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ark of consciousness a creative inquiry into spatial metadesign |
And God said unto Noah:
"Make thee an ark...
I will establish My covenant with you;
and you shall come into the ark, you and your family...
and every living thing of all flesh,
two of every sort shall you bring into the ark,
to keep them alive with you..."
- Genesis VI
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Table of Contents
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Emanation
It was the Spring of 1989. My wife Sarah and I were driving cross-country in our Volkswagen Van. We were on our Honeymoon tour of America. As the road stretched out before us, Sarah took the wheel. I leaned back in the passenger seat and closed my eyes. Suddenly I had a vision. I was floating above a beautiful landscape. Directly beneath me I saw a building shaped like the six-pointed Star of David with a Yin/Yang glass dome on top. Two three-story triangles were built one on top of the other to form the Star of David from above. The Yin/Yang glass dome on the roof housed a beautiful Temple with gardens, a stream running through it and a ball of golden light imbedded in the center of the dome. Surrounding the building was a crystal blue reflecting pool. Its' water gently flowed under the wood and glass deck encircling the building into a circular rock cavern below. Suspended in this cavern of rock, waterfalls and gardens were the six lower floors of the building. Within the structure I envisioned a library, cafe, dramatic theater, movie house, art gallery, storytelling garden, poetry reading room, meditation rooms, massage rooms, yoga/martial arts studio, an altered states mind gym, a chapel, community rooms and a temple. The years past and my vision expanded and transformed. A mandala of roads, gardens and buildings spiraled out from the center structure. Its structures unfolded into a tapestry of physical, subtle and causal realities. Its function evolved into a transpersonal community and university, where learning, being and doing would unite. Through this whole process, I have felt a grand design guiding my life, giving me experiences and lessons that seem to simultaneously heal my self while expanding my vision. At each step along the way, what I learn integrates into the design. This integration creates new lessons and new visions. This design has become my own sacred Mandala . . . my Ark of Consciousness. Its form seeks to unite symbols, archetypes, energies and the many faiths that lead to God. This pattern of unification represents my yearning to heal the energies of separation: The separation between Heaven and Earth; Love and Fear; the Personal and the Transpersonal; the Masculine and the Feminine; my Words and my Actions; my Self and Others; and my Self and God. Amid the storm of the evolution of consciousness, I commence to build this Ark. The distant shore is union with the divine. The ocean to cross is the sea of duality. As this design moves outward from thought into form, it moves inward into my heart and I know I am on my way home . . .
Creation
Metadesign
Metadesign is multidimensional in scope. The metadesign of this community encompasses its structures, landscape, maintenance & services, subtle energy fields and organizational paradigm. The forces of community, personal growth, spiritual development, education, service, commerce, and ecology are interwoven throughout the community's function and form. The metadesign also attempts to bring together the symbols and archetypes of the worlds' spiritual traditions while aligning transpersonal and ecological theories with action. The metadesign of this community exists on the gross, subtle and causal level. The gross level includes physical forms and the general functions of these forms. The subtle level is the realm of subtle energy fields, eco-design, sacred geometry, directional forces and numerological design elements. The causal level contains the goals, purpose, mission, vision and values of the community. These forces combined are designed to create a multidimensional environment to support, nurture and induce personal and global transformations of consciousness.
