Evolutionary spirituality

Evolutionary spirituality provides a new frontier for spiritual exploration. It draws from a science-based systems view of evolutionary history and is described as

What does science have to do with spirituality?

Why does science foster a new frontier for spiritual exploration? We do not undertake spiritual exploration in isolation. Instead, we explore our spiritual questions about identity, purpose, and values in the context of current knowledge and beliefs about the nature of Reality and the origins of our world. The sciences form the horizon of such understandings within Western societies.

Page contents. The intersection between science and spirituality. The new frontier of a systems view of evolutionary history. Broad themes within the new frontier. A new set of assumptions and identity. Is this identity truly new? Evolutionary spirituality and existing religious/spiritual traditions.

An important note. Evolutionary spirituality is emerging as an authentic belief system in its own right. Therefore, individuals who identify as spiritual but not religious or spiritual independents may find it offers them a new shelter of belonging. For more on this, see Resources/The land I now inhabit. Simultaneously, the themes found in evolutionary spirituality also offer a new frontier for spiritual exploration within established religious and spiritual traditions.

The intersection between science and spiritual exploration

The following section further outlines the intersection between science and spiritual exploration.

Spiritual exploration

Motivated by our innate desire to belong, spiritual exploration is the sacred work of finding our place of belonging at a specific time and place in history. We experience belonging through a unified belief system, crafted into a sacred narrative that imparts meaning to our existence and mortality, cultivating a sense of identity, purpose, and values. This sacred narrative provides a shelter of belonging, as it weaves together personal integrity with authentic connection to the world around us. Without a coherent Shelter, we may feel lost, adrift in the vast sea of life, uncertain of who we are, why we are here, or how we are to live. For a sacred narrative to provide an authentic shelter of belonging, it must align with the world that we know. For more information on shelters of belonging, see my web page. What is spirituality?

Components of a shelter of belonging, illustrated through the tree metaphor

In his book Eternal Echoes: Exploring our Hunger to Belong, the late John O’Donohue claimed that a tree is “the artist of belonging.” He maintained, “there is something so sure and dignified in a tree’s presence.” In line with O’Donohue’s understanding, it seems fitting to employ the tree metaphor to illustrate the components of a belief system that provide a shelter of belonging in our lives:

ROOTS: the roots of a tree extend deep into the surrounding soil, anchoring the tree firmly and providing stability during periods of drought and stormy weather. Roots can be likened to the shared assumptions we hold concerning our collective identity, purpose, and values. Although the roots of a tree are hidden from view, their health is evident in the overall health of the tree. The same can be said of the assumptions we hold. When they are coherent with the world that we know, we live with integrity and authenticity.

SOIL: our assumptions are drawn from and limited by current mainstream understandings about the nature of Reality and the origins of our world. In Western societies, the sciences form the horizon of such understandings. Scientific understandings can be likened to soil. Soil allows roots to absorb water and nutrients, thereby sustaining the tree. Similarly, scientific understandings provide a shared fertile ground that sets the boundary of our shared assumptions around identity, purpose, and values. Scientific knowledge is constantly developing, often in small steps, yet there can be significant paradigm leaps. Such leaps reset the boundary or scope of our assumptions.

TRUNK: we pose our spiritual questions around meaning and belonging within the fertile ground of current scientific understandings and shared assumptions. The responses we discover are formed into a unified set of beliefs, crafted into a sacred narrative that gives meaning to our existence and mortality. This sacred narrative can be likened to a trunk of a tree. When a sacred narrative aligns with current knowledge and beliefs, it resonates with us, fostering a sense of belonging.

BRANCHES & LEAVES: can be likened to the outward expression of a sacred narrative in the form of particular beliefs, rituals, and practices.

It is important to note that as an outer environment may grow numerous tree species, so too the shared assumptions around identity, may foster numerous sacred narratives, each offering a shelter of belonging to its members. Each sacred narrative is unique in its own right, while also co-existing within the wider human experience of belonging.

The big shift

Given the above, our experience of belonging does not sit within a vacuum. It draws from the soil of current science-based knowledge and beliefs. As scientific understandings develop incrementally, our belonging continues to adapt gradually. However, when there is a significant paradigm shift, our experience of belonging can no longer adapt, so it fractures. Western societies are living through such a fracture. The paradigm shift is from a mechanistic view of the nature of reality to a systems view. In line with such a shift, we are required to start afresh, and keeping our history in mind, we are to undertake the sacred task of transitioning to a new shelter of belonging. Adopting a systems view of evolutionary history opens up a new frontier, providing fresh soil in which to undertake spiritual exploration, and to unearth a new place of belonging that resonates with our minds and hearts . . . now.

A new frontier - a systems view of evolutionary history

In Western societies, knowledge and beliefs about the nature of reality and the origins of our world are shaped by scientific theories. Those scientific theories fostered a mechanistic view of evolutionary history for a long time. The concepts of competition and the survival of the fittest originated from them. In turn, the current set of assumptions that shape our cultural identity include humancentric and ethnocentric domination, separation, and consumerism. Such assumptions gave rise to an identity of individualism. Individualism fostered a values system that sought the flourishing of the individual above all else.

Science-based theories have been transitioning from a mechanistic view of evolutionary history to a systems view. What does the term a systems view of evolutionary history refer to?

A systems view of evolutionary history

A system is an entity that is a complete whole composed of interconnected elements, and simultaneously a component of a larger whole. Each system is distinct in its own right, while also participating in a larger whole. In turn, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts because of the relationships between the parts. An integrated systems view fosters a principle of interconnectedness via unity in diversity.

