At this point in world events, it's not hard to see that the evolution of human consciousness is critical to our survival as a species. We just have to grow up. And the way things are going, it seems like we better get moving.           Over the years, one of the biggest problems we've faced is the simple fact that our technology always grows at a much faster pace than our character does. It's always been like this. We create things for ourselves much faster than we actually understand ourselves. And this has some inherent danger to it.           Even though our world seems incredibly sophisticated, in certain ways we still live by the law of the jungle - Dog eat dog, winner take all. And on that basic level, we're not much better than a bunch of cavemen and women who, among other destructive inventions, have also created nuclear weapons.  In that way, not a lot's changed since we first came up with the sword and spear. It's just a matter of degree.           And what's driving this whole thing? On a basic level, it's just plain fear. We're still afraid of our own shadow. And our fear has been the cause of most of the tragic, human-to-human calamities that we've inflicted on ourselves since the dawn of civilization. At least what we like to call civilization.           It reminds me of a famous quote from Mahatma Gandhi from 1931. Towards the end of his visit to England, a reporter asked him, "What do you think of Western Civilization and Gandhi quickly replied, "I think it would be a good idea."           Some say that human history is simply a reflection of the state of human intelligence. If that's true, do we have the capacity to change things for the better by changing ourselves for the better. Can we evolve into something far greater than we are?           That's a question I've been entertaining since I was fourteen years old. It was the summer of 1963. I was at camp and got introduced to idea of the evolution of consciousness in a most unexpected way – through a few panels of a comic book.           Like all the other kids, I had been a major comic book addict and for years with my main focus on Superman and Batman. But this summer I had been introduced to a new company called Marvel Comics and it was really expanding my imagination. They still featured action stories, but they always gave you a twist.           In the last Fantastic Four episode, they had introduced an alien named "The Watcher," from an advanced race of beings. He had become friends with Reed Richards, who was the leader of the Fantastic Four. One day, Richards wandered into The Watcher's laboratory when he wasn't there. He absentmindedly picked up a baton-like device and in an instant, he was rooted to the ground and couldn't move. His head began morphing into a much larger size.           Suddenly, The Watcher burst in, grabbed the baton out of Richards's hand and with a different tool, returned his head back to its normal size. Once Richards had recovered, The Watcher told him he must never touch anything in the laboratory again without The Watcher being there. He went on to explain that the device Richards was holding was a "Consciousness Enhancer" and in those few seconds, it had evolved him forward a thousand years. He had actually become a human being of the far distant future.           As a fellow scientist, he asked Richards what the experience had been like. Richards said he wasn't able to retain all the details, but he could remember that he had gone into a heightened state of awareness and was fully merged with the power of the universe. The joy of being in that consciousness was indescribable.           It was all so foreign to me, but something about the idea of being able to evolve into a higher state of being took deep root in me. Like a seed being planted with unknown potential, it hit me in a place in my imagination that I still far too young to be in touch with.           A few years later, I experienced a similar event when I unexpectedly encountered the idea of the evolution of consciousness in a TV show.  It was March of 1967. I was 18 years old and a senior in high school and I flipped on Star Trek. I wasn't a big Trekkie. I just used to watch it every once in a while.              In case you don't know, the original Star Trek takes place in the future, in the year 2265. The good guys are the Federation and the Starship Enterprise is one of its ships, commanded by Captain James Kirk and his first mate, a half-human, half-Vulcan creature named Mr. Spock. The villains of the series are the Klingons, a vicious, brutal dictatorship that is directly opposed to the high-minded principles of the Federation.           As the episode begins, negotiations between the Federation and the Klingons have broken down and the two sides are about to go to war. On orders from the Federation, Kirk and Spock go visit a planet called Organia, which is near the border of the Klingon Empire. They want to convince its people not to allow the Klingons to set up a base there.           Spock has researched the planet and as they approach he tells Kirk that the Organians are a primitive people, living in a low-level society that has had no significant advancement for thousands of years. They are dim-witted, but quite peaceful.           "Just the kind of weak innocents that make perfect fodder for Klingon domination," Kirk observes.           Kirk and Spock get beamed down to the planet and meet with the Elder of the Organian society. Kirk explains that they are with the Federation, which stands for freedom and self-rule. He also explains that the Klingons are probably on their way and will seek to dominate them and take over the entire planet for their own purposes.           He makes a strong appeal that they should join forces with the Federation and allow them to set up defenses against the Klingons. But the Elder declines. He explains that they don't believe in fighting and warfare, regardless of the reason. But he tells him that he and Spock are welcomed to stay and observe.           Kirk and Spock take up residence on the planet to spy on the Klingons, who land soon after. In short order, with brute force, they begin to take over the planet.           