The Free Radical

Preface:The term the “evolutionary self” is borrowed from a talk given by Craig Hamilton to which this author was privy.

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“How is it that you never seem to age?”

As I’ve been asked this question countless times by my peers, I feel compelled to answer in the best manner that I am able. I could write hefty tomes on nutrition, regular exercise, adequate sleep, meditation and yoga, but that’s all stuff you’ve heard before. Nothing new there. Is there something else, some secret substance or practice which sets me apart from the health-conscious masses? I believe there is.

As I recently listened to Craig Hamilton expounding on this aspect of human consciousness dubbed the evolutionary self– as it was named by the community of spiritual seekers to which Craig once belonged– I quickly realized that finally I had a convenient label to describe a singular quality of my own uniqueness. I am an evolutionary. I had always known it, but had never bothered to clearly define it. So here we go…

The evolutionary self is that part of consciousness which embraces change. It loves learning. It actively seeks out new experiences. It thrives in the unexpected and continually peers into the unknown. It is pioneering and exploratory. We all have access to it, but historically very few have chosen to cultivate it as the overriding aspect of personality consciousness.

And here it must be stressed that it is fundamentally paradigm shattering. The evolutionary self is not so much concerned with the accumulation of knowledge in an additive way or merely the learning of new skills. Rather, it is continually challenging one’s view of the world. The evolutionary self tests and refines our knowledge base unceasingly. It is never satisfied with conclusions. It provokes experience to challenge everything which we think we know; it discards and replaces outdated and useless programs. It keeps us updated.

By continually updating our software, the evolutionary self keeps us in a ready state of preparedness to confidently venture forth into an ever-expanding reality. And since our hardware (the body) responds to the self-reflective software that we’re continually running, the evolutionary self enjoys perpetual youth.

To shun change is to stop growth. Stagnation is death– quite literally, for as the blood ceases to flow, death ensues. What quickens the blood? Adventure. Expansion through inner growth. Perhaps the evolutionary self is the lifeblood of the soul?

Your awareness is your reality. My awareness is my reality. Each of us inhabits a singular reality according to our own unique awareness. The circumference of one’s awareness is defined by one’s particular beliefs. Whatever might lie outside our beliefs– beyond our awareness– simply does not exist.

Awareness seems to have a natural inclination toward expansion, growth. Awareness desires an ever-expanding reality. Belief sets the limits. Beliefs are illusory.

Many spiritual traditions teach that the everyday world is really an illusion, a drama, a play– calling it maya or samsara… yet, we believe it to be real. There is nothing wrong with believing; it is a state of transition for the fulfilment of learning. We believe until we know.

To believe is utterly essential for the successful navigation of our earthly realm. However, the accumulation of beliefs is perfectly deadly! Let me explain. How can believing be made into a thing? A noun? A belief does not exist anywhere except in the mind of the one believing. Beliefs cannot stand on their own. They have no intrinsic reality. In the act of believing we lend a potential reality to our beliefs– just until we know one way or the other. The illusory world of samsara is composed of the accumulation of our beliefs– abandoned potentials gathering psychological inertia. Believing remains active by the cavorting of the evolutionary self, while belief is passive and ultimately dead.

Got that? Believing… good. Belief… bad.

Evolution is an ongoing process. The universe is dynamic, forever changing. The evolutionary process has no endpoint; there are no finished products, no final conclusions. Awakening the evolutionary self is a personal alignment with this universal thrust.

Learning generates excitement when you pursue your deepest curiosities. What are you curious about? What doesn’t make sense to you? What has never made sense to you? Begin there. Seek out and expose the gaps and holes in your world view. Investigate– as a way of life. Believing must never be allowed to become static– beliefs gathering dust. Our world view is under continual review by the evolutionary self. And in assembling the endless puzzle of an expanding reality, the evolutionary self is also creative. We must choose to create an open-ended world view… always.

We’ve been taught to be comfortable with conclusions, and so they become the limitations by which we define ourselves. By making ourselves finite in such a manner we insist upon our own mortality. Death resides within our limitations. The evolutionary self draws us outward, beyond any such stagnant beliefs. And from within, awareness naturally expands–it is automatic– as our barriers are set in motion and remain in motion (believing without concluding); awareness will gently push upon our resistances and the world will grow larger… but more connected. Those connections will be our newfound knowledge.

“Yes, but Niels, I am wounded… and small.” I hear you, and honour your choice. But did you know that you need not be healed to awaken the evolutionary self? We’ve been indoctrinated into this belief (prison) that any true seeker must be psychologically fit, essentially sane… first there must be years of therapy, discipline, practice, yada, yada… But I can assure you that the evolutionary self doesn’t give a damn if you’re a raving lunatic. If your inquiries are honest and persistent, the evolutionary self’s companionship is regenerative and infinitely rewarding regardless of any festering wounds.

There are appropriate times to drag forward our old hurts. It is when we wish to re-examine them in the light of new knowledge gained. In so doing we seek the deeper lessons from our most painful experiences. To continually drag our past hurts along into every moment without seeking the balm of new knowledge with which to finally alleviate them is just plain stupid.

Everything happens for a reason. Everything happens for many reasons. Seek them out! So many lessons to learn! As soon as we adopt an attitude of continual learning, there is no longer any such thing as a mistake. (Mistakes and beliefs are siblings in a phantom world.) Mistakes are steps in the learning process… and the evolutionary journey is good!

Finite, limited worlds need to be defended. Expanding, integrative worlds conquer reality peaceably.

I used to think that I was about the only evolutionary in the whole world– a very limiting belief indeed! Now I know that there’s literally millions of us on the planet right now. Phew!

The evolutionary self seems to have an affinity for groups, seeking meaningful conversation and soulful discussion with spiritual comrades. And through creating community and developing culture a living foundation develops, enabling deeper forays into the ever-emerging reality.

(Evolution itself, favours groups. Evolution has no use for sole survivors.)

The creation of support groups can eliminate individual fears; the evolutionary self teaches that we can best face our individual fears together.

Fear (of the unknown) is the glue holding many beliefs in place. The glue is toxic; it ages us!

Breathe…

Grow…

Breathe…

I didn’t use the word “longevity” once. Sweet!

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Afterword: “Evolution this… evolution that… evolution blah, blah, blah… So you some kinda evolution freak? What about God?”
I believe in God, a god with a big shiny tool on his belt called Evolution!