Newsletter 24 - Embracing the Vortex: Unfolding our self-development and growth.
Embracing the Vortex: Unfolding Growth and Reality Through Time and Consciousness
Introduction
In Newsletter 23, we explored the concept of integrating both brain hemispheres in relation to the realms of the Non-physical and the physical, within the context of #panentheism , #processtheology , and McGilchrist’s #hemispherehypothesis . This newsletter, Newsletter 24, aims to position the content of Newsletter 23 within the framework of #selfdevelopment , growth, and its relation to Reality.
The Transformative Power of Consciousness and Awareness ?
In a presentation [1], Dr Mark Vernon [2] discusses #Jungian psychology’s emphasis on #integration , which involves understanding one’s shadow and achieving #individuation . However, Vernon contends that focusing solely on integration can lead to an isolated and singular frame of reference. ?
He suggests a perceptual expansion, moving beyond oneself to recognize our connection to the #Cosmos and the #Whole . Vernon encourages us to embrace a sense of relatedness and intuition toward the #Sacred , incorporating notions of #life , #death , and the fullness of existence into his expansive vision. Integrating an awareness of #eternity or #infinity plays a significant role in an individual’s #wellbeing . ?
The Dynamic Universe of Vibrations [3]
According to Abraham [4], we are vibrational beings in a vibrational Universe. Our Source Energy part existed before our physical bodies and still resides in the Non-physical realm: ‘Like electricity passing through the walls of a building. The physical part of you is like a toaster, while the Greater Source Energy part of you is like the electricity that powers it.’??
The reality of our physical environment, though seemingly permanent and solid, is actually ever-changing and constantly interpreted by our perceptions: ‘That which feels so permanent, solid, static, and real is all #vibration in motion. It is all being interpreted by us who are perceiving it. What we see with our eyes is only a vibrational interpretation; what we hear with our ears, what we smell, taste, and feel with our fingertips are all vibrational interpretations. So, this reality that we all think is so stable and solid, is not at all static. It is changing constantly and becoming and morphing to the degree of our attention to how we feel during the creation process.’ This understanding allows us to regard ourselves as vibrational beings in a vibrational universe [5]. ?
Inner Being: The Bridge Between Individuation and Wholeness
#AbrahamHicks introduces the concept of #InnerBeing , our true or higher Self that is always connected to Universal Energy and Infinite Intelligence. By aligning with our Inner Being, we can tap into our true power and potential to create the life we desire. Our Inner Being communicates with us through #emotions , #intuition , and #inspiration , guiding us toward experiences that foster growth and expansion.
The One and the Many
In the words of Schellinger in McGilchrist (p 1240 & 1241): ‘Existence is the conjunction of a Being as One, with Itself as a Many.’ This is not, then, as #Whitehead crucially recognized, two processes, but two facets of a single process. It is as true to say that God creates the World, as that the World creates #God . Neither God, nor the World, reaches static completion. Both are in the grip of the ultimate #metaphysical ground, the creative advance into novelty. Either of them, God and the World, is the instrument of novelty for the other.’
From this perspective, according to McGilchrist (p 1242), God is seen as infinite potential, attracting things to their fulfilment, the ultimate good who attracts all things to their flourishing, to the possibility that is most fulfilling for them.
The Vortex: Manifesting Desires through Vibrational Alignment [6]
McGilchrist (p 945) references Democritus, who declared that all things come into being through the #Vortex . In Abraham’s teachings, the Vortex is a state of pure positive energy containing all our desires, dreams, and manifestations. When we are in alignment with our Vortex, we can effortlessly manifest the things we desire. By aligning with our Vortex, we can effortlessly manifest all our desires through the Law of Attraction.
Time: The Fabric of Individuation and Eternity
McGlichrist emphasizes the importance of understanding #time as it influences our #perception of the world and life itself (p 901). He contrasts two coherent views of time: one where time is a fixed commodity, and another where time is a process of becoming. The latter view affirms and celebrates time and life, as time is necessary for individuation, #freedom , and #creativity : ‘The existence of time is inseparable from the evolving of difference and variety: therefore, from freedom and creativity. In the absence of time, there can be no freedom, no #evolution , no creation (p 935).’ Without time there is no principle of individuation, no human Being, with Its situation in the world, its capacity to feel, to act, and to relate to the cosmos at large.’
There are two questions here, says McGilchrist (pp 926 & 927): how could it, and why should it? On the first question, he says, he would argue that time is an ontological primitive. On the second question, he reasons that only time can lend the freedom for individual elements to come into #being , and to have any meaning whatsoever.
McGilhrist (p 928) also explores the relationship between time and eternity, asserting that genuine eternity encompasses all Life – a World without end. What needs to be explained is how stability can rise from this flow. As the reader will remember, this issue was raised in 'The Dynamic Universe of Vibrations’.
Life and Death: The Interconnected Cycle
Time is our home, says McGilchrist (p 881), and indeed death is our friend: the attempt to flee from either of them is not just doomed to fail, but to thwart a fulfilled and fulfilling life. This understanding allows for the unfreezing of the world and the return to #Life . In the right hemisphere’s world, one can venture into the left hemisphere’s insights, but it is essential to bring them back into the realm of Life.
