We bring you an excerpt from the book by American astronomer Stephan Martin Living a Cosmic Life / Reflections on the Cosmos, Everyday Life, and Personal Experiences, published by the PILGRIM – Wandering University of Nature association in 2019 as its first publication within the On the Journey series (translation by Jiří Zemánek). These are the chapters “Cataclysm: When Things Fall Apart” (pp. 40-45) and “Awakening to an Evolving Universe” and “Developing Deep Trust…” (pp. 61-68)
Just as things in the universe attract to come together, they must eventually break apart and dissolve over time. Stars, galaxies, humans, animals, and everything else in the universe are destined to dissolve their components back into the cosmic matrix from which they were born. Just as the gross materials of which we are composed came together to create our unique form, so they must disperse so that those same materials can create other unique forms. Through the processes of gathering and breaking apart, the forms of the universe increase in complexity and organization over time, which in turn allows them to develop greater creativity and depth, as well as greater interconnectedness; this direction of the cosmos seems to arise naturally as a result of the workings of these processes.
Although it can be very disturbing and disorienting to see parts of our lives falling apart, we can take courage and realize that our own existence at this moment is only possible because of the disintegration of countless other life forms, which ultimately led to our being here today. The elements that make up our bodies come from stars that formed and then exploded, from stars that created clouds of gas that coalesced to form the Earth and its minerals, from which countless plant and animal forms were born and then disintegrated again, passing their nutrients and their atoms down to us as the last link in this cosmic chain. From our own matter will be born the generations that will come after us—new forms of life and existence, expressing new forms and possibilities of cosmic potential.
Furthermore, we must sustain our bodies with food every day, which involves the constant breakdown of other life forms into the nutrients we need for our sustenance. Creation and decay go hand in hand as a cosmic dance of creativity that recreates the world in each generation of this creative cycle.
From the perspective of modern physics, all matter, space, time, and energy were born in the Big Bang, which represented the creation of an enormous but probably finite amount of matter and energy from this single event. Matter and energy, according to our current understanding of the physics of the universe, can transform their form into one another, but before and after the transformation, the same total amount of both matter and energy always exists. In other words, it is all the same stuff that is being shaped and molded into different forms and configurations over time. Since there is only a finite amount of this cosmic stuff circulating, older forms must decay to provide the raw materials for the creation of new forms.
It seems to be a universal principle that all that is born is destined to pass away, and so we can realize that this process of cataclysm expresses a very deep and penetrating truth about the cosmos. Understanding that this fundamental truth is at the very center of our own lives leads to the following insight:
Cosmic Insight #10: Everything that is born or created is destined to eventually disintegrate and pass away.
While many of us are troubled by the process of loss and decay, we can find comfort in knowing that it is a cosmic process that is as old as the universe itself and expresses a great deal of wisdom about the nature of things. Since everything arises from the same cosmic matter and energy and eventually decays back into the same cosmic matrix, nothing is actually lost at all. From a larger perspective, patterns are simply endlessly forming and re-forming over time in the seamless fabric of the cosmos, while the essence of the universe, the fabric itself, remains whole and intact.
We can see that even though we have changed many times in the course of our own lives and have endured many losses and cataclysms, there is still an intact thread of continuity that ties all of these events together. This thread of continuity is the essence of our life – it is an unbroken and unique process that began with our birth and continues to this moment. It is the essence of ‘us’ that remains while everything else around us changes. Through the evolutionary cosmic perspective that we are exploring, we can realize that the continuity of the thread of our existence is indeed a manifestation of an unbroken process that stretches back to the very beginning of the universe.
When we recognize this, we can realize that the fundamental nature of the universe is not the forms it takes, but the continuity of the process that creates, maintains, and dissolves those forms over time. This fundamental nature of existence is referred to in many of the world’s spiritual traditions as true nature or essential essence. It refers to the eternal cosmic matrix, or creative plenum, from which all phenomena are formed, but whose essential essence remains pure, untouched, and unchanging. By releasing our connection to identities that are too small for who we really are, the cosmic dynamic of cataclysm brings us into a more intimate connection with the true nature of the cosmos, whose deepest essence we also discover in our own essence.
Our real life is not the forms or structures of our daily lives; our true life is the essence of these forms that endures through time. The experience of cataclysm opens up the opportunity for us to realize that our lives are more pattern than content, more essence than substance, more fluid than static. Loss, disintegration, and bad news can potentially become friends of our evolution, showing us where we still cling to particular forms, while at the same time releasing us into the freedom of our cosmic nature. (…)
Awakening to an evolving universe
Reflecting on the cosmic perspective and its relationship to our personal lives becomes a path of personal discovery for us, one that has the potential to broaden our perspective on our own lives in ways we would not normally be aware of. As we trace the threads of our own earthly existence back to the Big Bang, we weave our personal story into the story of the cosmos. As we discover how such forces as concentration, disintegration, and cataclysm operate in our own lives and in the cosmos at the same time, our experience of ourselves becomes more fully woven into the dynamics of the universe. As we reflect on our awareness of our own consciousness and being, it can lead us to connect with the dimensions of reality that underlie all existence.
