Paper I submitted for my Atlantic University TP5100 Course – December 17, 2020
Throughout this course, and my entire Atlantic University career, I’ve studied a wide range of consciousness theories. I no longer believe in coincidences, only synchronicities, as Carl Jung defines seemingly random events. Therefore, it’s appropriate that my final assignment for my masters is to present my thoughts regarding the origins, purpose, and evolution of human consciousness. Of course, in the end, these are not my theories, only ones I’ve encountered and adopted along the way.
Origins and Evolution of Human Consciousness
For the “official narrative” of human evolution, I’ll turn to the Smithsonian Institute, representing the “mainstream” science and academia worldview today. According to the Smithsonian, approximately 200,000 years ago, modern man, i.e., Homo sapiens, “evolved in Africa” and “gathered and hunted food, like earlier human species” (Smithsonian, 2010). 100,000 years ago, there is evidence of humans burying their dead, 60,000 years ago, they began a worldwide migration, and by 60,000 to 40,000 years ago, archeologists discovered evidence of “permanent drawings” (Smithsonian, 2010).
12,000 years ago was a big turning point for our species as we began controlling the growth and breeding of certain plants and animals,” which led to widespread “farming and herding” (Smithsonian, 2010). Interestingly, the final major milestone listed occurred 8,000 years ago when we began using “symbols to represent words and concepts” (Smithsonian, 2010). The next entry on their timeline jumps forward to the last half of the 1900s when they discuss the world’s population doubling.
Those advocating a mainstream view of human evolution are unyielding when any new evidence undercuts their dogma. As we studied this semester, the amount of challenging information coming forward worldwide is overwhelming. As Selbie and Steinmetz, the authors of The Yugas, explain, anything that “doesn’t fit the prevailing archeological model, they are ignored or downplayed, and so remain popularly unknown” (2010, p. 308). I wholeheartedly believe that the evidence that The Yugas presents undercuts the mainstream linear theory of evolution viewpoint. Since I’ve written about this extensively, I won’t cover it in depth in this paper. Suffice to say, evidence like the Vedas and the Great Pyramids in Egypt, to name only two, destroy the mainstream linear view that humans who inhabited the earth 5,000 or 10,000 years ago were animal-like creatures with no apparent abilities to think or plan critically.
What’s also conspicuously missing from the Smithsonian’s timeline, and absent from mainstream science in general, is any discussion of the evolution of human consciousness or hypotheses about our true purpose. While spirituality is referenced in connection with the burial of the dead, it’s done from a purely anthropological perspective.
Inherent in this linear view of human evolution and development is that our species moved from a primitive existence where they were barely above animals to the highly-advanced, technologically sophisticated versions we find today. Those in the know posit that modern humanity has outgrown the need to adhere to the silly myths and rituals that our naive ancestors held so dear since we now understand the underlying science occurring around us.
To find theories of the evolution and origins of human consciousness, we must turn to non-mainstream sources, which is very telling in itself. Of the three – origin, purpose, and evolution – I am the least confident about theories regarding the origins and evolution of humanity in general and consciousness in particular.
The Yugas make a compelling case for how during the lower two periods of human consciousness, Kali and Dwapara Yugas, humanity somehow became more dimwitted and less consciously aware for a time that included the Dark Ages. The Paradise Gained and Paradise Lost theory is similar, where humans enjoyed a significant period of enlightenment, only to lose it, and we’ve been trying to get back ever since. Using language as an example, Selbie and Steinmetz make a compelling case about this apparent loss of intelligence and cohesion. “Within a span of five centuries (…from Treta Yuga to Dwapara Yuga – 2400 to 2900 BC), mankind went from a single universal language of thoughts images, and symbols, to many separate spoken languages” (2010, p. 274).
Starting with the Age of Enlightenment, we seem to be climbing out of our fog and are heading back towards a Golden Age. A strong historical case, therefore, is made for what the authors argue occurred with the descending Dwapara Yuga (3,100 B.C.-700 BC), descending and ascending Kali Yuga periods (700-1700 AD), and the start of the ascending Dwapara Yuga, which will take us to approximately 4,100 AD (2010, p. 14).
The authors also provide logical explanations as to why nearly no signs exist for the higher states of consciousness found in the Treta and Satya Yugas. Included is strong evidence showing how even our modern cities would turn to dust in less than 1,000 years. So, if we’re talking about periods that are thousands and tens of thousands of years ago, it’s not surprising there would be little or no evidence available. The authors also note how the higher we evolve in consciousness, the less material we become, thereby leaving less “stuff” behind (Selbie and Steinmetz, 2010).
Still, however, I can’t make a leap of faith to say for sure that these periods ever existed at all without hard evidence. I’m sounding a bit like a materialist, yet there is certainly a role for empirical data. Without proof of the higher two yugas, it undermines the foundational argument put forth by the authors that we are in a 24,000-year cycle and that the revolution has occurred hundreds of times for greater than 50 million years (2010, p. 298). There may be cycles, which they’ve pointed out by examining the history of the past 3,100 years. Yet this cycle can just as easily have occurred within the previous 5,000 years or so and not necessarily as part of lengthy 4-stage process.
