Few people today are willing to accept a purely materialistic concept of the Universe. Not only is the prospect a dreary one, but we now realise that scientific evidence does not compel reason able men to accept such a view, as many once thought to be the case.
This change in attitude has come about partly as a result of progress in science itself. As the frontiers of knowledge have been pushed back, the truly intangible nature of the physical universe has forced a revision of earlier and more mechanistic ideas. Progress in psychology and parapsychology, in medicine, and in psychical research, is demonstrating the scientific reality of much mystical and extra-sensory phenomena and experience, previously regarded as mythological or hallucinatory. The fallacy that the universe could have occurred by chance – the odds against this are inconceivably great – has also been recognised, and the notion that our universe with its marvellously intricate and interlocking laws could be both mindless and purposeless is widely accepted as absurd. The evidence of modem science increasingly supports the view that we live in an ordered and intelligent universe and that there is a guiding mind and purpose behind it all.
We are left with a problem. For many the only known alternative is an anthropomorphic religious philosophy which is just as distasteful as materialism and even more difficult to reconcile with the facts of modern science. Is it possible, for example, that God, the creator of innumerable galactic universes, should speak in the personal voice to individual men and women, and can man be regarded as the chosen creature of such a God, as the most advanced unit of consciousness in the Cosmos? What rational or intellectual comfort can be gained from a philosophy which would judge man on his performance in three score years and ten or less, in a world which provides unequal opportunity and over which he has little control, when an infinity of time stretches into the future and an infinity has existed in the past? Such ideas are appropriate to an age which regarded this minor planet as the centre of creation, but not to our twentieth century.
Two Elements of a New Vision
Humanity therefore needs a new conception of the Universe, a new picture of the Macrocosmic whole, which will not only encompass the findings of science but also embrace the fundamental teachings of the great religions and philosophies of the world, stripped of their doctrinal and dogmatic trappings. Such a new conception should be regarded as the best approximation of which we are capable at the moment, and in no sense as final or ultimate. It should be judged by its ability to provide a framework for the synthesis of human knowledge and understanding and by the extent to which it can stimulate truly creative advance along every line of investigation.
Coupled with a new conception of the Universe we need a new understanding of man, and this is the second vital element in any new vision. In almost every field today the current working model of the constitution of man is a frankly, if unconsciously, materialistic one. Only a small minority act on the assumption that man is an essentially spiritual being possessing latent qualities and levels of consciousness that should be developed. The consequences of seriously investigating this possibility would be revolutionary, particularly in the fields of education and psychology.
A new cosmology and a new conception of man are formidable objectives indeed. But if we live in a universe whose nature is basically spiritual and which functions according to definite principles and laws, and if man has a part in this overall design, our task in searching for a new vision is essentially one of exploration, investigation, and effort to understand. Implicit in the concept of a purposive and spiritually oriented universe is the idea that there are objectives, and states of consciousness towards which man should strive. We have to build a path of understanding that will enable us to penetrate more deeply into the mystery of universal life, and to unlock the secrets of a universe that is in a process of becoming, that is waiting “to be revealed”. This article can do no more therefore than suggest certain hypotheses and lines of advance that offer scope for fruitful investigation.
A Conscious Universe
The idea that the growth of understanding and the expansion of consciousness is the major objective of life will be acceptable to many. It seems undoubtedly to be true of man and is in line with the teachings of all great religions and philosophies. Biologists have recently suggested that the past has witnessed the evolution of the material properties of substance, but that today we are watching the emergence and growth of the mental properties, so the concept is not too unfamiliar for science. That the evolution of consciousness is the primary purpose of all forms of life is also implicit in the idea that the universe is the expression of a conscious and purposive intelligence. Such a conception is absolutely basic to any nonmaterialist view of the universe.
There are radical and even unexpected consequences, however, to the development of this line of thought. It soon becomes clear that the levels of conscious awareness known to man must cover only a small range of those that exist in the cosmos. Modern psychology has already demonstrated by its exploration of the unconscious that there are large areas of psychic life not normally accessible to the conscious mind. Religion and philosophy likewise speak of levels of conscious being above and beyond the average human range – levels that can be attained by the mystic or saint in contemplation.