Evolutionary history is a scientific theory suggesting that the universe has been evolving over 13.8 billion years, with humans emerging at a later stage in this process.

A systems view of evolutionary history shifts the traditional machine-like view toward a perspective that Reality works like a network of relationships fostered by participation and cooperation. This shift in understanding the nature of Reality has consequently altered our perception of the evolutionary process. The traditional view of evolution as a process primarily driven by competition and survival of the fittest is transitioning to a perception of evolution as a process primarily of relationship, participation, cooperation, and unity with diversity.

Broad themes within the new frontier

Aligning with a systems view of evolutionary history, evolutionary spirituality has fostered two predominant themes that guide our spiritual exploration toward a new cultural shelter of belonging.

1. A greater Story of Life itself - beyond humankind

A greater Story of Life itself both transcends and includes humankind. Thus, it allows us to position our collective identity within a context larger than the human experience. It addresses our age-old spiritual questions of: "Where did we come from?" and "What is our purpose?" We are part of a dynamic 13.8 billion-year Universe Story, also known as "Big History," a term coined by futurist and author Barbara Marx Hubbard. In the context of Big History, we realise that Life itself is the main protagonist, while we humans play an important supporting role. As such, we recognise that humanity is just one of the countless expressions of Life itself. At the same time, humanity has a meaningful role in Life’s ongoing creative dance of being and becoming. Therefore, we do belong, simply because we are here. Such an understanding of participating in Life’s creative dance animates our daily lived experience.

The awareness that we participate in a greater Story of Life fosters moral responsiveness. Why? When we consciously locate our identity within a Big History narrative, we can no longer view ourselves as separate, individual beings, living from a values system geared toward individual rights and the flourishing of the individual alone. Rather, the view that we are each unique beings who participate within a greater Story of Life, fosters a values system aimed at the flourishing of all life. Therefore, the theme of the greater Story of Life in and of itself calls forth personal and collective moral responsiveness.

2. The human tradition

In addition to a greater Story of Life, evolutionary spirituality has also ushered in the theme of the human tradition. The human tradition takes into account human history as a whole, including religious and spiritual traditions. Therefore, the human tradition draws from the rich tapestry of wisdom, beliefs, knowledge, values, and myths that have accumulated within the human experience from ancient times until the present. As well as taking into account previous understandings, the human tradition also transcends those that no longer resonate in the present context. The human tradition enables us to locate our sense of identity and belonging within the wider human community. In doing so, we can assimilate the wisdom of past ages without fully embracing or completely discarding the belief systems from which the teachings emerged. Such a framework for understanding ourselves-in-our-world is called an integral framework.

For more on this topic see the book Call of The Era: being the change, through changing our being

A new set of assumptions and identity

The broad themes of a greater Story of Life and the human tradition are fostering a new set of assumptions and an emerging identity.

A new set of assumptions

A new set of assumptions includes participation, cooperation, and unity with diversity set within the following understandings:

1. We belong, simply because we are here.

2. We belong as unique beings in our own right, who are also intrinsically connected and responsible to a much wider web of relationships - human and nonhuman.

3. We are enough, even with all our limitations. When we realise we are enough, we will no longer seek salvation for our world through supernatural powers. Rather, we will take responsibility for the way we think, live, act, and move within our world.

An emerging identity

Locating our collective identity within the broader themes and new set of assumptions listed above, we will be able to reimagine a new identity beyond humancentric individualism. The new identity will be shaped by the knowledge that:

1. We are each unique beings (self-systems) in our own right seeking personal wholeness in the here-and-now, while also intrinsically connected and responsive to the much greater whole of Life itself.

2. Each world culture (a system of shared norms and beliefs) is unique in its own right, while also being part of the wider global community.

3. Humankind (a system of multiple cultures and religious/spiritual traditions) is unique in its own right, while also being part of the wider community of life.

In line with an integrated systems approach, a new identity will acknowledge the both/and aspects of our nature: we are both unique individuals on a path to self-realisation and at the same time, we are essential components of a larger whole to which we are intrinsically connected and accountable.

Is this identity truly new?

Evolutionary spirituality fosters an identity that is both ancient and new. It is ancient because First Nation peoples across the globe, Eastern spiritual traditions, and mystical traditions within existing religious traditions have lived from an identity grounded by a principle of interconnectedness and participation. Therefore, we modern Westerners have much to learn from such traditions. At the same time, the identity will be new for those of us undertaking spiritual exploration within a systems view of evolutionary history. We are tasked with the sacred adventure of seeking a new personal and/or cultural shelter of belonging, grounded by a new identity.

Evolutionary spirituality and existing religious/spiritual traditions

The themes within evolutionary spirituality provide a new frontier for spiritual exploration. This frontier is not directly located within any of the world’s religious/spiritual traditions, but neither does it function independently from them. For example, there is an evolutionary movement within the Christian tradition. Evolutionary spirituality enables the world's religious/spiritual traditions to examine their beliefs and rituals in the context of this new frontier, while also drawing upon the foundational wisdom of their historical teachings. Consequently, each religious or spiritual tradition will venture into its own new frontier, aware that its distinct shelter of belonging is inherently linked and accountable to the wider cultural shelter of belonging.

Resources

Barbara Marx Hubbard, Conscious Evolution
Thomas Berry, The Great Work: our way into the future & The Dream of the Earth