By Brian Luke Seaward, Ph.D.

One semester, while attending graduate school at the University of Maryland, I enrolled in a new course called “Human Potentials.” It was a health class, but one unlike any health class I’d ever taken before. The content included but wasn’t limited to, cultivating intuition, creative problem-solving, energy healing, forgiveness practices, meditation, compassion-based altruism, humor, and much, much more. Somehow, over the past several millennia, humans have lost the abilities that unite mind and heart, as well as the ability to access higher states of consciousness that is essential for living in harmony on planet Earth. This class was designed to help us remember what has been forgotten. We were to explore how consciousness could be extended so we might learn about our greater human abilities. In doing so, we might join the ranks of the new humans, perhaps in preparation for a new world.

The premise of this class was based on the belief that from a mind-body-spirit perspective humans are nowhere near our highest potential. Instead, we are stuck in the survival mode of “fight or flight or freeze.” Humanity has succeeded in surviving for thousands of years in a dangerous world with useful fear-based tactics. Fear-based consciousness focuses us but it also makes us contract, whereas a compassion-based consciousness frees us and allows our awareness to expand. While most courses in health education focused on physical wellness (cardio-vascular fitness, nutrition, sleep, human sexuality, and so on) this course focused on spiritual health and the powers of the indomitable human spirit. Moreover, unlike other classes that tested the capacity of our standard cognitive function (such as memorization and critical-thinking skills), the foundation of this course was on the heart, specifically on our capacity to love.

In 1896, the modern Olympics were held in Greece to showcase the limits of human physical prowess. In 1904 the IQ test was developed to determine the scope of mental acumen or human intelligence. It would be another 86 years (1990) before the term “emotional intelligence” was coined by John Mayer and Peter Salovey, and popularized several years later by psychologist Daniel Goleman. However, a legitimate academic focus on spiritual health would take another 20 years. As it turned out, the course in which I was enrolled, was ahead of its time. And while extraordinary human beings have long walked the Earth, for the most part, they were unusual, they were anomalies. Imagine a world, however, where this is the norm not the exception.

While the course content might have been novel in academia in the early 80’s, it was the standard curriculum of the mystery schools of ancient Egypt and Tibet. And more recently, this focus was the normal topic of conversation (and research) for several pioneering organizations including the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) and the International Society for the Study of Subtle Energy and Energy Medicine (ISSEEEM). It was while I attended or presented at their annual conferences in the early 90’s, that I learned new terms to describe the advance in human evolution beyond Homo-Sapiens. Several names were introduced: Homo-Spiritus by medical intuitive Caroline Myss, Homo-Noeticus by Edgar Mitchell, the founder of IONS, and even Homo-Luminous, a shamanic term used in South America.

Many years later I encountered this wisdom while enrolled in a shamanic healing course with Alberto Villoldo. As a trained medical anthropologist, Dr. Villoldo had been apprenticed to Peruvian shamans decades before in order to help humanity wake up in this time of global transition, often called The Great Awakening. From a Peruvian Shamanic perspective (and many others as well), humanity is evolving into a new species, which they called “homo-luminous.” This term describes our natural state: Light! Specifically, divine light that comes from within and radiates outward in a luminescent field. Western science has well documented the human energy field (also called the bio-field) as well as states of expanded consciousness. Interestingly, another interpretation of the term homo-luminous, is “one who is enlightened.” This evolutionary process, in Dr. Villoldo’s words, is like a grand experiment. Those who do “the work” to shift their consciousness from fear to love and compassion are the experimental group. Conversely, those who choose to remain in the state of fight/flight/freeze that’s driven by fear, are the control group. The choice is ours.

In current spiritual circles, it is recognized that spirituality can be found in the properties of quantum physics. The understanding of quantum physics regarding particle and wave is knowledge that has been appreciated by wisdom keepers, shamans, and spiritual luminaries for eons. Dr. Villoldo reminded us that like an electron that is both an energy particle and energy wave, we too, are both wave and particle. The new human recognizes that first and foremost we are energy, an energy that co-exists in concert with divine oneness.

