The Condensed "Perrenial Philosophy"

Spiritual Teacher Ram Das (aka Richard Alpert)

In The Harvard Psychedelic Club, author Don Lattin traced the story of how Timothy Leary, Richard Alpert (soon to become Ram Das) and Huston Smith (soon to be the "dean" of Comparative Religions studies) clashed with Andrew Weil (soon to be America's health food and integrative medicine guru) and the"powers-that-be" over the now infamous psilocybin and LSD trials conducted at Harvard University, clinical and non-clinical trials which "ushered in" the counter-cultural revolution of the 1960s. (A video of Lattin, at a book reading for the The Harvard Psychedelic Club is available here.)

Lattin is a chronicler of the ongoing spiritual revolution that was sparked in the 1960s. He is now working on  a group biography of English polymath philosophers Aldous Huxley and Gerald Heard, together with American social pioneer, Bill Wilson. Huxley's 1954 book, The Doors of Perception, sparked the interest of Leary, Alpert and Weil in the possibilities of using psychedelic drugs to create a mystic experience. With his friends Gerald Heard and Bill Wilson (one of the co-founders of Alcoholics Anonymous, although definitively not acting in that capacity), Huxley conducted further experiments with LSD as a method of gaining the enlightenment experience described by saints and mystics of all the world's wisdom traditions. (Wilson reportedly thought an LSD trip might potentially spark the vital spiritual experience that the Swiss psychologist, Carl Jung, had identified as a possible curative for the disease of alcoholism.)

Bill Wilson was named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential men of the 20th century, while Heard was a particularly well-known BBC commentator whose book, Pain, Sex and Time, Huston Smith credited with sparking his interest in religious studies. Nonetheless, it was Huxley, author of the immensely popular science fiction novel,  A Brave New World, who was the most recognizable and notable of the three.

Aldous Huxley (1894-1963)

Huxley's most influential work may have been The Perennial Philosophy rather than A Brave New World, however. A study of how mystics, saints and sages from all the world's wisdom traditions describe their journey and attainment of mystic enlightenment, The Perennial Philosophy is in a very real sense an updated and cross-cultural version of William James' groundbreaking work, The Varieties of Religious Experience.

The Perennial Philosophy has remained in-print and is still widely available, while Heard's Pain, Sex and Time has only recently been reprinted. However, the most succinct statement of what all three would have called "the Perennial Philosophy," is found in Huxley's introduction to a translation of the Bhagavad Gita, The Song of God, by their friend and compatriot Christopher Isherwood together with Swami Prabhavananda, a Vedantist monk. (The Song of God is still available through the Vedanta Society of Southern California, of which Isherwood, Prabhavananda and Huxley were all members.)

In the following briefest of words, Huxley describes the underlying message and findings of all the world's great religious and wisdom traditions:

"At the core of the Perennial Philosophy we find four fundamental doctrines.

First: the phenomenal world of matter and individualized consciousness - the world of things and animals and men and even gods - is the manifestation of a Divine Ground within which all partial realities have their beginning, and apart from which they would be non-existent.

Second: human beings are capable not merely of knowing about the Divine Ground by inference; they can also realize its existence by a direct intuition, superior to discursive reasoning. This immediate knowledge unites the knower with that which is known.

Third: man possesses a double nature, a phenomenal ego and an eternal Self, which is the inner man, the spirit, the spark of divinity within the soul. It is possible for a man, if he so desires, to identify himself with the spirit and therefore with the Divine Ground, which is of the same or like nature with the spirit.

Fourth: man's life on earth has only one end and purpose: to identify himself with his eternal Self and so come to unitive knowledge of the Divine Ground."

It is these four ideas - known by most cultures, but forgotten by many - that were at the heart of the Western spiritual renewal that was kickstarted in the 1960s, and which continues (minus the reliance on LSD and other psychedelics, which turned out to be a bit of a dead end) with us today. While Huxley died in 1963, before he was able to see the revolutions (religious and otherwise) spawned in the crucible of the 1960s, the ideas of the "Perennial Philosophy" continue on in the various non-dual teachings of Eckhart Tolle, Byron Katie, Andrew Cohen and so many others.

Higher Consciousness May Alter Genetic Structures: Deepak Chopra

Deepak Chopra, M.D.

