Linda Hollier

About twenty years ago, it was still believed that after the brain’s initial formation period, brain networks were static. Neuroscience now recognizes that the brain is shaped by experience on an ongoing basis.  Brain plasticity is the ability of the brain to rewire itself and form new networks at any age. 

The internet, and especially social media, is without a doubt affecting our reading and our writing, but what I find particularly fascinating, are the examples of brain plasticity in these areas, now slowly coming to the fore.

Without us being consciously aware of it, our brains are adapting and adjusting to the time we spend online.

The splitting of words as we type in haste, the joining of words for convenience or for use with hashtags, (a word only recently added to the Oxford dictionary), omitting letters for the sake of character limitations, and the use of numerals 4 certain words, are now everyday phenomena in cyberspace.

The very concept of cyberspace is effecting not only the way we use words but also the meaning we give to them and the way we see them. 

What if nowhere is seen as now here

Tweeps refer to everyhere not everywhere as they meet online with users from various countries simultaneously. 

The concept of an iCloud is not at all strange.

The blog u r reading right now was first published on my website here2here. 

Only recently I came across this tweet:

One whole day has passed, and I remain amazed that until yesterday I had never noticed that “race car’” backwards is “race car”.

These are exciting times, for these very abilities will overflow into everyday life.  Whereas before we could look at something for years without noticing certain aspects of it, we will now begin to take new perspectives on worldviews we had never questioned before.  Outlooks conditioned by upbringing and culture will be looked at with new eyes. Reversals, splittings & combinations will see insights evolving.

As an exercise, I decided to take the word “language” and play around with it. 

Langu age, was perhaps a natural split, as we hear much about entering a new age.

Research revealed that besides being an iphone app to make the learning of Spanish and Mandarin Chinese a lot of fun, “langu” also means “my” in Swahili. 

A promoter of collaboration, I immediately looked up a translation for “our” in Swahili, only to discover that it is  “wetu” which I of course read as “we too”, appropriate I felt in an age of interconnectivity and connectedness!

Lan guage was another possiblity.

My eyes muddled up the letters in guage on first reading and I saw it as gauge.

LAN is an acronym (hard to believe that two years ago I did not know the meaning of lol!) for local area network, but as more and more of us access online space, the question of what to gauge as local becomes an interesting one. 

Let’s look at one more possibility for “language”: La ngu age.

Age keeps reoccurring, la added a French ring to the, and ngu is an acronym for never give up. The never give up age!  

My eyes, probably because I come from Africa and have many times visited the Kruger National Park, immediately saw “gnu” the first time I read la ngu age. The age of the gnu?

The gnu is a wildebeest and spends much of its life as a loner on the move. This is possibly not inappropriate when we consider how we as individuals are continuously on the move in cyberspace.  In a sense we are alone as we do this, but in another sense, this aloneness is only physical.  On an energetic level, we connect to so many others in virtual space.  The gnus are famous for their annual migrations in the Serengeti, and together we in here2here space, are making mass migrations to new ways of being.

People from the West write and read horizontally from left to right. In the East many languages are written and read vertically from bottom to top. The mass migrations we are making together in cyberspace, however, are rewiring our brains and altering the way we write and see things.  Now, for example, in the West, emoticons are written vertically :) while the Eastern smilies interestingly enough run horizontally ^_^ with most of us beginning to use them interchangeably.

Take a look at this image entitled Luminal Butterfly. The description states that in this magic fantasy, butterfly has another stage after adult, where it becomes pure light, creating beautiful displays in late summer.

Not only is language undergoing a metamorphosis, but we, both as individuals and as the collective, are undergoing one too.

As we do so, the heart is opening:

heartheartheartheartheartheart is becoming

hear the art hear the art hear the art

_/|\_

March sees a focus on art in Dubai and this year we have not only Art Dubai, the leading contemporary art fair in the region, but also the Sikka Art Fair which showcases emerging and established Emirati and locally based artists.

Sikka means alleyway and the Sikka Art Fair is held in the winding alleyways of Al Bastakiya, one of the oldest residential areas in Dubai, dating back to the 1890’s and recently restored.

Sikka evokes the idea of a journey of discovery, and in a sense the Sikka Art Fair is not only a journey down the alleyways of undiscovered art but also showcases the journeys of emerging artists challenging the conventional routes of art and culture and the change of direction of established artists as they change theme, technique or media.

