Arcilla, Finina

My Cosmic Journey

I appreciate the professor' use of the “Cosmic Journey” as an approach to the three subjects: “Critical Issues Related to Sustainable Development,”  “Mediated Economics (The Money Cultural System) in Developing Countries” and “The Significance of the Informal Sector.” I felt very apprehensive on the first day of class on how I would “survive” the above three subjects that I thought would use a lot of “intellectualization,” which I judged not to be my strength.  However, as you introduced the “Cosmic Anthropology” approach that you will use to “tackle” these three subjects, there was a “shift in the paradigm” of my apprehension to excitement!  While I was intrigued on how the cosmic and interdisciplinary elements of ACA would link “The Sciences” to the “Theories and Paradigms,” my left and right brain went on “merry-go-round” by:  “The Macrocosmos” --- Big Bang, Creation Theories, Parallel Universe; “The Microcosmos” --- Being and Becoming, The Illusion of Reality and Mysticism-Quantum World!” My wonderment was enhanced by:   “The Mesocosmos” --- Planet Earth, Origin of Species and Elementals-fairies; “The Homosphere” --- Human Origins, Humanity’s Role, Humanity’s Future… My, my, mind-boggling talaga siya!

I felt an “escalation” process in every Saturday session of our class. I appreciated the development of the topics as they seemed to become “bigger than life,” with Dr. Paul lecturing as if he was “on fire!”  As the semester went on, storms and floods did not hinder the “yearnings of my heart” seeking to expand, explore re-discover my core identity that was covered by fears (of authority, abandonment, lack, failure and death) through:   “The Mental Realm” --- Consciousness, Free Will and Determination, Neuroscience and Free will together with “Psychic Realm” --- Science and the paranormal, Psychic Development & Spiritual Growth.  “The Space-Time Dimension,” “The Metaphysical Realm,” “Cosmic Laws & Principles” and “The Theory of Everything” summed up the reasons for my more than 35 years of attending, “dictated by an Inner Voice,” seminars, workshops, retreats, meditations, study groups, prayer meetings, bible studies/adult catechisms, etc.  These were organized by people of different countries, culture, tradition, training, environmental influences, etc. that enabled me to have a taste of the infinite possibilities of “cosmic life.”

I was not only amazed but also found marvelous the connection between Assignment No.1 and “How to do Review of Related Literature,” which was a very tedious job for me because of my attachment issues: letting go of what is not needed or irrelevant. I am the kind of person who is fond of analyzing details. This is the lesson I learned from our Assignment #1, the “Mediated Character of Economic Interaction: ”There is no need to analyze and understand the 16-page write up…just look for the answers to the questions being asked, and enjoy the answers!"

The authors of Assignment No. 1 developed the concept of mediators within theoretical physics and the number of possible parallels, like the description of interaction between, e.g. electrons via exchange of two virtual photons. In a human system e.g., a baker and a customer may be the two agents. These make me appreciate more the inter-disciplinary approaches and methods develop by Dr. Paul, for Cosmic Anthropology; the linking of two or more disciplines into one coherent field of subject. These also make me understand more the overall objective of Cosmic Anthropology, in highlighting some parallelisms, similarities, commonalities and convergences (if there are any at all) in terms of their principles, beliefs, approaches, methodologies, programs, and so on. These also make clearer to me the contribution of Cosmic Anthropology in terms of the application of the commonalities to the transformation of individuals and societies; to the “informal-sector economy” where the value-based, barter and money-based modes of economic transactions are happening all the time and everywhere.