ground breaking and inspiring. They articulate an inclusive and a transcendent vision of a universe that has creatively conspired for our individual and collective greater learning and becoming.  Our cosmic and terrestrial place in  history is to be understood and embraced from an emerging inclusive perspective in harmony with our sciences, including and honouring the many partial views expressed in myths and stories that have guided and inspired our collective journey. Their contribution is informing a spirituality in harmony with an engaged sustainable living ecology. "Creation and evolution are one and the same," explains Dowd. "Science and religion go hand in hand. One without the other leaves humanity lost in the literature, searching in vain for answers to post-modern problems in ancient religious texts written when people believed the world was flat. Only by looking through evolutionary eyes can we see our way out of the current global integrity crisis that is destroying economies and  ecosystems around the world.”

“We are beings of cosmic connection who are learning to live in a living universe…” Our Supreme Test and Time of Initiation

Evolution moves forward on a bending curve and there is no going back. The starting gun of history has gone off, and humanity is moving rapidly into a new world. We humans have always been tested by adversity. However, our current times are unique in one crucial respect - and this makes all the difference. The circle has closed and there is no escape. Now the entire Earth and whole human community is at risk. Now the entire human species must deal with the reality of climate disruption (with resulting crop failures and famine), the dwindling supply of cheap energy, an enormous global population with most people living on the edge of subsistence, a massive wave of extinction of plants and animals, the spread of weapons of mass destruction in an ever more interdependent world, and much more. All of these are occurring at the same time the global communications revolution is making the world transparent to itself. Our supreme test is to grow consciously into this new world and learn to live in balance with the Earth, in peace with one another, and in gratitude with the living universe.  

"The circle has closed and there is no escape. Now the entire Earth and whole human community is at risk." 

In 1543 Copernicus announced to a startled Europe that the Earth was not stationary, but was sailing rapidly through space as it spun around the Sun. This was difficult news to take in all at once, but over time the Europeans reinvented their entire civilization in light of this strange new fact about the Universe. The fundamental institutions of the medieval world, including the monarchies, the church, the feudal economic system, and the medieval sense of self, melted away as a radically different civilization was constructed.

We live in a similar moment of breakdown and creativity. The cosmological discovery that shatters nearly everything upon which the modern age was built is the discovery that the Universe came into existence 13.7 billion years ago and is so biased toward complexification that life and intelligence are now seen to be a nearly inevitable construction of evolutionary dynamics. Our new challenge is to reinvent our civilization. The major institutions of the modern period, including that of agriculture and religion and education and economics, need to be re-imagined within an intelligent, self-organizing, living Universe, so that instead of degrading the Earth's life systems, humanity might learn to join the enveloping community of living beings in a mutually enhancing manner. This great work will surely draw upon the talents and energies of many millions of humans from every culture of our planet and throughout the rest of the 21st century.
- Brian Swimme

The View from the Center of the Universe takes on big questions: the nature of time and our place in the cosmos (bigger than we might imagine, they suggest). They remind us, in case we've forgotten, that we're made of stardust.  Written by a duo consisting of a cosmologist and a philosopher, this very important and fascinating book powerfully describes the scope and depth of human connections to our universe. The very revolutionary concepts and implications of the modern understanding of time, space, dark matter, dark energy, eternal inflation, and the stardust filling our bodies,  affect our feelings about ourselves and our future.  Drawing lessons from the history of creation myths in many cultures, and from the changing perspectives of science over the centuries, the authors paint a comprehensive picture of the value of our place in the universe as we now know it, and the very opportunities for action in this critical century. 

Their well-supported admonition to "think cosmically, act globally" can be a vital guide to build a "sustainable prosperity."  This topic demands the attention at a time when our impact on our home planet is rising dramatically, as are conflicts between science and religions.  So far, scientists have not succeeded in helping most people sense meaning or purpose when considering the vastness of space that astronomy has revealed over the past few hundred years.  The View from the Center of the Universe has big ambitions and a novel approach for conveying the content and excitement of the current revolution in cosmology. If your curious about all of the big theories of the universe's evolution explained simply or, your interests are in looking at the really big history of everything, life and the big meaning of it all, this amazingly well written new book is a must read for everyone who wants to know more about the ultimate physical "big picture." Our staff who have read it absolutely love what it has done for expanding their perspectives on supporting and living a prosperous sustainability. 

John Stewart explores "The Evolutionary Significance of Spiritual Development" in the essay below. Humans have developed a new kind of adaptation strategy based on "mental modelling," but "We use our mental modelling to work out how to achieve the goals set by our internal reward and motivation system-goals that we have been fitted out with by natural selection and that are modified to a limited extent by conditioning during our upbringing... But when our evolutionary interests clash with these motivations and emotional responses, our evolutionary interests lose out. We have not yet developed a comprehensive capacity to free ourselves from the dictates of our biological and social past."

