~ ∞ ~ Awaken the Living Awareness Within: Epigenetics (DNA) ~ ∞ ~
Awaken the Living Awareness Within Glossary
Epigenetics is the study of phenotype changes that do not involve alterations in the DNA sequence. Epigenetics most often denotes changes in a chromosome that affect gene activity and expression. The term also refers to the changes themselves: functionally relevant changes to the genome that do not involve a change in the nucleotide sequence. Examples of mechanisms that produce such changes are DNA methylation and histone modification, each of which alters how genes are expressed without altering the underlying DNA sequence. See also closely related term Human Genome (DNA).
~ ∞ ~ Towards an Era of Transformation 2/2 - Awaken the Living Awareness Within ~ ∞ ~
This brings us to an important point: our view of the world profoundly impacts how we live and interact with the world and with each other. Our collective worldview in its current form is rigid, inflexible, and in many ways – old, outdated and outmoded. This is reflected in the structures of our systems and mechanisms by which they operate. Many of the problems we face are directly linked to, and partly, if not solely, caused by these outdated and outmoded structures which promote inequality, ruthless competition and social injustice among many other things. When we look at today’s world, we cannot say it’s one of peace and joy. Rather, we find that we live in the midst of self-imposed chaos. It should be obvious to all of us that something is seriously lacking in the way we humans are going about things, but for some reason – it isn’t, which brings about the question: Are we really so deep in denial that we fail to see the obvious?
Indeed, there is no doubt about it – humanity is at a crossroads where a decision has to be made: Do we move forward towards a bright future, or do we follow the old worldview and plunge deeper into oblivion by continuing our old ways and repeating our past mistakes? The choice is ours to make; we are truly free to choose ourselves – it is always up to us to create the world we want to live in. If we choose the path of conscious transformation, an exciting and bright future is ahead for us. But the question is: Do we have the will – both individually, and collectively, to implement the required changes in attitude and lifestyle? One thing is certain: whichever path we choose, it will surely determine the fate of our species for a long time to come.
It is evident that this juncture represents an opportunity to create a totally different kind of social and economic structures. It goes without saying that we should use this opportunity to create systems based on non-centralized, distributed and emergent approaches. Having said that, it is worth pointing out that for the first time in human history, we have everything we need to make life beautiful for all of humanity; and hence it is our personal and collective responsibility to change ourselves if we want to see humanity moving towards this goal. To create a better future for humanity, we need a better understanding of what it means to be human. Therefore, we should explore different approaches and perspectives about how we are in the world, how we relate to where we are, and how we act towards other people. Other such explorations would include such considerations as why we are the way we are, and what it all means for who we as individuals and as a species want to become.
One thing we humans should all agree on is that we are a collective human species – even though we are fundamentally different from each other, we can do well to appreciate our differences. We may be different on the surface, but underneath, at the very core, we are all the same – human, awareness, consciousness – see? We are all on a journey, slowly discovering more of our True Self, gradually getting to the core of who we truly are; it is our journey from birth that shapes us and makes us what we are today, but it is the same core essence within each of us – the Human Spirit that ultimately unites us. If we would be willing to acknowledge this truth, we would agree that all people are equal and that we should live in peace with each other. In other words, we should treat all we meet with respect and love – this is the point in our spiritual journey where we begin to reclaim our humanity. As we check our hearts, as we come to understand our well-being, as we come to recognize and acknowledge that the good of others is also the good of oneself, we grow spiritually – it is an essential part of transformation, progress and growth, you see?
If we break free from old ways of thinking and seeing, we can change ourselves – both individually and collectively. What makes the difference is how skillfully we learn to utilize everything we have already discovered. So the question becomes: Do we continue on the path we have been following, or do we open up to a transforming insight from the combined wisdom of science and the world’s spiritual traditions, taking the path less traveled – the path that can lead us to peace, harmony and balance? This book demonstrates that such a wide-reaching conscious transformation is possible – through the realization that everything and everyone is interconnected, and that every action affects the whole and vice versa. But obviously, this is not enough in itself – action is needed, as well. If we make a conscious choice to pursue personal growth, learning from one another and supporting each other to grow – then, over time, the world begins to reflect that growth and change. As we learn that we need each other, that the good of others is also the good of oneself, that all things living in harmony live long, and they prosper – so shall it be: a new paradigm, a new worldview, a new reality, a new world with a prosperous and blossoming humanity. And so does transformation happen, you see?
