True stories part four, your spiritual guide

This month, the late physicist David Bohm is our guide as we define and refine the story of our lives. I’ll help David by sharing four pieces of his advice (along with some of my own) which you can incorporate today to channel the best of human consciousness into your life. Together, we will cover the most important considerations you will ever have to decide in life. Let’s go!

In this life, we are constantly aware of what Bohm calls the explicate (unfolded) order, that’s where our consciousness is and dwells every day. What is it? It’s the things all around us, the stuff we see daily, and it can be pervasive, in your face, alluring, and confusing, it’s preoccupying for most, and all-consuming for some. It can occupy us for a lifetime and keep us off higher tasks like story caretaking. What’s story caretaking? It’s a type of self-curation in which we select, pull together, sift through, and share the best of what it is to be us, its caring for a story not only for ourselves but also others. Perhaps as a testament to the sometimes contradiction of life, this consciousness which gives us the gift of self-awareness and is preoccupied with the external world is also our connection to what Bohm calls the implicate order, a collective universal intelligence and a place where everything connects, a place of undivided wholeness.

Connect to wholeness  

Every day we live in the explicate order, the external world, but how do we connect with the undivided wholeness of an implicate order, a shared connection? The answer is deceptively simple. One way is by communing with one another through dialogue. When we collectively ask questions we share meaning and begin to ask better and better questions as we learn more about others and in turn, ourselves. From it we potentially pull better and better answers and deeper meaning from the implicate order, that’s one way. In your work, coworkers can come and go and mostly they’re collaborators. You tacitly, or explicitly, make an agreement to work on a job and through discussion and effort you hammer it out. But occasionally you connect with someone on a deeper cooperative level. When this happens mechanical “discussion” (a word which rhymes with percussion and concussion) changes and turns to dialogue, a word whose origins are with the prefix dia (to pass through), and logos (to share meaning). What might have been a “ping-pong game” like exchange, a discussion, perhaps to defend a position, gain advantage, or get information becomes a sharing of meaning among a group and a growing experience for everyone involved. Instead of forcing, wrenching, or mechanically going through motions executing protocols and processes you learn together, and equally important you learn how to learn together. When this happens everything you produce will feel like a quantum leap from where you’ve been, an order of magnitude better. When meaning flows through people we are connected to Bohm’s undivided wholeness, the implicate order, the collective base from which all things originate. The second way to connect is more personal and involves clearing a path to wholeness, here’s how it works.

I recently met an educator named Tramaine Crawford whose devoted his professional and personal life to empowering black youths in America. Tramaine caught my eye when he said, “children become what they see.” That’s a great statement. From birth we pull our reality from the explicate order, the external world. What we see and hear surrounds us with what we define as reality. These structures become our world and, at least for a time, we may know no other. While it’s true were always connected with the implicate order and wholeness through thoughts and reflection and may even share meaning and understanding from it with loved ones and those close to us, rare is the child who can make sense of connecting with wholeness once society fills their subconscious with things from the external world. 

One of the most limiting and distressing shortcomings of our external (explicate order) world is the objectifying and fragmenting nature of nearly all things in it. As an example, a descriptive phrase such as “I am” would make no sense in our divided world of today without a delineating noun or adjective accompanying it, I am Eric; I am a man, etc. however, this is precisely what God was alleged to have said in the Christian bible to Moses when Moses asked him “what is your name?” The inference here being Gods reply of “I am” was him telling Moses he was limitless and without description, connected to everything in an undivided wholeness. This certainly does not feel like the case with us and the world today as we, and everything we see, touch, hear and feel is specifically defined, divided, individual and separate. Our lives are subject to self-imposed boundaries and borders, dividing states, countries, ethnicities, genders, social classes, everything. And these are created by us, not part of a natural world.  

While I’ve not yet had the opportunity to talk with Tramaine about how he’s guiding and empowering his kids using books to build their own stories. When we do talk, I will tell him that while its true children become what they see, they also see with their minds as well as their eyes and this eyesight is guided from an undivided implicate order were all connected to. This is the power in what he’s doing. Contradiction, conflict, incoherence, fragmentation, isolation; these are challenges encountered in the explicate, external order of our outside world. While for humans there can be no other way than to live in both worlds, there is a way to live in which we master one while staying connected to the other.

