COSMOGENESIS:
Autocosmology as a Spiritual Practice
Steps to Planetary Consciousness, Deep Belonging, and Participation in an Evolving Universe
Six Week Course with
BRIAN THOMAS SWIMME, PhD,
assisted by Jennifer Morgan
Carolyn Cooke (First Respondent)
Tuesdays: Oct. 15, 22, 29; November 5, 12, 19
7:00 – 8:30 pm ET
Registration Deadline: October 11, 2024
Two Participation Level Options
Nine PD Hours Approved by AMS (American Montessori Society).
Required course for the Advanced Deeptime Leadership Program starting in January 2025 for those who have not done the 9-mo DT Leadership Program.
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Buy a combination package and save!
This course is required for the Advanced Leadership Program starting Jan. 15th for anyone who hasn’t completed the 9-month Deeptime Leadership program. Deadline for purchase is Oct. 11th. For package deal, click on the button below.
The challenge now is to EXPERIENCE the TRUTH OF COSMOGENESIS.
AUTOCOSMOLOGY is one pathway.
In this course we will take steps toward
Planetary Consciousness by Exploring
COSMOGENESIS & AUTOCOSMOLOGY.
Through multiple ways of knowing this course offers:
- 1) an understanding of cosmogenesis and its crucial importance for evolving our planet,
- 2) experiences of evocation and alignment during class,
- 3) explorations with Brian about writing an autocosmology book, Cosmogenesis,
- 4) a grounding in how to develop an autocosmology,
- 5) sharing and experiencing practices that foster transformation of consciousness for a cosmogenetic universe,
- 5) online course discussions in a dedicated course space, and
- 6) a sense of profound community with others on the journey.
The book Cosmogenesis: An Unveiling of the Expanding Universe by Brian Thomas Swimme will be the centerpiece of this course. Please purchase your copy and do the readings for session one before the course begins.
COSMOGENESIS
Origin of the Term
The transformation of consciousness which is required to live into a cosmogenetic universe has hardly begun.
— Brian Thomas Swimme
Understanding COSMOGENESIS is Crucial for Evolving Our Planet
Our situation today is similar to that of a small group of people in sixteenth century rural France listening to someone who claims that the Earth is not stationary in space, it is rather circling the sun. We need to imagine how disconcerting this was for the assembled. For centuries they had believed that the sun and the other stars all circled Earth each day. But they were wrong. And as this new Copernican truth entered society, everything changed. Monarchies were overthrown and replaced with democracies. Feudal economy controlled by the king and nobles was replaced by free trade. The same thing is happening in our time.
We are created to evolve the cosmos.
— Maria Montessori
With AUTOCOSMOLOGY, we see ourselves IN AND AS the universe evolving.
AUTO-COSMOLOGY is one pathway into this expanded consciousness, a process of reflection and writing that awakens the experience of ordinary life as a fourteen billion year creative event.
AUTO-COSMOLOGY is a new genre in literature that can best be described as a hybrid genre arising from the intersection of autobiography and cosmology. Although this course will focus on literature in particular, the insights are resonant with other arts — such as dance, film, ritual, and music — which can all become spiritual paths into new forms of consciousness.
Brian’s recently published book, Cosmogenesis: An Unveiling of the Expanding Universe, a book in the emerging auto-cosmology genre, will be a centerpiece of this course. Please purchase your copy and do the readings for session one before the course begins.
Above photo by Clifford Berrien, certified Deeptime Leader, Cohort 2022.
Rewiring Ourselves for Cosmogenesis (2:43)
Impact on Education and Religion (1:30)
Becoming Indigenous to the Universe and Ourselves (1:29)
Source of Pain Today (1:43)
How the Future Shapes the Present and our Cosmic Task (2:07)
As one continues in an investigation of contemporary cosmology, there comes a moment when one feels, in a direct way, the movement of energy from the beginning of time.
— Brian Thomas Swimme
Session Descriptions
Session 1 (Oct. 15): Literary genres. First intimation of Omega. Mythic activation of energy. A synthesis of Greek philosophy and contemporary cosmology. Idea and body experience. Read chapters Prologue – 11
Guiding questions: What are three or four times in your life when you have felt something or someone calling to you from the future? Was there one that you pushed away but that returned to haunt you? When you reflect on such experiences, what is your understanding of them?
