Cosmic Wisdom and Space Conquest

Our universe (and any others that may exist in parallel) was created by a supreme conscience. Some call it “Creator”, “Brahma”, “God”, “Allah” and many other names. But… “what is in a name? A rose, by any other name, would smell as sweet!”

This creative consciousness, being “supreme”, is also supremely wise. We can see this wisdom in all the manifestations of life. But what does this have to do with conquering space? It has a lot to do!

Consider humanity and its evolution over the eras of existence. In the beginning, there were only a few groups of individuals living in small, scattered regions. Their interaction was restricted to their clan or tribe. Each of these groups developed a local language that reinforced their sense of belonging to the group and encouraged them to explore and expand their horizons. This led to clashes of groups with a lot of violence and destruction, which were only limited by natural obstacles, such as mountains, wide rivers, and lakes. But those obstacles were consistently overcome. Those peoples walked on ice, deserts, and mountains to conquer and expand their borders, typically engaging in bloody wars, with much violence and suffering.

When the oceans prevented their march (for some time), men watched with curiosity and anxiety at islands in sight, wondering about the riches they would find if they only could get there. And they initially built small canoes, then bigger and safer ones, compatible with the challenge of reaching the promising, more distant islands still in sight. What about more distant destinations, beyond the reach of sight? They developed ships and conquered them too. As before, this expansion was not exempt from the usual clashes between groups, which were already much larger, often causing the annihilation of entire civilizations and cultures.

The horrors of wars have increased anguish and fear, generating yearnings for peace and security, boosting awareness of the need for more peaceful cooperation and harmony among peoples. The expansion of consciousness increasingly became the preponderant factor in containing the destructive use of technological achievements.

Having conquered lands and seas, men began to covet the sky. The plane was invented; and turned faster and faster. We mastered the power of the atom. Life just got easier, but human conscience was not enough to prevent the destructive use of the new inventions. The escalation of violence generated much suffering, stimulating the evolution of ethics and consciousness.

With the planet conquered and dominated, men began to wonder about the neighboring space. What secrets and wonders could be waiting for us on that “space island” within sight, called “moon”? How could we get there?

At this point, the wisdom embedded in the creation of our universe becomes more apparent. Just as cooperation within a local group was necessary to build a canoe strong enough to overcome the rough sea that separated us from the island seen from the beach, a larger ship required even more cooperation and integration among more people. The same process happened when we set out to fly in our atmosphere and, even more, when we decided to get to the moon.

How about reaching even more distant destinations in space, like other planets in our solar system and outer planets, in “nearby” galaxies? Do we have the level of maturity and consciousness required to safely develop and use the advanced technologies needed to achieve these goals? Could we endanger humanity and life itself if we venture to pursue these goals without the appropriate level of awareness? How would the universe protect life and itself against this risk?

We recently learned from quantum physics that consciousness interacts directly with matter. What other interactions will it have with more subtle levels of existence? Here again comes into play the implicit wisdom of the universe. I believe that we will only be able to develop the technologies required to reach the interstellar space when we have the necessary level of awareness rooted not only in a handful of spiritual leaders and followers, but in a large critical mass of the human population, especially among opinion leaders and decision makers in the political, military and business domains.

Gustavo Monteiro

September 2020