Waving or Drowning?

Non-Human Consciousness - How Then Shall We Live?

Image source

This is quick and dirty... I wanted to direct you to a couple of links while I'm thinking of it. The post may be haphazard, but I think this is one of the most important issues we as a species will be dealing with in the next several years. 

Let me make a crude connection here, and leave it for you to investigate if you wish.

First, here's One of Us, a very good article on what's being done in the area of animal consciousness research.

Next, I want to direct you back once again to Food and Consciousness: An Interview with Erin Wilson, wherein our good friend shares with us her insights on food and eating.

Finally, here is a fascinating interview between Andrew Cohen and Dr. Melanie Joy, author of Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows. Dr. Joy has done "pioneering research into the deeper cultural and psychological dimensions of our food choices. In her groundbreaking book, Dr. Joy explores the invisible system that shapes our perception of the meat we eat, so that we love some animals and eat others without knowing why. She calls this system “carnism,” which she defines as the belief system, or ideology, that allows us to eat some animals while having deep and loving relationships with others."

This to me is particularly interesting given the recent uproar over the horse/beef issues in Europe. It's OK to eat a cow, but not a horse. Why? Is it just that we thought it was beef and found out it wasn't, so the deception is the issue? I don't think that's it. 

In my pre-ramble to Erin's interview I had this to say (and now you know where I came up with this line):

I'm coming to think that we're all connected. Not just all people, but all Creation. I'm also starting to think that just about everything has some level of consciousness. Something that connects us all to the Source. If that is the case, then why do we eat some animals, clothe ourselves in the skin of others, and let yet others kiss us on the lips and live in our houses? That strikes me as blatantly inconsistent, to say the least.

Here, in a nutshell, is my theory:

Animals have consciousness. If this is true, I need to rethink my attitudes toward them, and my eating habits. I believe we as human beings had to get to a certain point in our own evolution of consciousness to recognize that other creatures are conscious too. And most interesting to me, we are arriving at that point now, when we have so many other nutritional options, and also when our "need for meat" is contributing to climate change and other potentially catastrophic problems on the planet.

One last thought: This question of "How then shall we live?" just keeps coming up...

Carry on, and let me know what you think of all this.

The Glory

I posted this on Facebook already, but I wanted to give it a place here as well. I love it. Any guesses as to what I think about when I watch this video? Anyone?
Lyrics below. (h/t to a good friend.)

 

The Glory
Royal Wood 

We were born to glory
It filled us up with love
Living out the story
Since lightening from above
Yes we can have it all
We can be merciful
Go dancing at the ball

But we’ve been talking lately
About just what we feel
Caught in earthly drama
Instead of walking free
But we can hold it all
Outside ourself dissolved
Yes we can hold it all again

The light goes on and on
Forever it has shone…
Forever you 

Talking About God - Language (UPDATED)

So when we talk about God,
we're talking about our brushes with spirit,
our awareness of the reverence humming within us,
our sense of the nearness and the farness,
that which we know
and that which is unknown,
that which we can talk about
and that which eludes the grasp of our words,
that which is crystal-clear
and that which is more mysterious than ever.

And sometimes language helps,
and sometimes language fails.

Rob Bell, What We Talk About When We Talk About God

Or, as James Finley has said,

We're using words in the service of the unspeakable. 

Thoughts?

 

UPDATE: For those interested in looking under the hood, Jonathan Merritt has an interesting interview with Rob Bell.

Will God be left behind? (part one) & Will God be left behind? (part two)

A New Creed for The Interspiritual Age

Source: Col. Chris Hadfield

Another internet-based rabbit hole run has led me to something I find truly amazing.

It started with listening to a dialogue between Ken Wilber and Kurt Johnson, co-author of The Coming Interspiritual Age. The book is based on, and is a continuation of, the work of Brother Wayne Teasdale. In order to better understand the trajectory of this thinking I want to first read Brother Wayne's work, The Mystic Heart.

In reading the sample of The Mystic Heart this afternoon I came across this section, which knocked me right off my perch. I'm reformatting a little, but these are Brother Wayne's words:

We are at the dawn of a new consciousness, a radically fresh approach to our life as the human family in a fragile world.

This birth into a new awareness, into a new set of circumstances, appears in a number of shifts in our understanding:

• The emergence of ecological awareness and sensitivity to the natural, organic world, with an acknowledgement of the basic fragility of the earth.

• A growing sense of the rights of other species.

• A recognition of the interdependence of all domains of life and reality.

• The ideal of abandoning a militant nationalism as a result of this tangible sense of our essential interdependence.

• A deep, evolving experience of community between and among the religions through their individual members.

• The growing receptivity to the inner treasures of the world's religions.

• An openness to the cosmos, with the realization that the relationship between humans and the earth is part of the larger community of the universe.

It seems to me that we are looking at new ways to be human, which is to say new ways to be spiritually enlightened beings. This is very exciting, and no doubt I'll be posting more about these books as I go through them.

Evolutionary Quotes: Spiritual Heros

With all the overwhelming challenges we face today, from global terrorism to economic crisis to climate change, it's all too easy to sit back, observe the problems, and fall into a state of despair or cynicism. But it takes real spiritual courage to step forward and begin to take responsibility for where we're all going. I believe that more and more of us have to be willing, in all our imperfection, to embrace leadership roles and become true exemplars of what's possible. We have to be willing to heroically stand for the reality of Spirit in a disbelieving world. The reason this is important is that when we awaken to that truth, we see much more deeply into the nature of reality itself, and we discover a fearless courage to live this life for the highest reasons. I think the degree to which each and every one of us is willing to do that is the degree to which we're actually going to make a significant difference in the world.

Andrew Cohen