Is there Room for Compassion in an Evolutinary Worldview?

Every once in a while I'll answer an email question that ought to be shared beyond the private exchange....here's an example from earlier today: (names were removed to protect privacy)

Question:

I was wondering if you can help me with this- I was wondering since you have both an integral and evolutionary perspective on things-what is your take on compassion, wisdom and healing? Do you think compassion and healing has a place in evolutionary enlightenment? I was also wondering where the quality and energy of compassion and healing come from-Being or Becoming. I am interested in these questions because I am a 'healer'-counselor...

I trust you are well, and are up to many great things in the evolutionary process!

B------



Response:

Hi B--!

Great to hear from you! Thanks for reaching out.

The short answer is Yes(!), there is an infinite amount of room and desperate need for compassion, healing and wisdom within any evolutionary worldview. And yes, it has a vital and necessary role to play in any healthy version evolutionary enlightenment.

Here's how I look at it:

Eros is the evolutionary drive forward. its role is to manifest newness, creativity, and novel structures in the universe. This is a wonderful and important occurrence but it is only half of the story.

The other side of the story involves Eros' evolutionary counterpart, Agape. Agape is the energy that is constantly reaching back to heal, care for, and sustain all the previous levels of evolution that have come before. Agape is necessary for the health of any evolutionary process. There must be an effort to maintain the health and vitality of all of the previous layers of evolution that the leading edge is building upon. Compassion and healing are both part of this vital downward reach of love and care.

Eros reaches up, agape reaches down -- both sides of the coin are needed if evolution is to be healthy.

To your next question: "Where do the quality and energy of compassion and healing come from-Being or Becoming"?

There are two ways of looking at it --

1) Using the framework above for reference, the dimensions of compassion and healing are generally best thought about as part of the "Becoming" dimension. "Becoming" represents the manifest world of duality. As in the description above, the becoming dimension has two energies eros (reaching forward/upward in creation) and agape (reaching backward/downward in compassion and healing).

2) From another angle, it is also fair to say that an authentic experience of the ground of being is a total immersion in an ocean of Love. From this perspective one can say that compassion and healing come from "Being".

Ultimately, framing being and becoming with an "or" statement, is only useful at first. Upon deeper awakening within the integral worldview, one begins to recognize that being IS becoming. Reality is trans-dual (dual and nondual). This means that all of creative manifestation (Eros), its tendency for deep care and love (agape), and its nondual ground are all one event happening right now.

hope this helps.... :)

love,
Dustin