Spirituality/General: Consciousness, Systems, and Evolution

This article not only helps us to understand what we need to do to live a more conscious life, it also offer some great techniques to help us remain mindful of our goals.

The level of society's group consciousness determines the style of systems it develops, whether political, economic, legal, religious, or philosophical. This applies to personal and interpersonal relationships as well. As we step higher in awareness, the old, denser forms crack, crumble, and vanish. New, lighter forms replace them.

The world is on the threshold of a sweeping change. We are witnessing the passing of the old order. If the transition goes smoothly, it will be more like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon rather than a domino-like series of cataclysmic events. This article addresses a few aspects of this all-encompassing phenomenon and focuses on some tools that may help us as we experience the transformation. Not only are our systems changing, but we as individuals are changing as well. In fact, it is our changing that is changing the systems.

Although all levels of human endeavor are being affected, we will only touch on a few areas - the political, scientific, and religious. Mostly, though, we'll explore the personal aspect. Nevertheless, we can apply the principles described here to any system society has built. We will start with a few paragraphs about politics, which will lead us into a discussion about the effects of consciousness and ego on our lives.

Political Structures

Progressively, we have seen an underlying question emerge: How can we balance the rights and responsibilities of the individual with the good of the whole? To this end we have created a myriad of theories and systems. They have covered the political spectrum from the Far Left to the Far Right. Simply put, the Left accents "group think," or what is best for the whole. The Right focuses on individual liberty and expression. Generally, the "Have Less" favor the Left while the "Have More" favor the Right.

Political structures at either extreme of the spectrum are organized in much the same way. Power is centralized. They are oppressive and often brutal, whether being so in the name of "The People," "Freedom," or "Security." The systems in the middle are most balanced and offer group support as well as individual liberty. In these societies the population is mostly "Haves."

There's also anarchy, which is outside this spectrum. Although people associate it with the Radical Left, it has little to do with the good of the whole except perhaps in a highly idealized fashion, as when humanity has evolved to the point where everyone instinctively "does what is right." Small communities of enlightened people might operate like that now. On the whole, though, we are not there yet - for sure. In any event, if this idealized organization does develop, we would not call it anarchy. Beneath its apparent lack of structure lies an inherent, highly efficient meta-order.

Of all the political forms that humanity has invented, the best so far has been based on the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights. While these documents were penned by enlightened minds of a newly formed nation - Jefferson, Franklin, Madison, Hamilton, Washington, and more - other influences can be credited as well. The most influential were the precedents set down by English Law over the centuries including the Magna Charta and the English Bill of Rights.1 Philosophers from France, like Baron de Montesquieu2 and Rousseau3, and from Italy, like Cesare Beccaria4, contributed also. In addition, the Iroquois nations' political union and democratic government influenced both the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution.5

Marx created Communism as a counterpoint to what he saw as exploitive capitalism. His political philosophy was aimed at the good of the worker. In practice, though, workers saw very little benefit. Theories may sound inspiring, but in practice they can be disastrous. How do good intentions end up producing such negative results? ("The road to hell is paved with good intentions.")

It's a Matter of Consciousness

Systems reflect the consciousness of those who build and run them. You could devise most divinely inspired plan, but if the people involved are acting from a low level of awareness, the distortions of their ego will show in the structure. In short, the level of human awareness determines the level of consciousness of the political (or any) structure.

This is easier to understand when you know what the State (regardless of its type) really is: it is human beings with titles, performing tasks with specific purposes, in official buildings.

Laws - usually written agreements - define what the people within that system can or cannot do and gives some (with "enforcing" titles, like police, judges, etc.) the authority to implement those rules. Levels of consciousness are also reflected in the laws that we write. On the positive side they can provide justice for all. As a negative example, everything that Hitler did was legal: he passed laws saying, "It's OK," and no matter what unjust or atrocious actions the law allowed, the enforcers we acting lawfully.

The State, then, is people. As an external reality, the State, like the Church, does not exist. The same goes for the military, corporations, the mafia, KGB, universities, non-profits, unions, clubs, "Wall Street," and so on. They are people organized in specific ways for specific purposes - nothing more than that. Words, however, hypnotize us into believing otherwise. Peeling away the veils of these word-induced illusions is not so easy.

