Anthropocene: The Tears of Gaia

By Shri Muktananda

Planet Earth has entered the Anthropocene, the geological age during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment. Scientists speculate that the Anthropocene may be the harbinger for the sixth mass extinction in our history unless, says Muktananda, humanity undergoes a major shift in consciousness – a shift that will profoundly alter the historical understanding about who we are and the planet we inhabit. Anthropocene: The Tears of Gaia explores how the relationship between quantum physics and the evolution of consciousness has opened up an unprecedented glimpse into the interrelatedness of everything in the universe. It explains why homo sapiens must have evolved as biologically loving beings and why we must reconnect to our essence if we are to survive as a species. It shows how beliefs determine our perceptions which, in turn, shape our reality. It demonstrates how we can consciously create new realities through the generative power of language, and explores what the post- COVID-19 economy will look like.

It discusses how the ascent of the divine feminine in each of us is bringing about the death of the patriarchy, and argues that religions must undergo a radical transformation if they are to remain relevant in the new era humanity must create. It also explores how the new science of psychedelics is creating possibilities for an acceleration in the growth of consciousness and how that expansion can create a tipping point for global transformation as manifest in the creation of conscious communities. This book closes with a call to action, but from a new and more conscious understanding about leadership in this age of quantum consciousness.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Shri Muktananda
• Release date: Jun 23, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393727514

Book preview

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Published by Pavima Publishing. Copyright © 2020, Pavima, LLC.

This is a work of authorship protected by the copyright laws of the USA. It may not be reproduced, copied, or published by other parties without the express written consent of Pavima, LLC.

Cover design by Nicole Harris.

Pavima, LLC

www.Pavima.com

E-mail: [e-mail]

Also by Muktananda

Conscious Awakening: A Journey into Light. Pavima Publishing. 2018.

Innovation and Transformation: Creating a Socially Conscious Business, Second Edition. Pavima Publishing. 2010.

All that we are is the result

of what we have thought.

What we think, we become.

— Gautama Buddha

About the Author

Muktananda is the founder of Pavima, LLC where he offers personal coaching and consulting services to those who wish to align their lives, careers or organizations with higher dimensions of consciousness. He has consulted with businesses and facilitated transformational workshops on four continents. Muktananda was a co-founder and CEO of an award-winning manufacturing company selected by Inc. magazine as one of the best small companies to work for in America. He is a founding partner of Casa Mannabliss, a conscious living center in Delray Beach, Florida. He is also a disciple of enlightened spiritual master Sai Maa, who gave him the name Muktananda when he served as the CEO of her global organization.

Contents

Foreword

Part I – The Challengei

Chapter 1: How Beliefs Create Our Future

Biology and Beliefs

Change Your Beliefs, Change Your Reality

Moods and Beliefs

Three Great Untruths

Social Media and Beliefs

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Us vs Them

Energy and Beliefs

Chapter 2: Dismantling the Patriarchy

Patriarchy as Social Structure

Dominator Hierarchies vs Growth Hierarchies

Women Leaders and the Global Pandemic

Historical Roots

Chapter 3: The End of Religion?

