The last 100 years have given us more scientific discoveries than the entire preceding human history before them. We are the first generation to know the geometry, material composition and evolution of the universe. Technological advances such as the Hubble Space Telescope and the Cassini Spacecraft have enabled us to see deeper into the cosmos than was previously possible and get a clear picture of the position of galaxies in space and time.
Emerging fields of new cosmology, neuroplasticity, superstring theory and epigenetics are presenting a view of humankind as the eyes, ears and mind of the cosmos with far more to discover in the world inside us than in the universe at large.
New cosmology shows that we are the offspring of supernovas. The carbon in our bodies could not be created in the universe in any other way than through the collapse and explosion of a star. We are made of stardust. We are a further incarnation of a star. We are embedded in this evolutionary process. Just as a single drop in an ocean contains in it the character of the entire ocean, so each of us contains in our body the entire information of existence.
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Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to adapt constantly to changing circumstances throughout life. The human brain contains approximately 86 billion neurons, or nerve cells. Neuroplasticity enables the brain to regularly form new communication pathways between these cells and continuously reconfigure existing ones. This process enables us to acquire different skills, memorize new information and generally adapt to existence through experience.
The longstanding consensus in neuroscience was that the brain stopped this process of neural regeneration around the age of 4. But research since the beginning of the 21st century has shown that the brain’s neural connections never reach a fixed pattern. Rather, studies are showing that the brain is changing constantly—in response to learning, disease, exercise and other stimuli—throughout our entire lifespan.
This means that a person can stay active and engaged in life as long as they practice a lifestyle that stimulates both the body and the mind. This also means that we can learn from past mistakes and improve our approach to life as we go along. Tomorrow is not yesterday. We don’t have to carry forward bad habits only because we’ve done them in the past.
Superstring theory explains the universe this way:
- Everything is made of particles.
- Particles contain atoms and molecules.
- Molecules contain two or more atoms.
- Atoms contain protons, neutrons and electrons.
- Protons and neutrons contain quarks.
- Quarks contain no more matter but strings of vibration—pure energy.
When we divide the particles down to their tiniest ingredients to discover what they’re made of, what we’re left with is strings of probabilities, vibrations of potential. We discover that the essence of life is pure energy and information. This is the source of you and the cosmos.
Epigenetics show that contrary to the old notion of nature versus nurture, over the course of a lifetime, both these aspects play crucial complementary roles in forming a full existence.
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Epigenetics explain that our consciousness modulates our biology. Our thoughts affect our genes and not the other way around. Genes carry our particular information, but they are not fixed and final. They’re malleable and influenced by what we think, how we feel and how we respond to our environment. Here’s the mental switch: Instead of an unwitting instrument of the genetics you’ve inherited, you are the conscious master of your journey through life, determining your destiny by what you think and how you act.
Wisdom of the Body
The human body is a well-designed machine for living with built-in mechanisms for self-healing and self-correction, provided we don’t harm it with bad habits. The body contains a natural state called homeostasis—or self-regulation—where it maintains biological processes, hormonal stability and internal temperature within an optimal range. The body intuitively knows how to take care of itself. For example, we sweat to cool off during the hot summer days and we shiver to produce heat during the cold winter months. Your job is to keep your body in good condition so it can function the way it was programmed.
Evolution of the Mind
Recent research from Harvard neuroscientist Rudolph Tanzi indicates that intuition is the next big part of the brain that is evolving as it relates to the mind: the instinctive brain followed by the emotional brain, followed by the intellectual brain and the intuitive brain.
In this understanding, intuition is not merely a reflexive behavior we’ve been conditioned for, as the early instinctive stage of our brain was. Intuition is a culmination of all our qualities of intelligence, vision, self-knowledge and knowledge of the world—mind, body and soul.
The consciousness animating the universe informs every cell in your body. You can literally be whoever you want to be.
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