By extension, any system will improve if the individuals involved raise their consciousness. People who are truly happy - their happiness is sourcing from within and not relying on passing, external circumstances - are people with a higher consciousness. But can being happy really make a difference in politics? If everyone was happy, we would not have war. Suffering would be greatly reduced. That much is obvious, but it goes beyond that.

The collective consciousness of humanity influences the overall quality and structure of human life. Consciousness supports life; unconsciousness is indifferent to it. As an analogy, imagine a lake with six billion drops of water. If each drop is pristine, life in the lake can flourish. If the drops are polluted, then the life forms won't develop as fully as they could. In severe cases, they will perish prematurely. Likewise, a collection of truly happy people can uplift any system in which they involve themselves. The power of this collective happiness can help each individual reach his or her highest potential.

You can see this in business too. Say you have a choice to deal with one of two companies. From one company you sense an authentically happy, upbeat energy. The other has a depressive and controlling atmosphere. If all other elements are equal (product, price, warranty), which one would you support?

There are many ways to be happy or more conscious. One is to monitor your experience: what are you thinking and feeling right now? How are you behaving in this moment? Spiritually, when you are aware, you are awake. If you are awake most of the time, you are enlightened or a saint, depending who's defining you. Usually, though, people are asleep. They react reflexively to their thoughts, emotions, and to the environment; they are lost in the stream of their thoughts. This is living out karma; they are not exercising their Free Will.

By the way, everything we have said about the effects of happiness on a system can be said about compassion, peace, love, and wisdom, or any other quality that we associate with higher consciousness. When we operate at this level, we are focused in the Now. We are not trapped in the mentally created past or future.

Wake Up Tools

Psychologically, we can escape from the cage of the imagined past or future. Thousands of spiritual and psychological tools exist that can help bring our awareness back to the moment. For example, Eckhart Tolle's excellent book, A New Earth, contains dozens of these tips, as do thousands of other texts. Here are a few more tips to add to the list.

These tips (or tools) are interconnected, although some are more suited to certain circumstances than others. Many are phrases that, when programmed into the subconscious, act as reminders to bring us back to the present. With practice they become part of our lifestyle and work automatically. While some of them may sound lightweight or even silly, they can shift the context of a situation and that helps lessen the grip of the ego.

The Tools

When you feel really bad, it seems as if the feeling is here to stay. Experience shows, however, that all emotional states change - just like the weather. When you feel bad, remind yourself that "It's like weather." Given time, you'll see that you are always right. Psychologically, knowing this makes the situation less intense because it gives us hope. With practice, this attitude becomes ingrained, and we instinctively interpret life from that perspective: It's like the weather, and it will pass. Sunny days become cloudy; gray skies brighten. This perspective builds patience and fortitude.

The Challenge

The problem with spiritual tools is that when our emotions kick in and we feel bad, those feelings and the accompanying thoughts become the most dominant influences in our mind. Brain science has shown this to be a physiological fact. The bad feelings (and the thoughts that go with it) demand that we pay attention to them. As a consequence, we forget to use the tools. That's why building a strong, internal spiritual foundation is important: so when we feel bad, the positive reality within us can poke through the layer of negativity and keep us light, buoyant, and loving. "Build your house on rock."

Unfortunately, "building your house on rock" is difficult when it's already built on the sands of ego. The ego, like a dictator fearing to be deposed, will fight any attempt that we make to take away its control. Only with the persistent intent of Will can we be successful. It takes consistent practice, regardless of what path we are following. Not remembering to use our tools puts us at a disadvantage when dealing with negativity. Often, the best we can do is quickly return to the moment and have as little "down time" as possible.

When something happens to us that we don't like, the tendency is to imagine that the problem is bigger than it is. In the movie Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and his sidekick Short Stack are trapped in a cave-like room. Long, deadly spikes are descending from the ceiling. Their only hope of escape is Indie's companion, who, on the way to rescue them, breaks a fingernail. Oh no! To her, breaking a nail is as traumatic as Indies' life-and-death situation.

From breaking a fingernail to receiving bad news at work to having a close relationship end, you can always do a reality check. Ask, "Is it the end of the world?" Go outside and look at the sky. Do you see Armageddon-like clouds forming? Probably not. Whatever the problem is, it's usually not as bad as you think. Chances are you'll survive and learn something. You can quickly get back to the business of being happy.

