Peter Russell
Seeking Consciousness And Finding Hope
Revolutionary futurist, student of mathematics, physics, philosophy and consciousness, Peter Russell is a prolific writer and speaker whose articulate explanations of nonduality and insights into the conundrums of modern life and the nature of consciousness are impactful and provocative. Called an eco-philosopher extraordinaire, he is the author of a number of books including The Consciousness Revolution, Waking Up in Time, From Science to God and The Global Brain Awakens. Russell will be one of the featured speakers at the Science and Nonduality Conference in San Rafael in October. He took some time to talk to LA YOGA about consciousness, and hope for humanity.
Felicia M. Tomasko: How do you explain non-duality?
Peter Russell: Non-duality is just another way of saying oneness or unity. The idea of an underlying oneness is not in itself new. Even science would agree with it in principle. Science is looking behind all the diversity of forms whether it’s the clouds in the sky, a flower or a crystal, seeking a unity to it all, whether that unity is thought of in terms of quarks, quanta or energy.
Non-duality as it is talked about in spiritual circles is saying there is an underlying oneness to all the diversity we experience, and this is a oneness of consciousness; the fundamental essence is of one of mind, rather than one of matter. That is the fundamental difference: science is looking for oneness in a material realm and the non-dual traditions are seeing the oneness in the realm of spirit, in consciousness or mind.
A key part of these traditions concerns our experience of self and non-self; there is me and there is what isn’t me. There is the experience of my own individual identity and there are all the things this self is experiencing. A core theme of non-dual teachings is that this dualism of subject-object, observer and observed, is an illusion. Ultimately there isn’t a distinction between self and the non-self. The concept of “I” is just another construction appearing in consciousness.
FMT: Considering world events, if there is this unity of consciousness, how do we make sense of things like the oil spill or strife or anything else? Is there some aspect of it that is part of our self?
PR: There is certainly a psychological component. If we look to the root causes of such problems, we find that time and again it comes back to the fact that most people are not living from that state of unity. Almost everybody is caught up in a series of dualistic habits, mental attitudes and belief systems.
We become focused on keeping this sense of an individual “I” protected and bolstered. A lot of things we do, we do to maintain and defend our sense of self, to prove who we are, to get recognition and status.
So much dysfunctional human activity comes from people wanting to reinforce their constructed sense of identity. It leads us to be continually taking for ourselves rather than responding freely to what others might want. It blinds us to what the world needs.
This self-centeredness is reinforced by a This self-centeredness is reinforced by a cultural belief that says if I’m not feeling happy, then I have to get something, do something, make something happen, get somebody to change. Our whole attitude is focused on manipulating and changing the world for our own ends.
When that belief system rules our thinking and behavior, and has it disposal today’s advanced technologies, it is not surprising that we end up creating mess after mess, problem after problem. All this stems from the fact we are living in a dualistic consciousness. Although non-dualist teachings say there is an underlying non-duality, the vast majority of people do not have inkling of what that’s about; even if they do they probably aren’t actually living from that state. When you are living from that state, there is a sense of ease, freedom, a deep sense of contentment and compassion; you don’t need to do all these things that bolster the self, to get things, to prove who you are, to make yourself feel content. But as spiritual teachers have said time and time again, so long as we are not living in that state, we are going to be creating problems for ourselves and for the planet.
FMT: Do you feel the vast numbers of people who are not living in that state creates a self-perpetuating situation where it becomes harder for people to be in that state?
PR: Yes, I think so. Our whole society is reinforcing that dualistic mode of thinking: so much of the media is saying do this and you will feel better. Just about every advertisement you see is saying there is something missing in your life; “You need to do this, get this and you will be happy.”
Any suggestion that looking within ourselves, beyond the ego’s way of thinking, could lead to a deep inner contentment is anathema to our culture. Our materialistic society is in conspiracy against us realizing these inner truths. Fortunately, however, more and more people today through their own inner work, their own realization, are coming to an appreciation of non-duality. And, because it’s so enriching and valuable, sharing their experience with others.
FMT: As more people find that enrichment; do you feel it makes it easier for other people who have no idea that this even exists? Do you think it creates some ability for that to happen?
PR: I definitely do. It sets up positive feedback. The more people who are waking up to that truth in themselves the more others will hear about it, be informed and inspired, understand what it is happening As more people wake up, we are developing a collective understanding of the process and its importance.