Gross Metadesign Level
The gross or physical level, in the area of form, consists of a design of buildings, roads, waterways, gardens, lawns and wooded areas. These structures and environs are laid out in a mandala pattern (See Figure 1). The four main roads are on a north/south vertical axis and an east/west horizontal axis. The waterways circle the center building and radiate outward in four directions (northwest, northeast, southeast and southwest). The buildings are laid out in concentric rings of function. The center structure is the hub of the community, housing the main library, dining hall, temple, and community activities rooms. This is the point of community integration. Encircling the community center is the first ring of buildings, which represents the area of education and research. There are eight buildings, each housing a different school. The eight schools are (clockwise, starting from the south):
Transpersonal Management and Community Development Integrative Health and Healing Transpersonal Psychology Somatic Arts Environmental Studies Philosophy and Spirituality Transpersonal Education Arts, Media and Consciousness
Figure 1 : The Ark of Consciousness
The second ring of buildings represents the area of service and commerce. These eight outreach centers are circular structures on the axis of each school. Each of these centers is an extension of the school on its axis, acting as an outreach function to unite theory and practice (See Table 1). The eight outreach centers are:
Community Management and Reception Center Community Health Center and Hospice Community Counseling and Spiritual Emergence Center Spa and Retreat Center Community Maintenance and Services Center All Faiths Monastery Community Orphanage and Homeless Shelter Community Entertainment and Communications Center
Table 1: Metadesign of Function
Between the eight round outreach buildings, along the second ring, are eight long arced rectangular structures for community and guest housing. Outside the second ring are four small meditation houses set in the middle of the four waterways. The waterways create a squared container between the outer road and the rest of the community. The region of the first ring of buildings consists of gardens and lawns. The second ring of buildings is in a ring of lush woods. The meditation houses are also set within a wooded area. The four-quarter circle regions between the waterways and the outer road each has its own function. The community farm is to the north, wooded recreation areas are to the east and west, and the main entrance with a forested parking area is in the south.
Subtle Metadesign Level
The subtle metadesign level is the realm of symbols, archetypes, subtle energy fields and patterns of consciousness. The subcategories in this level are: Eco-Design, Sacred Geometry, Subtle Energy Flow, Directional forces and Numerological Design. Each of these design elements integrates physical forms with energetic realities to affect consciousness. Eco-DesignThe function of the Eco-Design elements of the community is to create an environment of non-harm and harmony between the earth and ourselves. The foundation of these elements is the emerging field of EcoPsychology. This field is exploring and revealing the connection between psychological health and our relationship to the earth (Roszak, 1992). The Eco-Design elements of this community will cover the areas of construction, maintenance, services, transportation, food production, consumption and waste. Nontoxic, organic and recycled materials will be used in construction, cleaning, and maintenance. Community waste will be recycled or used for compost. In the area of food production and consumption, the community farm will produce organic fruits & vegetables. The dairy farm products will come from free range, veg-a-fed and well treated animals. The community will use solar, hydroelectric, geothermal, wind, and waste distillation renewable power resources. Modes of transportation will include electric vehicles, walking and bicycles. All electrical sources and equipment will be EMF (Electro-Magnetic Field) protected. The community also will utilize natural sources of air purification & ionization (water flow, etc.). Sacred GeometrySacred geometry includes the shape of individual structures and the geometric patterns of the overall layout of these structures. The overall design of the community is a variation of a Tantric Yantra mandala. This Tantric pattern includes a center point (Bindu, the seed of all potentiality), the six-pointed star (the union of nature and consciousness), the square (the confinement of creation), and the circle (the encompassing unity). The eight-spoked wheel of Buddhism and the Native American medicine wheel are also incorporated in this overall design. (The) Mandala in the broad sense is all-encompassing space which accommodates the self-existing cosmic structure, radiating different energies: pacifying, magnetizing, increasing, destroying. Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche (Arguelles, 1972, p. 8) Within this greater pattern are structures, which represent the symbols of the worlds' religious and mystical traditions. The community center is a blending of the Judaic/Hindu six-pointed star and the yin-yang symbol of Taoism. The school buildings in the four major directions are designed in the shape of the fish of rebirth that is connected to Christianity and Greek mythology. The four school buildings in between are triple pyramid designs from the Hermetic mystical tradition. The eight outreach centers are circular structures representing the powers of unification. Each of the eight spokes of the design represents one of the eight major faiths (see Table 2). There are shrines to each faith in between the schools and their outreach centers. There are also fountains with the symbol of each tradition in the courtyard of each outreach center. The eight faiths and their symbols are (clockwise, starting from the south):
Native American (Medicine Wheel) Buddhism (Eight-Spoked Wheel) Islam/Sufism (Crescent Moon & Star) Taoism (Yin-Yang) Goddess (Earth) Christianity (Cross) Judaism (Star of David) Hinduism (Sanskrit OM)
In the outer rim of the design, the four meditation houses are circular in shape with a triangle skylight. This circle with triangle is the Tantric Yani or symbol for feminine energy. The shape of all these symbolic structures are said to contain and create certain patterns of energy (Allen, 1977). The most widely known form of symbolic energy creation is the pyramid. As with the pyramid, the individual structures and the overall pattern of the community are designed to harness, focus, amplify, create and balance subtle energy fields.