In a fascinating, progressive and optimistic article in the San Fransisco Chronicle, Deepak Chopra - a spiritual icon who is by training a medical doctor - commented on the results of a recent study that showed as little as eight weeks of meditative practice alters brainwave patterns and, most likely, the structure of the brain itself.

The notion that the brain is "plastic" and continues to grow and evolve through the lifetime of an individual is a relatively recent finding. It is only in the past several decades that biologists, like Rupert Sheldrake, have examined how consciousness itself (or, perhaps, the quality of consciousness) shapes the brain. The so-called 'mind/body problem' is whether consciousness itself gives rise to the brain as the organ of consciousness, or whether the brain gives rise to consciousness.

Eastern traditions dating back to the mists of time clearly expound the consciousness-birthing-brain view, while Western science (at least until recently) implicitly and explicitly embraced the brain-birthing-consciousness model. In most instances, Western science ignored questions of what consciousness "is" because it is inherently a subjective phenomenon which lies beyond the purview of science's objective methodology. Consciousness studies were therefore confined as a branch of metaphysics, philosophy or theology, rather than a part of the 'hard sciences.' It is only very recently that vastly improved technologies have allowed researchers to study the quality of consciousness objectively.

The study reviewed by Chopra followed up years of research which showed that the brainwaves of Buddhist monks steeped in years of meditative practice differed significantly from the brainwaves of non-meditators. The recent study at the Massachusetts General Hospital is profoundly optimistic and novel in that it shows how rapidly adoption of a meditative practice alters an individual's brain functions. Implicitly, it demonstrates that the potential for higher consciousness is a universal, built-in human trait. It infers that the level of consciousness changes the brain's physiology - which would support the consciousness-birthing-brain view - and begs the question of just "how" higher consciousness and awareness alters both functionality and brain structure.

Chopra's comments embrace the rather radical notion (from a Western scientific viewpoint) that consciousness is an evolutionary force that operates not only across generations, but during the lifetime of the individual him or herself. Chopra specifically comments on how the experience of higher states of consciousness may change an individual's genetic structures over the lifetime of the meditator. He writes:

"I imagine the next step will be the discovery that meditation changes the expression of your genes. Dr. Dean Ornish, who has championed meditation, along with diet and exercise, as a proven way to reverse heart disease, recently discovered changes to the expression of more than 400 genes among those who followed his program of positive lifestyle habits. The link between the brain and genes does come as something new, and it shows promise of overturning the most basic ideas about both. For decades it was taken as gospel in medical school that neither the brain nor our genes could be altered in any significant way (except negatively, through aging and disease), but now we know that the brain is far more dynamic and susceptible to change than anyone ever supposed. Moreover, any change inside the brain must be mediated by genetic expression. That is, a brain cell does things like grow new connections and heal itself only through the production of proteins and enzymes, and these require genetic signals — they don't happen on their own"

Chopra calls the implications of the recent study's findings "startling." He asserts that "(t)here is a direct path that begins in the mind — with meditation, mindfulness, or more basic things like beliefs and emotions — and then the path leads to the genes, where signals are sent that modify the brain cell, which in turn sends its own signals in the form of neurotransmitters to every cell in the body."

"The old phrase, "biology is destiny," will have to be seriously re-examined," he writes. He suggests that "(a) good replacement would be "consciousness is destiny," which is the guiding reason that meditation arose in the first place," and foresees "enormous opportunities for personal freedom."

"Instead of being dictated to by your genes and (the) chemical processes in the brain," Chopra suggests that "it may turn out that you are the author of your own life, capable of change, healing, creativity, and personal transformation." It is a fascinating, progressive and optimistic view that embraces and seeks to explain the findings of thousands of years of Eastern meditative teachings.

Knowledge That Suffocates Bewilderment

(1207-1273)

"Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment," urges Rumi, the 13th century Sufi mystic and poet

I once read an anecdote about Rumi's first encounter with his spiritual muse, Shams of Tabriz. The story goes that Rumi is walking while reading a hand-copied book of his father's teachings (Rumi's father, Bahā ud-Dīn Walad, was a theologian, Sufi sheikh and mystic of the first order, himself.) Rumi runs into Tams, who promptly snatches up Rumi's most treasured book and throws it into a fountain, thereby destroying it. There is no doubt that an astonished Rumi must have at first been bewildered by Shams' actions.

