Tag: evolution

The Coronavirus Opens up a Road to a New Way of Life

Suppose nature is intelligent. The coronavirus is turning our world upside down. Every person on this world is somehow connected to this virus, no one can escape it. Nature is forcing us to pause and think about what we’re doing. What have we done so far as humanity and how do we want to proceed? We are on the threshold of a new era. As human beings we are the only ones who have been given free will and it is now up to us to make a new choice. Do we want to continue in the same way and destroy the world, or do we want to take a new evolutionary step and use our free will to love our neighbor as our selves and balance humanity with nature? 

Cells of one body

In order to have a healthy body, it is necessary that all cells work together with a common goal. The common goal is to keep the body healthy. We can look at mankind as a large body, with people as the cells of that body. If we would behave as individuals like these cells, the whole of humanity and the earth would be healthy. What if our goal was not to take care of myself alone, but to take care of mankind as a whole. And if every individual does that, I would also be taken care of, and I would no longer have to think about myself. 

In a body, all cells work together and each cell has a specific task. There are cells that together form an organ, with a specific task. In the same way every human being has his unique talents. And if a cell doesn’t do its job, the body gets sick. All other cells will do everything to make the body healthy again. If we then look at wild animals, we see that they do not get sick. They do not eat too much or unhealthy food, they are not too fat, they are in balance with their environment, with nature. They don’t take more than they need. 

Free will 

Now let’s extend this equation to mankind as one big body. With our free will, we can do whatever we want. Until now man has always used his free will to think mainly about himself, how he could make life better for himself. This leads to proliferation, just like cancer cells in a body. For example, food without any nutritional value, pollution, airplanes and cars, melting ice caps, the extinction of animal species, wars and the weak that are exploited, and so on. 

We feel that nothing can happen to us. By now we live like kings and even that is not enough, we still want more. The newest phone, the newest car, even bigger than the last one. But now we are called back by nature, we can’t go on living indefinitely from selfish motives alone anymore. We can use our free will to balance humanity with nature. After all, if we as humans start behaving as cells of one body with the common goal of balancing humanity and nature as a whole. Living together in harmony, that is what nature wants from us and it forces us to come there with a soft hand.

A Blooming ‘New’ World

To create a beautiful thriving ‘new’ world, a fundamental change is needed. We can only flourish as individuals if the whole world can flourish. This is a profound change in how we understand life itself. A change that transcends a change in our economic, educational and political system. Now is the time to set this change in motion and we can do this if we understand that change can only be lasting if we do it for the greater good.

A New Phase for Humanity

We’re slaves to the ego

Now that we’ve been startled by the Coronavirus, life will never be the same again. It will have a major impact on the Netherlands, Europe and the whole world. We have reached a point in our development that we can no longer remain a slave to our growing ego. We are getting ready for a new phase for humanity.

In the picture this growth of the ego is presented as a pyramid where we start at the bottom with a small ego, where the ego is only concerned with staying alive, maintaining itself. To stay alive we need food, shelter, sex to reproduce and family.

A new phase

At a certain point in history this was no longer sufficient and the ego = the will to receive, went in search of new ways to fulfill itself. Mankind developed and began to derive satisfaction from money, honor, control and knowledge.

Now that we face the fact that with our ego we are slowly but surely destroying the world and each other, we can come to repentance, because as long as you are not conscious you cannot change anything. This awakening will cause us to move to the next phase.

Nature is in control

The next phase is the realization that we can no longer follow our will to receive thoughtlessly. Only when we come to a standstill, stand back and make a reversal can we continue to exist as a species.

The illusion that we can control nature is collapsing. We are insignificant compared to nature. This force of nature will do anything to get in balance, without taking into account what my little self wants.

The liberation

We can now begin this reversal. Think together about how we can benefit another instead of ourselves. Because if we do this for each other, we don’t have to think about ourselves anymore. Imagine how carefree you are then! What a liberation not to have to think about myself selfishly anymore.

We discover that thinking about each other brings me further, we are in the same boat together. In addition, caring for others gives much more satisfaction than filling myself and the emptiness I feel with stuff. We are on the eve of this evolutionary leap. That is, if we take this opportunity with both hands.