How can we feel this connection to wholeness? My friend Julia Hayden in her book Gaia Dialogue introduced me to a phenomena astronauts experience called the overview effect. It’s a phenomenon in which witnessing the world from outer space causes a cognitive shift giving one a feeling of unified connectedness to one global home. We don’t have to be astronauts to experience this transformative effect. We might feel this wholeness by practicing lucid dreaming (something I’ve had success with), or we may develop our everyday perception enough to sense a connection in our waking day at will. Perhaps you’ll develop a deeper sense of connection to wholeness after reading these series of articles.   

Wholeness arises between us- wholeness is not exclusively yours or mine and you’ll not be able to hold on to it on your own, at least not for long. It’s on loan to us, and like a subscription must be paid into and renewed. Have you ever noticed how sometimes solutions to problems magically appear? There’s really no magic to it at all and If you trace back far enough you will discover its origins came after talking within a group or listening to a story, or a friend, and reflecting? Your connection to wholeness within the implicate order has produced these answers. We never come up with breakthrough strategies alone so before mentally bragging about your singlehanded accomplishment think of its origins.  

Human consciousness comes hardwired with a connection to the undivided whole, the implicate order. Every day when we wake our consciousness has a clear connection to it, then it’s downhill from there. I’m kidding of course but only a little, things don’t necessarily degrade the moment the external world begins to come in, crowd out, and dilute our connection to the implicate order but it certainly adds layers of complexity we should be aware of, or become swept away by. Interestingly, Bohm says regarding the implicate and explicate orders that we “follow a pattern of enfoldment and unfoldment”, moving forward and back, in and out, or between the two. As we unfold into the explicate order of the day were often carried away and affirmed with individualism, separateness, and uniqueness, to the satisfaction of the ego. A big part of our psyche and consciousness, the ego is an abstraction whose charge is to validate this individuality, uniqueness, and to protect us. Our mind is always connected to the implicate order but it’s the pursuit of, and attendance to, abstractions and objects in the explicate, with delegation and curation from the ego, that lead us through most days. 

 Seek coherence

And avoid incoherence. Bohm says our main source of unhappiness is that we are incoherent and therefore producing results we don’t really want. We then spend a great deal of time fretting and trying to overcome these problems while simultaneously continuing to produce them, never realizing the cycle we are in. Often, we don’t make logical sense, we don’t have clear connections, and are disjointed and unhappy. How can we avoid incoherence? One way is to avoid isolation. Incoherence flourishes in isolation. In isolation there is fragmentation (a word meaning both separated and broken). Wholeness, if you can achieve it Bohm says, is not a physical place you can get to like heaven (if you believe in the concept of heaven). It’s an attitude and approach toward the whole of life. If we can practice coherence Bohm says, the universe will respond coherently to us. The solutions we collectively pull from the implicate order, together, using questions and dialogue, lead to coherence and wholeness. Wholeness, Bohm says “arises between us in participation” not from individuals in isolation.

Coherence and leaders- one thing great leaders have in common is coherence. They espouse a life of connectedness and logical thinking; these are simple messages from the implicate order. Universal messages like these are always glaringly obvious in terms of their value and transformative power and just as frequently they’re ignored, hastily dismissed, and overlooked for the fragmented divided trappings of the explicate order. What are these recurring messages from history’s most sage leaders? They are usually to seek wholeness (unity), compassion, and a connected purpose with everything. This is followed up with advice and examples in the form of stories illustrating in detail how to clearly walk that path. God, Jesus, Buddha, Lao-tzu, Muhammad, Gandhi, the Dalai Lama; it doesn’t matter what wise leader you cite; they all caveat their messages with “try and do your best.” The idea here being you won’t succeed in being exactly like me, or doing exactly what I do, at this task you’ll fail and that’s okay, what’s most important is to try. This is another powerful message of the implicate “enfolded “order where connection is what matters. In this realm we succeed with effort, not perfection. To be better at the end is a byproduct of connection with others. To try, is success and creates tremendous energy.

