The Noosphere and Cyberspace by Beatrix Murrell Beatrix Murrell is an essayist, writing integrative studies about the spirituality implicit in modern science theory. Previously she worked for many years as a science policy analyst. Professionally trained at both British and American universities, her disciplinary fields include science and policy studies, natural theology, and systems philosophy. Beatrix Murrell's Essays According to the speculative thought of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, the great Jesuit theologian-scientist, the destiny of man is to culminate into a consciousness of the species. This consciousness of mankind would ultimately become the "thinking layer of the earth," which Teilhard called the noosphere. Teilhard also believed that there is a Within in the heart of things. From the beginning of primordial evolution there has been a kind of embedded cosmic intelligence or encoded information, a cosmic interiority! Teilhard's idea of a cosmic interiority has also been expounded upon by David Bohm, the late world-class physicist and science philosopher. Drawing upon his theories derived from quantum physics, Bohm is of the opinion that a fundamental cosmic intelligence is the Player in the cosmic process of enfoldment (an implicate order) and unfoldment (an explicate order). Bohm suggests that this process, in endless feedback cycles, creates an infinite variety of manifest forms and mentality. Both Teilhard and Bohm believe that there is an accumulation of a cosmic reflective nature. Both thinkers believe that human individuals participate in the Whole and consequently give it meaning. They believe that man is a definite turning point on this planet, an upgrading of the cosmic process towards consciousness. Using the analogy of the transformations of the atom ultimately into a power and chain reaction, Bohm ponders that the individual who uses inner energy and intelligence can transform mankind. The collectivity of individuals have reached the "principle of the consciousness of mankind," but they have not quite the "energy to reach the whole, to put it all on fire." For both Teilhard and Bohm, it is this collective consciousness that is truly one and indivisible. And it is the responsibility of each human person to contribute towards the building of this consciousness of mankind--this *inner* noosphere! Both thinkers believe that mankind can only build the inner noosphere by turning to that which they believe is present within us. Each individual has to seek and recognize that embedded knowledge that lies buried in the depths of our being. That which is implicate results in the manifest! In other words, the development of the outer noosphere depends on the evolution of the more fundamental inner noosphere, be it seeded in the individual or collectively contained by the whole mind of the species. In order to develop this inner noosphere, to follow our cosmic destiny, we need to begin to know better that precious information that is within us. Since the dawning of mankind-- both intuitively and historically, and in many ways and by many means--individuals have sought this inner pearl of great price. This sense of gnosis, of inner knowledge, of knowing that which is within us is often labeled "contemplative consciousness." In the past contemplation fell mainly into the realm of religion, and more specifically into mysticism and meditation. Ancient and medieval contemplatives in the West flourished within Christendom. Their main focus was God or the Christ. These interpreted divinities were that which a contemplative would discover within himself. Most Western mystics-- such as John of the Cross, Theresa of Avila, Hildegarde of Bingen, and Julian of Norwich--belonged to religious or monastic orders or were anchorites. Their writings were long, but often very organized approaches into a *virtual* dimension of divine union. Later avenues of contemplation were enmeshed within the process of meditation and its variety of techniques. Akin to medieval mysticism, contemplative meditation remained linked with the religious pursuit, mainly with prayer and spirituality. The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola provide an example of a psychic process of self-examination, which led supposedly to spiritual purification. There are also non-religious meditative methods, ancient and contemporary, such as kindalini, Tantric Yoga, Zen, and New Age. There is, however, a more modern approach to contemplative consciousness. It is the psychological approach, which considers this sense of interiority to be a necessary part of the individual process. The individuation process is a chain of transformation within the individual personality. Analytical psychologist Jolande Jacobi presumes: It is a coming to self-actualization, a coming to selfhood, bringing with it the "infinite capacity for the development of the human psyche." During individuation, both the inside and the outside experience of a person's life must be given their due. Conscious realization and "self-knowledge is...the heart and essence of this process." Carl Jung noted, too, that "the individuation process is, psychially, a borderline phenomenon which needs special conditions in order to become conscious. Perhaps it is a first step along a path of development to be trodden by the men of the future..." Individuation, in terms of human development, in terms of the future, returns us to Teilhard's idea of the noosphere partly as an interior undertaking. It is contemplating, paying attention, coming to know the unknown universe that dwells within each of us and the All of Us. Using modern psychological methods, we now work with dreams and active imagination. And psychology has begun to encounter the Collective Mind as well, encountering myths, legends, fairy tales, heroes and gods from the perspective of the collective's individuation. Thinking of the future, however, we need to consider the advancement of the inner noosphere from the perspective of technology. Computer networking and artificial intelligence conceivably could contribute towards the construction of the outer life of the noosphere, but the potentiality of *cyberspace* could enhance inner comprehension and growth of both the individual and the noosphere.   --Proceed with Noosphere & Cyberspace (2)-- copyright Beatrix Murrell 1998  Spiritech UK Godware Return to Spiritech UK Home