In some cases this technique could sound callous, but even one's death isn't the end - it's a beginning. Just as energy and matter are indestructible, so is life. And even if the world did end, it wouldn't be the end anyway!

Sometimes we can feel overwhelmed by responsibility. We forget that perhaps most importantly, we are responsible for our own well being. How can we be helpful to others if we are stressed out or distracted?

At home, we used to joke around and pretend we had an invisible parrot on our shoulder. The parrot would remind us to relax by squawking, "Notog Notod." This was parrot shorthand-talk for, "NOwhere TO Go; NOthing TO Do."

As a behavioral guideline the idea of "nowhere to go and nothing to do" sounds impractical at best. Of course, we have places to go and things to do. Here again, though, it's a matter of perspective. When we consciously observe the body in action from the standpoint of the "Witness" (or spirit, or consciousness), we see that action as what Buddha called "non action." We watch the drama of life unfold - with our body as an actor - but we are beyond it. Jesus called this "being in the world but not of it." You are not doing anything, because the real you (the Witness) is simply watching life take place.

The body, which is at one with the All That Is, is going about its business of living. Filled with this divine intelligent energy, it takes care of itself. Every one of its atoms does everything it's supposed to do without "you" doing it.

Pumping and filtering the blood, breathing, renewing cells, and fighting off infections are just a small part of what the body does without the ego intervening. When we are aware of and have faith in the inherent wisdom of the body, "Let go, let God" makes sense, and the result is liberating. You, as spirit or the Witness or consciousness, watch creation (including the body) spontaneously emerge from the unmanifest Ocean of Beingness.

Creation

Newtonian physics explains that creation happened about 14 billion years ago. The energy of the Big Bang cascades through time making everything happen by cause and effect. That initial blast of energy is what powers the universe today. In contrast, a non-linear perspective shows creation to be one seamless, eternal happening. Instant to instant, each Now moment is a fresh, new creation event. The lifeblood energy of the Creator pulses into everything, everywhere, always, giving it existence and life.

We can choose to live by the principles of either ego or spirit. "Nowhere to go and nothing to do" is spiritual. Through practice, we can create a life of "nowhere to go and nothing to do" and watch everything unfold and yet get done.

In reality, there really is nowhere to go and nothing to do. "Events" only happen within the apparent sequence of the past-present-future - a time-based frame of reference that we know is an illusion. Creation is an eternal happening in which everything always is and always is new.

There are many stories about somebody believing that an event is either good or bad, and then it turns out to be just the opposite. Labeling an event as "bad" is simply a matter of mental positioning. If we look at creation as an eternal happening rather than a linear progression, then we see that it's all God.

Nothing is good or bad. "Divine" would describe reality better, but that too falls short. Words derive meaning in relation to other words. To understand "hot" you need to have a reference to cold. With the All-That-Is, though, there is no relationship - and therefore no opposite - because it is everything.

Isn't "nothing" the opposite of "everything"? Intuitively, the answer is Yes. But as David Hawkins points out in his book, The Eye of the I, some things do not have opposites in reality. For instance, when you turn on a light, electricity is running through the wire. However, when you turn off the light, there is no "no electricity" running through the wire. It's just a wire. Existentially, "off" does not exist; "off" is a mental construct. You can say the same about the All-That-Is: "nothing," the supposed opposite of "everything," does not exist in reality. The All-That-Is is all that is. So, it's all good because it's all God.

At another level, you can use the phrase "It's all good" to accent things that you like. It helps to acknowledge anything that positively accents the quality of your life. There is a saying (or perhaps a law), "Whatever you are fascinated with, you get more of." If you like strawberries, make a big deal about them. More strawberries will enter your life one way or another. If you complain about something, then you'll get more of that, and the energy within and around you will begin to spiral downwards. By being fascinated with happiness, energy begins to spiral upward. It blesses you and those around you. Even water reacts to this energy, as does everything.

Life as art

We can be the conscious director of our lives. It works something like this. The brain records and stores in memory the images, sounds, etc. (our life experience) that the senses perceive. The mind edits them, and arranges the clips it considers relevant in a logical sequence. ("Logical" here is relative.) This creates our movie or story.

The ego calls this movie Reality, but it is not. Movies are ephemeral - multimedia symbols strung together to create a picture of reality. Yet, they have an enormous influence on our perceptions, moods, responses, and sense of well being. To live happily we need a movie that supports and encourages an expansive, optimistic attitude.