Session 2 (Oct. 22): Genealogy of contemporary cosmologists. Eurocentrism. Breakthrough epiphany as central in auto-cosmology. A living universe. Breakdown of modern consciousness. Read chapters 12-22
Guiding questions: In the Middle Ages, it was thought that there were two sources of wisdom, Scripture and Nature. Have you had experiences of nature that have become your wisdom, your guidance for life? Were some of these experiences as important to you as the wisdom you received from your parents, your religion, your family?
Session 3 (Oct. 29): Dissolution of the hold of atomism. Inevitable clash with former cosmologies. The pull of the former stability. Inevitable struggle of the new forms of consciousness. Read chapters 23-33
Guiding questions: Has your study of cosmogenesis, either in this course or in the past, awakened novel feelings? Can you identify them? Do they come and go? Have you found a way to stabilize these experiences so that they start to become part of the foundations of your life?
Session 4 (Nov. 5): Time-development experience. Explicit prompting from Omega. Cosmology akin to both poetry and science. Rational vs. mental consciousness. Read chapters 34-44
Guiding questions: When you reflect back on the central insights of your lifetime, has it been your experience that these spiritual events have altered your relational reality to varying degrees, sometimes turning friends into opponents and opponents into friends? What experiences have led you to redirect the aim of your life? What new beliefs might you have? How do language your new beliefs?
Session 5 (Nov. 12): Guides in auto-cosmologies. Dante and Teilhard. The challenge of perceiving the Whole. The specific genius and plague of symbolic consciousness. Intimations of Omega in allurement. Read chapters 45-55
Guiding questions: Thomas Berry, in reference to Karl Jaspers’ work, spoke of humanity evolving into yet another form of consciousness, which he sometimes referred to as “time-developmental consciousness.” In the reflection you have already done, both in this course and before, can you feel the way in which you have passed through different forms of consciousness? That is to say, can you feel the way in which an individual human evolves through the stages of consciousness that humanity as a whole has traversed?
Session 6 (Nov. 19): The imprisonment of English. Alignment with the powers of the universe. Eros to agape. The dynamism of the supernova in spiritual traditions such as the paschal mystery. Our common destiny. Read chapters 56-Epilogue
Guiding questions: It is sometimes suggested that humanity’s habitat is language. At the very least, our language is entangled with all of our experiences, in that a “shrunken” language makes it nearly impossible to experience the magnificence of existence. Can you find words in your vocabulary that work against deep experience? Can you transform these by reflecting on their cosmological fullness? Can you find new language and forms of expression that arise out of cosmological fullness?
Purchase the book COSMOGENESIS
before the course starts!
All reading assignments are from the book COSMOGENESIS: AN UNVEILING OF THE EXPANDING UNIVERSE by Brian Thomas Swimme. Please purchase your copy from your favorite vendor and read the first assignment before session one.
Recordings Will Be Available in the Course Space
Sessions are live with Brian Thomas Swimme and Jennifer Morgan. Recordings of all sessions will be accessible inside the course space for up to one year.
Participate in Online Discussions
Discussion topics will be added each week and everyone is invited to join in the online discussions. These online discussions help to deepen the course material and develop community among participants. You’re able to message anyone else in the course. A map showing the locations of all participants is in the course space so you can locate people and get in touch with them. One of the goals of this course is to create a space for community to develop that lasts beyond the course.
Key Learnings:
1) A fundamental understanding of the forces and powers that govern cosmic evolution
2) An introduction to the new way of understanding the ancient idea that the human body is a microcosm of the vast macrocosmic universe
3) An understanding of the two fundamental flaws in modern consciousness
4) The skill of identifying ways in which ordinary life is suffused with the achievements of cosmic evolution
5) A basic understanding of the history of scientific cosmology
6) A sampling of the profound cosmological vision of Thomas Berry, connecting an understanding Cosmogenesis with Thomas Berry’s vision of an Ecozoic Era
7) An understanding of Maria Montessori’s teaching about Cosmic Gift and Task and how it relates to Cosmogenesis and Autocosmology
8) A profound sense of connection between personal allurement and the trajectory of the universe as a whole
We study cosmogenesis so we can align ourselves with the creative dynamics throughout society that are building a vibrant Earth community.
