The Organism

Carl Sagan once said:
“A new consciousness is developing, which sees the earth as a single organism, and recognizes that an organism at war with itself is doomed.”

Sagan’s message highlights the importance of recognizing our connection with the Earth and the need for collective responsibility to ensure that we and our planet are sustained. It's a call for humanity to work together in harmony with the environment, rather than in opposition to it, to avoid catastrophic consequences for our shared home.
I choose to take an even broader perspective on this mechanism—to gain a deeper understanding of the interrelation between us and the unseen universe, not just the Earth. What would our lives look like if we were conscious of our role within the grand Organism at play? An egg within an egg within an egg, playing into the fractal of multiplicity.
How does one visualize the concept of impermanence while maintaining the thought of it all being a part of an Organism? This concept seems to be a challenge to accept, to say the least. In my experience, when this topic comes up in conversation, I notice it can be upsetting for some. To wrap our heads around the ‘never-ending’ is indeed ‘impossible.’ But shouldn’t ‘impossibility’ be the driving force behind our pursuit of knowledge, creativity, wisdom, and understanding? We may not reach an endpoint, but that's because there isn’t one.
When trying to grasp that I am a part of a microcosm and macrocosm of a carefully structured intelligence all leaning toward continuous evolution, art has a way of translating the intentionality behind its design. I think that’s what has subconsciously pulled me into art and self-expression since I was about four years old.
There are artists whose work I admire, like Alex Grey, who somehow relay infinite worlds and realities living within each other. His work used in the music video of "Pneuma" by the band Tool perfectly displays, in my opinion, the textile of the eternal while simultaneously containing what the hermetics call ‘The All.’ If you haven't seen that music video, I highly recommend checking it out.
In other words, while we, humans, each experience and influence different vantage points of a collective hive mind—like musicians in an orchestra—there is a grand symphony at play, only to a song that never ends.

Connection
So, if we are all a part of an Organism, then how exactly are we all connected? This takes me back to when I was eight or nine years old, watching Osmosis Jones. It quickly brings the viewer into a universe of what it would be like to be a molecular entity inside the human body, where each of those cells, viruses, or bacteria were sentient beings—just as alive and aware as the body they were sustaining.
I think of humanity in this sense, and there are so many ways to look at it. For instance, we have our industrial workers in society—working in warehouses and factories, electricians, plumbers, or engineers—all supporting the infrastructure in our communities and countries around the world. Each job is very specific, and to say the least, they are running a tight ship just to ensure the power and water supply are continuously flowing.
Without going into further detail, I’m sure you get the point and can acknowledge the importance of these workers, so we can all take hot showers and listen to this podcast right now.
The point is, we are all here building something, participating, contributing. That doesn’t just default to your job that pays the bills. It also means you are playing a role when you sing, paint, cook, dance, raise children, run a marathon, overcome depression, or hold the door open for someone. It really doesn't matter. You are contributing to a larger whole simply by existing.
This brings me to the point Carl Sagan made when he said, “A new consciousness is developing” in regard to the Organism.

Now that we have gone over some of the abstract intricacies of an infinite organism at play and acknowledged that we are all connected to each other through our existence and efforts, I think it is safe to say, if you’re still listening, maybe you’re like me and are infatuated with or intrigued by the concept of The Organism... or maybe you are just seeing what this podcast is all about.
Either way, I wanted to ask you if you have this internal feeling that something is afoot in our world. To highlight the second part of Sagan's quote: “An organism at war with itself is doomed.” We had to first acknowledge that we are indeed an organism.

Is this the End or the Beginning?
Whatever your beliefs are about what exactly is happening in the world, I think most of us can agree that this strange time we are in is telling us something—that there is some sort of shift happening.
If you pay even a little attention to current events, you would know that a lot of things are changing, but we aren’t exactly sure which direction this is going in. On one hand, we have world leaders promising their solutions to many of our problems in an eerie undertone that sounds a lot like an Orwellian dystopia, and on the other hand, we see a collective passion growing for truth, creativity, and spiritual inquiry.
So that begs the question: Is this the End or the Beginning? Why not both? We know very well the cyclical nature of our world, of the human body, of the cosmos—patterns that lay out right in front of us. It seems to me that we are witnessing an end to old ways and a rise in a technological era. AI, for example, is now being accessed by just about everyone with the internet; it is transforming every industry and quickly becoming relied upon as a tool for many different needs. Slowly but surely, we are seeing robots strolling our streets—or patrolling for that matter, virtual reality, and drones dropping off Amazon packages.
Media is becoming much more accessible to the average person, and just about anyone can be their own journalist. There is a growing lack of trust for mainstream media networks and a surge in exposés around controversial topics—all while pushback and censorship attempts to silence those who are asking questions.
This may just be the first time we are seeing the wheels start changing direction in this ever-evolving machine.
On the contrary, as technology is taking root, there is an urge for what Terence McKenna refers to as “The Archaic Revival.” It could be seen as the silver lining because Millennials, especially, are growing tired of the hustle and bustle of societal pressures to further augment into the age of technology and are seeking a more traditional way of living.
With tiny houses, homestead living, biohacking, cold plunges, grounding, and ancient spiritual practices resurfacing, McKenna's prediction was not far off at all. In fact, it is precisely what we see happening.
Granted, this is not to discount the abundance of knowledge we have gained from the internet, networking with like-minded individuals, and the opportunity to inspire others with the help of technology; the possibilities have been proven endless.
However, the point I want to make is that there is indeed a cycle to our dilemma. And it happens to be very complicated when we try to understand what will happen next. While old ways are dying, some are re-emerging, and new ways are being born yet unaccepted... the simplest way to put it is we are at a crossroads.
At the center of the crossroads, I see that we are extremely divided as a people. Heck, we are even divided from the natural world. And as Sagan said, we should not be surprised if more destruction takes place when we continue down a path of Us vs. Them.
There are many examples of division growing all around us. One could be the division that comes with the topic of diet. While we see an ever-growing urge to switch everyone to a plant-based diet on the consensus of it being better for the environment and our health, we simultaneously have the extreme opposite becoming more popular in the carnivore movement. Whichever you may subscribe to, both naturally come with pissing off a lot of people on the other end.
Just scroll through the comments on any post promoting one of these diets, and you will quickly see hundreds of thousands of people bickering back and forth and insulting each other in an attempt to change each other's minds or blow off some steam to total strangers.
The tension is real, and as someone who has explored a little of both diets, I now find myself somewhere in the middle with an ever-evolving perspective.
This example is mild compared to other controversial debates creating more fear, division, and suspicion among the masses. Some of which, once dissected, reveal themselves to be some kind of sinister agenda with the only goal being to further create division and generate wealth for a select few.
We know that war is never a good thing, yet a select group of individuals benefit from it. Meanwhile, the civilians and soldiers in these areas, on either side of the debacle, are all suffering while the rest of the world watches in terror—choosing one side or the other, thus perpetuating the Us vs. Them mentality.
I don’t blame anyone for being mortified by the outcome of division or war... to think that Armageddon is just around the corner. Because when things get ugly enough in one part of the world, that is when it is easiest for us to see just how fragile and connected we really are. It takes horrible things to happen to show us what is really at stake.
The real question we should be asking is: Is it possible we are all the same Organism? If so, how would a world look that has this as its fundamental focus?