Science creates movies too. Newtonian science edited out everything metaphysical, leaving a strictly linear, materialistic, deterministic story. Within that framework, science was confident that everything was knowable. But then they added quantum mechanics, chaos theory, and M-theory. This introduced non-linear possibilities (nonlocality) to the script, which upset its theoretical foundations. 6 Some events, they discovered, were indeed unknowable.

The point is that when we add new "clips" to our movie, the context and the meaning can change. Replacing the ego's clips with spiritual ones can alter the plot, mood, and theme of our story. We can move from pessimism and fear to joy and security, and from the ego's very limiting picture of what is real to the cosmic Big Picture of Oneness. By doing this, we can live a life more in line with divinity and become more effective and uplifting in everything we undertake.

You are lying in bed trying to sleep. Instead of falling asleep, though, your brain keeps rehashing last Tuesday. At the office, the manager humiliated you in front of the others. That made you angry. Now you are thinking of what you could have said to defend yourself and how you will deal with the manager tomorrow. You are stuck in a mental loop, repeating the incident over and over in your mind. Your emotions have become involved, and this intensifies the frustration you feel.

Step back in your mind for a moment and ask, "What is real?" Here is what you see: the body is lying in a warm bed and is tense. The mental and emotional bodies are frantic. What is not real is the incident that happened Tuesday or what you will say tomorrow. Those are mental fabrications that the body, mind, and emotions are experiencing as real. The ego has created a picture of reality, which is not reality at all. While that picture may be unreal, the suffering that results from that picture real.

By focusing on existential reality, we can see, smell, hear, taste, and feel what is happening around us. Creation takes place in ever instant, so real is Now. By experiencing what is real in the moment, we can get the most out of life.

This technique works well, too, when we are being judgmental. If you notice that you are judging someone, you can ask, "What's real?" Usually, the real-life situation is different from what you are thinking. In that moment you have a choice: focus on the ego's biased assessment or focus on what is actually happening. If you choose the ego's opinion, you could darken the experience. If you choose reality, you have a better chance of staying peaceful and enjoying yourself and others. You can choose to be happy a good portion of the time.

Whenever you find yourself out of touch, you can always be conscious of your breath. This is a time-honored technique that many religious and spiritual traditions recommend. Just by following the natural in-and-out rhythm of your breath, you know that you are alive with the opportunity to be happy if that's what you choose.

This works well in combination with other tools. Say for instance you have a panic attack. You can breathe to center yourself and then ask, "What is real?" to regain your perspective.

Whenever a negative feeling overcomes you, instead of fighting it, simply feel the effect it is having on your body. Maybe your shoulders are tight or you feel nervous energy running through your body. Whatever the sensations are, you feel and accept them. Say, "I accept this feeling in my body," and stay with the feeling until it has gone. If it returns later on, it won't affect you as much. Eventually, you will become used to it, and it won't bother to return at all. Anyway, whatever is happening - pleasant or unpleasant - is part of our life. We don't gain anything by avoiding experience.

This technique works because the body, mind, and emotions are a unit. When we treat one part with awareness, in this case the body's sensations, we treat them all. Certain circumstances can bring up memories of unresolved trauma, and we feel bad. Feeling bad in turn creates tension in the body. Until we become aware of that trauma, that is, experience it consciously, that feeling will remain inside us and return whenever circumstances trigger the memory. Once we have thoroughly experienced it - rather than continually reacting to it unconsciously - then we will have resolved it.

When something bad happens, naturally, we don't want it to be happening. We fight it. We cause ourselves to become upset, angry, scared, sad, or anxious. These responses show that in this moment we are not accepting "what it is." The ego is sabotaging its own happiness, perhaps righteously so, but in any event, it's doing it unconsciously. By saying with intent "I accept reality" and desiring to discover the truth of the situation, we see it differently. One thing we can learn is that self-righteousness is less fulfilling - and less an evolutionary force - than happiness.

This tool also works when you find yourself thinking something like, "I don't want to feel bad." If you change "I don't want to feel bad" to "I accept reality" and stick with it, the context will shift. You'll automatically see things differently. This works with "I don't like myself" and related ideas such as "I hate myself," "I'm such an idiot," and the like. These thoughts and the accompanying feelings poison the mental, emotional, and physical bodies. We are better off without them. Accepting reality brings light that dissolves negativity. This is better than indulging what brings us down.