With fragmentation and division however comes incoherence. And with the isolation the explicate order of the external world brings there’s often confusion and a muddled message interpreted from our leaders. One which has sent nations to war, caused humans to hate, and the natural world to retreat from abuse and indifference. What is this incoherent and irrational message we reflect back from our wisest? Unfortunately, the message we think we hear isn’t “try” or “do your best” or “keep an open mind.” Instead its “do exactly as I do”, “look exactly like me”, and “think exactly as I think.” And, “there is no other way.” The incoherence of a beautiful message corrupted is caused by the filtering of it through the two worlds, the implicate and the explicate. One world professing abundance and the other scarcity, one grounded in connection and wholeness and the other in separation, and division.

Why don’t we see the error of this incoherence which causes nature and humanity to suffer endlessly and reverse it? Why don’t we follow the true advice?  Perhaps It’s because our conflicted human nature simultaneously wants to connect with others and be isolated, or perhaps its conditioning, and evolution. Or maybe we too “enfold and unfold “like waves on a beach. I think perhaps it’s a little bit of everything. Whatever the reasons, it is the reason why we achieve remarkable rational answers; in science, religion, and philosophy, only to execute them in irrational ways?  To manage and honor your story best, understand your human nature and your human limits. Understand your part, as William Shakespeare once said, “in the play”, and the reality that you are an actor in yours, and others plays. 

Incoherence, self-deception, and delusion- the observable world we live in is largely an abstraction, what does that mean? It means that despite the idea, the certainty even, that this world we touch, feel, and see is 100% concrete and the same to everyone, it’s really a made-up interpretation unique to us alone. Its uniquely translated, filtered, and sorted by each of us through almost 200 known human bias’s, over a hundred thousand years of evolution and pre-programmed tapes written decades ago or even at birth. Bottom line, the end solution we live is a reality unique to us. What is real however is the connectedness we share in the implicate order. And what of the delineation, individualism, uniqueness, and separation we scratch, claw, compete, fight for, and see everywhere in the world? Bohm says that’s not real either, were all connected; to each other, to the planet and its inhabitants, and to the universe. 

Get a weltanschauung 

Pronounced (Vel-tun-shou-un) Its German for “world- view” and it means “a comprehensive conception or image of the universe” and of humanity’s relation to it. Your story must have a worldview, a philosophy and conception of life. Where do world views come from? They may come from science, religion, or philosophy depending upon your preferences and biases, let’s look at what I mean. Does your mind like to drill down to objective facts and data or take in a big picture view? To the science minded, the mechanistic, or the object driven, hard data, facts, and measurement might be a pleasing world view.  To the religious, the philosophical, abstract, or those who prefer people to things, a larger, more subjective 10-thousand-foot picture might be more comforting and relatable than the mechanistic and the precise, and they might have more tolerance for things like complexity and divergence.  

Keep your mind open, and undivided- to specific worldviews and concepts. Just because we put our trust in a specific scientific method of the day doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best way, or that it’s the right way. We intuit that it is best, that measurement is the best way to determine an objective world for example. But even rationality is grounded in an intuitive hunch that behaving rationally is the best thing to do. Hundreds of years ago science was different than it is today and conducted differently. Originally what is now referred to as the “hard sciences” of PhD’s and measurement was called “natural philosophy” and included room for things, thoughts, and hypotheses’ which could not be easily reduced to equations. Bottom line, todays science is nothing more than our current “best guess”, not an objective final answer. Quantum physics has shown us that when we think we discover the basic building blocks of life (atoms for example) they recede as we discover a finer constitution beyond them (neutrons and protons). Even today though we hold the title of “PhD” above reproach we curiously overlook that it stands for “doctor of philosophy.” What I’m saying is that we don’t know everything, and we will never reach an end to learning and discovery, your story needs to be like this too. Engineer your story in a way that you are not only okay with this idea but also that you conduct yourself accordingly, be open minded and leave room for learning. One problem with a world view grounded only in science is that the sciences of today tend to break every new discovery up, separate, and divide it, classifying each part as individual and unrelated to other sciences. While attempts are periodically made to unify all the different sciences and discoveries, things in this world are hopelessly separated.   As your story enfolds and unfolds from the implicate to the explicate and back again, make your best guess on things using science, religion, philosophy, or whatever you have at hand. Remember, when we unfold our stories together from the implicate order with dialogue it comes come from pure wholeness.

