The Pythagorian philosopher Plato hinted enigmatically that there was a golden key that unified all of the mysteries of the universe. It is this golden key that we will return to time and again throughout our exploration. The golden key is the intelligence of the
logos, the source of the primordial om. One could say that it is the mind of God. With our limited senses we are observing only
the outer manifestation of the hidden mechanics of self
similarity. The source of this divine symmetry is the
greatest mystery of our existence. Many of history's monumental thinkers such
as Pythagoras, Keppler, Leonardo da Vinci, Tesla and Einstein have
come to the threshold the mystery. Einstein said, "the most beautiful thing we
can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause wondering and stand
rapt in awe is as good as dead. His eyes are closed." We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books
in many different languages. The child knows someone must have written
those books. It does not know how. It does not understand the languages in which
they are written. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order
in the arrangement of the books but doesn't know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even
the most intelligent human being toward God. We see a universe marvelously arranged and
obeying certain laws. Our limited minds can not grasp the mysterious
force that moves the constellations. Every scientist who looks deeply into the
universe and every mystic who looks deeply within the
self, eventually comes face to face with the same
thing: The Primordial Spiral. A thousand years before the creation of the
ancient observatory at Stonehenge, the spiral was a predominant symbol on Earth. Ancient spirals can be found in all parts
of the globe. Thousands of ancient spirals such as these
can be found all over Europe, North American New Mexico, Utah, Australia,
China, Russia. Virtually every indigenous culture on Earth. The ancient spirals symbolize growth, expansion
and cosmic energy embodied within the sun and the heavens. The spiral form is mirroring the macrocosm
of the unfolding universe itself. In native traditions, the spiral was the energetic
source, the Primordial Mother. The Neolithic spirals at Newgrange, Ireland
date back five thousand years. They are five hundred years old than the Great
Pyramid at Giza and they are just as enigmatic to modern observers. The spiral goes back to a time in history
when humans were more connected to the Earth-to the cycles and spirals
of nature. A time when humans were less identified with
thoughts. The spiral is what we perceive to be the torque
of the universe. Prana, or creative force, swirls Akasha into
a continuum of solid forms. Found at all levels between the macrocosm
and the microcosm, from spiral galaxies to weather systems, to the water in your bathtub, to your DNA, to the direct experience of your own energy. The Primordial Spiral is not an idea, but rather that which makes all conditions
and ideas possible. Various types of spirals and helices are found
throughout the natural world. Snails. Sea coral. Spider webs. Fossils. Seahorses' tails. And shells. Many spirals appearing in nature are observable
as logarithmic spirals or growth spirals. As you move out from the center the spiral
sections get exponentially larger. Like Indra's Net of Jewels, logarithmic spirals
are self-similar or holographic such that the characteristics
of every part are reflected in the whole. 2400 years ago in ancient Greece, Plato considered
continuous geometric proportion to be the most profound
cosmic bond. The Golden Ratio, or divine proportion was
nature's greatest secret. The Golden Ratio can be expressed as the ratio of A + B to A is the same as the
ratio of A to B. To Plato, the world's soul binds together
into one harmonic resonance. The same pentagonal pattern that exists in
a starfish, or in a slice of okra, can be seen in the
path of the planet Venus traced in the night sky over
an eight year period. The intelligible world of forms above and
the visible world of material objects below, through this principle of geometric
self similarity. From the self-similar spiral patterns of the
Romanesco broccoli to the arms of galaxies, logarithmic spirals
are a ubiquitous and archetypal pattern. Our own Milky Way galaxy has several spiral
arms which are logarithmic spirals with a pitch of about 12 degrees. The greater the pitch of the spiral, the tighter
the turns. When you observe a plant growing in time-lapse
video you witness it dancing with the spiral of life. A golden spiral is a logarithmic spiral that
grows outward by a factor of the Golden Ratio. The Golden Ratio is a special mathematical
relationship that pops up over and over in nature. The pattern that is observable follows what
is called the Fibonacci series or Fibonacci sequence. The Fibonacci series unfolds such that each
number is the sum of the previous two numbers. The German mathematician and astronomer Keppler
discovered that self similar spiral patterns are observable in the way
leaves are arranged on stems of plants. Or in the floret and petal arrangements of
flowers. Leonardo da Vinci observed that the spacing
of leaves was often in spiral patterns. These patterns are called "phyllotaxis" patterns or leaf arrangement patterns. Phyllotaxis arrangements can be seen in self-organizing DNA nucleotides and in everything from the family trees of
reproducing rabbits, to pine cones, cacti, to snowflakes and in simple organisms such as diatoms. Diatoms are one of the most common types of
phytoplankton; single celled organisms that provide food
for countless species throughout the food chain. How much math do you need to know to be a