But here I am again, clinging to all my suffocating cleverness which encases the bewilderment within. "But just let me explain," cries my smaller self, "I know what it all means." Knowledge and experience are not synonomous and may, in fact, be mutually exclusive. Do you know what it is you see, by its similarities, differences, qualities and classifications? Or, do you openly experience what your senses present to you?

Rumi eventually realized how nonsensical it was to be engrossed in the knowledge within the book that was destroyed, when Shams was already there as an exemplar. He realized that the moon reflected in a pool of water was not the moon, in fact, and that the puddle could not after all hold the moon. (This is the Sufi version of the Buddha's distinction between the moon and the finger pointing at the moon.) And, yet, the moon required the puddle, and the puddle the moon, in order to bewilder Rumi.

Can you not see what a clever little trickster the ego is? Where can one buy bewilderment these days?

Osho (1931-1990)

A recent issue of The Times of India featured an excerpt from Osho's book, Walking In Zen, Sitting In Zen, highlighting why he was against knowledge, but rather urged people to respond to the moment.

"Knowledge destroys wonder, destroys the capacity to feel awe," Osho observes. "It makes you capable of explaining away everything. It takes away all poetry from life. It takes away all meaning from life. The knowledgeable person is never surprised by anything because he can explain everything. But no explanation is true for they don't explain anything at all. The mystery remains. The mystery is infinite."

Knowledge "takes away all poetry." How true. It was only after embracing Sham's bewilderment that Rumi became a poet for the ages. All his considerable learning and knowledge were an impediment to the bewilderment that wanted to burst forth from his chest.

"The knowledgeable person," writes Osho, "becomes so burdened by his knowledge that he loses the mirror-like quality of reflecting the beauty, the benediction, the dance, the ecstasy of existence." This is Osho's poetics flowing from beyond knowledge.

 "Knowledge is not going to help as far as life is concerned," he concludes. "The knowledgeable person is almost a dead person; he lives in his grave." Rumi says, "Take tiny sips of breath all day long, before death comes and closes your throat." Knowledge can too easily suffocate, I say, smothering the flames of bewilderment with the ego's rote rememberings and constant analysis.

Christianity's Teachings of 'Higher Consciousness' Largely Lost in the West

"Through our awakened presence, or higher consciousness, the universe becomes conscious of itself."

When was the last time that you heard a message like this at your church, temple, synagogue or mosque? Have you ever heard anything like this from a televangelist, from a "Christian fundamentalist"? 

Traditionalists, who may be skeptical of what sounds like a New Age mantra, may be surprised that this basic truth of all of the world's wisdom traditions comes from a mainstream Protestant minister, based in the mid-west heartland of Indianapolis, Indiana.

Ted Nottingham, an author, publisher, television and video producer, and the Disciples of Christ pastor at Indianapolis' Northwood Christian Church, may be one of the most unheralded, yet most progressive theologians of our day. His message of the pressing need for each of us to awaken consciously to the Divine at the core of our being, and the Divinity which pervades and underlies the entirety of the universe, is based not on the surge of interest in higher states of consciousness and the synthesis of physics and spirituality, but on a deep and profound understanding of scripture and early (particularly, Orthodox) Christianity.

The above quote, from Nottingham's YouTube video on "Theosis" - or, the process of' God-realization that was at the heart of the early Church's teaching, and which remains at the heart of Orthodox traditions - is, in fact, a message which is ubiquitous across the world's great wisdom traditions; a point acknowledged by Nottingham.

With an extensive knowledge of varied spiritual traditions - from ancient Judaism, to the Desert Fathers, to G.I. Gurdjieff - Nottingham proposes an engaged, deeply personal and transformative practice of Christianity, one designed to tap the transcendental potential of each of us in a world where spiritual realities are too often overlooked or absent.

Theodore (Ted) Nottingham on YouTube

One of his most recent videos, "Rediscovering Christianity," is a well-reasoned and persuasive appeal to re-examine the basic tenets and message of the world's largest religion; to look at how and where its essential tenets have been lost or obscured; to go beyond the historical "baggage," "bloodshed," and "modern misrepresentations" of Christianity, and to look at it anew for its relevance in the 21st century.