In spite of this evidence, our conception of the possible range of consciousness in the universe remains extremely limited, and compared with our expanding ideas of the physical universe, it is of mediaeval proportions. If the physical universe is in fact the product and expression of the life of a conscious intelligence, we cannot avoid concluding that there must be many dimensions and levels of conscious being quite beyond the range of man. And if there are levels of conscious being stretching out beyond the human state, may there not also be conscious beings or intelligences associated with them? It is very difficult to avoid accepting that this must be so, for the immortality of each conscious unit of life is implied in the notion of a purposive and conscious universe. If the soul of man does not persist and continue to experience in some other dimension after death, or incarnate again in human form to gain further experience and understanding, the idea that the purpose of life is expansion of consciousness can have little meaning. Even by human standards, most men can achieve little in one short life, and set against the background of the Cosmos, even outstanding growth and achievement will look small indeed.
Continuum of Awareness
In all the great religions of the world there is teaching about a way of approach to divinity. In the conception of a purposive conscious universe with many degrees and levels of awareness we discover the same idea. This latter way, however, is that continuum of conscious states that reaches from the lowest form of life to the very heart of the universe itself. The way of the great religions can be seen as just one section of this continuum, bridging between the world of men and the “kingdom of God or of Souls”. This “Kingdom of God” of religious teachings is the supra-conscious of psychology, that area of awareness lying just beyond our normal reach and for which we strive in our better moments, that condition which has been termed by Patanjali “The Raincloud of knowable things”.
This kingdom of Souls, this level of consciousness that lies beyond the rational mind, can be regarded as the true home of man and the goal for which we all must strive. Even if we cannot accept the tentative outline of a possible cosmology, we cannot deny the existence of supra-conscious levels of awareness, and the fact that thinkers, writers, creative artists, scientists, politicians, economists, priests and teachers – men of action and men of reflection – down the ages have testified to its existence and the fact that it has been a source of ideas, inspiration and intuitional understanding for them all.
This level of supra-conscious awareness is not just an amalgam of useful ideas, but is an area of intelligent ordered activity and consciousness. It is entirely consistent with our concept of an evolutionary progression from one state of consciousness to another that this kingdom of souls should be the centre of conscious life of those “just men made perfect” that have transcended the human condition. And just as the spiritual or religious concept of a way to God involves an acceptance of responsibility for those forms of life still striving to find this way, it is entirely possible to suppose that those who have transcended the human condition, and whose goal is to move towards new and yet higher states, will aid the human kingdom to move forward along its destined path.
Down the ages men have talked of divine aid and intervention in human affairs. To the intelligent modern man the idea that God will “bail us out” when we have made a big enough mess is unsatisfactory to say the least. But if there is a continuum of conscious states in the universe, what has been regarded as divine intervention can be seen as the interplay between two areas of conscious life, and the response of the higher state to the needs of the lower, of the kingdom of Souls to the world of men. Such response and aid abrogates no law and does not offend reason, since inevitably it will work through those members of the human family who have achieved a measure of relationship with the supra-conscious world and who can therefore in some measure act as a bridge between the two. All areas of human life can partake of the interplay between the conscious and the supra-conscious states, and all human activity can be regarded as spiritual which assists the expansion of human consciousness and enables men and women to penetrate the next level of understanding that faces them along the way.
Implications of a New Cosmology
Thus we have placed consciousness at the heart of our outline, an outline which is intended to be suggestive, not conclusive, and to stimulate thinking rather than to end it.
To the materialist, for whom mind is an epiphenomenon of matter – the result of the interplay of the material process – this line of thought will seem totally unrealistic and even fantastic. To the scientist who accepts a spiritual world view, it may seem a valid and reasonable approach to the problem of cosmology and man's relation to the universe, yet remain for the time being inaccessible of proof. To the religious thinker certain elements will be familiar, but acceptance of the main thesis would force a drastic revision of many doctrines. For if the human kingdom is but a stage in a vast cosmic evolutionary process, and if that area of consciousness beyond the human which we call the kingdom of Souls is not the ultimate reality but yet one further stage of understanding and awareness, all spiritual and religious teaching which comes from this higher centre must be seen as a relative and not an absolute revelation. The Christ, the Buddha and other great spiritual teachers may be regarded as units of consciousness who have achieved and transcended the human state and yet who remain to watch over and guide human evolution and to bring to man that new revelation which is ever his need in moments of achievement or crisis.
The effort to reach towards a new cosmology will have profound long-range effects, especially if it leads to a synthesis of human knowledge and a reconciliation between science and religion. Of more immediate practical importance, however, are the possible consequences of achieving a new and better understanding of the nature of man and of the human psyche. To this end the most fruitful line of thought and investigation lies in a consideration of the supra-conscious levels of awareness.