This is one of the fascinating things that’s happening in the present time. We are witnessing a global spiritual renaissance. I call it global because there is no one individual leading it: There are many good teachers, many awakened people, scattered across the planet. Together we are rediscovering the non-dual philosophy that lies behind all the world’s spiritual tradition. But it has gotten lost over time. It’s been absorbed by different cultures, translated into different languages, and errors and misunderstandings have inevitably crept in. Today, we are tuning in again to that core wisdom, and doing so collectively. That’s what makes these times so exciting.
FMT: These teachings do underlie so many of the world’s religions but the esoteric nature of them may make them difficult to understand.It seems as though understanding only comes through practice. Do you think that’s the case?
PR: I think that’s partly true. When I started delving into different spiritual traditions, I was interested in comparing them. Then I realized they were all pointing to the same thing and I became much more interested in exploring what they were pointing towards. And that understanding certainly helped. But the words are pointing to something that is so different from our ordinary everyday experience that almost inevitably we will misunderstand what they are saying. We are interpreting it all in terms of our daily experience.
So the experience of it is essential. I know in my own life I’ve had glimpses of awakening, moments of insight into these spiritual realities, and I realize, “Ahh yes, of course, now I understand what they were pointing to.” With direct experience it all begins to make sense.
So I think, as you suggested, the experience itself is the most important thing; that’s when we really get what the teachings are talking about.
FMT: How do you suggest people begin that process?
PR: Stopping is the first step; pausing in the day. Many teachers suggest stopping and becoming present. Notice what’s going on in your body, notice your breath, your feelings. Pausing just to be in the moment is where many meditation techniques begin.
As you become more skilled and can allow the mind to settle into a state of quiet, you begin to notice qualities of your own experience which are always there: a sense of presence, beingness. Such qualities never go away, but they are very subtle and are easily overshadowed by the busy-ness of our everyday minds.
Another quality which is already there, whatever we are experiencing, is awareness. Many of the non-dual traditions advocate being aware of awareness itself. Although personally I feel that even the word “awareness” is misleading because it makes it a noun, a thing. The way I put it is there is “aware-ing” going on. It’s a verb, a process.
As the mind settles down, you become more aware of the aware-ing, and realize that it is this omnipresent quality that lies behind the feeling of I-ness. We see that the individual self, which we thought was so real, is actually being constructed moment by moment through the thinking process. Self is an idea that is created by thinking and when thinking stops, then this sense of “me,” “here,” doing this, thinking that, dissolves and there is just experience happening without a “me” doing it. Experience is simply happening.
FMT: The perpetual thinking then perpetuates whatever idea of the self that’s not necessarily born from the awareness.
PR: That’s why many teachings talk about the “I thought,” the thought of the self. We think it’s something very real rather than seeing it as something that the mind is constructing as we go through the day.
FMT: Tell me a bit about your practice. You suggest this is something that you are continually practicing.
PR: My own practice varies according to where I am. If I’m in the middle of a busy day, it may simply be just stopping, sitting down and being aware of my body, my breath. My mind will probably be full of thoughts, what I have to do or other concerns I may have. The practice is continually bringing my mind back to the present moment, and the easiest way to come back to the present is to come back to the experience in the body because that is always in the present.
As my mind becomes quieter, there are several things I may do. One is allowing my inner guidance to show me if there’s any way in which I am holding tension and to let that relax. This is important because the essence of meditation is letting the mind completely relax.
Or I may choose to reconnect with feelings such as the love and gratitude. I don’t mean love as relational love, it’s not about loving somebody or something. There’s a pure quality of love that lives deep in our being, but it’s overshadowed by all the things we’re doing. To stop and tune into that feeling of love is very important. All the great spiritual traditions talk about the development of love, of letting love be a continual quality in one’s life.
FMT: In terms of scientific understanding, what has been the thing that you found that reinforces these teachings? Especially thinking about love: we don’t always see love and gratitude in a mathematical equation.
PR: Science has not been concerned with inner experience, it doesn’t know how to handle it. Its focus has been on the external material world. So science has not yet made major discoveries that support the mystical non-dual view. It’s basic worldview is a material one.
But today it’s beginning to come up against the edges of its own worldview, and those edges are pointing towards the non-dual position.
In brain science, for example, it is being recognized that we can’t actually pinpoint an area of the brain where the “self” is. There isn’t a “self” in the brain. Science is recognizing the self is just a construct and beginning to look at the ways in which this happens.