Art too has to travel the alleyways of evolution.

Doors are opened for art enthusiasts from all walks of life to engage actively with the participating artists through discussions and workshops.

In so doing the alleyways of the mind open themselves for introspection and reflection. The slow meandering through the “sikka” and the engagement with the art works induces a corresponding internal walk where thoughts and emotional memories perhaps long forgotten are encountered once again.

Much that is unconscious may be brought to light, for human consciousness has many alleyways, some of them dark and untravelled. At times there is the feeling of being lost until suddenly one comes again upon a point one recognizes. It is a journey of contemplation, but more than that a journey of discovery.

At the centre of this journey is the discovery of identity for both the individual and the collective.

My visit to the Sikka Art Fair was to lead me round more than one unexpected corner.

Shortly upon arrival, after taking in the aroma emanating from a little shop burning frankincense on its doorstep and being surprised by a rider on a camel passing me in one alleyway, I set about discovering the house where a talk which I had seen advertised was to be held. 

“It will not be televised. Contemporary Art and Contemporary History” was the title of the talk with guest speakers Fatma Lootah and Rania Ezzat, and I was not at all sure what it would encompass.

As my last blog post was entitled  “Egypt and the Awakening  of Planetary Consciousness”,  I was thrilled to discover that the talk would  focus on the current affairs in the Middle East, especially the happenings in Egypt, and the role of art in this milieu.

Shortly after the talk began we were shown a video of a very powerful performance by Rania Ezzat. Born in Cairo and having studied Fine Arts in Cairo and Geneva, Rania currently lives and works in Dubai.

Rania spoke of the whole issue of identity and the new ways one experiences the relationship and love one has for one’s country upon leaving it to live elsewhere.  She expressed her frustration at not being with her family members on Tahrir Square and her concerns for their safety. Her need to sacrifice something for Egypt at this time was strong, and so in a symbolic act and to the music of the old Egyptian anthem, “Eslami ya Misr” – “Be safe O Egypt”, she cuts off her long hair in the midst of the performance.

“Life is a journey” has almost become a cliché, but the presence of the “sikka” as a backdrop to this talk was a reminder of the fact that in this day and age more and more of us are finding ourselves in countries other than the ones we were born in.

After dealing with nostalgia for one’s country of birth, there are the issues of breaking free from long held conventions no longer applicable in the new surroundings,  discovering to what extent one has been conditioned by one’s upbringing, being exposed to new ways of being, integrating, engaging in cross-cultural dialogue, and so the list continues.  There is the challenge to think differently as one is faced with new ways of looking at life. The picture becomes even bigger. Identity has to be discovered and ongoingly rediscovered on a personal, national and global level.

Artists living abroad face the challenge of not only pursuing a career on an international level but of working with the region they find themselves in while at the same time remembering where they have come from.

Rania spoke of her own journey, issues of identity, and of the fact that sometimes chaos is essential for blossoming.

Her most powerful statement, in my opinion however, was that the revolution in Egypt was not just for Egypt. “It is love spreading!” she said.

At this point I felt a strong resonating and a sense of connection. 

Love is indeed spreading and today we see it opening its embrace even wider.

Viewing the happenings in Egypt over the last few days, I have had an inexplicable sense of witnessing an event of great magnitude which will have far reaching effects.  I am unable to explain this rationally or in words that will make sense but I nevertheless wish to attempt to document my experience.

The protests in Egypt, and especially those in Tahrir Square in Cairo, speak to me not only of a people calling out to be heard, but seem to be symbolic of something far deeper happening on a planetary level.  The planet is finding its voice, it is calling out for “harmony and understanding”, to use the lyrics of the song “Age of Aquarius”.

It has taken me almost three days to be able to commit this to writing and in the meantime I have simply carried around with me flashes of thought, twirling ideas, unending questions and seemingly unconnected stories.

Nevertheless, here goes:

Spirals circle and move above places they have been before. They return there as it were but on a higher level.  They transcend and include what has gone before.  One of the first civilizations to have existed was in Egypt, and I find it striking to consider that we may now be spiralling above Egypt again, only to discover a new form of civilization where a planetary consciousness will awaken. If so, how significant, that the birth pangs of this awakening could possibly be taking place in Egypt right now.