Let us conclude this chapter with the following thoughts. As we go through this process of transformation, one of the first things we come across on our journey is a new paradigm, which is followed by a new worldview. As indicated earlier, with this transformation comes a new paradigm that will lead us in a direction to discover more sustainable ways of living. The emergence of this new paradigm at this critical juncture in human history is highly significant. You see, this process will inevitably lead us to a completely different kind of worldview – a view where the perspective is shifted from the parts to the whole, while also acknowledging the individual parts as an integral part of the whole. We can already see that a new kind of worldview has slowly begun to emerge – a view that turns out to be closely related to the views of mystics of all ages and traditions. This kind of view can be called a holistic approach – seeing the world as an integrated whole.
What’s amazing about this kind of holistic worldview is that it blends together the wisdom of ancient spiritual traditions with the new discoveries in quantum physics and modern science. At the most fundamental level, we are talking about returning to the ways of our ancestors by living in harmony with nature – gently adjusting our lifestyle to bring us back into balance. If we combine holistic principles with modern technology; if we adjust our lifestyle to reflect higher values, morals, ideals, and principles; if we replace greed, competition, consumption, quantity, and domination with solidarity, cooperation, conservation, quality, and partnership, we would be well on our way toward a more sustainable world, with a healthier and more balanced way of life, wouldn’t we?
In conclusion, when one has the understanding that we are part of the whole and the whole is part of us, then we start living in a new way, you see? We will go more into details in later chapters, but first we need to briefly examine how we currently see life – this is done in the next chapter, titled “Outdated View of Life (Mechanistic Machine).” This groundwork is necessary for the gradual growth in understanding of ourselves as an integral part of the whole. In this way, we can better understand the upcoming sections – in particular those dealing with the ideas of consciousness, awareness, and existence in general.
Extra Material:Video: You're It - Alan Watts. Video description: "An inspiring and profound speech from the late Alan Watts. Speech extract from 'Zen Bones and Tales' by Alan Watts"
~ ∞ ~ Quantum Nonlocality - The Nature of Time - Awaken the Living Awareness Within ~ ∞ ~
In the previous chapters, we explored the mysteries of the Quantum World, and learned something about the phenomenon of Quantum Entanglement, which brought us quite nicely to something called Quantum Nonlocality, which in turn brings us now to the very nature of time itself. It is impossible to talk about time without referring to the laws of nature, or scientific laws – which are statements based on repeated experiments or observations, that describe or predict a range of natural phenomena. And so it goes that all the mysteries physicists and cosmologists face, from the “Big Bang” to the future of our universe, from the puzzles of quantum physics to the unification of the forces and particles – eventually come down to the nature of time. That is to say, it seems that time appears to be the key to the meaning of quantum theory and its eventual unification with space, time, gravity, and cosmology; and because time seems to be the key, equating to life – as we come to see later, it links both time and life to consciousness and its inherent awareness.
In this context, it is once again worth mentioning that beyond the surface, there is yet another, more important component, that of consciousness and its inherent awareness, you see? The importance of it should have become clear by now, but if it hasn’t, it should. Not only because they play an essential role in the aforementioned unification, but also because the coming new synthesis of science, ancient mysticism and spirituality recognizes matter and Spirit to be one unified energy in different stages of manifestation – awareness being the core of it all, matter being its manifestation in physical reality, and consciousness the medium against which and through which we perceive and measure time. And so you see, just as we are now discovering that consciousness is distributed through every cell of the body, soon we may discover that it is distributed in every photon or particle of light throughout the universe – making it essential to incorporate consciousness and its inherent awareness as the cornerstone of this new science. Hence, it goes without saying that if we hope to someday master the mysteries of the universe, including not only the Quantum World, but also the nature of time, we would need to include consciousness and its inherent awareness to the equation.
Time as we know time to exist, is, in many ways, a construct, a tool by which we make sense of the events that occur in our lives. Together with another tool, that of storytelling, we can communicate not only about daily events, but also more complex topics that are essential for our growth, development and evolvement as human beings. Many have treated time as an illusion – and yet, they do age – quite a dichotomy, don’t you think? It is evident that time is very much real, isn’t it? So, what is this thing we call time – this thing we so easily waste yet never have enough of? Is it really a thing? We cannot hold it in our hands, nor see it with our eyes – it is completely intangible, yet extraordinarily real.