Table 2 : Sacred Geometry – Traditions and Symbols
Directional EnergiesPatterns of energy also can be found in the placement of these symbolic structures in certain directional fields. The community mandala is laid out to utilize the forces of the eight directions. The two directional cosmologies that hold the community are the Native American Medicine Wheel and the I Ching's primal and inner world arrangement of the archetypal forces of change. According to C.G.Jung in his forward to Richard Willhelm's translation of The I Ching (1950), the I Ching is the science of the forces of synchronicity. The reality of each moment is seen as the outcome of a vast tapestry of external and internal forces, including psychic states. These forces are the archetypal elements of all existence. These elements are symbolized by various combinations of patterns of yin and yang (dark and light) energy in three levels of existence (the trigram of Heaven-Man-Earth). In the I Ching each of the eight directions has a primal trigram and a inner world trigram. When these trigrams are combined they form eight major directional hexagrams. These hexagrams are symbols for the elemental patterns of nature and consciousness moving through each direction (Arguelles, 1972). As I overlaid the hexagrams over the design I was stunned by the connections between the functions of the buildings and the energy of the direction (see Table 3).
Table 3 : I Ching Primal and Inner World Arrangement
In the south, the School of Transpersonal Management and Community connects with the hexagram "possession in great measure." The School of Integrative Health and Healing in the southwest is "pushing upward." In the west, Transpersonal Psychology is "inward influence." The School of Somatic Arts' Spa and Retreat Center sits in the northwest, the direction of "retreat." Environmental Studies is "holding together, union"; the All Faiths Monastery is "arousing, keeping still"; Transpersonal Education is "abundance, fullness"; and Arts, Media & Consciousness is "inner truth." The community center is related to Tai, which means "peace." Each hexagram has a symbolic representation consisting of six horizontal lines stacked on top of each other. A solid line is yang energy, masculine and a broken line is yin energy, feminine. These hexagrams will be imbedded in the pavement as speed bumps on each of the eight spokes of the community mandala. The Medicine Wheel covers the four major directions of North, South, East and West. The wheel represents the journey of the individual and community (tribe) through our connections with all of nature (Sunbear, 1991). Each direction connects us to essential elements, spirits, minerals, plants, animals, seasons, colors, and the stages of maturation (see Table 4). The four main entrance roads of the community mandala are set in these four main directions. A Native American Totem representing the elements of each direction will be placed at the corresponding entrance. Sacred prayers and rituals will call upon the spirits of each direction to guide the community.
Table 4 : Medicine Wheel Cosmology
Numerological DesignThe design of the community also will utilize the power of sacred numbers. Most of the worlds' mystical traditions hold certain numbers as sacred. It is said that numbers contain certain rhythms and energies that correspond to the fundamental elements of creation (Schimmel, 1993; Sepharial, 1970). Both the Judaic and Islamic mystical traditions correlate the numeric value of the letters of their alphabets to the elements of creation. The Christian mystics value the Holy Trinity and Revelations assigns the number 666 to the beast. In the design of the community the distances within and between structures will consist of a combination of nine sacred numbers. This includes one number from each of the eight major traditions and the number one (1) representing unity (see Table 5).