Stewart argues that humanity's adaptability is "seriously limited" in our inability to pursue "evolutionary ends." Thus enters religion and spirituality:

"If humanity is to realise the full evolutionary potential of mental modelling, we will have to free ourselves from our biological and cultural past... [T]he world's major religious systems all advocate the development of an ability to free oneself from particular emotional responses, desires and motivations."

If you are an cultural, spiritual or integral evolutionary, a spiritual pioneer, a cultural creative, a person who is spiritual, but not religious or, an individual who is curious about what role and purpose religion and spirituality play in evolution this is a must read article.

This article is based in part upon the universe and progressive evolutionary science and theories expressed by Teilhard De Chardin, Erich Jantsch, John Stewart, Duane Elgin, Michael Dowd, Connie Barlow, Nancy Ellen Abrams, Brian Swimme, Thomas Berry, Joel Primack, David Christian, David Ray Griffin, Sri Aurobindo, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Ken Wilber, Andrew Cohen, Steve McIntosh as well as numerous other evolution theorists, scientists, authors and speakers. The universe success action principles below are useful to anyone who wants to create an authentic life congruent with the REAL life processes of the universe and who seeks to create a sustainable and thriving life and planet. It is ideal for anyone who considers themselves a cultural creative, big history student, sustainability advocate, integral evolutionary, eco-spirituality practitioner or environmentalist.) This article is an integral, comprehensive statement containing the universe principles in two complimentary flavors; success-action power principles and result-conditioning "in the zone" flow principles. As you review them, you may also discover that these universe principles both transcend and yet still include the most life-affirming perspectives and the classic virtues of humanity’s greatest philosophic and spiritual wisdom traditions. When both types of the universe principles are integrated into one's life they also become a de facto lifestyle practices guide and new ethical code for conscious evolutionaries, effective principles for effective evolutionary activism, a good collective statement of the core attributes of progressive evolution and even a partial sense of the emerging values, perspectives and principles of the New Universe Worldview... 

Within the spatial and quantum qualities of the universe are found result-conditioning attributes that effect and condition the actions and results that take place within the universe. These result-conditioning spatial or quantum attributes can easily be converted into and called universe "attitudes"or "values," which also can be used for empowering your success in all areas of life. The following article lays out the essential 9 primary and 14 secondary result-conditioning universe attitudes and values. These universe attitudes and values have been creatively extrapolated from the most current cosmological and progressive evolutionary sciences. Knowing and practicing these 13.7 billion year old time-tested and reality-conditioning attitudes can dramatically improve the immediate quality of your life as well as your future success. When both parts 1 and 2 of the New Universe Principles of attitude and action are fully integrated into ones's life they also become an empowering lifestyle practice and a new ethical code for conscious evolutionaries as well as effective principles for evolutionary activism. As you review these essential universe attitudes and values you may also discover that they both transcend and yet still creatively include many of the most life-affirming virtues and perspectives from humanity’s greatest philosophic and spiritual wisdom traditions. Read about this practical application of the new science from cosmology and progressive evolution and get all of the life empowering New Universe Principles and, also get a partial sense of the emerging New Universe Worldview...

This article is based in part upon the universe and progressive evolutionary science and theories expressed by Teilhard De Chardin, Erich Jantsch, John Stewart, Duane Elgin, Michael Dowd, Connie Barlow, Nancy Ellen Abrams, Brian Swimme, Thomas Berry, Joel Primack, David Christian, David Ray Griffin, Sri Aurobindo, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Ken Wilber, Andrew Cohen, Steve McIntosh as well as numerous other evolution theorists, scientists, authors and speakers. The universe success action principles below are useful to anyone who wants to create an authentic life for themselves that is also congruent with the REAL life processes of the universe and who seeks to create a sustainable and thriving life, organization and planet. It is ideal for anyone who considers themselves a cultural creative, big history student, sustainability advocate, integral evolutionary, eco-spirituality practitioner or environmentalist.) This article is an integral, comprehensive statement containing the universe principles in two complimentary flavors; success-action power principles and result-conditioning "in the zone" flow principles. As you review them, you may also discover that these universe principles both transcend and yet still include the most life-affirming perspectives and the classic virtues of humanity’s greatest philosophic and spiritual wisdom traditions. When both types of the universe principles are integrated into one's life they also become a de facto lifestyle practices guide and new ethical code for conscious evolutionaries as well as effective principles for effective evolutionary activism or, even a good collective statement of the core attributes of progressive evolution and the new universe worldview coming into being.

