The Six Principles of Evolutionary Enlightenment: A Brief Overview
The emergence of the Six Principles is the goal of the teaching of Evolutionary Enlightenment. They are the very ground and unambiguous manifestation of the new consciousness and the new world that we can create through a radical individual and collective transformation. They can be broken down into three pairs: purity of motive & integrity in action; autonomy & communion; and evolutionary tension & natural hierarchy.
Purity of motive is an egoless impulse, a wholesome passion to create that which is new. Yet unless we act upon that egoless impulse, its presence in consciousness ends up being only another spiritual experience, a momentary glimpse of our own potential for a deeper care. Purity of motive must always be actualized so that it becomes integrity in action. That simply means that the individual consistently follows through on that pure motive. And that takes a heroic spirit.
Autonomy is radical independence and authenticity. It is the expression of pure creative freedom; the powerful, unrestricted freedom of the individual to flower in his or her own potential without limit. Communion is the intoxicating experience of the authentic self recognizing itself in others;the many coming together as One in egoless freedom and infinite potential, uninhibited by any sense of separation.
Evolutionary Tension is the experiential quality of the new consciousness that is liberated between individuals who come together in the authentic self. It is an upward pull, a profound sense of urgency to bring into manifestation that which has not yet occurred.
Natural Hierarchy is an egoless structure, defined only by actual differences between individuals' relative levels of development and experience. If each individual was embracing the demand of evolutionary tension, a genuine natural hierarchy would become manifest;a hierarchy defined not by the ego's motives of power and control, but by the authentic self's desire to develop.
Beyond the Mind
From the perspective of the rational mind, a human life is a linear, limited event, defined by the movement of time. But when you penetrate beyond the mind through the serious practice of meditation, you get glimpses into a mystery that transcends time in an instant. You begin to directly see, know, and feel that instead of merely being an individual body, mind, and personality that was born and is going to die, the deepest part of you is the empty Ground of Being that has never become anything. The degree to which you have realized that who you are at the deepest level is that timeless, spaceless ground will reveal itself in how much spontaneous freedom you are able to manifest through your human personality, in time and space. If your meditation is powerful and profound, then the way you relate to life will constantly demonstrate a freedom that extends far beyond the fears and desires of your own ego. Your very being will become a portal for that primordial depth that transcends life and death.
Andrew Cohen