Being and Becoming

If Enlightenment is the discovery of what IS, then it must embrace the ultimate nature of all things—seen and unseen, known and unknown. And I think the most truly all-embracing and inclusive definition of reality includes both Being and Becoming. Being is that timeless void out of which the cosmos was born, the empty ground from which everything arises and to which everything ultimately returns. Becoming is the something that emerged out of nothing and is still emerging in this moment. Becoming is Eros, the evolutionary impulse, the first cause, that original spark of light and energy that created the entire universe. It is that very same creative spark that awakens in our own hearts and minds as a sense of ecstatic urgency to evolve. This is why I have reenvisioned the very goal of the spiritual path, seeing the purpose of enlightenment as not merely to transcend the world but to transform the world, through becoming an agent of evolution itself. This is the new source of spiritual liberation. It's not just awakening to timeless Being—it's awakening to eternal, ecstatic Becoming. Enlightenment calls on us to awaken to both the timeless peace of Being and the relentless passion of the evolutionary impulse.

—Andrew Cohen