Discussion Post I submitted for my Atlantic University TP5110 Course – September 3, 2020
The Sesame Street word of the day is “connectedness.” It’s a mystery I’ve contemplated a great deal this year, and most intensely this summer. And like any subject the Universe wants me to learn, it shows up in books or shows people recommend, talks I hear, YouTube videos I stumble upon, or something I discover on Netflix or Hulu. I’ve done two walks already as part of this week’s Experience Report, and connections are everywhere in nature. I will expound more on this in my report.
As I’ve mentioned previously, a group of us at Church did a book club on Maureen St. Germain’s Waking up in 5D. As we enter this awakening period, St Germain posits that several aspects of our 3D existence, most notably division and polarization, will give way to unity and coherence. Self-service will fade away, and selflessness and unconditional love will be the new norms (St. Germain, 2017). While it might seem like we’re light-years away from achieving 5D when we turn on the news, this represents our 3D world’s last gasp. Control’s difficult to give up, so it’s not surprising that the powers that shouldn’t be are holding on as tight as possible. As I’ve said before, the truth’s a pesky thing, and it can’t be contained forever.
Similarly, Pisces’ age, which not coincidently is symbolized by a fish reminiscent of the sign adopted by early Christians, is yielding to the Age of Aquarius. Again, the band famous for the song by the same name is not coincidently called The 5th Dimension. Their lyrics echo similar ideas to St. Germain: “When the moon is in the Seventh House/And Jupiter aligns with Mars/Then peace will guide the planets/ And love will steer the stars…Harmony and understanding/Sympathy and trust abounding/No more falsehoods or derisions” (The 5th Dimension, 1969).
A friend gave a talk at Church earlier this year, where she explained that a battle is currently waging between the outgoing Age of Pisces and the incoming Age of Aquarius, a war she said that’s been raging since the dawn of the Age of Enlightenment. She added that while some traditional institutions might survive, a top-down, hierarchical, control-based governing system will give way to a more collaborative and horizontal model. In other words, selfishness and fear will be transformed to service to others and unconditional love.
This course has added an essential ingredient for the key that unlocks all of this, and it’s not the missing link, Lucy. It’s the fact that everything is connected through common energy we call consciousness. This is apparently panpsychism, which Oliver Burkeman describes as “the dizzying notion that everything in the universe might be conscious, or at least potentially conscious, or conscious when put into certain configurations” (Burkeman, 2015). Mainstream science isn’t ready to entertain such nonsense. Burkeman adds that only “followers of eastern spiritual traditions, or in the kookier corners of new age” are willing even to consider “a viewpoint so bizarre” (Burkeman, 2015). He needs to add those of us at Atlantic University, since much of what we’ve learned through this master’s centers on consciousness.
As we dissected the failings scientism, it dawned on me that the most devastating aspect of their materialistic approach is a loss of mystery. It’s like the child who sadly learns that Santa Claus is her parents. The world never seems the same again as an element of the magic is lost. Modern scientists are so convinced that they’ve discovered all we need to know that they are threatened by anyone willing to posit ideas that challenges their worldview. They spend their time and resources shooting down others’ ideas instead of using their extensive knowledge of inquiry to look into kooky theories like panpsychism.
Fortunately, if the signs are correct, the 3D way of scientism will give way to a more collaborative approach that enables people to come together and rediscover the mysteries that exist everywhere. I was encouraged to see that Ervin Laszlo included consciousness on his list of science’s possible next paradigm shifts. Quoting Marco Bischof, Laszlo notes that “the basis of the new biophysics must be the insight into the fundamental interconnectedness within the organism as well as between organisms, and that of the organism with the environment” (2004, p. 39). Laszlo adds that while ” in the conservative view human communication and interaction is limited to our sensory channels…leading psychologists, psychiatrists, and consciousness researchers are rediscovering what Einstein realized and ancient cultures have always known: that we are linked by more subtle and encompassing connections as well” (2004, p. 41).
For me, consciousness and our connectedness to ourselves, each other, and our environment is the greatest mystery left to probe. In researching this mystery, fundamental answers will emerge to questions like, “where did we come from?,” “who is our Creator,” and “were we spliced with extraterrestrial DNA?”. I threw E.T.’s in there since I began re-watching Ancient Aliens at the suggestion of a friend, a show that I completely discounted about a decade ago. Who am I to question what sources the Universe puts in my path?! It brought me to A.U. in the first place, for which I am eternally grateful.
References
Burkeman, O. (2015,, Jan. 21). “Why can’t the world’s greatest minds solve the mystery of consciousness?,” The Guardian, pp. 1-23.
Laszlo, E. (2004). “Science and the akashic field,” Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions.
St. Germain, M. (2017). “Waking up in 5D,” Rochester, VA: Bear & Co.
The 5th Dimension (1969). “The age of Aquarius [Recorded by The 5th Dimension]. On The age of Aquarius [LP]. London, England: Soul City.