Most spiritual beliefs and experiences indicate a higher spirit or intelligence in the universe. Humans have always sought to understand this higher power, intelligence, and spirit. As we discussed earlier, the living universe manifests itself in nonlinear network patterns that are able to self-organize without any central command, creating a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. If we recognize that the universe is alive, it is not too much of a stretch to acknowledge that other species – and even solar systems and galaxies – have valid intelligence and spirit. We can see that all of the spirit and intelligence contained in other humans, beavers, milkweed, dung beetles, Jupiter, and the Milky Way Galaxy provide a nonlinear network of intelligence and spirit that is greater than a simple tallying of each element’s intelligence and spirit. With such a higher intelligent and spirit, the living universe guides the whole network and has a dynamic relationship with each component. The holistic nature of nonlinear perception does not consider the higher spirit and intelligence of the living universe as a separate entity. Rather, it is a result of and is an inseparable part of the system itself, so creation is a perpetual process of self-creation with no central command.

By acknowledging this higher intelligence and spirit of living universe as guidance, we can restore the hope that has faded in recent centuries due to loss of spirituality, and loss of faith in religious beliefs, and pessimistic predictions of entropy and environmental destruction accelerated by the modern world. We can unify physics and metaphysics in a hopeful and dynamic form. Having faith in the universe and in Earth’s greater intelligence is a hopeful, positive approach to chaotic events in our rapidly changing world.

Nonlinear thinking primarily activates the right side of the brain and provides access to the rich metaphysical and spiritual experiences of our prehistoric ancestors that manifest our ultimate potential as a human god. When our goals and values are consistent with the behavioral patterns of the living universe and by living by those principles, we create a dynamic relationship with the universe based upon its own essential behaviors. We are in tune with the universe. In this way, our will and our destiny become unified with that of the universe. As ancient traditions realized, our imagination, thought, and words are sacred and magical, and the living universe acts as a mirror, reflecting and responding dynamically to them. We can individually or collectively shape the future by focusing on values that are harmonic with the behavior of living systems. Fortunately, the latest research in neuropsychology indicates that when we set our deepest aspirations to be in harmony with the true nature of the living universe, our brain will respond positively and start manifesting it in reality. This phenomenon is consistent with the Vow concept in wisdom traditions. 

Nonlinear thinking, with its lack of expectations and nonjudgmental characteristics, demonstrates unconditional love as its ethical value and guiding principle. It is the most reliable benchmark for other ethical values because it satisfies the values of any living system. These include cooperation, and partnership, nonjudgmental, with no expectations. These ethical values are not anthropocentric; they come from observing the behaviors of other living ecosystems. For example, the Earth gives us a smooth ride around the solar system every 365 days, providing us with everything we need. It does this with no expectation regarding how we treat her back. The same is true of the sun and of animals such as dogs.  After all, most spiritual, artistic, and near death experiences have indicated that when we are selfless and totally connected with the living universe we feel joy, peace and love. On the other hand, the self-serving, protective nature of our linear perception codes our judgments with blame, guilt and hate. Thinking in terms of blame hinders our ability to forgive, which is an inherent part of unconditional love. 

Unconditional love is a most enjoyable human experience and is the pinnacle of the emotional part of the cognition process. After all, most spiritual beliefs hold that the fabric of the universe is made of love and that the primary duty of human beings is to recognize and manifest this concept as the ultimate goal of the spiritual journey. In his great work The Power of Myth, Joseph Campbell has shown that most mythical stories of human beings show that the main purpose of creation is the manifestation of unconditional love. In Christianity, for example, these values found their physical embodiment in Jesus Christ’s experience and his core beliefs. 

The mythology of Sufism also states that the creator is love and wants to manifest itself in physical form. The creator made angels, but they could not feel and suffer the pain that accompanies love. So it then chose human beings, which are capable of feeling and suffering pain, to manifest this ultimate goal of creation. This mythological imagination and teaching ultimately embodies itself in a great number of Sufis’ personal life experiences. The values were set down in the poetry of love, inspired by the personal experiences of Rumi, a renowned poet born in 1207, and, a century later, in the work of Hafez, a Persian poet who wrote about love and spirit.

The digital age is creating exponential changes in all of our activities and belief systems, challenging our current participation in this fast-changing world with our rigid, linear perception. Our default mode is liability management and counterproductive linear responses to the challenges of a nonlinear world, resisting change and emphasizing on our differences with blame, fear and violence.  Instead, we can choose to respond with holistic, nonlinear perception of hope, forgiveness, tolerance, acceptance, positivity, creativity, and asset management. Since the economy, politics and social activities are processed through digital non-linear networks they are themselves becoming emergent, highly interconnected non-linear systems with the capability of self-organization. When we observe these activities, with non-linear, holistic goals of the living universe in mind, we are then creating a feedback loop that will input our goals into the system, facilitating and accelerating the systems self-organizing processes.

As we can learn from ancient wisdoms, the living universe responds to us, magnifying and reflecting our imaginations, thoughts, words and actions. If we respond to the fast-changing nonlinear digital world with a self-assertive, short term oriented, linear perception, embedded with blame, fear and violence, not only are we being counterproductive, but also, the universe magnifies it back to us with more chaos, instability, fear, violence and destruction. If our response to these changes is in harmony with the behavior of the living universe, the universe will magnify that response instead, manifesting our metaphysical and abundant creative potential. Our will and destiny will be unified, and our creativity based on unconditional love will create a heaven on Earth.

When we consider the human network as an interconnected and inseparable sub-network of the universal network there is a dynamic relationship among the whole living network. As we discussed earlier the living universe as a larger network carries a higher intelligence than the network of human intelligence, therefore, the living universe is able to provide many types of signals through our dreams and in our daily connections to further connect us. We are witnessing rapid environmental awareness among humans and amazing spiritual personal experiences among neuroscientists, such as Jill Taylors’s My Stroke of Insight or Eben Alexander’s near-death experience. Earth as a living system is also communicating and facilitating this process, which will lead to a transformation of human consciousness.