When we gaze into the depths of the night sky while taking a walk in nature and contemplate its beauty, we are completing a cosmic cycle that has been continuously forming for nearly 14 billion years. In this emerging cosmic perspective, who is it that is walking and moving? The answer comes in the form of matter and energy that has swirled throughout the history of the cosmos to create this moving human form, this pattern of arms and legs that exists at this very moment, seemingly walking on its own.
At the same moment, matter and energy radiate from the cores of countless stars, crossing light years of space and time, and entering the eyes of man who looks up and perceives them. Who is it that sees these stars? It is the energy of the Big Bang, which has traveled various paths through space and time to meet itself again, completing another cosmic circle of self-knowledge in its eternal cycle.
Who is it that discovers this cosmic essence? It is the cosmos itself, exploding into a new dimension of awareness and finding itself awakened in yet another form, this time with hands, heart, and conscious intent, moving and evolving in new ways. Cosmic life awakens and begins to realize its own journey from nonexistence to the big bang, to matter and energy, to awareness of its own dynamics and potential.
Creativity, change, concentration, dissolution, and transformation are shown to be not only the experiences of these cosmic forms in human and other forms, but also the processes that cosmic life undertakes as it develops its potential in ever more diverse and creative ways. The dynamics of the cosmos lead to a growing awakening to its own nature and potential, which leads to a further opening of possibilities, creating a growing awareness and knowledge that becomes its new evolutionary edge.
The cosmos discovers that it is consciously inhabiting ever greater dimensions of itself and that it is increasingly consciously participating in its own development and evolution. By learning to crawl, slide, walk, run, jump, and fly, it is expressing its nature, its dynamics, and its potential in new ways.
Every moment of cosmic evolution represents a discovery, the birth of new potential, the revelation of another mystery, and an opportunity to celebrate and experience the gift of life that is capable of embracing all things.
Appendix
Developing deep trust, resilience, and the art of letting things go
Below are some suggestions for ways we can navigate the process of change in our own lives: how we can perceive concentration and dissolution, coming and going, living and dying as universal dynamics that lie at the core of the cosmic evolutionary process.
Let us learn that we are not separate from anything.
Let us realize that each of our lives is woven into the fabric of the universe. Each of us represents a unique manifestation of its activity, the final form of a nearly 14 billion year long journey of evolution from the Big Bang to the present moment. Deeply and truly, we all belong here.
Let's be our unique selves.
Each of us represents a special form through which the universe can express itself in a unique way that has never been seen in the entire history of the universe and that will never appear again. We can trust our inner uniqueness and cherish our rarity as another aspect of our belonging here.
Let's be open and transparent.
The more we are able to fully open ourselves to what is happening, the more we will have access to resources, inspiration, and support that will help us navigate the change. By allowing ourselves and our lives to become as permeable as possible to the cosmic processes that shape it, we gain access to sources of inspiration, trust, and support that are beyond anything we can imagine.
Let's be fluid.
We are made of flowing change, so let us allow ourselves – and others – to be different every day and every moment. Let us give ourselves and others permission to change and be different than we were in the past.
Let's look for an opportunity.
When there is a crisis or change, let us look for opportunity. A crisis is a time when old structures disappear, leaving an open field for innovation and creativity to enter. What opportunities are there? Where is creativity needed? Where can we contribute?
Let's embrace transformation.
Change is an opportunity for transformation. Let us try to be fluid and embrace it. Let us remember that a caterpillar could never have been predicted to become a butterfly at the end of its transformation process. None of us quite knows who we will be five minutes from now or five years from now, but we can trust the process of transformation and what emerges.
Let's find our community.
As we navigate change and crisis, the support of others is very important. When we realize that everyone and everything around us is changing, we can look to our elders, to people, places, and things that have already gone through change, for inspiration and wisdom.
Let's recognize our resilience.
Let us realize that we have endured many, many changes in the past and that we are still here! Every change and every loss has made us stronger and helped us shape and be who we are today. Let us look at other beings like mountains, trees and wise old people who have survived the ages and are still here.
Let's embrace the adventure of change.
Let's seek change and support it in our lives. Let's try new things and embrace new experiences. In what direction is our life changing or wanting to change right now? This can be a clue to where our greatest creativity and strength lies at the moment.
Let's empower ourselves.
We are a cosmic process, no different from rivers, trees, and stars. Our atoms have flowed to us since the beginning of the universe and will flow far into the future long after we die. Let us realize that the universe is at work in our lives just as it is at work anywhere else—the same forces, capacities, and dynamics that formed the first galaxies, ignited the stars, formed the Sun, and brought life to Earth are present right now within our very being. Let us embrace the cosmic being that we are!
Let's be grateful.
Gratitude is one of the most powerful spiritual practices in working with change – being grateful for the life we have right now, for the gift of life, for the gift of simply being here. One of the most powerful ways to live life to the fullest is to be grateful for the life we have right now, just the way it is. Then let it go so we can welcome what comes next.
By embracing change, transformation, and crisis, we allow ourselves to be an increasingly full and capable conduit for cosmic energy and creativity, so that they can flow freely and benefit us, others, and the planet in previously unknown and unseen ways.