Another edge is the problem science has explaining where consciousness comes from. This has become a major interest in the past ten or fifteen years, particularly as we come to understand the brain in much more detail. The question is, “How does the brain create consciousness?” People have come up with various theories, but all these theories presume that matter itself is not conscious. The problem still remains of how unconscious matter, unconscious brain cells, could ever give rise to inner experience?
The non-dual position says that consciousness is already there. It isn’t that the brain creates consciousness; the brain modulates what happens in consciousness. For the vast majority of scientists, that is still far too radical, but I do see a growing number who are beginning to take this possibility seriously.
FMT: Coming up against the edge of science may be something that we start to see more over the next few years or decades.
PR: I think so. As we realize some of these problems are not going to go away, a new model is going to emerge. We’ve seen this happen in physics, particularly in quantum mechanics. The big surprise there was that the observer is somehow tied into the process. The act of observation seems to make a difference as to what we actually observe.
There are still half a dozen ways of interpreting that phenomenon; some people think the act of observation actually changes the world, some people think it’s just an uncertainty in our knowledge. But clearly consciousness is somehow implicated in quantum physics. Yet science has virtually no understanding whatsoever of consciousness and it doesn’t know how to integrate it into its understanding of the quantum world.
My feeling is that sometime, and it may not be too far away, we are going to have a new model of reality that includes consciousness as a fundamental quality of the cosmos. When we do, I think many of the unsolved problems, and mysterious paradoxes of quantum mechanics will be resolved. But we don’t have that model yet because science does not include consciousness. It is still puzzled by the fact it even exists.
FMT: Yet in the Vedic model of the universe, consciousness is part of the makeup of the universe.
PR: Yes. In most spiritual and metaphysical traditions, Eastern and Western, they point to this: Consciousness is the fundamental essence of the universe. Most scientists wouldn’t give much credence to Vedic philosophy. But I believe these traditions contain profound truths that people realized long before science came along. Today we should be giving them serious consideration because we could really benefit from their deep insights .
FMT: We refer to science as if it were an entity. To me, science feels a lot like the “I,” a construct of the way that we are interacting with or perpetuating a viewpoint. Science is ultimately not a separate entity.
PR: In discussing science, I find it helpful to distinguish between science as a process of gaining knowledge and the worldview at which that process has currently arrived. The process is something which we all do in life – it’s about making a hypothesis, testing it, checking it out with other people and seeing if they agree; it’s a natural thing to do. If I’m walking down the street and I smell baking bread, I might make the hypothesis that there’s a bakery nearby. I might look around to find it or check with a friend, who says, “Yes, there’s a bakery down the road; they bake at this time of day.” That is the essence of a scientific approach to gaining
knowledge; arriving at reliable truth.
Science has taken this natural way of testing our knowledge and developed it into a rigorous approach. Through that process it has arrived at its own view of reality, its current level of truth.
Every scientific field, whether it’s quantum mechanics, DNA theory, or earthquake models, has its own particular model of reality. But these “truths” are not fixed. They change over time. Two hundred years ago, Newton’s laws of motion were believed to be the truth; then it was Einstein’s laws of motion that became the truth. As more knowledge is gained so the worldview changes.
So when we talk about what science knows we’re talking about what it knows at the moment. Once we include consciousness in our description of the cosmos, then we would be in a whole new worldview. But these shifts don’t happen easily. People become very attached to their views and hold onto them at all costs. As the physicist Max Plank commented, “A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die..”
FMT: Today we are being faced with crises that ask us to collectively look at our worldview.
PR: Yes, our current worldview is clearly inadequate. Many current crises are pointing towards that. The question is: How much notice will we will take? For example, the economic meltdown a couple of years ago was probably the first major crisis where the cause was clearly human beings, in this case human self-centeredness and greed. But rather than asking, “How can we help people move beyond greed,” the response was to legislate against it. That is the old way of doing things, and shows we learnt very little. I think future crises will be increasingly pointing to the fact that we really need to change our thinking, and our whole approach to life.
FMT: Do you feel events like the Science and Non-Duality Conference or the fact that these teachings are becoming more widely disseminated by teachers around the world is something that can help shift that worldview.
PR: I think the Science and Non-Duality Conference is one of the most interesting conferences of the last ten years. It’s on the leading edge of what is happening; it brings together good teachers, people who are exploring non-duality first-hand, and scientists looking at it from within their own disciplines. So there is a lot of fertile discussion and fresh, alive thinking.
