Choosing Earth: Humanity's Great Transition to a Mature Planetary Civilization by Duane Elgin

Author:Duane Elgin [Elgin, Duane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Duane Elgin
Published: 2020-06-20T22:00:00+00:00

“The current moment is an exquisite time to be alive. Because, an

awareness of impending collapse is an invitation to ask ourselves

deep questions of meaning that we typically postpone — and

some of us never even get to. Climate despair is inviting people

back to life. . . . The way through despair involves experiencing

oneself as part of a greater whole and surrendering to the mys-

tery of creation. . . . The climate crisis invites us to engage with

the mystery of life with fresh eyes and an open heart.”203

The pull of aliveness is blossoming in the world as a commonly

understood experience. Awakening to our conscious connection

with the living Universe naturally expands our scope of concern

and compassion — and brightens the prospect of working together

to build a sustainable future.

8. Waking Up

Despite the harshly difficult scenario of how life is currently unfold-

ing for humanity, there are reasons for optimism. In the previous

section, we saw how the world is beginning to awaken to a new

regard for aliveness. An intimate companion to aliveness is a

growing regard for consciousness. An awakening consciousness

brings with it an enhanced capacity for creative choice and is vital

for moving through our time of great transition and choosing a

regenerative pathway into the future. Let’s explore briefly how the

further awakening of our knowing faculty — our consciousness — can

serve our pathway ahead.

Because consciousness or a knowing capacity is fundamental to

our nature as humans, the awakening of consciousness is a nat-

ural aspect of our evolution. We can accept our scientific name

as Homo sapiens sapiens — beings who have the ability to “know

that we know” and can watch or witness ourselves as we move

through our daily lives. We see that to the extent we are not run-

ning on automatic — following habitual and pre-programmed ways

of living — we have far greater freedom and choice — an invaluable

capacity in this time of great transition.

A unifying insight in all of the world’s spiritual traditions as well

as in psychotherapy is that the first step in awakening and healing

120

is to simply see “what is” — in other words, becoming an objective

witness or impartial observer of our experience. Honest reflection

and nonjudgmental witnessing are fundamental to both individ-

ual and collective awakening.

In paying attention to our lives in the mirror of consciousness,

we can make friends with our soulful nature and come to greater

self-possession. The capacity for honest, self-reflection provides

a way to cut through the surface chatter of our lives and discover

the direct experience of our soul. We can then begin to take soulful

responsibility for our lives and relationships.

Peter Dziuban writes and speaks about consciousness and alive-

ness.204 He brings clarity to aliveness as a direct experience instead

of something we think about. He asks us to imagine a wine tasting

party where tasting the wine is what it’s all about. The tasting is

the purpose. So it is with Life. We are here to taste what it means

to be alive — to directly experience and live our aliveness. Dziuban

writes, “Life is nothing if it is not alive!” In the simplicity of silence,

we can taste aliveness. Our aliveness is not a thought but a living

presence.

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