In addition, we can make the intention to see deeper into how our mind works. For instance, anger is often not anger; it's impatience. Say you are driving. Someone in front of you is driving way too slowly. You squeeze the steering wheel and clinch your jaw. This is sign of impatience, not anger. You are resisting reality: for whatever reason - and the reason doesn't matter in this respect - the person driving in front of you is driving just as fast as he is driving. It's useless to push mindlessly against reality. Circumstances always pass. Patience, then, is the key. Accepting reality is patience in action, and patience makes you stronger. Impatience is a form of unhappiness, and unhappiness is a form of weakness.

You can discover that guilt, while it might have a redeeming value at some sociological level, is another way that the ego punishes itself and denies the wonder of the moment. The awesome wonder of life is humbling. You can feel such a deep gratitude for being alive. Being grateful is not simply saying, "Thank you." The experience can be so heart-wrenchingly exquisite that you feel guilty about feeling so good about feeling so grateful.

The flood has washed out the bridge. On the riverbank, a scorpion approaches a frog and explains his predicament.

"Frog, my family lives on the other side of the river. I can't reach them because the bridge is out. Would you take me across the river? Let me ride on your back while you swim across."

The frog is astonished and says, "No way! If I do that, you'll sting me and I'll die!"

The scorpion assures him that, that would not happen. He begs the frog to please help him, so he can see his family. Finally, the frog acquiesces.

About halfway across the river, the frog feels an intense burning in his back. Sure enough, the scorpion has stung him. As they sink in the swirling brown flood waters, the frog cries, "Why did you do that? Now we're both going to die!"

The scorpion answers, "I'm sorry. I couldn't help it. I'm a scorpion," and stings him again.

People are not scorpions, of course. They can change, but usually not overnight. This applies especially to deeply ingrained habits. Yet, when we deal with a person on a regular basis and he keeps repeating the same "bad" behavior, we feel annoyed and want him to act differently. Our own attitude is just as inflexible as his habits!

Repetitive behavior is just that - habitual, unconscious, "knee-jerk" reactions. It's not our job to force people to change. If we think it is, a control issue could be involved. Once we have overcome the resistance to "what it is," we can deal with it in a non-confrontational way. By applying this principle during our judgmental moments - and knowing instinctively that "it is what it is" - we reduce the amount and degree of friction we create in our lives. We are more peaceful.

It is what it is: respect it for what it is. This includes our self.

Once upon a time, a rather large meteor struck the earth. The space rock ended the millions-of-years reign of the dinosaur. Much later the Roman Empire fell, and Western civilization plunged into the Dark Ages. A little later, the Black Plague decimated almost half the population of Medieval Europe. Recently, humans massacred well over 100,000,000 of their own kind during the Wars (and genocides) of the Twentieth Century. Yet, here we are, alive, with the opportunity to be happy in this moment.

Whenever a problem arises - no matter what it is - you can assure yourself that life will go on, continue to evolve, and it will all work out. Ultimately, everything returns to the Source, because the Source is everything. God is Good, and it all works out.

Whenever you feel bad, notice what you are thinking. Ask yourself, "Who's talking?" You can bet it's the familiar Voice in Your Head, the ego. One of its jobs is to sabotage its own happiness. The ego is a time-based phenomenon and concerns itself with the imagined past and future. Once you notice that you are not seeing reality - because you are wondering in the non-existent past or future - then you can wake up and enjoy.

The ego sabotages happiness. The ego sabotages happiness. The ego sabotages happiness. The ego sabotages happiness. The ego sabotages happiness. The ego sabotages happiness. The ego sabotages happiness.

And we don't have to play along.

Sometimes we daydream, "space out," or get lost in the thought-stream (by identifying with it). By having the phrase "What time is it?" programmed into the subconscious, it becomes easier to break the spell of the mind. The time is always Now. Just by thinking "What time is it?" brings you back to the present. Happiness, like everything else, exists only in the present, never in the past or the future.

The movie Peaceful Warrior is an inspiring example of this principle. This 2006, based-on-true-facts film stars Nick Nolte as the New Spirituality Zen Master, "Socrates." ("There are no ordinary moments.") This is perhaps one of the most entertaining and explicit films on the subject.