We’ve witnessed history play out arguably cyclical in this period. For example, the Roman Empire had its heyday, became overextended, hedonistic, and eventually fell. After a period of smaller communities, the cycle was repeated 500 or 600 years later led by the British, and then arguably their American Cousins centuries later, as these superpowers conquered and colonized the world. Now, England and the US show severe signs of decay and decline for some of the same reasons as to what led to the fall of the Roman Empire. And, with the Internet and a growing desire for a simpler way of life, people are leaving the cities and moving to more rural communities. Therefore, we might just be experiencing a series of constrictions and contractions as we come together and then splinter apart as smaller cultures instead of a cycle that plays out over 24,000 years.
Plato and then Edgar Cayce provides another explanation as to the loss of a Golden age, which could certainly be included in the yugas theory. This, of course, is the existence of two highly evolved human or human-like cultures 50,000 to over 100,000 years ago: the lost civilizations of Atlantis (Plato and Cayce) and Lemuria (Cayce only). Sadly, with the burning of great depositories of knowledge like the Alexandria Library, it’s possible that information about these civilizations along with their technology and way of life was passed down and then lost. Like a person waking up with amnesia, maybe we’ve been trying to put the pieces back together ever since and are just now rediscovering technologies enjoyed by these ancient cultures.
And then there is the ancient astronaut theory, which posits that it was extraterrestrials who visited our planet thousands of years ago – and possibly never stopped their visits. They brought with them tremendous knowledge and technology. It would certainly explain the Great Pyramids’ construction, for example, and how our “simpleton” ancestors could have pulled off such an amazing feat. A more controversial theory is that the aliens did more than visit the earth tens of thousands of years ago. Some believe that the ETs spliced their genes with early hominoids, thereby sending modern humans on a completely separate and much higher state of consciousness trajectory than our ape cousins.
As to the mechanisms of evolution, I’ll have to leave it to the “experts.” I find Cayce’s detailed discussion of how humans evolved particularly intriguing since he wasn’t a doctor and had no understanding of human biology except when he was in a trance. Once under, he provided incredibly detailed medical explanations of what was occurring with a particular sitter or humanity in general. This fact alone makes me believe him when he says that the “evolution of the human body occurred partly through the soul’s influence on the endocrine glands until the ape-man was a three-dimensional objectification of the soul hovering over it” (Edgar Cayce Foundation, 1971). In general, however, I’ll set the specifics of human evolution aside for now until the experts hash it all out.
Since the purpose of this exercise is to use the evidence from this course and others and bring in other information I’ve gleaned to provide my theory of the origins and evolution of human consciousness, I will attempt to do so. First, it’s clear that the linear theory is incorrect since, beyond a shadow of doubt, a highly advanced civilization or civilizations existed tens and even hundreds of thousands of years ago. I also believe that all these civilizations weren’t necessarily directly related to modern humans. In other words, it’s not an either/or but rather a both scenario. It’s possible that extraterrestrials were one of the civilizations that came to earth. The ET’s might have been the Atlantis inhabitants, for example, or the Atlanteans might have been advanced beings from one of the Satya or Treta Yugas periods. The earth is a big place, and some theorize civilizations, including ETs, have lived below the earth’s surface for thousands if not tens of thousands of years, and still do!
With evidence of at least three worldwide cataclysmic events in the earth’s past, including the one that wiped out the dinosaurs, it’s doubtful we’ll never know for sure our real history. Some theorize that ETs visiting us aren’t coming from other planets at all. They are, in fact, future humans returning by way of some time travel technology. Maybe one of visits by future selves can provide a download of exactly happened and how we evolved physically and consciously. Otherwise, they’ll always be more questions than answers.
Purpose of Human Consciousness
I am much more certain about the purpose of human consciousness than I am about its origins and evolution. It’s been said in many languages, spiritualities, cultures, and periods in our history and that is that our purpose is to become one in loving communion with the Divine. Jesus, as a representative of all of humanity, says that “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). It’s not as much a “becoming” one with God but a recognition or awakening to the fact that we all connected not only to the Infinite Creator but by extension, to everyone and everything within creation. As Selbie and Steinmetz explain, “our modern era is also a time of awakening to a higher, more spiritual awareness” (2010, p. 293).
Lynn Sparrow Christy adds, “while we cannot deny that evolution is partially a tale involving death and dissolution…, it is also a story of ever more complex, cooperative interconnectedness—or, as we may also call it, love” (2013, p. 282). Christy, a student of Edgar Cayce’s work, adds that the sleeping prophet’s “readings call love a law, casting it as an indispensable ingredient to our evolution” (2013, p. 282). When Jesus is asked which of the Commandments is the greatest, He says “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’…And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37-39). By loving each other unconditionally, we’re not only evolving, but we’re also becoming unified with each other and ultimately with the Divine.
