What they say. . .

The Conscious Evolutionists share much in common with the Integralists and the Process Philosophers, but they show particular allegiance to the guiding spirit of one of the twentieth century’s most extraordinary muses: the Jesuit paleontologist-theologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Teilhard saw the evolution of the cosmos as one interwoven psycho-physical-spiritual process, and he described the fundamental law of that process as the law of complexity-consciousness. All things, he said, from the lowliest pre-atomic particle to the loftiest human being, are possessed of both exterior and interior dimensions that evolve in concert; as matter complexifies, consciousness deepens. As cosmologist Brian Swimme explains it, this law defines the vast deep-time trajectory of a universe that “begins with matter, develops into life, develops into thought, develops into God.”

Since the creative edge of evolution is now unfolding through ever-more integrated realms of mind and consciousness, these spiritual futurists believe, the evolutionary process has become a cocreative act, and its continuation depends on our awakening to the unique cosmic role and responsibility that comes with the gift of self-awareness. In other words, the frontiers of evolutionary development are no longer happening in the vast reaches of space or the fiery cauldrons of the stars but in and between us, in human consciousness and culture.

What it means. . .

From Al Gore to Mario Cuomo to Christian de Duve to Marshall McLuhan, Teilhard de Chardin inspired an entire generation to take up the mantle of conscious evolution in a variety of different ways. Much has been made, in particular, of his concept of the noosphere—a sort of emergent planetary mind made up of the entire sphere of human thought, culture, and technology—as (among other things) a surprisingly prescient vision of the internet.

Now, thanks to people like author and futurist Barbara Marx Hubbard, “conscious evolution” is becoming one of the spiritual watchwords of our time—not always carrying Teilhard’s mystical depth, but always pointing toward a more integrated scientific and spiritual embrace of evolution itself as “a light illuminating all facts, a curve that all lines must follow,” to borrow Teilhard’s own famous phrase. Less focused than Aurobindo and the Integralists on individual transformation, and less oriented by the Eastern notion of enlightenment than by the Christian ideals of redemption and community, the Conscious Evolutionists’ emphasis is on humanity’s evolutionary future and its march toward a greater collective awakening.

“God’s ecstasy creates the world, and the world’s ecstasy realizes God. And you are right in the midst of it all.”

Beatrice Bruteau

Watch a short video and listen to an in depth interview with Michael Dowd about evolution and religion: "Thank God for Evolution!"

Listen to our in-depth interview with John Haught on the topic of evolution: "An Unfinished Universe."