_-_Song_of_the_Angels_(1881).jpg) |
| Song of the Angels (Bouguereau) |
Sheldrake, described by EnlightenNext's
interviewer Hal Blacker as a "pioneering biologist," is unafraid to tackle "realms of thought usually eschewed by other scientists."
These realms include the possibility of angels – not the plastic ones on Hallmark shelves, but real (honest to God) super-conscious beings (wings are optional).
In Sheldrake's estimation, the entire universe might not only be alive, but might also be consciously so. This could mean that our "third rock from the Sun" (Earth) is itself a living entity (Gaia). (It could also mean that the Sun is perhaps Apollo, and the Moon is perhaps Diana.)
This way of thinking replaces mechanistic views of nature with theories of universal "creative evolution." What this could mean is that "the universe is like a great organism…" This "new cosmology" also embraces "the idea of many forms of consciousness" (including those more evolved than our own). In between "divine consciousness" (which embraces "all things") and human consciousness could exist many interim levels of awareness (i.e., angels).
Sheldrake references Jewish and Christian beliefs concerning "many beings with greater levels of
consciousness than our own." He also quotes evolutionary biologist J. B. S. Haldane's answer to the question "What do your studies of life tell you about the nature of God?" Haldane's reply: He [God] seems to have an inordinate fondness for beetles.
As for the "red teeth and claws" part of this cosmological equation, Sheldrake explains that within "a universe of diversity and of becoming," bloody encounters could be nature's way of creating space for continued evolution.
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