Read the news

I’ve got some bad news, some good news, and some great news. The bad news? I’m not sure how to put this so I’ll just say it, your story isn’t about you. That’s bad news for your ego and it’s not going to take it well. So how can the story of your life be your story and not be about you? It’s simple. Your story includes you, but you aren’t the center of it (or at least you shouldn’t be). Think about it, you wouldn’t exist as you are in your current configuration, without everything and everyone else in it. Instead of thinking of yourself as the sole proprietor of you, think of yourself as the property of others, and you like your stories steward, its caretaker, its gardener. Manage and tend it carefully and meticulously for someone else, for others, or even something else, like a passion or cause. In one of Bohm’s conversation lectures he points out there is a great difference between passions and desires. Desires he says Invest (and waste) your energy in explicative external ways, towards abstractions, objects, and things. Passion, by comparison channels tremendous energy beyond oneself and towards a higher connected purpose.

The good news? When you see your life in this way the tumblers on the cosmic lock will turn and open to a new view of the world, and you will be able to see farther than you could before. Whats the great news? This is how things are meant to be, so when you start to incorporate these principles the universe will recognize this clearer connection to wholeness and respond in kind. You’ll begin to behave more coherently, creating more of the things you want in life and less of the things you don’t, it’s a synergistic circle spiraling up. You’ll start to experience synchronicities, your intuition will check-in with you more and your amygdala less, and serendipity will come to call more often. Acknowledge your connection to others with dialogue and awareness and share your story, put it out there for others to see and be inspired by, you’ll feel less alone and more often heard and needed. 

Things you can do 

What can you do to connect with the undivided wholeness more frequently, behave less incoherently, and pick a world view which can serve as your lifelong compass? Plenty, here’s a few starting ideas.

Find your guide- today we had brilliant physicist David Bohm sharing advice and guiding us, with me pitching in. Expect this to happen throughout your life; temporary, and specific guides will come and go as needed. But finding your permanent lifelong guide is really a trick of the mind exercise I use periodically to step back and more objectively take in the whole picture of my thoughts, behavior, actions and what to do, here’s how it works. Where is the center of you? Your consciousness? Where do you feel your “being” is? Some say it’s in the center of the chest, the solar plexus, while others will say it’s in the head. Still others will say they are able to move it through focus, meditation, or concentration, this is true. One of the things consciousness allows us is the ability to step outside ourselves with self-awareness. Consciousness is an awareness of our own awareness and it’s with this knowledge, and practice of self-awareness, I have learned to step back from myself creating a spiritual guide to walk with me when needed through difficult decisions and times of precarious navigation, try it.  

Keep your connection clear- we’ve established your always connected to wholeness, the implicate order, but your conscious and subconscious mind is usually blocked from and blocking a continuous view, that’s normal. For whatever reasons we humans are compelled to move away from wholeness and the implicate order and create abstractions (made up things) to fill its path. We like to push away from one another and the universal wholeness of life and venture out on our independent own like a baby taking its first steps away from the stabile balance of the coffee table. We fight and look for recognition and validation of our declared independence even as we know it’s self-deception (no person is successful on their own).  If we were to be raised away from humanity, we would not be human, but we support the delusion of independence and love the myth of the lone hero, leader, or achiever, why we do this is unclear. Perhaps in an expanding universe where everything is moving away from everything else, we are as well; we are wired this way in a universe acting the same. You can hedge yourself against this and other self-deceptions however by keeping your link to wholeness unobstructed. Keep in mind you will fail, you won’t keep a perfect connection to wholeness all the time and that’s okay, you’re human, and maybe its natural. Just do your best and bring your “A “game to each day.