— Brian Thomas Swimme
Who Is This Course For?
- Everyone who’s interested in the work of Thomas Berry, Brian Swimme, Mary Evelyn Tucker, John Grim, Jennifer Morgan.
- Everyone who’s already familiar with this work and wants a deeper understanding of how to apply it to personal-to-planetary change.
- Everyone who has projects, and practices they’d like to work on inside a New Cosmology framework
- Students who want to learn about their role in the universe and apply deeptime principles in their academic work.
- Teachers who want to frame their curriculum inside the New Cosmology.
- Montessori Teachers who want to connect Cosmic Education and the New Cosmology
- Spiritual/religious who want to situate and ground their understandings/practices inside an evolving universe.
- Artists/Poets/Writers/Dancers inspired to express the larger story we all share.
- Scientists who want to connect with and experience other ways of knowing.
- Healers and healing practitioners who know the healing power of a living functional cosmology.
- Politicians/Activists looking for a larger frame and understanding to address the crises of today.
- Mental Health Practioners who understand that our cosmologies give us meaning and purpose. Dysfunctional cosmologies can be at the root of mental illness and addiction.
- Anyone who wants to ground their lives in the New Cosmology and an emerging consciousness
Jennifer Morgan, president and founder of the Deeptime Network, is an award-winning author, storyteller, and educator inspired by the work of Teilhard de Chardin, Maria Montessori, Thomas Berry, and Brian Swimme. Her Universe Story Trilogy — Born With a Bang, From Lava to Life, and Mammals Who Morph — are used in classrooms around the world, particularly in Montessori schools as part of the Cosmic Education Curriculum, and have received the Teachers Choice Award, Nautilus Semi Finalist, highest ratings from AAAS and endorsements from Jane Goodall, Neil de Grasse Tyson, astronaut Edgar Mitchell, Thomas Berry, Brian Swimme and others. She is on the board of the American Teilhard Association.
Carolyn Cooke, Professor, California Institute of Integral Studies, Department of Interdisciplinary Arts and Writing (MFA). Author of The Bostons, Daughters of the Revolution, and Amor and Psycho.
We feel so at home in the Deeptime Network courses. This community is unique.
— Elizabeth Carranza & John Leydon, Philippines
What people are saying about the Deeptime Network . . .
Our Learning Management System
We use Sensei integrated with Buddypress so that participants can engage in asynchronous course discussions, and share resources, profiles, and information about their organizations. We’ve had experience using this technology with people of all levels of technical capability. If you have any questions, we’re right there to help you. All meetings are recorded. The course will remain open for one year so you can view recordings, stay in touch and continue to share thoughts and resources with others sharing the journey with you. Our fearless developer, Mohit Sharma, stands at the ready to solve any tech problems that might crop up a long the way.
Choose ONE of TWO
LEVELS OF PARTICIPATION:
1. Observer Level ($190): An unlimited number of people can watch the live lecture and discussion without participating. They will not be visible in the Zoom room. Observers will be able to participate in an online discussion inside the course space.
2. Participant Level ($450): LIMITED SEATS! Participants are visible on the Zoom screen and able to engage in the live discussion with Brian Swimme and Jennifer Morgan; and will receive feedback inside the course discussion from responders hand picked by Brian. There are only a few places left for Participants w/o PD hours!
NOTE: If you’re interested in the Participant Level w/o PD hours, please complete a short application form. We’re particularly looking for young leaders to fill the remaining few seats. Once you’re selected, you can make your purchase. Click here to apply.
Observers and Participants will . . .
be able to engage in the online course discussion. Brian Swimme will not be able to participate in the online discussion. A number of professionals who have studied with Brian will engage with and be responders in the course discussion.
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Discounts and installment Options:
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- Do you need scholarship support? We have some scholarship funds available particularly for young up and coming leaders. Please complete a questionnaire by clicking here.
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