Nottingham's basic message throughout his writings, sermons and videos is that there is "a new quality of consciousness" available to each of us, a message that has been lost in most instances. (Other must-see videos by Nottingham on Christianity, include "The Inner Teaching," and "The Watch of the Heart," an essential Eastern Orthodox methodology and discipline  for overcoming the ego.

"We have made impotent that which is the very source of our life, within us and around us, Nottingham says. "We've lost sight of the invisible within the visible."

He urges the viewer to get over the Darwinism versus Creationism debate, and the modern controversies over science versus faith, to move beyond the "absurd levels" of Christian fundamentalism, in order to rediscover the potentiality of Christianity's "holistic dimension" that has been largely lost in the Western Christian tradition.

Nottingham's voice and message is one that is needed in the public discussions on faith, higher consciousness, and human potential. He is, at once, a welcome antidote to both the narrow fundamentalism and the evangelical atheism of Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchins et. al., as well a passionate advocate of humankind's potentiality.

Andrew Cohen Speaks Out on Huffington Post

For those not acquainted with the teachings of Andrew Cohen, of the teaching he has dubbed "Evolutionary Enlightenment" - an enlightenment methodology discussed here in a previous post - Cohen discusses his approach to spiritual awakening in an article on the highly visible and influential Huffington Post. The piece is undoubtedly a follow-up to his recent panel with Deepak Chopra at the Urban Zen Institute, which was moderated by Arianna Huffington (and is available on Fora.tv).

In describing his personal spiritual awakening, Cohen attributes credit to the non-dualist Advaida Vedanta lineage of his teacher (H.W.L. Poonja), which stretches back to the great self-realized Hindu sage, Ramana Maharshi (1879-1950). While his personal enlightenment experience is the continuance of an unbroken line of liberation (or moksha) that stretches back to the mists of time in the Indian subcontinent, Cohen has taken his own experience and teaches a variant of cutting edge spiritual awakening that is at once urgent, universal and immediately relevant to our times, and which embraces rather than challenges the scientific understandings that have revolutionized our modern and wired-in world. (Cohen lists Liebniz, Schelling, Hegel, Schopenauer, Emerson and the Jesuit paleontologist, Teilhard de Chardin, amongst the list of  forerunners to this emerging transcendental epiphenomena.)

Ramana Maharshi                         

"Traditional enlightenment is what I learned from my teacher," Cohen explains, "but Evolutionary Enlightenment is what I have discovered and created in my own work over the last almost quarter of a century." Cohen and his co-creators explore the depths of the world's varied wisdom traditions and the potential of humankind's ongoing and transformative noetic evolution in the pages and on the website of EnlightenNext.

"It was only after many years of deep introspection, dialogue with masters and thinkers from all traditions and committed work with thousands of spiritual seekers throughout the world," Cohen writes, "that I began to understand what this new enlightenment is all about, why it is so different from what has come before, and why, as I believe, it holds the key not only to our personal development but to our cultural evolution."

 In his latest article on the Huffington Post (his other posts are here, here and here) he differentiates traditional notions of enightenment - that the world is an illurory realm, or maya, and that is sufficient to overcome the world by the self-realization of transcendental liberation, or moksha - with a perspective informed by a scientific and evolutionary world view. "(E)nlightenment is evolving," Cohen notes. "It is no longer found only in the bliss of timeless Being; it is found also in the ecstatic urgency of evolutionary Becoming."

Cohen stresses that in this age, where we may have reached the edge of our physical evolution, there is an urgent imperative for humanity to further the limits of its consciousness in order for the evolutionary impulse to continue its 14 billion-odd years of unfolding. In a cry from the metaphysical barricades, he writes:

"Traditional enlightenment points us beyond the world, beyond time and space, toward what has been, at least until now, the perennial source of spiritual freedom and mystical liberation: the Ground of Being. But those of us in the 21st century who are looking toward the future urgently need a mystical spirituality and source of soul liberation that points us not away from the world but to that big next step we need to take in our world. That next step will not emerge by itself -- it must be consciously created by human beings who have awakened to the same impulse that is driving the process. As we awaken to this vast perspective, an overwhelming and profound truth becomes clear: At this point in evolution, the process is dependent upon us. The evolutionary process desperately needs our conscious and committed participation."

