Centre for Contemplative Learning and Research
In a way, the history of evolution is repeated as we grow from a tiny single-celled life at conception to that of a mature adult body comprising 37.2 trillion cells. First, we develop a primitive nervous system, then a brain stem, then the limbic structures, and finally the neocortex. It takes almost twenty-five years of life for our prefrontal cortex to complete its physical growth, let alone its maturity of thought processing.
The discussion of the development of the mind along our evolutionary history and that of our individual physical one teaches us that the human mind is primarily unconscious (evolutionary history of some 3.5 billion years), then subconscious (evolutionary history of around 350 million years) and finally conscious as a human being (evolutionary history of only 200 million years). Trying to change our behaviour with an appeal to the conscious mind is like trying to wag the dog by the tail.
| Life on the planet started 3.4 billion years ago stared as a single cell. Life in me started as a single cell also. Isn't that history repeating itself? |