Table 5 : Numerological Design
Subtle Energy FlowThis process of creating and manipulating subtle forms of energy is also accomplished through other channels. Additional factors include: The flow of Chi; geopathic, electrical and electro-magnetic fields; radiation; and cyberspace frequency fields. These factors are manipulated through Geomancy, the Chinese art of Feng Shui (Chinese Geomancy) and the German science of Baubalogie (Building Biology). Chi is universal life energy. It flows through our bodies, the earth, within all forms of matter and in the space around us. In the external environment the flow of Chi is affected by the placement, size and shape of buildings, roads, waterways, rocks, plants, trees, rooms, doorways, and furniture. The placement of these elements within and around the community mandala is guided by the rules of Feng Shui (Rossbach, 1987; Lip, 1992). Chi moves similar to the wind and will flow through the community mandala in undulating straight and circular patterns. In accordance with Feng Shui the entrance will be to the south (receptive) and a mountain shall sit to the north (protective). Geopathic fields are lines of geomagnetic energy, which move across and through the earth. This field is a mixture of atmospheric magnetic fields and geothermal energies created by underground caverns, streams, lava flows, and fault lines. These forces move in lines of energy, called lay lines. Vortices or pockets of energy occur where these lines cross each other. The frequency and pattern of these geopathic fields can affect the physical body, emotions, and mind of the individual (Scott-Morley, 1985; Wooster, 1988). The design and construction of the community will utilize the tools of other forms of Geomancy to balance these geopathic fields. These tools include the placement of certain metals in the ground to re-route lines of energy and the positioning of other field generating systems (man-made electrical, magnetic & energy systems) to alter frequency pattern. For example, the placement of the electrical wiring of the community will be designed to harmonize with the flow of Chi and geopathic lay lines. One of these other forms of Geomancy is the German science of Baubiologie (Building Biology), which seeks to balance geopathic, electrical and electro-magnetic fields, radiation levels, environmental rays and gases. Baubiologie uses sensitive instruments to detect the levels of these environmental elements. Existing sources are balanced with the placement of man-made sources. Unsafe levels of any of these factors are neutralized through methods of shielding, removal, alteration of frequency and displacement of conflicting sources (Maes, 1990). Another level of subtle energy is Cyberspace Frequency Fields. These fields include radio, microwave, cellular, UHF, VHF and satellite transmissions. The transmitters and receivers of these frequencies will be placed within and around the community to harmonize with other subtle energy fields. Through the use of these approaches to balance and harmonize the various subtle energy fields, the community mandala becomes an energy transformer. The flow of all these fields will be moving both inward toward the center of the community and outward. The core of the community center will be open space. At the bottom of the building, in the middle of the open space, will be a crystal sculpture. Above it, twelve stories up, in the center of the yin-yang dome, will be a crystal sphere. From this central point energy will be transmitted to and received from above and below.
Causal Metadesign LevelThe causal level of this design encompasses the goals, purpose, mission, vision and values of the community. These causal factors unfold within the same mandala pattern that exists on the physical and subtle planes (see Figure 2). These causal structures are to be striven for in all areas of the community process: education, research, management, service, and commerce.
Figure 2 : Causal Metadesign Mandala
At the center of the causal mandala is the fundamental ideal and Goal of Unity or union with the Divine. The setting of this goal creates both attraction and aversion, both LOVE and FEAR. Thus our foundation process must embrace these Two Energies of LOVE and FEAR . . . both our striving for unity and our fear of it, both our spirit work and shadow work. This duality, symbolized in the Yin-Yang symbol, leads us to our ultimate Purpose: TO HEAL THE SEPARATION. These energies manifest and are worked through the Six Areas (the six-pointed star): BODY, MIND, HEART, SPIRIT, COMMUNITY, and CREATIVITY. Within and around these areas are the Four Values of OPENNESS, BALANCE, INTEGRATION, and DEEPENING (related to the four major directions). Openness manifests directly in each of the six areas (See Table 6). Balance is sought between the elements within each area and between the areas as a whole. This process is integrative and inter-disciplinary. The value of deepening reminds us of the importance of depth as well as breadth. Through this process we seek to fulfill our Mission of WHOLE PERSON DEVELOPMENT as we grow in and nurture the Four Relationships: PERSONAL, INTERPERSONAL, ECO-PERSONAL and TRANSPERSONAL (related to the four other directions). The meta-value of NONJUDGEMENT forms the final circle of the mandala, creating a safe container for healing and growth.