Help others and question everything - everyone, every situation, every opportunity, everywhere. If I can give you one piece of advice it is to be helpful, selflessly helpful.  A second piece of advice is to get in the habit of questioning everything around you. Your desires, decisions, your passion, the status quo, what you see, everything. Question it silently (inwardly) or vocally (outwardly) but do it every day.

Make your dog your amygdala for the day - or your cat, pet turtle, or your lawnmower for that matter. Joking with my daughter recently, she asked if I intended to take her Chow dog “Wamu” with me on a trip to the hardware store. I told her that her anxiety ridden, always alert and slightly neurotic ( but sweet) dog never let me out of his sight and might fall apart if I were gone so of course I was planning on it, he’s my buddy anyway. “As a matter of fact I said, I think, that he thinks, he’s my protector so I’m going to pretend he’s my amygdala for the day” and see what happens. Our primal brain, the amygdala, is chiefly concerned with our protection (fight or flight) and eliminating threats and as a result is always bugging us when we’re trying to get other things done so if my dog picks up the job maybe I’ll be less stressed. Well, you know what’s funny? The minute I proposed this strategy to my daughter I instantly felt a weight lifted from my shoulders. I felt freer, lighter, more clear-headed, and instantly more relaxed. I looked over to Wamu who was lying at my side looking up with loving eyes. After delegating these survival decisions to my chow life’s a little more relaxed. Put someone or something else besides you in charge of your security for a day and try this trick yourself, see what happens.  

Keep it real- as real as you can keep it. David Bohm on his life journey from a questioning adolescent, to physicist, to explorer of human consciousness spoke extensively about the limitations of the human mind. He spoke about the importance for us to acknowledge these limitations, to know something of them, and to question the machinations and intrigue of a tirelessly working brain. Chief antagonist of our limitations is desire which leads to self-deceptive thoughts.  Bohm attests most of man’s thoughts are self-deceptive, tailored to rationalize why we do things and want things. In life, we will have desires, and these will most likely create our biggest problems. Bohm says we create self-deceptions to justify the particular objects we crave (the object of our desire), and this thoughtless, pursuit, this self-deception, leads to incoherence, unintended consequences, and irrationality. Bohm says what we are really searching for in the pursuit of desires is a state of perfection, harmony, and comfort. What we are really looking for but unaware of is a connection with the implicate order, to wholeness. While this satisfaction of acquiring stuff may wane and eventually feel hollow, leaving us once again with a craving because it’s not what we really wanted; consider this. These things that show up and we manifest into reality, may serve a valuable purpose by showing us what we really don’t want, or need and in this way, we check them off our cosmic list. Eventually through this down-select process we’ll see what gives us a true connection to wholeness, genuine satisfaction, and harmony.  As for desire, like stuff it’s most likely also a teacher helping us see a clearer path to better uses of our precious energy. 

Enjoy the ride

I hope you’ve enjoyed this article; I’ve enjoyed writing it. I’m not proposing a specific recipe to follow in order to live your best life and story, but I am suggesting that there is one and you should take what I’ve given you in this series of articles and find out what that is. Its human nature to want to be “done” with things and move on, to snap a chalk line on what feels right, or complete, but this doesn’t apply to your story, you are quanta, energy. If quantum physics has taught us anything it’s that when we think we have discovered the origins of life and the universe its merely another appearance, an abstraction, the latest iteration of discovery, and not the end. We once thought atoms were the basic building blocks of life and then we discovered protons, neutrons, and quarks, only to discover there are new universes to be discovered beyond these. We keep finding a finer constitution, and the final answers keeps receding. Thanks for being here today I’ve enjoyed our talk. In sum I will tell you that ultimately your spiritual guide is you, as is the caretaker of your story, and this story becomes yours once you give it away.

Dr. Zabiegalski is available to talk to your organization or venue about ambidexterity research or speak informatively and eloquently about organizational culture, leadership, strategy, learning, complexity, business neuroscience, creativity, mindfulness, talent management, personal success, emotional intelligence, Action Learning, and storytelling. Contact Eric about a talk, keynote presentation, or workshop today!