This is heady stuff. There is a real moral imperative, largely unstressed in traditional enlightenment, for individuals to commit themselves to their own personal transcendence "for the sake of the Whole." His message is that, if we wish to continue to live and evolve on our increasingly interconnected planet, we must become the equivalent of 21st-century bodhisattvas, and his experience is that this is possible.

"This liberating spiritual perspective on the human experience is contemporary and inherently creative," he stresses. "It's a spiritual teaching for our own time because its central tenet is that a more enlightened future for our world depends on one thing and one thing alone -- our higher development."

"The world around us changes for the better as much as we are willing to change ourselves, he concludes. "The world we occupy and cocreate begins to transform as we do. The old model of enlightenment was one in which the individual was liberated but the world remained the same. In the new enlightenment, the point is no longer merely the liberation of the individual; it's the evolution of self, culture and cosmos through the individual. That's Evolutionary Enlightenment."

To read more about the "essential elements" of  Cohen's "Evolutionary Enlightenment" teachings, and to understand his "five tenets" of leading an awakened life, visit his website at www.andrewcohen.org. Alternatively, purchase a copy of, or subscribe to EnlightenNext magazine and its companion website.

Body, Mind, and Spirit: The Need for 'Developing Sustainability' and a True 'Humanity'

Body, Mind and Spirit (Thinkstock photos/Getty Images)

If someone were to ask me what "religion" I am, I would probably say "Transcendental Realist." While there is no such religion per se, there seems to be a recognition in all of the world's great wisdom traditions that there is a "transcendental consciousness" within each of us, although it is masked by the ordinary "self-consciousness" of the individual ego.

In cutting-edge science, there is also a   recognition of the fundamental and integral role  that consciousness itself plays in bringing the reality of our "ordinary" world into existence; a recognition that consciousness itself transcends the individual and forms (for want of a more ecumenical term) the Ground of Being. Hence,  I would say that  Transcendental Realism is the path I follow towards greater growth and insight into this higher consciousness.

The point that our fundamental 'humanity' (from the Greek, humus, meaning "ground") consists of the body, mind and a spirit (or consciousness) rooted in this Ground of Being, is clearly made in a recent article by Shri Shri Anandamurti in The Times of India. Anandamurti observes:

"Human existence is trifarious, a combination of three currents: physical, mental and spiritual. Most people may not transcend the limits of their physical existence: they get enmeshed in crude worldly pleasures, tormented by desire. Subtleties of life, expression and practice are perhaps beyond their reach. Their world is limited to their bodies and physical requirements.

There are others who are more concerned with their minds as they feel that it is the supremacy of mind that sets them apart. Their lives are guided by their desires for mental satisfaction. By virtue of their endeavours they create poetry, art, music and sculpture, for instance. They express the finer human feelings of mercy, sympathy, love, friendship and pity. They believe that the mind flows for the sole purpose of attaining the Infinite, and hence they focus their energies on the contemplation of the Transcendental Entity. They are spiritual aspirants. Drawn by the magnetic attraction of Cosmic Consciousness they speed forward and reach the stage which marks the end of mental existence and the beginning of spirituality. At that stage one is no longer a human being, one is a veritable god."

"It ought to be the mission of every person to achieve confluence of the mental and spiritual strata," Anandamurti observes, as this is, "the pinnacle of human progress." Unfortunately, as Anandamurti clearly sets out, this basic aspiration is not recognized by societies at the peak of their physical strength.

Anandamurti, steeped in Vedic tradition and India's history, recognizes that there is an epoch-long cyclical evolution of societies that witnesses the rise and fall of humanity's consciousness, but which moves us towards eventual enlightenment. When a society appears to be at its height, however, there is already a decline where the powerful few in search of physical wealth and power overlook the 'humanity' and bodily, mental and spiritual needs of the many.

"It is difficult to step down from the high position of the vainglorious to rub shoulders with the less privileged," Anandamurti observes, while "(t)he neglect of humanity (is) particularly acute towards the end of each era of the social cycle."

"Kind-hearted and philanthropic kings did exist," he notes, looking back at the vast expanse of India's history, "but very few, if any, met the psycho-physical needs of his people and opened the gateway to realisation of the Infinite. For self-aggrandizement and in a bid to conquer the world they invaded countries, one after another."

"Sustainable Development" or a need to "Develop Susrainability?"

