Sayago Carol

Discovering our Cosmic Consciousness

by Carolina Sayago

…crawling caterpillars

  … falling leaves dancing to the rhythm of the wind

    … fluttering butterflies

       … sprouting seeds in the ground

            …murmuring brook

               …flowers growing in the wild

                   …humming crickets

                        … bursting sunrise

                            …serene sunset

                           …fireflies lighting the treetops

                               …variety of hues and colors reflected in the rainbow

These sights of wonders have fascinated me since childhood. I could watch all of these without being conscious of the time passing by and yet I never would say that I’ve wasted my time. Being immersed in the splendor of creation brings to those who have an affinity with nature a zest for life, a sense of harmony and unity with the entire universe. The reality of inter- relatedness can be discovered if you let yourself be enfolded by the loving embrace of the nature around us.

My affinity with nature can be traced back to the formative years of my life (the first four years). I was born and brought up in a farm. We used to live far from neighbors so I seldom had chance to play with children of my age so I grew up playing with the plants and animals. I can still vividly recall how delighted I am chasing the falling leaves of the big mango tree in the yard on a windy afternoon or watching a caterpillar eating leaves and growing fat. Most of my waking time is spent in the yard feeding the chickens, running around with the dog or my cat. I even almost picked up a sleeping snake thinking that I could also play with it. Another source of delight is the trip to the river (this is crystal clear at that time) when my mother would bring me with her to wash our clothes.  I really enjoyed wading and splashing in the water even at that time I do not know how to swim I was never afraid of the water. There are afternoons that I would even pray for the rain to come so I could take a shower under the rain to my hearts delight. (though I still do this at times if I have the chance to take shower in the rain today especially if I am in the province). These experiences most of the time could simply be labeled as part of the joys and delights of growing up. However these early experiences of enjoying and being delighted with the natural world around me will become the very foundation of my deep sense of unity with the created world. These early experiences with nature brought about a capacity within me of relating to animals and plants just like how I relate with people. I would communicate to them as if they are people around me like I will tell a flower how delighted I am because of its beauty or carry some small talks with animals especially the cats. I experienced it in many instances that I can easily tame a wild cat.  At times others would find it odd or weird. But I still do it though most of the time I’m doing it with great caution because others might think I’ve gone crazy or worst that I’m a witch or a mambabarang. This strong affinity with nature is something I have grown up with so I thought it’s natural for all of us to really revere other life forms and the rest of creation. 

It was in 1997 that I was confronted with the dark reality that reverence for nature had been forgotten by many when I came about of some facts and figures on how fast our virgin forest are destroyed, that each day many plant and animal species are becoming extinct when I took a course on Ecological Ethics at Maryhill School of Theology.  It was also through this course that in a more scientific way I came to fully understand the unfolding story of the universe, our inter-connectedness with the whole of the cosmos. I also was enlightened on why I had childhood experiences of being close to nature and other forms of life because of this reality, that the elements that brought about the stars, planets are the very same elements that is present in my material body. it was not difficult for me to accept this truth of our interconnectedness because it   resonates deeply with my own experiences.

This is then the genesis of my strong advocacy towards caring for Mother Earth which also brought me to reflect deeper into various issues concerning the ravages done by humanity to the environment and to humanity itself ( the many wars that were fought, and colonizing endeavors  were done for territorial control and owning the resources of the earth)

It really pains me to see how people at present desecrate our environment in the guise of development. There are instances when I would think that the children of the future will never experience the joy and beauty of being able to commune with nature.  I am afraid that they will not experience the clean flowing waters from the rivers; they will no longer see the variety of life species in the forest, the beauty of the flowers growing wild in the fields nor witness the beautiful light dances of the fireflies on a dark night. What a loss to the future generation!  It is truly alarming how we humans today destroy in a very fast rate what nature takes to build for eons of time. 

