(c) John, Rekesh 2004-2008. No part of this work may be copied or reproduced without the author's permission
12. Path
Aliyah comes to understand physical and spiritual evolution as analogues of each other.
Jacob's Ladder
Emma found the notion ridiculous. How could physical evolution possibly be the analogue of a spiritual evolution? To her, nature was always red in tooth and claw. If God existed, He had to be the very essence of goodness. There cannot be such a thing as the survival of the fittest or one species devouring another in a universe ruled by such a God. She voiced her objection:
“Don’t you know that the very notion of evolution is a strong argument against God and creationism? So how can you use it as an analogy? It is quite the antithesis of what you are proposing.”
Aliyah considered this a while. She understood well the objections Emma was raising; for these had been part of her own thoughts till recently. But now she was beginning to see another pattern emerge from her system of correspondences.
“Let me try to put it this way. Evolution of a species is really the evolution of the gene pool, isn’t it? Physical bodies are but organized matter, the expression of genes. Bodies appear to grow and die, but the gene pool continues on, expressing itself in newer forms.”
“How does that have any bearing on the spiritual side?”
“Well, think of an analogous gene pool existing at a higher level, consisting of what we may call spiritual genes.These spiritual genes, being fundamental units of consciousness rather than physical matter, then represent natures, attributes, desires and aspirations latent or hidden within a given spiritual essence. So we can think of a spiritual essence or being as an organized and manifested consciousness, an expression of its spiritual genes.”
Emma felt this time Aliyah had gone too far. Her analogies in the past had sounded plausible, but this time Emma simply could not move ahead.
“Really! From where did you cook up these spiritual genes? Do they exist in any spiritual lore? I’ve never heard anything of that sort.”
“I guess one could use certain Eastern terms(1) rather than ‘spiritual gene’ and ‘expression’. But those terms are so loaded with various religious connotations, that it wouldn’t be easy to view them outside their context. Let’s keep it simple and assume that this is not something totally strange to the human ear!”
“Are you saying that there are more fundamental elements behind our consciousness?”
“So to speak. By analogy, our consciousness may be considered as an expression of these fundamental elements or spiritual genes, if you will. And these genes continue on, taking new expressions of consciousness.”
“Continue on in new expressions? That sounds like those concepts of reincarnation where a soul manifests repeatedly in different lives.”
“Not quite reincarnation, Emma. Let’s study the physical process a bit more closely.” Aliyah paused to gather her thoughts.
“While the genes do express again,” she continued, “it is never the same body or the same combination of genes that manifest. Many genes are borrowed from the pool to manifest, so to speak, and many are repressed. Likewise it is never the exact same composition of spiritual genes that manifest in a subsequent consciousness, and therefore it is never the same entity that is projected forth again.”
“You mean they are similar but not the same.”
“Yes. The newly projected spiritual consciousness might have many of the same tendencies as an earlier one due to the spiritual genes it carries. In fact, the process is somewhat like a leaf withering on a branch and a new bud forming elsewhere on the same branch. The essences within these two leaves are never quite the same. Therefore you cannot really call it reincarnation as it is conventionally known, though there are similarities with that notion.”
“Aliyah, that’s quite an analogy! Bodies die, but what is it that dies in your analogy?”
“Well, the physical death we speak of is quite a humanistic concept! It has managed to color our perceptions about life greatly. If you look at our bodies in a clinical or scientific manner, then you can see that each new body originates from another one and is a part and parcel of the parent, except that they are physically separated. In fact, the body never really dies. All of our bodies are the manifestations of one ancestral body, which has self-replicated, grown, mutated, and transformed into billions of bodies over eons of time. If you remember the biblical story, even Eve was made from Adam’s body.”
“But a child grows and new cells are formed, apart from the parent. It is a new body then, isn’t it?”
“The same thing happens in your own body too. Your body also grows, and the cells are replaced every seven years or so. That is a process of rejuvenation or continuation. You don’t consider yourself new every seven years, do you?”
Emma smiled at that.
“So you can see that the body does continue, but each line of continuation is a variation on the theme. That is, the genes that are expressed with each new expression are not quite the same as those of its predecessor. Some of them could even be ancient and may have remained unexpressed in the gene pool for a very long time.”
“So you are saying that physical bodies are immortal?”
“More or less. There is definitely apparent death, an apparent discontinuity of physical existence. But if you look at the process, you see that the body does continue on in newer expressions. The apparent death is like a leaf withering and falling away from a branch. Of course, a lineage can be wiped out or be extinct, but there are always other manifestations of the ancestral body that continue.”
Emma was not about to let go of this.
“Aliyah, this sounds quite suspect. It does not correlate well with what I have learnt about the theory of evolution. One of the key principles there is that acquired natures are not inherited; they are not transmitted to offspring. If an animal learns to do something useful, its genes however are unaffected and therefore it is unable to transfer the same genetically to its children. That goes against the very concept of spiritual learning. We are supposed to be learning through spiritual evolution, aren’t we?”
“Emma, hard as it sounds, that analogy also has its truth. Acquiring learning or knowledge is only of utilitarian use, and it does not continue on in subsequent generations of a spiritual essence. You don’t see babies coming in worldly-wise do you? Only those experiences that change the expressions of the soul are worth inheriting. These experiences represent internal changes in the personality or soul, whether good or bad. They are like mutations within the spiritual genes, changes that were truly made deep within oneself. Those are the only changes we carry away with us.”
“That sounds like one cannot change by oneself at all. For that would mean a self-created mutation. But biological organisms are not capable of producing mutations within themselves. So your analogy fails there, doesn’t it?”
“Not quite. There are indeed self-directed mutations. Simple bacteria can create and even speed-up mutation rates within themselves under stressful conditions. Stressful conditions! That’s an example for you. Look up research annals and you will see. But let’s not go too much by popular interpretations of heredity. They also change.(2)"
Emma paused and reflected on this. It was getting all too confusing. How could a spiritual evolution exist, paralleling the physical? It was supposed to be perfect in the spirit, where one would consider the physical world as an anomaly, a problem from which one could escape. She voiced her confusion:
Footnotes:
1. See 'samskara' and 'vasana' in the
glossary2. The reader may also wish to lookup the emerging field of epigenetics, and its new views on heredity.