By all accounts, the traits of the new human look like superpowers: intuition, creativity, energy healing, mental telepathy, telekinesis, and more. While at first glance, the abilities of the new human may appear to be unusual gifts, in reality they are birthrights, skills available to everyone. However, before any of these skills can begin to be cultivated we must have a strong foundation of inner strength, more commonly called personal resiliency. Moreover, as with the enhancement of any skill, regular practice is required to achieve mastery. In our current stress-filled world, it requires even more practice than we might think is needed.

How do we enlist ourselves in this experimental group for the new human? Here is a short list of ways to strengthen our foundation in preparation to access our new skills:

1, Begin/maintain a daily meditation practice. Perhaps the greatest stumbling block to becoming a new human is the dominance of the ego. While meditation has many benefits, one of its primary benefits is to “domesticate the ego” (in essence, to return it to the role of bodyguard, and take away its power of being the CEO). Spend time each day quieting the mind. We learn to observe our thoughts (and realize that although we have thoughts, we are not our thoughts). Cultivating a daily meditation practice allows us to live joyously in the present moment.

2. Learn and Practice Living Above the Fray. Our current world is filled with repeated news cycles of disasters, calamities and fear-mongering. Living above the fray does not mean renouncing the world. Rather, it suggests not getting bogged down by the personal and societal negativity that surrounds us. Listen to less news (just enough to know what’s going on) and, where appropriate, change the direction of negative conversations toward the positive. Living above the fray also invites us to spend more time in nature and to live in harmony with the cycles of the seasons.

3. Learn and Practice Co-creating Your Reality. Accepting the premise that we are co-creators in our world opens the possibility that we have the ability to navigate our lives as victors, not victims. We can understand that we have a responsibility in the co-creation process. It begins with our thoughts and intentions. It continues with holding a clear vision of our life mission and purpose. As we engage in the co-creation process, we realize our connection to the greater whole of which we are an essential part.

4. Learn to See the Ordinary as Extraordinary and the Supernatural as Natural. When we open our minds like a young child filled with awe and curiosity, we see the world anew. Look for magic everywhere. The more you experience extraordinary moments, the more you will recognize the wondrous interconnectedness of all things. Consider leaving footprints of light wherever you go, so that others may follow. In the worlds of children’s author, Roald Dahl, “Those who don’t believe in magic, will never find it.”

5. Learn to Respond, Not React. While the stress response is an innate response to danger, it is not natural to live in a state of fear 24/7. Simply stated, we live in a time of little physical danger, yet anger and fear are the common default reactions to any perceived threat. Used too frequently, we wire our brains for stress until this becomes our steady state and we experience everything – from other people’s opinions to rising grocery store prices – as personal threats. Learn to step out of the ego reaction, pause, and from a clear headspace, respond accordingly.

6. Become Aware of Non-Ordinary Time. Time is a human invention. Ordinary time is constructed of hours, days, weeks, and years with both a past and future. Non-ordinary time is comprised of endless possibilities beyond the limits of ordinary time. Mystics and shamans remind us to move from causality (cause and effect) to synchronicity (the magic of coincidence) as we acknowledge and utilize the realm of non-ordinary time.

7. Appreciate the interconnectedness of all life. One of the secrets to happiness is to discover that all of life is one magnificent interwoven tapestry. Take comfort in knowing that we are part of, not separate from this tapestry. As such we are connected energetically to each other, underscoring the importance of empathy and compassion. Practice the skills of empathy daily.

Shamans, sages, spiritual luminaries and wisdom keepers remind us that in our physical world, everything moves in cycles, and we are part of this cyclical process. Peruvian shamans remind us that we are at the end of a great cycle of time. It’s time to imagine a world, where love and compassion are the norm, not the exception, so we can be ready to open to our full potential as humans.

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Brian Luke Seaward, Ph.D. is the author of Stand Like Mountain, Flow Like Water, Reflections on Stress & Human Spirituality and of the textbook, Managing Stress (11e). He is the Executive Director of the Paramount Wellness Institute located in Boulder, Colorado. He can be reached via his website: www.brianlukeseaward.net

The image that leads this post is by jamitarik from Pixabay.

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