When one investigates the chakra system, one discovers that not only are there the seven chakras for the individual, but also seven planetary chakras.  I was aware of this before, but research this past week revealed to me that the fifth planetary chakra, the planetary throat chakra, is said to be at the Great Pyramid of Giza located just outside of Cairo.

The throat chakra is connected to communication and creativity.

The Dalai Lama says that the 21^st century should be the century of dialogue and that the aim of this century should be a demilitarized world.

Events, such as those occurring in Egypt, can never again take place in isolation and without the rest of the world knowing about it or being indirectly or directly involved.  The internet and especially social networks have guaranteed the acquisition and passing on of information. Attempts to block these networks have been made, but to no avail. Creative means are being found to overcome obstacles and information continues to flow on unseen highways.

Are we witnessing the further birthing of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s noosphere?  I believe that the thinking sphere is beginning to really stick its head out above the biosphere, and that a new humanity is coming into being. Compassion will play a key role, and no longer will there be able to be gain at the expense of the environment.

Are we witnessing more closely now the rise of a new form of consciousness which Jean Gebser first called integral? Information is “streaming” and people are “connecting” instantaneously with others all over the planet. The word “contact” is in need of redefinition. “The bigger picture” is opening up individuals all over the world to multiple perspectives.

Old ways of being no longer suffice. Planetary crises require a collective transformation.

Jung spoke of the collective unconscious, an information field capable of being accessed. Is it simply coincidence that the Great Pyramid at Giza is said to be close to where the Akashic Records were to be found? Did the Egyptians find these and did their misuse of the natural laws result in the disappearance of that civilization? Are we yet again beginning to access this field?

The scribe was a vital figure in ancient Egypt. Who will be the scribes of this new planetary consciousness?  Who will sing the songs of this new dimension?

I think the answer to these questions will surprise us. Perhaps the mystic will be found in the market place, a thought which gained favour with me as I sat and mulled over all these ideas in a domed hall in the middle of a gold souk! The economy will not disappear but it will have to be utilized for the good of all and not just for monetary gain.

Let it be noted – the dome was green and the Green Tara of Buddhism is known as the “mother of liberation” and the “Buddha of enlightened activity”.  Perhaps this was not such a strange place to start a reflection on compassion after all.

One last story.  As I sat there I noted two scenes. One was a Japanese boy calling out to his mother. Japan was said to have been a matriarchal society at one stage. On a planetary scale the patriarchy is crumbling. The citizens of the earth are calling for the mother.

The second scene was that of a family with the males walking in front and the veiled females following behind. Interestingly enough, one young teenage girl, despite her veil, was wearing a superman T shirt!

Random happenings or synchronicity? Like most of my other musings here, I guess only time will tell. Or perhaps it won’t, because time is happening already, always, in the time of the new dimension which is no longer just cyclical or linear but both and so much more.

Egypt – your cries are heard!

Transparency 

Nature versus nurture

Debate no longer holds.

Both and myriads more

Determining who we think we are.

Masked faces - persona

Veils that need to be dropped.

Shadowed pathways

That need to be walked.

Boundaries established

Only to be removed.

Circles of compassion

Widening their embrace.

Till at last uniquely

We are capable of transmitting light.

Evolution becomes transparent to itself

And nothing intervenes.

And then -

Only the heart remains

And then -

There is only LOVE.

To gain an overview of what is being shared on a daily basis on Twitter with the hastag integral, I have activated and am sharing The #integral Daily.

No, that is not a typo but an attention grabbing tool to draw your attention to the fact that there are more dimensions or perspectives to this movie than first meet the eye.

And that in itself is wonderful news. What that implies is that the movie “Inception” can be utilised as a tool to encourage integral thinking - to encourage the taking on of multiple perspectives.

The media is filled with different takes on the movie. 

The Jungians are able to dissect it and see all the ways in which it reflects the journey down to the center of inner space. There are archetypal characters that need to be faced and met with along the way.

The followers of Joseph Campbell immediately notice the use of myth in the storyline.  Ariadne is the maiden who gives the youth Theseus a thread to help him out of a labyrinth. Cobb’s journey becomes that of the hero on his journey.