It’s simple in theory. In practice, however, it’s taken humanity our entire evolution, whatever its origin or history, only to begin to understand our purpose. In Edgar Cayce’s In Search of God (II) study guide, we read that“Our religion, our love for our fellow man, our love for our Creator should be a living experience, not just form…As we manifest the fruits of the spirit in our dealings with our fellow man, we fulfill that purpose for which we are called,” (Edgar Cayce Foundation, 1978).
Cayce provides expands on why God created the “cosmos and the souls,” and that’s because the Creator “desired self-expression and desired companionship” (Edgar Cayce Foundation, 1971). I find it odd that God would need companions in the first place. Yet, when considering Christy’s explanation that it all boils down to love and that love emerges from being connected to others, it begins to make sense. Intellectually at least. After several cycles of life and growth, Cayce adds that ultimately the “consciousness of the soul would then merge with its spiritual consciousness of its identity with God. Then the soul will return to its source as the companion it was intended to be” (Edgar Cayce Foundation, 1971). Paraphrasing Cayce’s work, Kevin Todeschi and Henry Reed boil down our soul’s purpose to the following: “to encounter a series of experiences that will ultimately awaken each individual to an awareness of its true divine self” (Todeschi & Reed, 2014). And, again, the substance of the divine self is love.
Cayce, a devout Christian and Sunday school teacher, had difficulty accepting the concept of reincarnation – that souls repeatedly come to the “earth school” to learn. His son, Hugh Lynn, had trouble giving up his Christian understanding of heaven, hell, and the afterlife too. I made a similar transition from Christianity to this belief in multiple lives as the Cayce’s underwent. Selbie and Steinmetz note how Christianity and Islam, both formed during Kali Yuga, oppose the concept of reincarnation. Yet, more and more people, including me, are accepting this once “heretical belief.” As the authors explain, “The religious beliefs of nearly half the world’s population include the concept that we live and die man times in a long process of spiritual development and final redemption” (2010, p. 277)
A group of us recently read Maureen St. Germaine’s book, Waking Up in 5D: A Practical Guide to Multidimensional Transformation. A friend compiled a graphic from the book that contrasts the core elements of 3D and 5D worlds, which appears below. The purpose of the evolution of consciousness, and reincarnation, at least at this point, is to get to 5D!
Yet, whether you believe we’re in ascending Dwapara, climbed the ladder of Spiral Dynamics, or have completed enough reincarnation cycles where people are finally “getting it,” our age is still in the midst of a monumental struggle. Some accept the higher levels of consciousness promised by 5D, and others remain stuck in the fear and division associated with 3D. As Selbie and Steinmetz note, “We can see nations using military might, and individuals and corporations using economic power – vying for world dominance. Yet we can also see the emergence of a new spiritual awareness arising from our newfound awareness subtle inner energy” (2010, p. 297).
Those of us who at least understand the concepts of higher states of consciousness, whether we call it 5D or 3D or not, signals that we are the chosen ones. A concept of chosen ones has had a loaded meaning in the past as acts of terrorism, and other horrible acts were committed by those who saw they were God’s elect. Today’s breed of elect is a humble lot. They find themselves journeying towards some murky beacon of unity, compassion, and unconditional love. When Jesus says, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” (Mathew 5:5), he meant precisely those who are studying at Atlantic University or have given themselves over to following the light, and who are about to change the world, one person, at a time.
Selbie and Steinmetz describe the calling this way: “Now is the time, lest we be overwhelmed by destruction and greed, for those with an attunement to those subtle, inner realities to spread the balm of peace and serenity” (2010, p. 297). “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” (Luke 10:2). A mantra I use is, “This is my time!” It is all of our times if we dare. And this is the purpose of the evolution of human consciousness. To love and serve others unconditionally.
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References
Christy, L.S. (2013). Beyond soul growth. Virginia Beach, VA: A.R.E. Press.
Edgar Cayce Foundation (1971), “Edgar Cayce on human origins.” Retrieved from https://www.near-death.com/paranormal/edgar-cayce/human-origins.html
Edgar Cayce Foundation (1978), “In search of God, book II,” Virginia Beach, VA: A.R.E. Press
Smithsonian Institute. (2010, March 17). Milestones in human evolution. Retrieved from https://www.si.edu/newsdesk/factsheets/milestones-human-evolution.
Selbie, J. & Steinmetz, D. (2010). The yugas: keys to understanding our hidden past, emerging energy age, and enlightened future, Nevada City, CA: Crystal Clarity Publishing.
St. Germaine, M. (2017). Waking up in 5D: a practical guide to multidimensional transformation, Rochester, VT: Bear & Company.
Todeschi, K. & Reed, H. (2014, July-September). “All of life is purposeful,” Venture Inward, Virginia Beach, VA: Association for Research and Enlightenment (A.R.E.).