FMT: We need fresh, alive thinking because there’s an undercurrent of, “Is there something going to happen next in the world?” “Is our economy going to improve? I would ask: “Are we even looking in the right direction for our economy to improve or does this then mean we have to figure out ways we can collaborate and cooperate instead of competing for a single person’s gain?”
PR: We need to come back to what is it in our psyche that is behind the problem. I don’t believe we are intrinsically self-centered, greedy, or overly competitive. Such attitudes have become dominant because of our lack of full awareness of our true nature. We get caught in this constructed sense of self, this belief, that “I can only be content if I just get enough of the right thing.”
Whether the issues are environmental, economic, social, or personal, we need to look at the human psyche and the role it plays in both generating the problems and our resistance to solving them. Often we resist doing what we know needs to happen because it would mean giving up some of out comforts and other things. We are trapped in our thinking.
FMT: The human condition means we’re trapped by our fear, by our construction of the self, so how do we get out of it?
PR: By seeing through it. That’s again where pausing to stop and see what’s going on helps us. We can begin to see through these various traps, these habits of thinking. Feeling fearful can confuse us and get in our way. Most fear is future thinking about whether or not I’m going to get the things, situations or circumstances I need to be happy, or whether a circumstance is going to be painful.
If we begin to see this as just a train of thought, and see the negative effects it is having on us, then we can step back, explore where it is coming from and ask how valid it is, how likely is it to occur? We soon discover that a lot of our fears are not actually founded on any reality. I think it was Mark Twain who said, “My life has been filled with terrible misfortunes, most of which have never happened.” By watching ourselves closely we can begin to see it is just mental constructions creating unnecessary tension.
Another unnecessary mental construction is a sense of lack. We tell ourselves there’s something missing, and as soon as we do that we create feelings of discontent. I believe the natural state of the mind is one of contentment. But we continually obscure that natural contentment with self-created discontent. We think we’re missing something, some opportunity, some experience and then we think the only way to get out of discontent is to go and get that experience, thing or whatever it is, rather than realizing, “If I just stop thinking this way, I could easily return to a state of ease and contentment.”
More often than not it is our thinking that’s disturbing our peace of mind, not the circumstances. By more careful observation of our own minds we can begin to free ourselves from a lot of unnecessary discontents. Not necessarily all of them, but from most the ones that are our own creation.
FMT: That comes back to stopping and practicing awareness.
PR: Yes, stopping, pausing and becoming more aware. People often talk about becoming more conscious. Part of that is about becoming more aware of what is happening within ourselves. And it is also about changing our perception of things; are we seeing events through the eyes of fear or through the eyes of love, compassion and acceptance? A shift in consciousness is a shift in how we see things.
FMT: Do you feel there is any hope for humanity and the world as it is today?
PR: As it is today, no. The world as it is today is pretty crazy. We’ve got ourselves caught in this materialistic dead end. It’s clear we cannot go on consuming like this, raping the planet, abusing each other. I think this current mode of civilization is coming to an end. Whether it’s coming to an end painfully or through some much more peaceful transition, I don’t know.
What I do know is that the way through is for human beings to become more conscious, become more fully human. This means really putting into practice what all the great spiritual teachings have been pointing toward. In our culture, we’ve gotten so arrogant with our technological prowess; we’ve just put their wisdom aside. Now it’s time to pause and say, “What can we learn from the wise people of all cultures and ages that will help make the profound transformations demanded of us so that we can navigate our way through these turbulent times?”
FMT: Do you think there’s hope for that to happen?
PR: Yes.
For more information about Peter Russell, visit: peterrussell.com.
Felicia Tomasko has spent more of her life practicing Yoga and Ayurveda than not. She first became introduced to the teachings through the writings of the Transcendentalists, through meditation, and using asana to cross-train for her practice of cross-country running. Between beginning her commitment to Yoga and Ayurveda and today, she earned degrees in environmental biology and anthropology and nursing, and certifications in the practice and teaching of yoga, yoga therapy, and Ayurveda while working in fields including cognitive neuroscience and plant biochemistry. Her commitment to writing is at least as long as her commitment to yoga. Working on everything related to the written word from newspapers to magazines to websites to books, Felicia has been writing and editing professionally since college. In order to feel like a teenager again, Felicia has pulled out her running shoes for regular interval sessions throughout Southern California. Since the very first issue of LA YOGA, Felicia has been part of the team and the growth and development of the Bliss Network.