The Evolution of Consciousness
DAAJI explores the purpose of expanding our consciousness towards a higher destiny. What has this to do with human evolution?
We have been talking so much about the evolution of consciousness, but what is the purpose of all this? Why should we be so interested in this field of evolution of the mind? Why do we need to purify our consciousness and heart?
Well, for a start, it is to get to first base. There is a growing wellness industry that has grown up around the search for peace, inner calm and better sleep. This in itself is a good indicator that we are not satisfied with the state of our minds. We are not happy!
During the last 50 years, there have been so many scientific and medical studies on the effects of relaxation and meditation on the physiology and psychology of human beings, citing meditation as reducing blood pressure, depression and anxiety, and positively affecting heart rate, oxygen consumption, immunity, sleep patterns, and the natural functioning of the brain.1
Current medical research on meditation2 goes one step further, using the latest neuroimaging technology and genomic methodology to study how the practices of Yoga and meditation affect genes and brain activity in chronically stressed people, and how these techniques can switch genes on and off that are linked to stress and immunity.
Scientists are starting to realize what yogis have known for thousands of years: that meditation can bring about stillness and balance in the mind and the physiology and psychology of the human being are altered remarkably.
Scientists are starting to
realize what yogis have
known for thousands of
years: that meditation can
bring about stillness and
balance in the mind and the
physiology and psychology
of the human being are
altered remarkably.
So it is not surprising that today meditation has become mainstream, and offered by corporates to their employees all around the world. Yoga and exercise classes everywhere finish with a few minutes of relaxation or meditation, and we find blogs and books on the bestseller lists about meditation and happiness.
A calm balanced mind gets us to first base, but is that the only reason we meditate? No, it is just the start. Having a mind that is still is great, but then what will you do with that still mind?
What is our human existence all about? We have always strived for more than peace and calmness. Think of a gold medal Olympian, a Nobel Prize winning scientist, a master violinist, a worldrenowned chef, or a small child learning to walk.
When we strive to excel at anything in life, we are willing to undergo struggles and discomfort to attain our goals. Life on Earth is about evolution. Every life is an evolution in developing wisdom, skills and attitudes. Inventions and discoveries are about evolution. Evolution is growth, change and transformation, and anyone who has ever had any goal or purpose in life knows that this instinct to excel and to push past the boundaries into the unknown is part of being human. It is in our DNA. Peoples of all ages and cultures have asked some very fundamental questions:
Who are we?
Where have we come from?
What is the purpose of life?
Where are we going after this life? …
REFERENCES:
1 https://nccih.nih.gov/health/meditation/overview.htm
2 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-11-22/harvard-yoga-scientists-find-proof-of-meditationbenefit
Read the complete article in the Collectors’ Edition 2017
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Article by KAMLESH D. PATEL
Daaji
Kamlesh Patel is known to many as Daaji. He is the Heartfulness Guide in a tradition of Yoga meditation that is over 100 years old, overseeing 14,000 certified Heartfulness trainers and many volunteers in over 160 countries. He is an inn... Read More
