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(Continued from page
21)
The most remarkable
example of the spiral of lower evolutionary
advance was the loop between mental capacity, new
behaviours, and mental maps described in chapter
4. It was probably a self-augmenting,
self-transcending cascade of this sort that
created the most spectacular product of lower
evolution: self-reflective consciousness in human
beings.
And self-reflective consciousness, or
mindfulness, is the starting point for a new
spiral, most often described in Buddhism in terms
of the seven Factors of Enlightenment:
Mindfulness; Investigation of mental states;
Energy; Rapture; Tranquillity; Concentration; and
Balance or equanimity.
From Ch. 9 of The
Evolving Mind, by Robin Cooper.
Illustration by Andy Gammon
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