Now, what is time, exactly? Time is something that is very much intangible, often thought to be non-recurring, unstoppable and unpreserved. Hence, time is considered by many to be one of the most valued commodities in life, and hence time is something that most people don’t want to waste. Therefore, it can be said that the greatest gift we can give to someone – is our time. You see, when we give our time, we are giving away a portion of our life that we will never get back. Yet, people tend to value money over time, until time is almost up; always rushing from one thing to another with the mantra: “time is money,” and yet constantly searching for more time, complaining about working too hard. There is not only irony here, but also an astonishing dichotomy, don’t you think?
In our culture, we have viewed time as the ‘thing’ that we must work against, or works against us, which goes on to say that we are in competition with time. This, in turn, has led to excessive time management, which means that people are always in hurry; rushing everywhere all the time. There is a downside to this kind of excessive time management, for you see, the quality of life decreases when life is full of hurry. Individuals who are obsessed with time, more often than not, get stressed and uptight; it is not unsurprising, then, that these individuals also seem to be the ones who fear death more than anything else. The truth is, though, that not every minute of every day can always be planned – sometimes we just have to go with the flow, you see? And this brings us to the nature of time itself.
When we are talking about the nature of time, we can realize that time has traditionally been misunderstood to be a purely physical phenomena, and therefore we generally see it as a continuum; and hence it goes that time is understood to be a perception of movement and seen as an arrow, moving on a single straight line – from the past to the future. This is the way in which we as the collective human species have agreed to view time, but it could very well be the other way around, as well – time moving from the future into the past, you see? Further examination reveals that from the human perspective, time seems to be moving in a linear fashion. In other words, something happens in sequence – series of events taking place in space. This is how we have agreed to perceive reality, but how would you know if the event you are experiencing and witnessing to take place was actually set in motion in the future?
Because of the way in which we humans have used to perceive time, we like to translate time into blocks for our convenience – these blocks are treated as a triplet: past, present, future. This means that time is considered to be a purely one dimensional phenomenon – a continuum, consisting of a past, a future, and with the present as the boundary between the two. The way in which we view time can most certainly be useful in our daily lives, but it is reasonable to ask ourselves: Is it an accurate view? Could it be possible that in much the same way as life is cyclical, so is time? And if time is indeed cyclical, would it not then mean that every action truly has its reaction, in both ways – not only the past and the present affecting the future, but also the future affecting both the present and the past – see? Every choice we make has its affect on the future whose particular nature we cannot foresee – everything and everyone is interconnected, and therefore every action affects the whole and vice versa; and so it goes that in this sense, we are the sum of our choices, you see? Indeed, everything we do has a ripple effect on everything else – every action activates a cause, which in turn triggers an effect.
As both life and time are cyclical, it means that the future affects the past as much as the past affects the future – this happens only if a certain condition is met. You see, the energy signature of the past or the future must be stronger than your present for it to manifest in such a way that it can be said to be a change – eventually, it all comes down to free will and how strong our will is. This goes on to say that the present moment is the Nexus Point in which the choice is made, and its effects are felt and experienced; it is the Nexus Point from which the ripples of that choice travel through time. Here it is important to remember that change can be initiated in any of these points we term as past, present, future; but it is always the present in which change is experienced, you see? If one utilizes their free will to initiate a conscious transformation – self-directed, mindful process of self-exploration that can transform one’s life – one changes not only their past, but also their future; one changes their history, their story – if you will, their whole being – becoming a whole new person.
The aforementioned brings us inexorably here – to make the following conclusion: our universe appears to be bound by a finite set of laws – or so do we think, despite any evidence to prove it to be so. Due to scientific materialism, we believe and assume that all phenomena in the universe, including time, is governed by these “eternal laws,” and that all phenomena are subject to the same physical laws, which can be discovered by the means of systematic observation and experimentation. This goes a long way to demonstrating how deep our willful blindness and ignorance of the obvious really goes. Here we should ask ourselves: Are these so called “eternal laws” of nature really set, or could it be possible that they are still evolving? Who are we to say that the laws of nature are fixed? It doesn’t take a genius to understand that if the universe is expanding and evolving, then also the laws of nature may be evolving as well.
When we take the previous into consideration, the very idea of the laws of nature may not even be appropriate – it may be better to think of the evolving patterns of nature; self-organizing patterns through which the Living Intelligence of Life expresses itself – constantly finding the best and the most efficient ways for life to grow, flourish and thrive. It is, after all, the very nature of life to intelligently seek to expand, develop and unfold – often in surprising and novel ways, is it not? In other words, out of chaos comes order, and out of randomness emerges beauty, structure and form. What we humans perceive as randomness, may instead reflect a degree of complexity of order that we have yet to decode in understandable form; what we classify as being mere randomness, may indeed be Intelligence so far beyond our current level of understanding and comprehension that we disregard it altogether. This goes a long way to show that also time may be something that we have only scratched the surface of – something deeper, something more profound, you see?
