“Humanity is now faced with a stark choice: evolve or die.” ~ Eckhart Tolle
My premise is quite simple, but of great importance to the survival of our human species. It is about the next phase of human evolution. The premise is that humans can – and really must – continue to evolve so we can grow into a more enlightened species to create a more peaceful and collaborative civilization. We cannot solve the many, many challenges facing humanity with the same level of consciousness from which they were created. There is too much conflict and stagnation in our economic, political and social structures to manifest the changes needed to create a bright and sustainable future for humans on Earth.
So I offer a vision for this evolutionary step: I invite people to consider the possibility that the next step in human evolution is to awaken the full potential of the human heart so we can fully embody our spiritual nature and higher consciousness.
I know this is a leap but please stay with me. Most people know what I mean by the human “heart”. I am not referring to the anatomical heart, nor the heart chakra, but to that energy center in our being that is the place of love, truth, courage and deep knowing. Some call it “the seat of the soul” or “the seed of divine consciousness” that resides in every being.
In most indigenous cultures this heart center is considered an obvious and instrumental part of human existence. It connects us with truth, wisdom, the ancestors, the Creator and all beings. It is the moral compass – or more of a moral gyroscope that keeps us centered, balanced and on course.
While western-rationalist culture has marginalized the heart as a mythical or poetic phenomenon, I believe the heart center is much, much more than we are taught in Western culture. In fact I believe it is one of the most profound, powerful and untapped resources in human existence.
“If you are feeling powerless it means you have lost the connection to your heart.
Your heart is how you are connected to the Creator, truth and power.”
~ attributed to a Native American elder
Mystics and spiritual teachers have been referring to the heart center for centuries. I have come to understand that the heart is not just about love: it is the center for universal connection and communication. As one deepens into the awakening potential of the heart we discover it can be the doorway to direct connection with higher consciousness – or what Dr. Joe Dispenza calls Quantum Awareness. I see the heart as a portal to the spirit realms and multi-dimensional realities. It is that luminous center of light where our pure essential nature resides and is connected with all being.
Chief Seattle said “This we know, all things are connected…” and it is through the heart that this connection happens. As heart awareness develops, we can begin to feel that connection. The ancient Tibetans called it “the jeweled fabric of the universe, of which every heart is an integral part”. (Celestial Gallery by Romio Shrestha, text by Ian Baker & Robert Thurman)
Think of the great enlightened teachers, prophets and gurus like Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed and Yogananda. What we primarily remember of these beings is the light in their hearts — the love, truth and wisdom they radiated. These beings are models of what a human with an awakened heart can be like. Imagine a planet full of enlightened humans! We just need to realize that every human can awaken their heart. We just need to develop our heart centers – much like we now spend years in school developing our intellects.
“What we really need is an education system for the heart.”
– The Dalai Lama
Of course, starting to activate the heart center does not generate instant enlightenment. When one starts on this path a process of healing and clearing is initiated. Confusion gets stirred. One must extract from what I call “the culture of disbelief”. There is deep seated programming in our collective culture to marginalize and trivialize the heart, but once one connects with the power and truth of living from the heart, one’s life is rarely the same. The heart will guide you on a soul-path of healing and awakening that is beyond the scope of “normal” 21st Century reality. Awakening the heart center can completely shift who we understand ourselves to be as humans on Earth.
An important aspect of activating the heart involves what I call “Evolutionary Skills”. We have found that as the heart center awakens people begin to develop certain capabilities such as intuition, clairvoyance, empathy and sensitivity to subtle and healing energies. I call these “evolutionary skills” because I believe they are part of the rubric of the next phase of human evolution.
I have observed that people can train to develop these skills. Just as our current education system progresses through levels of arithmetic, algebra and calculus to develop intellectual capabilities, so too can we begin to develop our intuitive end subtle energy skills. While I am certainly not a genetic scientist, I suspect these skills may well be “latent” in our human DNA structure, waiting to be awakened with a little bit of focus, training and practice.
We have found that working to develop these skills can be a result of activating the heart – and a means to it. So by exploring these “subtle energy skills” we can begin to activate our evolutionary potential and dormant heart centers.
For reasons that are difficult to comprehend, the heart center has been intentionally repressed and de-activated in Western culture for many centuries. Unfathomable heartless horrors like war, torture, slavery, genocide, corruption, abuse and holocaust have caused immense human suffering and an “Age of Darkness” where the human heart was traumatized and shut down – and thus our direct connection with love, truth and divine consciousness was lost. Obviously “heartless” is the key word here. We cannot conceive of someone with an illuminated heart engaging in these horrific kinds of action. We know the awakened heart acts with kindness, truth and generosity.
In Europe and America, during the “Inquisition” or “Burning Times” of the 15th through 18th centuries, there was intentional eradication of people showing any sign of direct connection to spirit or traits like clairvoyance or intuitive awareness. These people, labeled evil witches by the Church, were brutally tortured and burned at the stake. Those who were not revealed were imprinted with deep fear and trauma – and this trauma has since been passed from generation to generation for centuries. As a species with hearts tightly shut we have separated ourselves from the love and light of truth that shines in our heart centers. Fear, intimidation and trauma are very effective tools for shutting down the heart center and repressing certain behaviors.