Table 6 : Openness and the Six Areas
VisionThe Vision of the Ark of Consciousness is: . . . to create a spatial and temporal environment that fosters and reflects the healing of the perception of separation (UNIFICATION); . . . to create an atmosphere which fosters and reflects the alignment of thought and action (INTEGRITY); . . . to create a supportive and nurturing container for personal, interpersonal, eco-personal and transpersonal growth (GROWTH); . . . to create a system which honors and respects individuals, community, spirit and the earth (TRUST).
Formation
The Ark of Consciousness, like Noah's Ark, seeks to be a vehicle for our journey through the storm of the next stage in human evolution. Many people believe this evolution is one of consciousness (Capra, 1982; Bohm, 1980; Grof, 1988). The foundation of the Ark is the belief that this evolution of consciousness depends on healing the separation (A Course in Miracles, 1975). The separation is a perception that our selves and our world are made up of discreet and separate bodies, objects, thoughts, feelings and phenomena. The Ark is designed to assist us in uniting these separate and discreet perceptions. An environment of unification is created through the blending and harmonizing of different functions, forms, traditions, schools of thought, energies, symbols, archetypes and relationships on the different levels of gross, subtle and causal. This environment exists on the energetic and psychic level as well as that of the five senses. Like the Ark of the Covenant, the Ark of Consciousness is designed to be a receiver and transmitter of the Divine essence. This Divine essence is the unity of God: "Hear O Israel (he who seeks God), the Lord our God, the Lord is One" (Deuteronomy, 6:4). The Ark of the Covenant guided a tribe of people through the desert to the Promised Land. As the Ark of Consciousness moves through me it feels as though it is guiding me toward my home in Oneness. The formation of the Ark has been a process of receiving visions from a source that feels beyond my self. These visions have blended with my life experiences and lessons from friends and teachers. It is both the catalyst and the mirror for the evolution of my own consciousness. The consciousness of the individuals who live and work within the Ark of Consciousness is ultimately the key element. The mandala of the Ark incorporates the four stages of the evolution of consciousness from the Kabbalah (See Table 7). These four stages represent the process of creation and existence (Hoffman, 1989; Buxbaum, 1990). The center point is the realm of Emanation or Force (Aziluth). Here we exist in nearness to the absolute. As consciousness moves outward it enters the realm of Creation or Pattern (Beriah). This is the level of thought and organization into a coherent order. The community center represents this stage of consciousness by being an area of community organization, integration and thought (the library, etc.). The six-pointed star symbolizes the energy of creation while the yin-yang represents the duality of this realm. Next is the level of Formation or Energy (Yetzirah). The ring of education and research corresponds with this level of consciousness whose qualities are speech and digestion, the outward, and inward movement of thought. The energy of speech correlates to the process of teaching. Digestion relates to learning or the digestion of knowledge. Finally, there is the world of Action or Substance (Assiyah) corresponding to the Ark's ring of commerce and service.
Table 7 : The Kabbalah’s Four Stages of Consciousness
This model of the flow of consciousness embraces both our journey outward and inward. It is our journey from consciousness to action and from the world of action back home to union with our source. This Ark of Consciousness, imbedded in the overall design, becomes the carrier wave for all the different elements of the community mandala . . . calling us to Oneness and calling Oneness to us.
I had a dream. The symbols of many faiths were spinning in a bright blue sky. One by one they attached themselves to each other. When they all connected to one another they turned transparent. They formed a large multi-faceted crystalline structure. A white light filled the sky and its rays penetrated the crystal. Suddenly a brilliant rainbow rippled through the crystal and I saw the image of a face. I cannot say if the face was male or female, young or old, black or white... it was a faceless face, one of pure light.
MANIFESTATIONStructural Breakdown of Functions and Forms
Figure 3 : Mandala Map (Click on an area of interest to link to description below) The following appendix is a structural breakdown of both the function and form of the various facilities within the Ark of Consciousness. The breakdown is laid out according to the directional axis along the wheel of the overall community design, starting from the south axis and moving clockwise around the wheel. Each axis houses a particular school and the outreach programs connected to that school.
South Axis
SCHOOL OF TRANSPERSONAL MANAGEMENT
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