Lucid dreamers have picked up on the accuracy of the film in depicting some of the characteristics of lucid dreams.  The ability of the lucid dreamer to have some control over the dream is crucial to the plot.

Music lovers focus on the score and the incorporation of Edith Piaf’s “Non, je ne regrette rien”

Name analyzers trace the relevance of all the names used in the movie to people, companies and concepts that exist or once existed. “Mal” is the French for “bad”; COBOL was one of the earliest computer programming languages, etc.

Avid movie fans and critics write reviews on how this movie has made use of cinematic history and incorporated storyline, techniques and scenes which can be traced back to previous movies.  For example, Arthur and his assailant move from the wall to the ceiling and back very much in the same way as Fred Astaire danced around all four sides of a room in the movie “Royal Wedding”.

And so the list continues.

Personally the movie confronts me with thoughts on the limitations of language.  It is known that the language we use influences how we think and view life. Each of the above-mentioned perspectives of Inception are an attempt to put into words not only a particular perspective but also a particular experience of the movie. As such both writer and reader are limited by language.

In “Integralese” we talk about moving up through the stages of development. But what is “up”? What if “up” is “down” and each stage of development is a casting off instead of an adding on of another layer.  Are we spiralling upwards drawn by Eros, or downwards, or towards our center,  or all of these at the same time?

Overcoming the paradoxical nature of language can take us to another level of reality. 

In one of the dream scenes we are very aware of a lack of gravity.  So too language is a necessary gravity in a 3Dworld. As all mystics know language is often merely an attempt to express the indescribable.

I would love to see “Inception” without a soundtrack.  A purely visual experience of the movie would no doubt add yet another perspective to its interpretation.  At the same time it could give me a small glimpse into the world of many people on the Autism spectrum who think in images not language and are often confronted by fast moving images which take the place of words in thought.

Whether it be reading all the reviews doing the rounds or discussing them in integral circles or classrooms, the individual is encouraged to realize that all of the takes on the movie are relevant. Each one adds another dimension to the movie which we might not otherwise have recognised without their help.  New perspectives are taken and horizons are broadened.

At the end of the movie Cobb walks away from the spinning top.  He no longer wishes to know whether it will stop spinning or not.  The viewers are faced with that question and are left to interpret it.

This for me is an invitation to take on as many perspectives as possible. (Or maybe this post is just my attempt to plant that possible thought in your mind!)

Living now in Dubai, I am still having to travel to South Africa quite frequently.

Backwards and forwards, to and fro, seems to be a persistent theme in my life this year.

Airports are becoming my friends and I look upon them as in-between-places, bardos as it were between different worlds, different lifestyles, different cultures and different perspectives.  I now view them as teachers and attempt to soak in what they have to offer.

We often tend to think of life in terms of forward progress only.  We do, however, hold within us all the previous stages of development, and we often need to access the appropriate energy or behaviour of a previous stage as it is demanded of us in a particular situation. There is movement in the spiral and this movement is ongoing.

Life is not static. Energy is forever transmuting, emotions fluctuate, thoughts float in and out of the mind like clouds in the sky and the body goes through cycles of well-being and illness. We move backwards and forwards between the gross, subtle and causal states and dreams sometimes seem more real than “reality”.

But it has been a deep experience for me this year, that beyond all of this, there is a stillness, an unmoving silence which holds all and from which all things come into being.

In the hectic of the days, it has become my practice to slow down and mindfully focus on my breathing to rediscover this place anew each time.

Aum. Then silence.

For the Hindus, the holy syllable AUM has a special meaning. The A sound represents waking consciousness, U dream consciousness and M deep sleep.   The silence that surrounds the syllable is said to be the unknown and it is called in the Upanishads, “The Fourth”.  The syllable itself is God as creator-preserver-destroyer, but the silence is said to be God eternal, absolutely uninvolved in all the opening-and-closings of the round. [1]

It is unseen, unrelated, inconceivable,

   uninferable, unimaginable, indescribable.

It is the essence of the one self-cognition

   common to all states of consciousness.

All phenomena cease in it.

It is peace, it is bliss, it is nonduality.[2]

Seeking this place of silence we discover that our hectic comings and goings are not the big picture. There is more to life than meets the eye........ if we would only slow down long enough to listen.

This presentation is raw and uncut in a most moving way, and there is no doubt that it is from the Source. Thank you Ken.