The Omega point is a term used by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin to describe the aim towards which consciousness evolves. He held that evolution was a process converging toward a final unity. But where humankind is concerned, Teilhard got it back-asswards: man represents the Pi point.
One definition of pi is, “to throw into disorder.” Nature unfolds in a dynamic and holistic order, and humans evolved along with all other creatures on earth. So how did man become such a factor of disorder to the planet and to ourselves?
Nearly all explanations for what used to be called ‘the riddle of man’ suffer from enslavement to the idea of progress, including Teilhard de Chardin’s and his ‘Omega Point.’
Before going further, I must make an essential proviso. Simply put, an explanation, however accurate, cannot substitute for the arduous work of transformation. That’s the responsibility of each person alone, without recourse to any authority, be it religious or scientific.
That said, an accurate explanation would point the way, and help allay the rampant cynicism that is leading many people to believe that humankind is hopeless.
If evolution, as many New Agers maintain, has an intrinsic drive toward higher consciousness, it hits a big bump in the road with the evolution of ‘higher thought’ in man. Humans, a supposedly sentient species, are wreaking havoc on the planet that evolved us, decimating the creatures with which we share the earth and bringing about the Sixth Extinction. How can this be?
Our divisive and fragmenting tendencies, as well as our potential for direct awareness and experiencing of the numinous, make us fundamentally different than every other creature that exists or has ever existed on earth.
Conscious thought is both a necessary precondition for awakened awareness, and the greatest impediment to it. Obviously, the brain had to reach a certain level of mass and complexity before the meditative state was possible. Cats may seem mystical, but no cat can ever be a mystic.
I say that with tongue firmly planted in cheek, since I’m a mystic that doesn’t believe in mysticism. One of my philosophical aims is to demystify ‘mystical experience.’
The insight that the separative mechanism of symbolic thought carries with it the strong tendency to fragment what is intrinsically whole solves one aspect of the riddle, while highlighting another. Given that cosmic consciousness exists, and that there is an intrinsic drive in evolution toward it, then how and why does such an impediment arise?
The question is all the more perplexing when one considers that thought is both prerequisite and an obstacle prerequisite for full awareness of the sacred. When one really feels this mystery, and remains with it, one feels the compassion of God for creatures such as us.
We cannot stand apart. Every person is inseparable from the existential contradiction of man. With this insight however, the crisis and suffering of human consciousness begins to resolve and dissolve within oneself.
In this view, man emerges, but does not evolve. Thought-bearing creatures such as Homo sap generate more and more fragmentation on their planets until they (the planet and the thought-bearing creature) can’t take anymore. Then they radically change, or they perish.
Without implying teleology, much less ‘intelligent design,’ clearly something is going on with the evolution of consciousness that goes far beyond solely man-made constructs.
Is there a turning point, when the transformation of humankind will begin to end the increasing division, conflict and fragmentation due to the unwise use of thought? And given the intensifying crisis of consciousness, is that turning point imminent?
Since extinction, from our point of view, isn’t an option, and since understanding the riddle of man is part of resolving it, I feel humankind will make the turn in time. But that faith is being tested almost daily now.
And this theory of human nature will be tested if and when there is proven contact with other thought-bearing creatures on other planets.
We can end the source of ecological destruction, war, gross economic disparity and mass despair/depression within us. Humanity can align itself with the universe, and reverse its growing trajectory of division and fragmentation.
When thought is completely quiet, the brain is like a very sensitive antenna, receiving and reflecting awareness of the sacred. If we don’t drive ourselves to extinction, or destroy our capacity for awareness by merging with our machines, I’m sure the human being can and will awaken the cosmic mind in human brain.
Pi is also of course the symbol for the ratio of a circle, what’s called a “transcendental number” (3.14159265). In our emergence on this planet, humankind has come full circle.
Whether we stand at the end of our spiritual development, or its true beginning, is up to us. Question and find out for yourself. There are no bystanders.
Martin LeFevre
