Conscious Evolution with Barbara Marx Hubbard
by Bergen VermetteIs there a difference between conscious evolution and the evolution of consciousness? Barbara Marx Hubbard thinks so.
Marx Hubbard believes conscious evolution occurs when we “self actualize through participation in the whole.” This participation, she says, requires intention and can push us beyond the “self-centred consciousness” humans have lived in since the birth of our species.
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To hear more from Barbara Marx Hubbard, join Andrew Cohen on EnlightenNext’s two-day Being & Becoming Virtual Retreat this February 19-20.
People often ask me, What is the self? What is it that actually evolves? And I always answer, It’s you, whoever you are. I don’t just mean your ego or personality. But what I’m pointing to is the fact that beneath all of that there is some essential core of selfhood or agency that is making choices. If you want to become an evolutionarily enlightened human being, your ability to succeed depends upon accepting the simple fact that you are the one who is making the choices. You are the chooser. 
When we awaken to the evolutionary impulse, we realize a completely new relationship to what it means to be alive and what it means to be ourselves here and now. Not only do we discover a freedom to be ourselves that we’ve never known before, but even more importantly, we find a reason for living with intense commitment and liberated passion that gives us an incomparable sense of personal, philosophical, and spiritual self-confidence. We suddenly begin to understand, in ways that both include and transcend our intellect, that the reason we are here on Earth (once all of our basic survival needs have been met) is not merely to experience security, comfort, pleasure, or even peace of mind but to develop. We realize that we are here to consciously evolve, to intentionally do anything and everything we can to unleash all of the extraordinary creative potential within, so that the human race’s next step can, in some small but not insignificant way, emerge through us.