Changing Society

A sense of meaninglessness

Modern society has created a reality based on limited and purposeful connections, whose aim is to achieve very limited goals. Alongside this experience of limited connections, we have begun to feel a sense of meaninglessness in our lives. This is creating a crisis in every realm of our personal and social lives.

the next stage of human evolution

Today, we’re at the threshold of a revolution. The gap between the environment we have created an Nature’s imperatives is taking its toll. New conditions, both within us and in our environment, are pressing us with growing intensity, changing us from within and disintegrating the oppressive patterns of human society. Nature is pushing us to reach the next stage of our evolution as humans, to come to view life from a different perspective.

Another meaning of life

The reality in which work takes over most of our time is about to change. When that happens, people will not sit idly by, but will begin searching for another meaning to life. This is when we will truly learn what it means to “be human.” As work hours shrink to the necessary minimum for sustenance, we will fill our lives with engagements appropriate to our level as human beings, engagements where we feel our souls.

Change of our perception of life

This is a radical change that implies reorganization of the entire human society. This change is mandatory; we will have to go through this process due to pressures from within and without, or through awareness and initiative to immediately begin paving the way toward our new destination. Then, our perception of life will change, our economy will change, and industries will shrink and shift from over-production to producing solely what is needed to sustain us.

Why are we here in this life?

Work will become nothing more than a necessary tool for our survival, and our perception of the growing unemployment will change. Our free time will be channeled toward the primary purpose of our lives – to answer the question, “Why are we here in this life?” This question will arise in the majority of humanity, and will become the issue that directs our lives and all of our engagements.

The Evolution of Desires – Lesson 2, part 1

I am an egoist

The statement that human nature is egoistic is unlikely to make any headlines. But because we are naturally egoistic, we are all, without exception, prone to misusing what we know. This need not mean that we will use knowledge to commit a crime. It can express itself in very small, seemingly trifle things, like getting promoted at work when we didn’t deserve it, or taking our best friend’s loved one away from them. 

The real news about egoism is not that human nature is egoistic; it is that I am an egoist. The first time we confront our own egoism is quite a sobering experience. And like any sobering, it is a giant headache. 

There is good reason why our will to receive constantly evolves, and we will touch upon it in a little while. But for now, let’s focus on the role of this evolution in how we acquire knowledge. 

Evolution creates evolution

When a new desire appears, it creates new needs. And when we search for ways to satisfy these needs, we develop and improve our minds. In other words, it is the evolution of the will to receive pleasure that creates evolution. 

A look at human history from the perspective of the evolution of desires shows how these growing desires generated every concept, discovery, and invention. Each innovation, in fact, has been a tool that helps us satisfy the mounting needs and demands our desires create. 

Different levels of desire

Unlike the first level of desires, all other levels are uniquely human and stem from being in a human society. The second level is the desire for wealth; the third is the desire for honor, fame and domination, and the fourth level is the desire for knowledge. 

Happiness or unhappiness, and pleasure or suffering depend on how much we satisfy our needs. But satisfaction requires effort. Actually, we are so pleasure-driven that, we cannot perform even the slightest movement without motivation without somehow benefiting oneself. Moreover, when, for example, if we move our hand from the chair to the table it is because we think that by putting our hand on the table we will receive greater pleasure. If we didn’t think so, we would leave our hand on the chair for the rest of our life.

Egoism is a Catch-22

In the previous chapter; we said that egoism is a Catch-22. In other words, the intensity of the pleasure depends on the intensity of the desire. As satiation increases, desire proportionally decreases. Therefore, when the desire is gone, so is the pleasure. It turns out that to enjoy something, we must not only want it, but keep wanting it, or the pleasure will fade away. 

Moreover, the pleasure is not in the desired object; it’s in the one who wants the pleasure. For example: If I’m crazy about tuna, it doesn’t mean that the tuna has any pleasure within it, but that a pleasure in the “form” of tuna exists in me. 

Tuna

Ask any tuna if it enjoys its own flesh. I doubt it would answer positively. I might tactlessly ask the tuna, “But why aren’t you enjoying it? When I take a bite of you, it tastes so good… And you have tons of tuna! If I were you, I’d be in Heaven.” 