Against this backdrop, we should ask ourselves: Could it actually be possible that we have viewed time wrongly all of these years? Could it also be that time as we know time to exist, may actually be life itself? You see, because of the simultaneous nature of life – time may actually equate to life in a multidimensional fashion, and therefore time may not be separable from life itself. And because we have separated time and life from each other, we age? Let us end this chapter with the following question: What would life be like if we could live our lives without obsessing about time?
Extra Material 1:Video A New Theory of Time - Lee Smolin. Video description: "Is it possible that time is real, and that the laws of physics are not fixed? Lee Smolin, A C Grayling, Gillian Tett, and Bronwen Maddox explore the implications of such a profound re-think of the natural and social sciences, and consider how it might impact the way we think about surviving the future."
Extra Material 2:Video: Alan Watts - Mystery of Time. Video description: "Alan Watts talks about the nature of time, being in the now, cause and effect."
~ ∞ ~ Awaken the Living Awareness Within - Success Life Quotes - Infinite Quantum Zen ~ ∞ ~
The Key To Happiness Is Letting Each Situation Be What It Is Instead Of What You Think It Should Be.
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As is the case with all the aforementioned, so is the case with the lack of equality, which is, of course, due not only to our attitudes, but also to the influence of the structures on which society is based. The persisting lack of equality is a problem not only affecting and shaping our daily lives as individuals, but also the society as a whole — it is a major obstacle to sustainable development. The lack of equality is a cause of poverty, ruthless competition and social injustice among many other things, and it is causing us to act irrationally, out of emotion without properly using our intuition and intelligence, which is why we are in conflict with ourselves and with others. In an interconnected world, this inner conflict manifests in various forms and occurs at different levels, which goes on to say that our inner conditions have a real and tangible impact on the external world — see?
~ ∞ ~ Awaken the Living Awareness Within: Hologram ~ ∞ ~
Awaken the Living Awareness Within Glossary
Hologram is a holographic image, where patterns are contained within patterns. DNA is a beautiful example of a hologram – every part of the human body contains our genetic code; whether it be our hair, a fingernail, or our blood, the genetic pattern or the “source code” of the human body is always found there embedded within ever cell. See also closely related terms: Fractal, and Holofractographic.
~ ∞ ~ Towards an Era of Transformation 1/2 - Awaken the Living Awareness Within ~ ∞ ~
In the following few pages, we will take a look at some of the underlying issues that are causing problems in our world today. A contrasting perspective is provided in later chapters, namely “The Emergence of a New Vision,” “Ancient Wisdom Resurfaces,” and “Metaphysical Paradigm Shift,” respectively. To someone who subscribes to a consensus view of reality, the contrast may be immense, enormous, or even monumental. In that case, the rest of the book might have a whole lot of nothing to say – unless, of course, such people are ready to transcend their views and beliefs and consider other approaches and points of view. You see, without transcending our beliefs we will never be free from the ignorance of dogma that separates us from universal wisdom. The goal here is to share paradigm shifting ideas that can open up the doors of perception by breaking down old patterns, which in turn can create new pathways of thinking and seeing, living and being, doing and acting – this is the whole purpose of this work, after all.
It goes without saying that one doesn’t need to be especially observant or to have a keen eye for detail to see that we live in times of profound transformation marked by a crisis of sustainability – this and many other related processes together will have a lasting impact on every aspect of our lives. And so it goes that at this critical juncture in human history, we find ourselves at a crossroads – a point of no return, where a decision is made to either continue our old ways, repeating our past mistakes – plunging deeper into confusion, disillusion, and ignorance, and eventually – into oblivion, or to take the critical first step towards the process of adaptation, change, and transformation. Against this backdrop, it is clear that this juncture is a time in which there is an ending of one age, and the beginning of another, which goes on to say that in all areas of society, there will be a new beginning – such is the nature of transformation, you see?