This is part 2 the continuation of the article Strategies for Advancing Evolution by John Stewart. This article is the must-read "how to" manual for every conscious evolutionary and sustainability or environmental advocate!  It is a detailed principle-by-principle strategic instruction manual for consciously advancing the evolutionary process on this planet as an active co-creator with evolution. It contains step-by-step strategies for effectively growing the conscious evolutionary movement to better create a sustainable global society and to deal with global warming. As a master plan for conscious evolutionaries world-wide, it even describes how to use the resources of governments, corporations and other institutions to these worthy ends as well as how to build the individual and collective evolutionary intelligences needed for global sustainability and optimizing one's own life. We at Integrative Spirituality have posted this article because we believe that it is now Job 1 for every spiritual person on earth who honors that Great Mystery that interconnects all things to be aware of how to be a better steward of our planet's vitality and resources as well as know how to work together with others to solve the pending environmental problems that directly and imminently threaten the future of the current and future generations.

This article by John Stewart is the must-read "how to" manual for every conscious evolutionary and sustainability or environmental advocate!  It is a detailed principle-by-principle strategic instruction manual for consciously advancing the evolutionary process on this planet as an active co-creator with evolution. It contains step-by-step strategies for effectively growing the conscious evolutionary movement to better create a sustainable global society and to deal with global warming. As a master plan for conscious evolutionaries world-wide, it even describes how to use the resources of governments, corporations and other institutions to these worthy ends as well as how to build the individual and collective evolutionary intelligences needed for global sustainability and optimizing one's own life. We at Integrative Spirituality have posted this article because we believe that it is now Job 1 for every spiritual person on earth who honors that Great Mystery that interconnects all things to be aware of how to be a better steward of our planet's vitality and resources as well as know how to work together with others to solve the pending environmental problems that directly and imminently threaten the future of the current and future generations.

On March 27th, 2009 Craig Hamilton gave a talk at the 2008 Integral Theory in Action Conference. It is a thought provoking discussion of a spiritual common sense that is not so common. It sheds new light on the factors behind how so many of us have been deeply confused, angry, or even disillusioned to discover that a great, seemingly enlightened spiritual Master we looked up to was either abusive, financially corrupt, or a sexual deviant who lied openly to cover up the fact that they were sleeping with a harem of attractive disciples behind their wife’s back (or while proclaiming to be celibate—take your pick)? 

Today, understanding the science-proven probabilities on the deepest integral reoccurring patterns of life as well as the evolutionary directionality of the universe from a whole system and deep time perspective may be the most direct, effective and integral way to supercharge not just your day-to-day success and spiritual practice, but also to inform a new, deeper tolerance level between today's religions. This is because In many ways the universe has always been the original religion. Just as the fruit of a seed must always reflect the nature of the seed's inherent qualities, the physical universe has also always been the most direct way to be objectively informed as to both the most probable qualities and the most likely "intentionality" of that great remaining Mystery --- that, which originated the universe itself! In the following universe science summary you can review these and other critical implications of the cutting-edge science on the universe's integral and deepest evolutionary patterns and developmental directionality.

Did you really receive a proper life education --- the one that was the bare minimum known to be necessary to adequately empower you to create a successful, happy and meaningful life? Are your children’s schools really delivering the bare minimum life education needed to prepare them to create their success in life? What would happen to your current success level if you could discover and remedy exactly where your past education was deficient in the minimum life education essentials? According to great minds like Aristotle and Socrates, to have the best probability of being successful and happy in life we ALL need to both possess and integrate three critical kinds of life knowledge. Those three critical areas of knowledge are:

This is the first in a series of articles by Terrance Bishop on the elements and ideas that constitute what makes a spiritual practice integral. This series of articles is derived from our free access, online course found in our online courses section with the same name.

The integral spirituality subjects that are covered in this series of articles are; levels of consciousness, why levels are so important, personal evolution, evolution of relationships, evolution of the collective, summary of the first tier, boomeritis, the pre-trans fallacy, the incredible leap to 2nd tier, why is 2nd tier so rare, how to grow to 2nd tier states of consciousness, the great states, the shadow, The nature of projection, 3-2-1 of shadow, subtle theory, 1st, 2nd and 3rd Person perspectives, 1-2-3 of God, domains of spiritual practice, masculine and feminine approaches to spirituality, ascending and descending currents of spirit, gender preferences in practice, relationship of states and stages of consciousness, Integral Life Practice, ILP rubber on the road, the Great Chain, the two roles of religion, spiritual versus religious as well as much more.