But on the brighter side, we are now in a time when the powers of the heart center are becoming more accepted – and being studied and practiced by many. For people with these evolutionary capabilities – the grip of disbelief is dissolving and people can now safely use these skills and teach them to others without fear of punishment. The traumas of our ancestors are being transformed and we can begin to discover – or remember — that humans are highly sensitive beings – highly sensitive to subtle energies and higher levels of awareness.
A major component of both awakening the heart center and developing evolutionary skills involves extracting from the “culture of disbelief”. This history of repression has created a deep seated strain of skepticism, cynicism and disbelief in these dimensions of human ability. This means that much of the “heart awakening work” involves suspending disbelief long enough to recognize that anyone can work to develop these abilities.
A simple first step to disengage from the culture of disbelief is to connect with the light in your own heart center – bring your power back into yourself and discern what you know to be true in your heart. This can be as simple as bringing your hands to your heart center, closing your eyes and taking a deep breath. This exercise in “heart resonance” (developed by the “Heart Math Institute) can create an immediate change in one’s awareness.
We just need to realize – make real — that the heart is there waiting to be remembered and awakened. By connecting with and utilizing the heart center – both individually and collectively – we can begin to make a major shift in our perception of what it is to be human.
So returning to my original premise, I believe that if a critical mass of humans were to activate their heart centers that we could take not only an evolutionary step, but a quantum leap in our comprehension of human existence on Earth and in the Universe — and thus come to create a very different kind of “civilization” than exists at this time.
Activating the heart center can expand a person’s awareness and perception. It helps dissolve the “mind of duality” and “illusion of separation” so we can begin to perceive the unified field of creation. It can help us evolve individually and collectively into a more sensitive and intelligent species.
There is lots of attention these days on how the future of humanity will be based in technological advancements in medicine, artificial intelligence and nano-technologies. While these technologies are amazing and will certainly change our lives significantly, it is important to distinguish that the future-vision for humanity I offer is based on human consciousness evolving so we can grow into a more enlightened species. Becoming dependant solely on technological evolution without a parallel evolution in human consciousness is a perilous path.
Dr. David Lovelock developed the GAIA PRINCIPLE which recognizes the Earth as a single living organism. He has also postulated that if humans allow technology and artificial computer intelligence to develop to super-efficient levels, it is likely that biological humans and their advanced brains will no longer be necessary to the planetary organism – and thus may become extinct. So it is imperative, if humanity is to survive as a species, that we continue to evolve.
There is an implicit collective assumption that humans are now at peak evolution, however a quick look at the condition of global human existence reveals much is lacking in the qualities of human civilization – if we can call it that. Human activity has led to multiple planetary crises of epic proportion that must be addressed: climate change, species extinction, massive ecosystem destruction for economic gain, poverty, pollution, oppression, human migrations, war, pandemics, economic imbalances…. The list goes on. We cannot solve these challenges at the level of consciousness from which they were created. While there may be technological solutions at hand, they can only be implemented with massive systemic, political and social change – and that can only happen if we raise the collective consciousness of humanity. Consciousness is changed by each person working to expand their own individual awareness.
“Each of us has a role to play in the healing of our nation’s soul……
The only real remedy is an awakening of the heart……”
~ Marianne Williamson (America’s Cults of Madness)
So yes, I am postulating that the next step in human evolution – and a solution to resolving our many challenges — is to activate the full potential of the human heart. While it may seem naïve and simplistic to propose that ‘spiritual’ expansion will solve our current planetary crisis, we must, as Marcel Proust said, develop “new eyes” to see new possibilities. The old way of thinking is not working. The old way of thinking created the problems. Only a new level of consciousness will allow us to solve these problems with cooperative and peaceful solutions.
I believe a collective heart activation could generate a massive change in our species and on the planet – much more than can be comprehended through our current level of perception: just as Neanderthal people could not comprehend the nature of our contemporary mind and perception, it is difficult for us now to fully envision what human existence could be like with this possible future.
What is most remarkable about this simple solution is that YOU have the evolutionary potential to have a fully awakened heart. Right now you can change the world by activating your heart center and helping humanity evolve. This is something anyone and everyone can do.
NOW is the time to act! You can start by placing your hands on your heart center and ask: “What can I do get started?” Then listen for a response. Also ask yourself “what if the survival of humanity depended on me activating my heart-light and manifesting my full evolutionary potential?” Then feel in your heart what is true.
While the vision I offer may be grandiose, my mission is very simple: to remind (re-mind) people of the great power and abilities of the heart center – and to help us as a species remember (re-member) who we can become as we activate our heart centers. Much of my intention is to simply initiate conversation about the reality of the heart center – and to invite people to feel and perceive the potential that exists in acknowledging the heart center and these evolutionary skills. I invite you to come into that conversation. Talk to your friends about this premise. Bring awareness to the reality of the heart.
There are many, many ways to activate the heart center, including some simple exercises later in this book. There are many people teaching heart and soul awakening practices all over the world. This book is simply another voice in the awakening chorus. It is offered as a wake-up call for those who want to hear – and a possible solution for how humanity can initiate the evolutionary changes needed to continue our life on Earth.
“Wisdom mind is like a diamond. It is indestructible. Wisdom mind is not away somewhere else on a mountain.
The seed of it is within and so like the one who is polishing a stone, we are polishing our view, our speech, and our action for the benefit of all our relations.” ~ Venerable Dhyani Ywahoo
Namaste,
Paul Temple