By virtue of the aforementioned with regard to ongoing transformation, it can be said that at the moment we are going through something we don’t have words for, and we point to the nameless experience by saying, “it is like this, and it is like that.” Only afterwards, when all is said and done, when a new metaphor is created, can we name similarities that make the metaphor work, and then generalize these similarities into concepts that describe our experience. At best, this nameless experience can be a great transformation, or conscious transformation – a renaissance of humanity, if you will; at worst, it can be a messy decline of humanity into a hopeless void of disorder and chaos.
As obvious as the crisis of sustainability, so is the case with the current system we have in place. Indeed, there is no doubt about it, the current system we have in place is in full decay – it is on its last legs, simply because it depends heavily on finite resources, and hence it would be an understatement to say that infinite economic growth on a finite Earth is the epitome of unsustainability. As a consequence, a centuries old modern industrial world is coming to an end and a new world is being born. An optimist would say that this may be a blessing in disguise, for we can see that a new world is being born from the ashes of the old. Another way to look at this is to say that the world itself will change as the people on Earth themselves change. There are changes taking place at all levels of society in the world, are there not? Indeed, there are changes happening from education, to medical advancements, to political changes, to weather alterations, to religious and spiritual understandings, to the philosophies, to the theologies, to the social status of individuals, to the supply and demand of goods and services – all are changing. In what direction will these changes move us, forward or backward, for better or for worse – is entirely up to each and every one of us, is it not?
Considering all the aforementioned, it is against this backdrop that we can arrive at the following conclusion: it has never been more clear than now, in the beginning of the third decade of the 21st century: we as the collective human species are in dire need of conscious transformation. There has been a great transformation brewing under the surface for a quite some time, ready to burst wide open with the full force and might when the time is ripe, which goes on to say that such transformation is long overdue. It always requires the will of the people and concerted effort to move toward something new, to initiate a shift in perspective, which in turn can lead to a conscious transformation of both the self and the world, you see? As this shift continues to gain momentum, much that we now take for granted in the world will be irrevocably transformed – for better or for worse, we shall see in due time. In what direction will this shift move us – is entirely up to each and every one of us.
Over the course of the last decade, preliminary signs of the beginning of such transformation were seen in almost every area of life, most of which were the symptoms of a crisis much bigger than we can imagine – for the simple reason that in order to conjure up reasonable solutions to the problems we face, humans as we know humans, seem to need to go through processes of struggle, contestation, conflict, and reconciliation – which in turn gives room for more mature approaches. Granted, some of these preliminary signs were also strides toward better ways of doing things, toward sustainable living, toward a better future – but for the obvious reasons, such strides belong to the minority – at least for the time being. Unfortunately, humans, as we know humans today, are particularly good at putting off the inevitable, and so it goes that ripples get bigger and bigger each generation, crisis gets ever more severe, struggle gets more intense, and conflict gets more widespread – until such time when either civilization destroys itself or consciously decides to evolve. This goes on to say that there is yet much more to surface, a lot more crisis to overcome, and much more processes to go through before the deeper aspects of the transformation begins to take form.
The question facing humanity at this critical juncture in human history – a time of convergence, a turning of the tides, is whether we will embrace our inherent unity, interconnectedness, and interdependence as a species and self-consciously adapt to the new conditions of our existence, or whether we will cling to inherent patterns of belief and behavior that are driven by ignorance and hubris – and learn the lessons of interdependence the hard way, through the deepening social and ecological consequences of a failure to adapt, change and transform. This process implies not only the change and transformation of the individuals, but also the structure of society that will reflect the underlying principle, or truth, of the oneness of humanity. This principle entails the emergence of a consciousness that recognizes and acknowledges this oneness, which in turn establishes equality between all people, regardless of their gender, ethnicity, nationality, language, and culture, you see?
Considering all the aforementioned, one should be inclined to ask the following question: Why is it that we are in the midst of this crisis in almost every area of life? Could it be that we as the collective human species have been suffering from a certain level of self-pride and arrogance, or more aptly – hubris of monumental proportions? Could it also be that this type of behavior has caused us to deteriorate and fragment from within? Now, let me ask you this: Is it not obvious that we are, indeed, suffering from a disease that is eating us from within – a spiritual disease of immorality and inhumanness, inauthenticity and insincerity? Against this backdrop, one should be asking themselves: Could it also be that all of our past actions of ignorant nature has ultimately caused us to distance ourselves from the natural Living Life, which in turn has created profound difficulties in understanding the Mysteries of Life?
Extra Material:Video: You're It - Alan Watts. Video description: "An inspiring and profound speech from the late Alan Watts. Speech extract from 'Zen Bones and Tales' by Alan Watts"