There are many who say that our collective human consciousness is evolving and advancing as time pushes on. That the ability and power of our individual mind and spirit are expanding into new capabilities by access to the communal knowledge, thus allowing us to gain a higher perspective. The evolution of consciousness, such a provocative theme, and one that I’ve loosely accepted and frequently acknowledged for a number of years.

What if we replace the word consciousness with awareness, in its raw form? Just as an exercise. In reality, true awareness may hold a higher reverence than consciousness in terms of perception, not to get away from the point.

We mustn’t replace mere awareness of information as some sort of “enlightenment”. Technology is ever-increasingly allowing us to gain knowledge, or awareness, of all physical things under the sun. We are constantly being made more aware of our environment. Are we expanding from our consciousness into a higher form, or packing our current consciousness with information? Does this magnitude of information make it easier or more difficult to truly perceive?

Certainly being made aware can allow us to empathize, communicate with, and understand people and concepts that may have been very difficult without that knowledge. Good and wonderful things come from this awareness. I’m perplexed and encouraged by the sheer capacity of information and our ability to receive it. However, we cannot mistake this collection of information as some sort of divine perception, or evolution of consciousness.

Our minds our occupied. Our consciousness cluttered. Our hearts are stirring and in need of stillness. Our spirit is thirsty.

-Vagrant Saint

“So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.” -T.S. Eliot