The evidence for the existence of a supra-conscious level of awareness is extremely strong, if not conclusive. It is as if there exists an area of conscious life in which a part of man resides, but with which as yet there is an imperfect connection in consciousness. Many may never achieve or register any connection with this level of awareness. For others a sporadic and intermittent relationship can occur when the right conditions are fulfilled. Relatively few people have achieved a permanent and enduring relationship with the supra-conscious so that they can penetrate this world more or less at will.
We must distinguish the supra-conscious from the subconscious. The subconscious is the field for most psycho- analytic investigation; it is related to the past; it is the repository of memory, both conscious and unconscious; and it has to do with man’s, personality and with his mental, emotional and instinctive life.
The supra-conscious lies, however, in the future. So far as we can see it is impersonal and registers group and human need but is quite indifferent to the call of personal self-interest. It can be characterised by all the highest human qualities and attributes and the most elevated and spiritual values, and can properly be regarded as the source of all that is best in man. It is that factor which can dynamically transform life and human relationships. If the testimony of those who have penetrated this area is to be believed, contact with the supra-conscious is anything but an escape from life! It is life more abundant.
Revolutionary Consequences
It is instructive to examine some of the consequences that would flow from an acceptance of the reality of the supra-conscious, and an increased understanding of its nature and the part it could play in the life of man. In education, for example, the ability to establish relationship with the supra-conscious area in which the soul resides would become a major objective, and particularly in higher and adult education would this goal provide a dominating theme. The vision of a continuum of consciousness along which man must pass and the existence of an immediate level ahead together with knowledge about how to reach that level, would provide just the kind of incentive and dynamic purpose which we shall need as we solve the problems of living as reasonable human beings in a materially self-sufficient world.
C. G. Jung has said that practically all those over the age of thirty-five who consult him about their psychological difficulties, are suffering from a basically “religious problem”. By this he means that they are faced with a conflict between their normal mode of life and values and a half-conscious awareness, with which they know not how to deal, of the need for something higher and better. This is a conflict between the tendencies of normal human consciousness and the pull of the supra-conscious. A more widespread recognition of the nature of this problem would transform psychological treatment, for what is needed in such cases is not psycho-analysis and the investigation of the subconscious, but methods by which the individual can achieve a higher integration and establish a satisfactory and creative relationship with the soul.
Thus in psychology and education, knowledge of the supraconscious would work a revolution. Likewise there could be profound effects in medicine, for much illness and disease is psycho-somatic and has its real origins in conflicts of consciousness. Harmony and right relationships between all aspects of conscious life are thought to be two of the characteristics of the supra-conscious, and if man could learn how to build a firmer bridge between the conscious and supra-conscious realms, and thus release the energies of harmony and right relations into conscious life, the cause of much disease would be relieved at its source. It seems not unreasonable to suppose that this is the technical explanation of many so-called “miracles of healing”.
In religion too, the benefits of this understanding would be profound. Not only would it bridge the cleavage between religious and secular knowledge, but it would be found that the techniques needed for an understanding of the supra-conscious, and the ability to create a working relationship between conscious and supraconscious states, would be closely similar to the techniques of meditation, contemplation and spiritual development found at the heart of the great religions.
What is needed today is not research to find out whether the supra-conscious exists but research based on the hypothesis that it does exist. Such research would therefore be directed to discovering the nature of the supra-conscious and determining what methods there are for bringing it within the reach of average men and women and of society as a whole.
Research Possibilities
There are a number of very fruitful lines for such investigation. The study of gifted children; the development on a large scale of research into para-psychology; the study of the disciplines of eastern and western religion in such fields as meditation, contemplation, the various forms of yoga, and their relationship with our modern understanding of mental and psychological processes. There are also wide possibilities for fruitful study in the field of mental health to discover the nature of those cases where the break-down is precipitated by the “religious factor” mentioned by Jung.
Similarly, a major research effort to investigate the whole field of psycho-somatic medicine and the psychological origins of disease would be enormously beneficial.
At the moment such research is being undertaken on the smallest scale and with the minimum of support. There is urgent need therefore for a major effort along these lines.
There is one additional possibility of a rather more personal kind. There is nothing to stop individual men and women making their own investigations of the supra-conscious. While the ways in which this can be done have not been mapped out in such a manner that they can be widely used in education, psychology or medicine, they have been mapped out. There is nothing except inertia or lack of interest to stop the individual from making his own approach. Many books have been written on the subject and there are even organisations trying to develop methods of helping man to bridge the gap between the conscious and supra-conscious worlds. Their methods are diverse and will obviously be subject to tremendous developments as the years go by. But there is no doubt that if the supra-conscious really does exist the science of man’s relationship to it will be one of the major elements in education, psychology, medicine, religion and individual development for centuries ahead.
