Chaos and the Hidden Order of Life

Each day this week I will discuss the evidence for our interconnection in the world. Our feelings of separateness can lead us to feelings of dissatisfaction because we have lost our connection to the universe, to who we really are.

Monday – Origins - A Moment in Singularity (a.k.a. The Big Bang)
Tuesday - Holarchy
Today - Chaos and the Hidden Order of Life
Thursday - Synchrony
Friday - Time and Place

There was a time, when the complexity of nature and even life in general looked to be a series of random events. As time has progressed our perspective has broadened and now there are many reasons to see order, connection and interdependence in the apparent chaos.

When computers first became available, scientists started using them to solve mathematically intensive problems. What they found were complex hidden attractors behind their observations and calculations. These attractors organized the apparent chaos into patterns not previously understood.

One of first of these was in the study of weather and the “butterfly effect”. The naming of the “butterfly effect” came from the idea that a butterfly beating its wings in one area will cause a weather storm in another. So began the study of nonlinear dynamics also known as Chaos Theory.

The nonlinear nature of the weather makes the measurements difficult. Any small mistakes are dramatically amplified in the subsequent calculations, reducing the accuracy of the longer term prediction. This key finding is generally true in all nonlinear situations. Considering life’s nonlinear nature, could this give us any insight into our personal destiny in the near term versus the longer term? Does this help confirm that as each moment arises, an infinite set of possibilities appear?

So, beginning with the idea that the natural condition was chaos, a hidden order has been found. Now with the discovery of fractals, repeating patterns from the smallest sub segments throughout the Holonic hierarchy, hidden order and connection is found where chaos was expected. As this can be a highly technical subject, I suggest further reading in James Gleick’s “Chaos, Making a New Science”, or Gary Flake’s “The Computational Beauty of Nature.”

Picture by: the-square-root-of-3 via deviantart.com

Composting

It turns out that this is quite a science, balancing nature’s bounty with the right constituents and modifiers. I make my own compost from weeding activities, kitchen scraps and garden losses. I am also fortunate to have a good local source of horse manure compost. Combined, these provide the fertilizer for my ever expanding garden. As in everything else in this world, life lives off of life. Today’s flower becomes tomorrow’s flower food; completing the circle of life. Check out Rodale’s pamphlet at http://www.rodale.com/topic/composting

A Warrior in Life

One of the continuous themes of Joseph Campbell’s books is his robust discussion of what he called the hero’s journey. I think that for Mr. Campbell, the hero’s journey was his phraseology for the spiritual search. He discusses the myth of the hero as a journey of inner knowing instead of what might be more commonly assumed as a series of stupendous feats.


As an unmatched expert on myth and metaphor, I think that he believed that this is the purpose of life, our highest calling. No less than George Lucas credited Mr. Campbell’s hero’s journey with inspiring his story line in the Star Wars’ movies.


This really speaks to me; that there is something within us that can take us to a higher place. It says that within us is a magical, mysterious gift to be found. The journey is not one of distance, but a journey deep within. The idea is to engage with great passion in your life, that when the question comes, say, yes, to it all, as a warrior in life.

Ego and Personality

I use these words interchangeably. In psychological terms they may be different, but to me these are distinctions without a difference. The personality is who you became after socialization. It is not who you are in truth, it is who you are in society.

When we use the word ego, we typically mean big ego, someone who is full of themselves. Again, this is who someone is in societal terms not who someone is in truth.

Dogen Zenji said everyday we swim on the surface of the ocean, yet our feet can walk across the bottom. This suggests that while our daily lives seem superficial, our true na-ture has great depth.

Finding who we are in truth is understanding our true nature, this is enlightenment. We then will reset our priorities, shed previous thinking and habits, and understand how we fit in the world. This is the purpose of our life.

Truth versus Perspective

We have been led to believe that what we experience in life is the truth; a truth that we uniquely perceive. We have forgotten that most of what we call the truth is actually our perspective, seen through the eyes of our personality, the egoic mind we have become, far removed from our true nature. This egoic mind is full of illusion, likes, dislikes, hidden bias and other clouded ideas.

We are not consciously aware of this perspective. When we speak within our perspective, we should not call it the truth. The truth is so much more special than that. The truth comes from an unassailable place. The truth is rare in its telling, a hallowed ground, absolute in its power, rooted in universal consciousness.