sunflower or a bee? Nature doesn't consult the physics department
to grow broccoli. The structuring in nature happens automatically. Scientists in the field of nanotechnology
use the term self-assembly to describe the way complexes are formed
such as in the initial hexagonal phase of DNA formation. In nanotechnology engineering, carbon nanotubes are comprised of a similar arrangement of materials. Nature does this type of geometry over and
over, effortlessly. Automatically. Without a calculator. Nature is precise and extremely efficient. According to the famous architect and author
Buckminster Fuller, these patterns are a function of timespace. DNA and honeycomb are the shape they are for
the same reason a bubble is round. It is the most efficient shape for requiring
the least amount of energy. Space itself has shape and allows only certain
configurations for matter, always defaulting to what is most efficient. These patterns are the strongest and most
efficient way to build architectural structures such as geodesic
domes. Logarithmic spiral patterns allow plants maximum
exposure to insects for pollination, maximum exposure to sunlight
and rain and allow them to efficiently spiral water
towards their roots. Birds of prey use the logarithmic spiral pattern
to stalk their next meal. Flying in a spiral is the most efficient way
to hunt. One's ability to see the spiral of life dancing
Akasha into material form is related to one's ability to see beauty
and symmetry in nature. Poet William Blake said, "the vegetative universe
opens like a flower from the Earth's center, in which is eternity. It expands from stars to the mundane shell and there it meets eternity again both within
and without." The study of patterns in nature is not something
that is very familiar in the West, but in ancient China,
this science was known as "Li." Li reflects the dynamic order and pattern
in nature. But it is not pattern thought of as something
static, frozen or unchanging, like a mosaic. It is dynamic pattern as embodied in all living
things. The arteries of leaves, the markings of the
tortoise and the veined patterns on rocks are all expressions
of nature's secret language and art. The labyrinth is one of many Li patterns. It is found in coral structures, mushrooms like the morel, cabbages, and in the human brain. The cellular pattern is another common pattern
in nature. There are a myriad of different cellular structures but all have a similar orderliness defined
by their purpose and function. It is easy to be mesmerized with the constant
play of forms, but what is most interesting is that certain
archetypal forms seem to be woven into the fabric of nature
at all. The branching pattern is another Li pattern
or archetypal pattern that is observable at all levels and in all
fractal scales. Take for example, this incredible image of
a supercomputer simulation known as the "millennium run" showing the distribution of dark matter in
the local universe. It was created by the Max Planck Society in
Germany. Dark matter is what we previously thought
of as empty space. It is like an invisible nervous system that
runs throughout the universe. The universe is literally like a giant brain. It is constantly thinking using a type of
dark or hidden energy that science is only starting to understand. Through this immense network, unfathomable
energy moves providing the momentum for the expansion and
growth of the universe. Nature creates branching patterns automatically
when we set up the right conditions. Nature is an art generating machine or a beauty-creating
engine. Here, electricity is being used to grow silver
crystal branches. The footage is time-lapsed as they grow over
several hours. The crystals form on the aluminum cathode
as ions are electrodeposited from a silver nitrate solution. The formation is self-organizing. You are seeing artwork generated by nature
itself. Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe said, "beauty is a manifestation of secret natural
laws which otherwise would have been hidden from us forever." In this sense, everything in nature is alive,
self-organizing. When higher voltage is used the fractal branching
becomes even more obvious. This is happening in real time. In the human body, tree-like structures and
patterns are found throughout. There are, of course, the nervous systems that Western medicine knows about. But in Chinese, Ayurvedic and Tibetan medicine
the energy meridians are an essential component to understanding
how the body functions. The "nadis," or energy meridians form tree-like
structures. A post mortem examination will not reveal
the chakras or the nadis, but that does not mean they do not exist. You need to refine your tool that you use
to look. You must first learn to quiet your own mind. Only then you will observe these things first
within yourself. In electrical theory, the less resistance
in a wire, the more easily it can carry energy. When you cultivate equanimity through meditation it creates a state of non-resistance in your
body. Prana, or chi, or inner energy is simply your
inner aliveness. What you feel when you bring your consciousness
within the body. The subtle wires within your body that carry
Prana, the nadis, become able to move more and more pranic energy
through the chakras. Your wiring becomes stronger as you use it,
as you allow energy to flow. Where ever consciousness is placed chi, or
energy, will begin to flow and physical connections blossom. Within the brain and nervous system, physical
wiring patterns become established by repetition. By continually placing your attention within and lowering resistance to the sensations