Knowing something is history can reboot our sense of reality. Did something unpleasant just happen? No problem, because the key phrase here is "just happened." That means it is history. Say for instance someone calls you stupid. You don't like it. But if you realize that what was said is now officially history, then it's much easier to let it go.

It's the same when you are giving yourself a reason to feel guilty. Remember that it is history and that it's OK to move on. The trick here is that you must believe - and preferably know - that the present is more important and more satisfying than history. With experience, you prove it to yourself.

Accepting that something is history allows us to forgive others quickly. Actually, the one doing the forgiving receives more benefit than the one forgiven. When we withhold forgiveness we cannot feel free; blame ties us to the lower, sub-happiness levels of consciousness.

Tool Summary

When we integrate new elements into our subconscious through practice, a new picture of reality emerges. Like a critical twist in the plot of a movie where the bad guy is now seen as the good guy, the context shifts. By living consciously in the moment, we are choosing to live lovingly.

The point of using consciousness tools is to replace dysfunctional, ego-based reactions with spiritual-based actions. If you do this, you become a portal. Evolutionary spiritual energy can enter the physical plane through you. This energy changes your life and all the people and systems that you interact with, even if you interact with them only indirectly.

To summarize the tools:

• It's Like the Weather (It will pass)
• Is It the End of the World? (No)
• There's Nowhere to Go and Nothing to Do (Relax)
• It's All Good (God is reality)
• What's Real? (Use your senses to become aware)
• Breathe (Center yourself)
• Stay with the Feeling (Feel the sensations in the body)
• I Accept Reality (Whatever it is, it's OK, because it is)
• It Is What It Is (Respect what it is)
• It All Works Out (No problem)
• Who's Talking? (The ego, sabotaging happiness)
• What Time Is It? (Wake up, the time is now)
• It's History (It's always a new moment)

Using Consciousness as a Tool for Change

If we picture the human race as an evolving entity, then overall we are in our late adolescence. In terms of evolution, we have reached the point where we must move beyond the narcissism, recklessness, and short-sightedness that have marked our "teen years."

Simplicity can help shed some light on complex situations such as this one. What Einstein's elegant formula, E=MC2, did for clarifying the relationship between energy and matter, Jesus' "Love thy neighbor" clarified how to move beyond social and spiritual immaturity. "Love thy neighbor" transcends the cage of the personal ego and its associated social forms (the ego of the family, club, tribe, religion, or country). All you need is love. By opening us to diverse viewpoints, "love thy neighbor" allows new systems of organization to develop that are evolutionary and a benefit to all.

Before we can love our neighbor, though, we must know how to love ourselves. And that is to know how to be happy, loving, and compassionate. (If you are one of these, you are all of them.) It's about coming to terms with life and dealing consciously in every moment. This state of consciousness may not be possible for everyone, but we can call the people who are in this state "enlightened." Being enlightened is not an idealized state, although it's rare: humanity is at a stage of development that does not produce too many of these "specimens." By the looks of it though, when humanity matures, everyone will be enlightened. We are heading in that direction. In any event, we don't need to be enlightened to be happy a good portion of the time.

Positive Results

The more our consciousness is evolved, the better results we will see. Our perceptions and actions become more in line with the Force of Evolution, and that Force will then support what we do.

An enlightened society encourages new systems of organization to develop that benefit everyone. In these systems, cooperation supersedes competition. Enemy consciousness vanishes. Economic balance is achieved. Justice and integrity replace corruption and greed. Reason, knowing, and common sense overshadow prejudice and falsehood. Spirituality (the worship of God) replaces religion (the worship of scripture and dogma). We organize in new, integrated ways: what is good for the individual is good for the whole and visa versa.

Politically, voting, running for office, opposing or supporting a particular policy or candidate, or getting involved in a movement can help. Actually, just living your life day-to-day is good too. Doing so from an aware state will make the world a better place, whether you win at something or not. And as a bonus, everything becomes more beautiful to you, because it is. And because you are.

©Copyright 2008 by AlternativeApproaches.com

About the author: As a visionary philosopher, one of Michael - The LightLounge Guy's goals is to discover and present ways of expanding consciousness. Expanding one's consciousness improves the individual's quality of life - spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically - and helps build a new civilization. This is not strictly philosophy: anyone can be spiritually uplifted by practicing a path that is aligned to his or her spirit. More information is available at his web site, Light Lounge.