Introduction - Part 2

Globalization is a single word that describes the world we are creating; a world of accelerating technology, freely flowing capital, reduced trade barriers, and shifting global power. It is a word implying transformation of our physical, social, and cultural spheres. Spirituality is also about transformation, but of the individual. Specifically it is about transforming the way we perceive the world, shifting our view from one based solely on the self, and our sense of separation, to one that sees the inherent unity of all things. This is not a New Age spirituality of self-help and ego massage. While a healthy ego-self is important to mature transcendence, true spirituality is about a direct realization of the Divine, not an amplification of our natural tendency toward self-cherishing. It is a personal realization in that we experience it individually, but it transcends the individual person by opening us up to the beauty, wonder, and importance of all persons and of the whole of the universe. It is a spirituality based not in a craving to escape the world, but in a desire to see and be in the world more fully. It is not based in some new fad or fashion but in the paths and practices that inform and support all of the world’s wisdom traditions. Its heritage does not emerge out of the psychedelic experimentation of the 1960s, but stretches back more than 2,500 years. It is a core of spiritual experience that finds its expression in the mystic writings and realizations of all the world’s religious traditions. Moreover, it is a spirituality that is available to all of us regardless of social or cultural background. This transformative way of perceiving the world is what we desperately need to counter the narcissistic, close-minded, and materialistic worldviews that dominate the sphere of human affairs today. It is this vision, this deeper way of perceiving reality, which will help us guide the global transformations that we are engaged in. Just as globalization transforms the physical structures of the world, real spirituality transforms the deeper structures of the self.

Alchemy was the metallurgical and metaphysical art of transmutation finding its birth in the Middle Ages and its flowering in the Renaissance. The physical goal of alchemy was to transform base metals, such as lead, into gold via the creation of the mythical Philosopher’s Stone. As psychologist Carl Jung was first to point out, alchemy was a study of, and metaphor for, transformation of the self. In their obscure and arcane texts, alchemists explored the deeper meanings of separation and union throughout the universe, from the dichotomy of the male and female, to the unity of nature and the Divine. But as the scientific paradigm came to dominate our worldview the metaphysical investigation at the heart of alchemy was lost. As Jung explained, “With the decline of alchemy the symbolical unity of spirit and matter fell apart, with the result that modern man finds himself uprooted and alienated in a de-souled world.” In many ways this book is an effort to provide a new sort of alchemy for our Chrysalis Age. Like those ancient alchemical texts, it attempts to provide a means of transforming the world and the self by exploring the illusion of separation between person, cosmos, and the Divine. By providing an integral path toward the transformation of self and world a more complete understanding of both may arise.

It is a daunting task to attempt a deeper more complete understanding of the universe. Nevertheless it is an endeavor that every single one of us must strive to accomplish if we are to have any prospect of creating a viable future for the generations that follow us. We can only hope that our grandchildren’s grandchildren will have the pleasure of staring up into the night sky and sensing the magnanimity of the cosmos. As astronomer Carl Sagan wrote, “I believe our future depends on how well we know this Cosmos in which we float like a moat of dust in the morning sky.” Not only do we need to know the cosmos, we need to know it in all its depth and beauty. The original Greek word for the universe is kosmos. Unlike its English translation the original Greek word kosmos implies the whole of existence, at every level of the universe, including the spiritual as well as the physical domains. It is only by attempting to see and understand the whole of the universe that we can begin to establish a kosmology that will help guide us as we live our lives in this increasingly beautiful and dangerous world. The pages that follow endeavor to create an outline for just such a kosmology, drawing on the work of numerous philosophers, scientists, artists, and spiritual teachers, foremost among them, the work of integral philosopher Ken Wilber. It is not complete, and never can be. No map is the terrain itself, and no kosmoslogy will ever be able to present the full breadth and depth of the universe. What it can do is provide us with a guide to the paths that will eventually allow us to experience directly for ourselves the fullness and creativity of this awesome kosmos, and ultimately help us design our own creations, social, cultural, and physical, in imitation of its grandeur and divinity.