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January/February 2002 Cosmic
Achieving Gnosis Of The Divine

by Paul Levy

Paul Levy

C. G. Jung was fond of making an analogy between the formation of symbols in the unconscious and the formation of crystals in a saturated solution. For example, if we dissolve sugar in a solution of water, eventually the solution will reach a saturation point. If a single grain of sugar is then added to the solution, a crystalline structure will spontaneously appear. Any moment of self-reflection could be the very grain of sugar, so to speak, that initiates this process. This is true not only individually, but collectively as a species. Any one of us owning our shadow, doing our inner work, self-reflecting and waking up to our true nature might be the very act, the very grain of sugar, which initiates a change in the entire universe.

Our current planetary situation is clearly one of great instability. Chaos theory points out that times such as these, in which there is a high level of chaos, are actually supersensitive situations, which are much more highly responsive to the smallest change or fluctuation in the system. This literally means that a change in any single individual's consciousness can potentially have an amplified effect on the entire system, in a way that was unimaginable and simply not possible before September 11.

Never before in the history of humankind has consciousness itself been of such importance. To quote Jung "This involves man in a new responsibility. He can no longer wiggle out of it on the plea of his littleness and nothingness, for the dark God has slipped the atom bomb and chemical weapons into his hands and given him the power to empty out the apocalyptic vials of wrath on his fellow creatures. Since he has been granted an almost godlike power, he can no longer remain blind and unconscious. He must know something of God's nature and of metaphysical processes if he is to understand himself and thereby achieve gnosis of the Divine."

"Achieving gnosis of the Divine" is, as if in a fairy tale, to re-member something long lost forgotten. It is to remember who we truly are, who we always have been. It is to recognize ourselves in the mirror of the universe. Through the simple act of self-reflection. God incarnates into and as the universe as ourselves. If we want to stop the war and save the planet and the biosphere, the best thing any one of us can do right now is, as fully as we are able, in each and every moment, cultivate self-reflective awareness towards what is happening in our seemingly mundane, day to day lives. It helps to remember this, as sometimes it is easy to feel helpless, as if there is nothing any of us can do to make a difference in the current world situation. One individual self-reflecting and metabolizing what is getting triggered in them by their current life situation, with, for example, all of their relationship conflicts, body symptoms, etc, makes it easier and more accessible for others to have this same realization, as we are all connected.

Our particular life situation, with all of its unique problems, is the doorway which connects us to the deeper, archetypal collective process of humankind. We discover that we are merely playing roles in a mythic, divine drama of incarnation, as if our lives themselves are embedded in and emanations of a higher-dimensional reality. We find ourselves in a synchronistic universe where the microcosm and the macrocosm are mirrors of each other. This is to realize that our inner process, and the seemingly outer universe, are mirrored reflections of each other. Any one of us cultivating self-reflective awareness in this very moment could be the very grain of sugar that tips the scales, initiating a phase shift in the collective psyche of humankind. What a responsibility, what a job to have. Someone's gotta do it. Might as well be us.

A pioneer in the fields of dreaming and spiritual emergence, Paul Levy is in private practice helping others who are also spiritually emerging and waking up to the dreamlike nature of reality. He is in the new book Saints and Madmen: Psychiatry Opens its Doors to Religion. Paul is a long-time Tibetan Buddhist practitioner and coordinator of the Portland PadmaSambhava Buddhist Center. He can be reached at (503) 234-6480. Paul will be participating in the New ConneXion DREAM FORUM on February 21^st.