Islam

Judaism

Christianity

Hinduism

The Origin of Religions

The Future of Religion

Chapter 4: Building Trust

Promises, Trust and Public Identity

Characterizations

Moods and Trust

Chapter 5: The Wealth and Power Gap

The Plutonomy and the Precariat

The Economy Post-COVID-19

The Ultimate Fate of the US Dollar

The Emergence of a New Paradigm

Universal Basic Income

Part II – The Opportunity

Chapter 6: Quantum Physics and Consciousness

Classical Physics vs Quantum Physics

Quantum Entanglement

A Theory of Everything

The Holographic Universe

Linear Time vs Non-Linear Time

Quantum Physics and the Vedas

I Am Pure Consciousness

A Journey of the Heart

Chapter 7: The Biology of Love

Three Stages of Human Evolution

Culture and Meaning

Physiology vs Behavior

Language and Emotions

Love vs Fear

The Neocortical Brain

Love and Intelligence

Chapter 8: The Awakening of Global Consciousness

The Power of Group Meditation

The New Science of Psychedelics

The Hedonic Yoga of Becoming

A Resurgence of Animism

Chapter 9: Universal Pragmatics

Language as Social Commitment

Ontological Design

The Power of Speech Acts

Requests, Offers and Promises

Designing Conversations for Action

Moves in a Conversation for Action

Embodying Speech Acts

Making Sense in Uncertain Times

Part III – A Way Forward

Chapter 10: Conscious Awakening

Conscious Creation

A Call To Action

The Re-Emergence and Re-Imagining of Conscious Communities

Leadership for the Quantum Age

The Myth of Poetics

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

References

About Pavima, LLC

Index

Foreword

I wrote this

book out of heartfelt concern for the future of our human species, for all life on Earth and for the planet itself. I am concerned because planet Earth has entered the Anthropocene, the geological age during which human activity is the dominant cause of escalating changes to Earth’s climate and environment. As I write, humanity is coping with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Elizabeth Kolbert in The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History (2014) speculates that the Anthropocene may be a harbinger for the sixth mass extinction in the history of the planet. The last one occurred sixty-six million years ago during the Cretaceous period when a giant asteroid slammed into Earth and ended the age of dinosaurs. Kolbert argues that, unlike the asteroid impact (about which the dinosaurs could do nothing), a sixth extinction will be the legacy of humankind. That we should wield such power over life on Earth must give us pause to reflect on what it means to be human.

In Greek mythology, Gaia is the mother goddess who presides over Earth. Her tears, referred to in the title of this book, echo the concern of geoscientists who are alarmed that we humans have warmed the planet, raised sea levels, eroded the ozone layer and acidified the oceans. Our man-made ecosystems degrade agricultural lands, produce industrial wastelands and infuse huge quantities of synthetic chemicals and waste into Earth’s metabolism. Mining operations move more sediment than all the world’s rivers combined. We have doubled the amount of methane in the atmosphere and increased concentrations of carbon dioxide to unprecedented levels. Plastics are flooding the environment along with aluminum and artificial fertilizers, all of which has led to a dramatic increase in the extinction of planetary species. To that we can add the grave dangers posed by man’s creation of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.

The Thwaites glacier is often referred to as the most dangerous glacier on Earth. It is enormous in that it contains about half a meter (just under two feet) of sea level rise. Satellite images have confirmed that Thwaites is not attached to the bedrock, which is bad news because it is the backstop for four other glaciers which hold an additional three to four meters (ten to thirteen feet) of sea level rise. Thwaites is already collapsing and when it does it will take most of West Antarctica with it.

Although seventy-five percent of Earth is covered in water, less than three percent is fresh, non-saline water. Human population will approach ten billion within this century and we have already depleted much of the ground water in Earth’s aquifers. In its current state, less than one percent of Earth’s water is potable, and fresh drinking water is essential for the survival of human civilizations. We’ve already seen riots in the streets of São Paulo, Brazil over severe water shortages. If caring for our water does not become a priority, water will be the first tipping point to challenge our presence on Earth.

The term Anthropocene was introduced in the year 2000 by geoscientists Paul Crutzen, a chemist at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Germany, and Eugene Stoermer of the University of Michigan. Anthro means human so Crutzen and Stoermer found this suffix appropriate for the present epoch, and posited that the Anthropocene began with the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century.

We humans know what we are doing to our planet, and we can and must intercede before it’s too late. To do so, however, will require a major shift in consciousness - a shift that will profoundly alter our understanding of who we are and the world we inhabit. Indicators that this shift is already happening include the ascent of the feminine in both women and men, which is bringing about the demise of patriarchal mindsets and institutions, making way for the creation of more dynamic, inclusive and caring social and economic structures. There is also a growing awareness that love is more conducive to health and thriving than living in fear. With this realization comes the freedom to reinvent ourselves as new human beings living in gratitude, abundance and generosity.

I have divided this book into three parts. Part I discusses the challenges we face because we have been immersed in a paradigm based on fear, separation and survival for thousands of years. I will show how beliefs determine our perceptions which, in turn, shape our reality. I will discuss how the ascent of the divine feminine in each of us is bringing about the death of the patriarchy, and I will argue that religions will have to undergo a radical transformation if they are to remain relevant in the new era humanity must create. It’s impossible to ignore the impact COVID-19 is having on the global economy, so I explore what the post-pandemic economy will look like. That includes addressing the implications of the growing disparity between the few with vast wealth and the many with little to none. The systemic inequalities built into the current iteration of capitalism are unsustainable, especially as artificial intelligence is displacing so many jobs that were once the bedrock of an economy dependent on a vibrant middle class. COVID-19 has greatly exacerbated the situation. Business-as-usual is a cliché of the past so I argue that it’s time to create a more just and equitable economy of opportunity for everyone, and one that will transform our understanding of money.

