The Teleological Universe

the Evolutionary Spiral
The Evolutionary Spiral
from Oliver L. Reiser, Cosmic Humanism and World Unity, 1975, Interface Book, p.130

Cosmology: Reality not aimless, but in a dynamic evolutionary movement towards greater self-unfoldment.  In other words, reality has direction; it is teleological and goal-directed.  The Cosmos is a teleological process.  This is an interpretation of Teilhard de Chardin's evolutionary metaphysics - the Earth and the Universe as a whole evolving through stages from total matter ("Alpha") to total Spirit or Divinity ("Omega - in Teilhard's formulation the immanent Christ Consciousness).  Others who advocate this position are Arthur Young and, to some extent, Sri Aurobindo (although he also takes into account higher planes of existence, a more esoteric conception).  The universe therefore can even be understood as unfolding along a sequence of pre-defined stages, in which the ultimate stage can be referred to as "God".  Divinity therefore a state to be achieved, rather than a big brother up in the clouds.   One can also suppose the existence of an underlying matrix or formative reality, which constitutes the blueprints of physical phenomena, and a sort of feedback between the two

Knowledge: The universe is eminently rational and knowable.  The mind is not a blank slate, but percieves pre-existing ideas, and these are the same ideas that guide the universe.  Knowledge cannot compartmentalised, but it can be understood in terms of an archetypal pattern.  Truth may or may not be an absolute quality independent of man's conception of it.  There is hierarchy, but of a benevolent sort.

internal linkCosmic Evolution - the Gross and Subtle Planes

internal linkConsciousness in the universe


on-line articlegraphicsThe Theory of Evolutionary Process as a Unifying Paradigm - by Frank Barr, MD - interesting on-line essay inspired by Arthur Young's teleological cosmology

Cosmos index page


page history

uploaded 11 September 1999
modified 6 November