Sometimes we come across a term that has become part of our vernacular, but the precise meaning remains illusive. When that’s the case, the meaning assumed tends to be a little bit different for everyone, and will inevitably be shaped by our particular background and a series of assumptions we all bring to the table. This, after all, is human nature. We insert our own particular historical context when clarity is lacking. And this of course gets us through a world where context is not always – and, indeed, often is not – available.

While this often works well enough, there are other times when precision around meaning is vitally important. Indeed, something we will cover in depth in Expanding Awareness is just how important it is to be as clear as possible about the things we think and talk about. An expression that I often see bandied about in our modern world – that fits this bill of being part of of our vernacular, but perhaps in need of a discussion around a precise definition – is “cosmic consciousness”. When you hear that expression, what comes to mind?

Some people think about sheer size. We all know that the Cosmos is so vast that it – very literally – boggles the imagination. It is so large, in fact, that we have not the sufficient practical reference to picture it. So, that being the case, for some people “cosmic consciousness” might mean capturing as much as possible in what we see; relying on the largest available frame. That makes sense, because when we speak of the Cosmos we often mean “all that is”.

For others, “cosmic consciousness” refers to something more esoteric. This particular meaning tends to make the rounds in so-called New Age circles. Generally speaking, it’s in the same ballpark as an expression like “far out, man”; a refrain that would have been heard with some regularity in the Hyde Park area of San Francisco in the late 1960s. This expression, in this particular context, tends to mean something more transcendent; something loosely connected with an experience one might have while under the influence of psychedelics.

When I use this expression, both of these associations/connotations are baked in, but I don’t stop there. To explain what cosmic consciousness means in the context we’ll be using it, I will need to back up a little bit, and discuss a little thing known as the evolution of human consciousness over time. And that’s because the expression really only makes sense in terms of what it both transcends and includes (that’s another expression you’ll hear a lot about in Essence of Being, by the way).

Way back in the recesses of pre-history, when human beings first emerged on planet Earth, our sense of identity was largely limited to the sphere of concerns associated with our family unit. Our actions were influenced by a desire to serve the needs of this precisely defined sphere of care and concern; one defined by a direct genetic link and the closest social association (thus involving both “nature” and “nurture”).

Eventually, however, we recognized that we are better able to survive, and certainly more likely to thrive, when we join forces with other family units who tend to share that common list of cares and concerns with us. This marked the historical emergence of what we often refer to as “the tribe”, which can be defined as “a social division in traditional society consisting of families or communities linked by social, economic, religious, or blood ties, with a common culture and dialect, typically having a recognized leader”.

Now leap forward in time, extending this context further to include a shared geographic space, an economic system, and a system of laws and overarching governance, and we arrive at the modern notion of a nation-state. And for many people, even in today’s complex, interconnected world, that’s far enough. Many people effectively build primary meaning around a shared identity defined by their particular nation-state. Think here of the symbolism around national flags and shared pastimes that serve as a kind of modern set of rituals that knit the group together.

I already hinted in that last paragraph that one of the revelations that has emerged as we’ve grown to better understand our shared world is that, despite our best efforts and preferences, the natural environment we are a part of doesn’t tend to behave according to the social divisions we have formed. Take, for instance, climate: one thing that’s become alarmingly obvious in recent decades is that what one nation-state – or even a larger geographical region – does, inextricably impacts every other nation-state and geographical region around the world.

In other words, despite where we would like to draw borders, the global environment behaves as a single, indivisible whole. And, as the saying goes, reality just is, regardless of how you feel about it. This knowledge about the interconnected, symbiotic nature of the environment has led many to adopt a more global-centric perspective; one that transcends nation-states and geographic regions, as well as various cultural and creedal backgrounds.

As our understanding of the context we live within expanded and became more nuanced, many came to realize that, not only should basic rights be extended to every human being on Earth, but they should also be extended – to one degree of another – to all sentient life forms present, including the animals who share the planet with us. By the way, as you may have noticed, the sphere of care and concern we’re referencing here is not just more expansive, it is also more inclusive, as the evolution of consciousness rolls on – because these two are part and parcel of each other.

Of course, while the earth is very much our home, it is somewhat arbitrary to draw a new, more expansive border in the form of a sphere the exact size of our planet. And that’s because our planet would not be the environment it is, if not for other mediating factors; such as its position in our solar system amidst the other planets, and particularly in its particular distance from the sun; the life-giving engine of the entire enterprise. And, of course, our solar system is just one of many within the Milky Way, and the Milky Way just one galaxy amongst billions in the Cosmos. In Buddhism, this fundamental interconnectedness of being is known as the doctrine of “dependent origination”.

Add to this mix the knowledge that humankind is – and, indeed, to one degree of another, always has been – in contact with beings from seemingly beyond the confines of our planet, and even from beyond the narrow, reductive confines of what is often referred to “consensus reality”, and it’s not surprising to see why we end up where we do: at cosmic consciousness; recognizing that our true, shared identity is in the totality; in the size and scope of absolutely all that is, in all that spectacular, multifaceted multidimensionality. This is a totality which, as immensely vast and intricate as it is, also just so happens to be – even according to our best and latest science – a single, entangled – and thus, ultimately indivisible – whole.