Of course, we all know this is not a realistic dialogue, and not just because tuna don’t speak English. We instinctively feel that tuna fish can’t enjoy their own flesh, while humans can very much enjoy the taste of tuna. 

Desire is a vessel that wants to be filled

Why this human enjoyment of the taste of tuna? Because we have a desire for it. The reason tuna fish can’t enjoy their own flesh is that they have no desire for it. A specific desire to receive pleasure from a specific object could be referred to as a vessel and to the filling of the vessel as pleasure. When you can build a vessel,a you will receive the filling and to stay fulfilled we have to keep growing our desire. 

The Engine of Change is Desire – Lesson 1, part 1

Plato

Plato once said, “Necessity is the mother of invention,” and he was right. 

The only way we can learn anything is by first wanting to learn it. It’s a very simple formula: when we want something, we do what it takes to get it. We make the time, muster the energy, and develop the necessary skills. It turns out that the engine of change is desire. 

The way our desires evolve both defines and designs the entire history of humanity. As humankind’s desires developed, they urged people to study their environment so they could fulfill their wishes. Unlike minerals, plants, and animals, people constantly evolve. For every generation, and for each person, desires grow stronger and stronger. 

History

This engine of change—desire—is made of five levels, zero through four. About 5,000 years ago, the will to receive was at level zero. Today, as you might have guessed, we are at level four—the most intense level. But in the early days when the will to receive was at level zero, desires were not strong enough to separate us from nature and from each other. In those days, this oneness with nature was the natural way of life. People didn’t know any other way. They didn’t even know that they could be separated from nature, nor did they want to be. 

In fact, in those days, humanity’s communication with nature and with each other flowed so seamlessly, words were not even necessary; instead, people communicated by thought, much like telepathy. It was a time of unity, and the whole of humanity was like a single nation. 

But while still in Mesopotamia, a change occurred: people’s desires started to grow and they became more egoistic. People began to want to change nature and use it for themselves. Instead of wanting to adapt themselves to nature, they began wanting to change nature to fit theirneeds. They grew detached from nature, separated and alienated from it and from each other. Today, many centuries later, we are discovering that this was not a good idea. It simply doesn’t work. 

Wanting to be in control 

Naturally, as people began to place themselves in opposition to their environment and their societies, they no longer related to others as kin and to Nature as home. Hatred replaced love, and people grew apart and became detached from one another. In consequence, the single nation of the ancient world was divided. It first split into two groups that drifted to the east and to the west. The two groups continued to divide and splinter, eventually forming the multitude of nations we have today. 

Ever since that split—when our desires grew from level zero to level one—we have been confronting nature. Instead of correcting the ever-growing egoism to remain as one with nature, we have built a mechanical, technological shield to protect us from it. The initial reason we developed science and technology was to secure our shielded existence away from nature’s elements. It turns out, however, that whether we are aware of it or not, we are actually trying to control nature and take over the driver’s seat. 

Seeking but not finding

The level of egoism in humanity has kept growing, with each level driving us farther away from nature. The distance is not measured in inches or yards; it’s measured in qualities. Nature’s quality is wholeness, connectedness, and giving, but it is only possible to feel it when we share these qualities. If I am self-centered, there is no way I can connect to anything as whole and altruistic as nature. It would be like trying to see another person when we are standing back to back. 

Because we are standing back to back with nature and because we still want to control it, clearly, the more we try, the more frustrated we become. Certainly, we cannot control something we can’t see or even feel. This desire can never be filled unless we make a U-turn, look in the opposite direction. 

Moving to true health and happiness

Many people are already growing tired of technology’s broken promises of wealth, health, and most important, safe tomorrows. Too few people have attained all these today, and even if they did, they cannot be certain they will still have them tomorrow. But the benefit of this state is that it forces us to reexamine our direction and ask, “Is it possible we’ve been treading the wrong path all along?” 

Particularly today, as we acknowledge the crisis and the impasse we are facing, we can openly admit that the path we’ve chosen is a dead-end street. Instead of compensating for our self-centered oppositeness from nature by choosing technology, we should have changed our egoism to altruism, and consequently to unity with nature.

To realize our oppositeness from nature means that we must acknowledge the split that occurred among us (human beings) five thousand years ago. This is called “the recognition of evil.” It is not easy, but it is the first step to true health and happiness.