At one point, Kirk and Spock are captured. Kirk had been supplying the Federation with information on the Klingon operations and now an all-out war between the Federation and the Klingons seems inevitable.           The Klingon Commander decides to put more pressure on the Organians to join with them against the Federation. He says they will execute 20 Organians every hour as long as they refuse to cooperate. The Elder is not moved and within the hour, the executions begin. Twenty innocent people are brutally murdered in public every single hour.           Sadly, this strategy of a dominating nation with superior firepower, conquering another country and terrorizing its citizens into submission, so they can steal their resources has played out on earth more times than can be counted. And tragically, it still continues to this day.           In the fictional world of the future, the regardless of the Klingon's brutality, Organians still refuse to cooperate.           The Klingon Commander finally meets one on one with Kirk to see if he can force him to give out any information about the Federation's plans. Immediate negative sparks fly between them, but even though they clearly hate each other, they do have one thing in common. As military men, they have both come to despise the Organians, who clearly have no spine and will not stand and fight for their own land. And they're even willing to have their innocent citizens killed, rather than put up any resistance.           Although Kirk's revulsion for the Klingons is obvious, the Klingon Commander appreciates it. "Good honest hatred is refreshing," he says. "I don't trust people who smile too much."           Suddenly, the two men are told that they must meet with the Organian Council immediately. An important announcement is about to be made. As they approach, the Organian Elder looks at them with the same, peaceful benign look he always has and then says, "As I stand here, I also stand upon the home planet of the Klingon Empire and the home planet of the Federation to make this pronouncement. I am putting a stop to this insane war of yours."           The two commanders, along with Spock, stare at him in disbelief             "Yes. It's being done," the Elder continues. "All your forces, wherever they are, are now immobilized. Feel free to confirm if you like." Both Kirk and the Klingon commander use their devices to communicate with their headquarters and they find out, to their amazement, that all of their joint destructive power has mysteriously gone dead.           "We find interference in other people's affairs most offensive, but you gentlemen have given us no choice," the Elder says.           "You should be the first to be on our side," Kirk responds bluntly. "Two hundred innocent hostages have already been killed."           "No one has been killed, Captain," the Elder informs him. "No one has died on this planet for thousands of years."           Then he makes another declaration. "Your emotions are most discordant. We do not wish to be inhospitable, but gentlemen, you must leave. The mere presence of beings like yourselves is intensely painful to us."           "What do you mean, beings like yourselves?" Kirk asks.           "Millions of years ago, Captain, we were of humanoid lineage like yourselves as well. But we have evolved far beyond all that. We have no need for physical bodies. That of us which you see here is a mere appearance we have made for your sake."           At that point, the Elder and the other Organians in the room transform into pulsating light, too bright to look at. Then they disappear. In another moment, Kirk and Spock are mysteriously transported back to the bridge of the Enterprise. Kirk is near shock, but Spock, as always, is completely calm. It's the Vulcan in him.           "Fascinating," he says. "Pure energy. Pure thought. Totally incorporeal. Not life as we know it at all."           "But what about the whole planet with its fields and its buildings?" Kirk asks.           "Probably just a conventionalized prop," Spock responds. "Useless to the Organians. Created so that visitors such as ourselves could have normalized points of reference."           "Doesn't seem possible," Kirk observes.           "Captain, it took millions of years for the Organians to evolve into what they are. I would say that they are as far above us on the evolutionary scale as we are above the amoeba." And with that incredible statement, the episode ended.           Now, I was sixteen years old and was completely blown out. First of all, it was such a surprise that these kindly, meek and apparently powerless creatures were actually far more powerful that the Federation and the Klingons combined. They certainly didn't show it, but I guess they just didn't have any ego about it.           And also, this was the first time I had never heard the idea that there could be a lifeform that was more evolved than we are, let alone being as far above us on the evolutionary scale as we are from the amoeba. That comparison was really too much to wrap my head around.  What if there really were creatures that were that much more evolved than we are. What would they be like? And what about us? The Organians evolved, how far can we grow?           Sometimes even though you don't see it coming, an idea comes out of the blue that radically changes our point of view. With these outrageous depictions of consciousness evolution from the Watcher and Star Trek, suddenly our whole way of life, with all our petty attachments seem so small. And from that perspective, our endless history of war after war after war, filled with killing, suffering and pain, looks like just one long catastrophe. Can we grow beyond it?           We'll maybe we can't evolve a thousand years in thirty seconds.  But still, we gotta be able to do better than this…           So, that's the end of this episode. As always, keep your eyes, mind and heart opened, and let's get together in the next one.  

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