The large scale ecological destruction ( global warming, extinction of flora and fauna, destruction of the coral reefs, etc) that put into great peril our human survival (we humans are the most dependent to the ecology) are the push factors for us to re-think and re-define how we humans relate with Mother earth and the whole of the cosmos.

This then made many of us reflect and learn once again the wisdom of the indigenous people and of the mystics’ experiences of great reverence for the web of creation because of their being able to experience the beauty of being immerse and being united with the cosmos thus bringing about an attitude that proclaims the sacredness of Mother earth and the rest of the creation.

This reality of understanding our interconnectedness with the cosmos springs from a level of consciousness which in 1902 was given a name by Richard Bucke as cosmic consciousness. Bucke at the age of 35 underwent an extraordinary mystical experience which was so profound to him that he spent the remainder of his life studying the phenomenon. He defined cosmic consciousness as an awareness at the level of the divine and the next stage of human evolution incorporating all aspects of unity and love which according to him is the third stage of a three fold process of humanity, which includes – the first stage is the simple consciousness of animals – awareness at the basest level of existence and the second stage is the collective consciousness of humanity – awareness of existence with purpose, incorporating the divine in seminal forms such as art, literature and music.

The state of cosmic consciousness has been called variously –enlightenment, nirvana, satori, Samadhi, self realization, salvation, ascension, unity consciousness and many other terms by various religions.

It is said to be brought about when the individual personality ascends beyond the illusionary perception of self separateness to merge in the Universal self from which it originated so very long ago. In the context of the Christian tradition being immerse once again in the state of the original blessing- back to Eden, oneness with everything (creation, universe/cosmos and the Divine). 

How can one attain this level of cosmic consciousness? Why this consciousness is strongly manifested among indigenous people of different races? What are the factors/elements that lead a person to this level of consciousness? How does one’s experience of cosmic consciousness affect a person’s view of life and his/her relationship?  How can cosmic consciousness bring about transformative praxis/actions towards sustainable development for all?

I believed that the awakening of this level of consciousness in a person is greatly influence by the persons experiences as he/she grows up and become a mature individual, the culture and traditions he/she had grown up with especially those that are kept as sacred by the family or community and the exposures to the realities of life as part of the person’s interaction. There is also a possibility that not all will be able to attain this level of consciousness to the fullest but will just have a glimpse of this consciousness in their lifetime.

The realities of our various exploitative endeavors with the created world and the destruction of the life forms I see daily encourages me to undertake and explore on this topic. It will be done in the spirit of hope that I can contribute in my own unique way in bringing back once again that great reverence for the created world as an expression of my joy and delight to be part of this pulsating universe. 

This undertaking is significant to be able to come up with alternative ways of understanding our socio-cultural, economic and even political realities that will lead us to undertake concrete actions that will enable us to achieve meaningful and sustainable existence of all in the world and in the universe.

The undertaking will be done in two parts. First is to access the wealth of materials from the  works and writings of the sages and mystics regarding how they discover this level of consciousness. Second is to gather primary experiences of people who strongly manifest some characteristics of having an awareness of this level as seen in their strong advocacies for the environment and for attaining sustainable development for all. The primary experiences will be gathered through informal sessions of story telling, sharing of experiences and reflections on the lived experiences.

This undertaking hopefully will usher in many of us  a leap towards liberating oneself from a careless and selfish stance of relating with the cosmos to one that is more mindful in  achieving harmony in the cosmos thus to borrow Diarmuid O’ Murchu words:

            It is time to outgrow…

            Our intellectual arrogance whereby we prize the human  brain as the

           primary site of conscious awareness, reinforcing the mechanistic view

           that creation is without intelligence, merely an objective entity for our use   

           and benefit.

         It is time to embrace…

        A universe exuding vitality and wisdom, consciously manifesting its innate

        power in the variety and diversity of all life-forms, our home planet being 

        the connective tissue that links our human intelligence with the cosmic

        wisdom that endows the whole of creation.