"How," he asks, "could they afford to inquire into the tragic plight of the common people?"

While these observations may seem somewhat "apocalyptic" from a Western viewpoint informed by a Christian tradition of an eventual "Armageddon," from an Eastern outlook, steeped in the longer history of empires forming, rising ruling and inevitably declining in the inexorable but slow progress of humanity's evolution in consciousness, it is not. Rather, Anandamurti's view is optimistic regarding the inevitability of progress towards a broader 'humanity' that sustains the bodily, mental and spiritual needs of humankind.

More than anything, Amandamurti's article in the Times is an indictment of the "progress" made by Western civilization in the last 300 years - "progress" that has not provided for the needs of the largest part of the world's population - as well as an observation that the today's power structures are already in decline.

As such, the observations that humankind's mental and spiritual needs are not being met by our current power structures, even in this era of great physical accomplishments, is a warning that we should be concentrating not on "sustainable development," but on "developing sustainability" that encompasses a true "humanity" and addresses our physical, mental and spiritual being.

Andrew Cohen and His Teachings on Evolutionary Enlightenment

I was thrilled to once again find copies of EnlightenNext on the magazine rack at my corner store. It is a sure sign that the collective journey towards higher consciousness and deeper meaning continues on a rising tide. The self-styled "Magazine for Evolutionaries" is at once an embodiement and extension of the spiritual teachings of Andrew Cohen, EnlightenNext's founder and editor-in-chief.

For those unfamiliar with Cohen, his teachings combine the profound lineages of Ramana Maharshi, Liebnitz, Thaillard de Chardin and many others, bringing the timeless quest for higher consciousness and spiritual meaning to the frontiers of the twenty-first century. Cohen's basic teachings, an approach he calls "evolutionary enlightenment," can  be found online at www.andrewcohen.org, while the importance of "evolutionary enlightenment" is highlighted in the pages of EnlightenNext (and on its website www.EnlightenNext.com).

Andrew Cohen's teachings on evolutionary enlightenment are profound, yet they are firmly and consistently grounded in physics (particularly cosmology and quantum theory), psychology and metaphysics - the three fundamental disciplines of the sciences, social sciences and humanities.

If you are interested, below is a fora.tv discussion between renowned spiritual author and activist, Deepak Chopra and Andrew Cohen, hosted by Arianna Huffington, a spiritual seeker who is the founder and editor-in-chief of top news and political commentary site, The Huffington Post.




Cohen's "Five Tenets to Living an Enlightened Life" are, I think, one of the most helpful paths to understanding the common peril of the human ego and overcoming it. The following, is a short summation of these Five Tenets:

(1) The Clarity of Intention  - At all times, the spiritual aspirant should be sure in what his absolute goal is - i.e., escaping the ego and engaging the world from a position of autonomy where you alone are responsible for your thoughts, words and action.

 (2) The Law of Volitionality - A radical realization that all are actions are acts of volition, or voluntary intent. The choices we face may suck, but the fact remains we make the choices. Every word we say, ever action we take, and even those words left unsaid and actions left undone are all volitional acts. We are not victims, but vital participants in the evolution of consciousness.

(3) Face Everything and Avoid Nothing - An awareness of what is around us, remaining undeceived about the people, places and things in our lives, and not avoiding them because of ego-generated fear, are an essential method to break the ego's bondage.

(4) The Truth of Impersonality - There needs to be a recognition that we are but one of the billions upon billions of living beings on this earth; that our sun is just one of 200 billion stars in our average-sized  Milky Way galaxy; and that there are over 100 billion similar galaxies inn our cosmos. Life itself is not, as the self-conscious ego would have us believed, centered around us. We therefore need to actively particpate in our own evolution from ordinary self-consciousness to cosmic consciousness, or God-consciousness, if you prefer.

(5) For the Sake of the Whole - The driving force for such conscious evolution of our very consciousness cannot succeed if we do it for our own sake alone. We must pursue evolution for the sake of all beings, for the sake of the whole; for the cosmos is the whole, the Ground of Being.

For a more fulsome explanation of Evolutionary Enlightenment visit the "teachings section" on the AndrewCohen.org website; and while there, be sure to check out Andrew's blog on the site, which witnesses to the spiritual unfolding and evolution of our world . . . in our time.