In Part II, I discuss the opportunities that lie before us in light of the challenges we face. I begin by exploring the relationship between quantum physics and the evolution of consciousness. Quantum physics has opened up an unprecedented glimpse into the interrelatedness of everything in the universe. I believe that the potential for an expansion of consciousness - mankind’s ever unfolding awareness of his relationship to self and others - can be awakened by an appreciation of this field of study. I’ve come to this understanding as a disciple of Sai Maa, a living enlightened spiritual master whose mission is to transform humanity by raising the frequency of our collective consciousness. The goal is to attain a state of consciousness in which we recognize and experience that we are all one in the quantum energetic field. Only then will we be able to assume our roles as guardians of nature and co-creators of thriving societies.

I will discuss how homo sapiens evolved as a biologically loving species and why we must re-connect to our essence if we are to survive. I explore how the new science of psychedelics is creating possibilities for an acceleration in the growth of consciousness and how that expansion can create a tipping point for global transformation as manifest in the creation of conscious communities. I offer tools and practices that can help our actions become more purposeful and directed through universal pragmatics - the generative power of language.

Finally, in Part III, I propose a way forward. The challenges posed by the Anthropocene are forcing mankind to question what it means to be human because we abuse the planet when we don’t know who we are or why we are here. Perhaps this book will awaken in you an understanding of the importance of reinventing ourselves as new more conscious and loving human beings. To aid us in this transformation, I present research, thought leaders and new ideas designed to awaken us to the threat posed by the Anthropocene. We can address it though committed action grounded in the love, compassion and humility emanating from a transcendent state of consciousness that resides within us all. I refer to that transcendent state as quantum consciousness.

Evolution has led us to a crucial tipping point. Either we embrace the next frontier of evolution by allowing a state of quantum consciousness to guide our lives and the planet, or we allow the Anthropocene to proceed unfettered, in which case we will continue to live under a sword of Damocles. The choice is ours.

Part I – The Challenge

Since our leaders are behaving like children, we will have to take the responsibility they should have taken long ago.

— Greta Thunberg at the 2018 UN Climate Change Conference.

Chapter 1

How Beliefs Create Our Future

Philosophers use the term belief to refer to per sonal attitudes associated with true or false ideas. As such, a belief does not require active introspection and circumspection. For example, few ponder whether the sun will rise, they just assume it will. Thus, many beliefs are simply unreflected presumptions. The ancient Greeks held that a belief was related to three distinct concepts: (a) trust and confidence, (b) opinion and acceptance, and (c) dogma, which to them meant the premise upon which a philosophical proposition is based.

The philosophers of the Renaissance and later the Enlightenment took exception to many of the prevailing religious claims and the beliefs upon which they were based. They directly challenged religious authority and the beliefs associated with their established churches. In time, modern society came to discard many of the superstitious beliefs that so dominated the pre-Enlightenment era. Thus, we might conclude that ungrounded beliefs or opinions diminish as our ability to think rationally increases.

Yet, many of our beliefs are not explicitly known to us such that we can readily subject them to rational analysis. That is why in this chapter I focus on how unconscious, subconscious and often arbitrary beliefs such as patriotism, nationalism, or religious affiliation come to be and how they impact our lives.

Biology and Beliefs

Bruce Lipton, PhD is a stem cell biologist, research scientist and the bestselling author of The Biology of Belief (2008). He has spent almost half-a-century researching cell biology, cell behavior, cloning, muscular dystrophy and tissue transplantation. His seminal research carried out at Stanford University between 1987 and 1992, indicated that the environment, operating through cell membranes, turns our genes on or off. This startling discovery led him to conclude that genes and DNA do not control our biology. Rather, he theorized that DNA is controlled by signals from outside the cell including the energetic messages emanating from our positive and negative thoughts. In other words, our genes don’t control us; we control them.

This discovery kick-started the field of epigenetics. Epigenetics means on top of genes or factors in addition to genes that control genetic expression. We’re born with a certain combination of genes, but whether they are activated or not, says Lipton, depends greatly on our frame of mind. Perfectly normal genes might result in cancer or death. Conversely, in the right environment, mutant genes might not be expressed. Lipton estimates that ninety-eight percent of illnesses