McGilchrist (p 924) refers to the neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor [7] who, in the immediate aftermath of her left hemisphere stroke, found that she had to work out how to move. But once this had settled, she realized the following: ‘I sensed the composition of my being as that of a fluid rather than that of a solid. I no longer perceived myself as a whole object separate from everything. Instead, I now blended in with the space and flow around me … I felt truly at one with my (now expanded) body as a complex construction of living, thriving organisms.'
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Our relationship with nature, each other, and with God
McGilchrist [8] argues that our relationship with #nature , with other humans, and with God is central to human #flourishing and has been deeply researched. However, in the past 250-300 years, there has been a powerful repudiation and divorce from these three elements, leading to #mentalillness and a loss of #belonging . The rupture from a sense of home where we belong has led to anxiety, depression, and loneliness at diagnosable levels. And the sense of orphanhood has severed our belonging to nature, other humans, and God. McGilchrist suggests that we need to restore this triple relationship to what it used to be and bring back a sense of belonging to address these issues.
Perception
McGilchrist discusses the two different ways of perceiving the world: an immediate precognitive impact by the right hemisphere and an interpreted perception by the left hemisphere. The latter views everything as a representation and not real, which is exemplified by people with schizophrenia. McGilchrist emphasizes that although we have imperfect but direct perception of Reality, we have greatly lost the sense of it which contributes to our current predicament. Reality has meaning and truth and this is about a relationship to Something Other than just oneself, and a trust towards the Real, which comes from #experience [9].
Values
McGilchrist argues that our values shape our perception of the World. He references Max Scheler’s hierarchy of values, which places utility and pleasure at the bottom and the Holy at the top. McGilchrist argues that society today values utility and pleasure above all else, which is problematic, and touches on the importance of values as a way of being in the world, not just an intellectual exercise. Maree and Twigge (2015) and Twigge (2020) introduce the ‘relational-moral self ? which refers to a #virtuous person – someone with good moral values and healthy relationships – who imagines, intuits, and engages (vibrate) with the Greater #Gestalt or #AllThatIs .
Conclusion
As human beings we are part of the eternal flowing Whole/Reality where Time [10] is fundamental, flowing seamlessly through this ageless process that is constantly changing. Our human experience is a reverberative, reciprocal, and brief process that exists within time, adding to the wholeness of existence. McGilchrist (2023,?44:49 mins) [11] muses that we are one with the people who came before us and those who come after us and, he says, to use a sort of image, one could talk about life as a sort of a relay in which something is given, and something is passed.
McGilchrist proves that the balance between the left (science and reason) and right hemispheres (imagination and intuition) highlights the importance of merging multiplicity with Unity, recognizing that differentiation can coexist within Unity. By embracing the flow of time and the dynamic nature of reality, we can unlock our growth and potential in this ever-evolving universe. Moreover, we can create a Reality of utter Well Being when we embrace our personal Vortexes. So, let's Go and become Ourselves the Being (McGilchrist, p 1333). ?
References
Maree, J.G. & Twigge, A (2016). Career and self-construction of emerging adults. The value of life designing. Frontiers in psychology 6:2041.
McGilchrist, I. (2021) The Matter with Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions, and the Unmaking of the World. Perspectiva Press.
Twigge, A (2020). Goodness and kindness. A currency for success. Career-life-design for young people. Myebook, SA.
[2] Dr Mark Vernon is a psychotherapist and writer, interested in spirituality and inner life. He holds a PhD in ancient philosophy, as well as degrees in physics and in theology.
[4] To explore the Abraham Philosophy in greater depth and breadth, join https://www.abraham-hicks.com/
[5] Pauli in McGilchrist (p 1107) conceptualized that the essence of a body is not its extension in space, but it's motion. What lies behind all the phenomena that we perceive are fields of energy force fields, quantum fields, which casts a great light on the idea of causation: ‘Pauli collaborated with Jung in conceptualizing the unconscious mind as the psychological analogy of the field in quantum physics […] It is specific focused attention that causes collapse of the wave function … Such attention is characteristic of the brain’s left hemisphere … what was flowing becomes fixed, what was diffusely connected to and embedded in the context becomes arbitrary. The right hemisphere could be seen as the field of potential in which things remain fluid, non-localized, implicit, and interconnected’.
[6] Psychology and Vibration, Newsletter 3: The Vortex (Part 1), deliberate allowing and our emotional setpoint, Jan 23, 2022; Psychology and Vibration, Newsletter 4: What exactly is the Vortex (Part 2), Jan 31, 2022.
[8] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxgLQRlFexU&t=2689s&ab_channel=DrIainMcGilchrist (18:33 mins)
[9] The created world is a direct reflection of God in creation: we do not ‘see’ God, but without God we would ‘see’ nothing. There is no being without Being, yet we do not perceive Being itself: rather we perceive Its Reflection in the world, and everything we do perceive is perceived only because of that reflection. Goethe said that nature is a ‘holy open secret’. The idea that the hidden and the manifest are dipolar characteristics of one Reality is well expressed in the Tao Te Ching as the gate to all mystery (McGilchrist, p 1245). ?