you are experiencing, you increase your energetic capacity. In Taoism, the yin yang symbol represents
the inter-penetration of the spiral forces of nature. The yin yang is not two and not one. The ancient concept of the "hara" is represented by a yinyang or spiral swirl. It is the power center located within the
belly below the navel. Hara means literally sea or ocean of energy. In China, the hara is called the lower dantien. In many forms of Asian martial arts, the warrior with strong hara is said to be
unstoppable. In the Samurai tradition one form of ritual
suicide or seppuku was hara kiri, which was often mispronounced
as "hairy cairy". It means to impale one's hara thereby cutting
off one's chi or energy channel. Moving from this center creates the grounded
graceful movement that you see not only in martial arts, but in great golfers, belly dancers, and Sufi whirling dervishes. It is the cultivation of single-pointed, disciplined consciousness that is the essence
of hara; the stillness in the eye of the hurricane. It is the gut instinct in connection to one's
energy source. A person with good hara is connected to the
Earth and to the intuitive wisdom that connects
all beings. To think with your belly, "hara de kanganasaii" is to tap into your inner wisdom. The ancient Australian Aboriginees concentrated
on the same area just below the navel-where the cord of the
great rainbow serpent lay coiled. Again, a representation of the evolutionary
energy in humankind. It is no accident that it is in the hara where
new life begins. The enteric nervous system, sometimes referred
to as the "gut brain" is capable of maintaining a complex matrix
of connections similar to the brain in the head, with its
own neurons and neurotransmitters. It can act autonomously, that is with its
own intelligence. You could say that the gut brain is a fractal
version of the head brain, or perhaps the head brain is a fractal version
of the gut brain. A healthy bear has strong hara. When a bear knows where to forage for herbs, it follows the movement of chi through its
senses, centered in the hara, or belly. This is the bear's connection to the dream
lodge; the place in native traditions where all knowledge comes from
- to the spiral of life. But how did ancient peoples know about the
spiral if modern science is just starting now to recognize its significance? Ask the bees, for they have not forgotten
how to love. Bees have a special connection to the source as part of a symbiotic system helping beauty
and diversity to flourish. They are a bridge between the macrocosm and
the microcosm. There is one heart that connects all, a hive
mind if you will. Like an open brain, the hive sends out its
dreams to the world to be manifested. In nature many creatures know how to act unison, to move with one spirit, one direction. But not all benefit the other species around
them. For example, the locust will devour everything
in its path. A locust has no choice but to act like a locust. It will never make honey or pollinate plants
the way a bee does. A locust's behavior is rigid, but a human
is unique in that we can act like a bee or we can act
like a locust. We are free to change and manipulate the patterns of how we interact with the world. We can exist symbiotically or as a parasite. Today humans try to understand the spiral
with the rational mind but it was never thinking that connected us
to the spiral of life. We have always been connected. Thinking has been what keeps us in the illusion
of separateness, within our own identities. Thinking IS the creation of separateness. The experience of limitation. The more we align with thought, the more removed
we become from the source. Ancient cultures that were less thought-oriented
aligned themselves with the spiral in a more direct and personal
way than we do today. In ancient India, Kundalini is a representation
of one's inner energy which moves in snake-like or
helix-like pattern up the spine. In the ancient yogic traditions of India the
inner worlds of people at that time were comparable to those of hara
centered cultures. To balance the power of the spiral with the
stillness of your witnessing consciousness is to align with
your full evolutionary potential. To blossom into the unique multi-faceted being
you were designed to be. "Ida"-the feminine or moon channel is connected
to the right brain and "pingala" the masculine or sun channel
is connected to the left brain. When these two channels are in balance, energy
flows up a third channel, Sushumna, along the center of the spine, energizing
the chakras and unlocking one's full evolutionary potential. The word "chakra" is an ancient Sanskrit word
meaning energy wheel. Kundalini is nothing less than the primordial
spiral that dances your human life into existence. It is a different order of energy than we
normally understand. Like a bridge from "gross matter" to the most
subtle energies. You are that bridge. Kundalini is not energy that can be forced
by will, effort and friction. It is analogous to growing a flower. All we can do as good gardeners is prepare
the soil and proper conditions, and let nature take its course. If you force a flower to open prematurely,
you'll destroy it. It grows with its own intelligence, with its
own self-organizing direction. The egoic mind which fixates on the outer
world is what keeps you from experiencing your true
inner vibratory nature. When consciousness is turned within it becomes
like the sun's rays and the lotus within begins to grow. As Kundalini awakens within one's self, one
begins to see the signature of the spiral in all things. In all patterns within and without. This spiral is the link between our inner
worlds and our outer worlds.
