I have often times been in a conversation with someone and we may be talking about the workings of things and they might ask ….”Do you believe in evolution or intelligent design?” Usually, not always, when I am asked this question, or something similar, the questioner wants to know where I stand as to what I “believe” explains the Cause of the Universe.  We may have entered into some spiritual discussion about God, meaning or purpose.  In most cases, the questioner assumes that these are the two choices for original “Cause.”  Almost always, they have made their choice and it is Evolution.   I think they use the word “believe” because they think belief is necessary. I also think that they are, unconsciously, going on the offense by using the word belief.  They assume that for someone to choose intelligent design, faith is required.  “Belief” is a close cousin to Faith.   On its face, the question is not a valid question.  Today, with what we know, there is no need for the word believe in the question.  We know that things evolve.  We also know there is intelligent design weaved throughout everything in our world and the universe.   

 “Everything that arises is bound to pass away.”  Buddha.  What happens in between the arising and passing away is the evolution of that which arises.  Evolution is not a place to rest your hat on for original cause.  However, it is the warp and woof of existence.  It is not something to be believed in.  It is something to become aware of, understood and applied.  There are many evolutionary theories and maps.  It is Darwin’s theory of evolution that is referred to in the question.  But there are so many more maps of evolution/development/growth.  Darwin’s theory does not monopolize evolution.  The evolution of any line of existing and being, physical and non physical, can be observed as it arises and passes away.  I have written about this process extensively in my blog posts.  I choose to utilize a 5 step map that cycles from step to step sequentially and loops back from step 5 to step 1 creating a rising cyclical cylinder, vortex, vessel. 

 Step 1.  This step is about identifying what “it is” we are looking at.  When dealing with people with diabetes, I lead with the word confront.  What are we confronting?  It includes the primary objective and goal.  In the growth cycle, this step is called confusion.  We confront the confusion and commit to its resolution.  From a “game” perspective it is the object of the game; score the most points, capture your opponent’s pieces, etc.  It is the seed level in any evolutionary process.

 Step 2.  This step is called exploration in the growth cycle.  When dealing with diabetics I call it understanding.  It is the functions or ingredients needed to make the pie.  It is a brainstorming step.  We are identifying all the components we need to play the game.  It is good to prioritize them in order of value or importance.

 Step 3.  Step three is the creative step.  It is about putting together the systems and procedures.  We put all the ingredients together in the most optimal portions and order.  When working with diabetics I call this step integration.  In step 2 we became aware of and understood the functionality of all the things we need to account for.  Now we put it together in a system.  In the growth cycle this step is called Incubation.

 Step 4.  When working with diabetics I call this step Mastery.  It is the implementation step.  We “work” our system.  In the growth cycle this is called Illumination.  From a game perspective, we are practicing and we are playing.  We know what we are wanting to accomplish.  We have all the ingredients needed to play the game.  We have designed a game plan.  Now we engage.  

 Step 5.  This is the results or outcome step.  Through our efforts in following the process we will have achieved an outcome.  We validate our outcomes and are now ready to cycle back to step 1 as a new confusion begins to set in.  But we have evolved through the process.  In the growth cycle this step is called celebration.  When working with diabetics I call this step liberation.  

 “Total accountability and total feedback constitute the minimum and only requirements for a perpetual motion system.”  Buckminster Fuller, Critical Path.  Life is built on intelligently designed perpetual motion systems.  Evolution is the gift given to us so we may explore the design and experience its intelligence. 

I recently finished writing a series of blogs entitled, “Transforming Diabetes.”  It was a culmination of work I have been doing over the last 5 years dealing specifically with the process I have used in managing and, intermittently. mastering diabetes. If you are interested in reading about my perspective and what I have discovered in my 34 years of experience then click on Transforming Diabetes under the Categories section of this blog site. Start with Post #1 and proceed from there.  Diabetes is called a “chronic” dis-ease.  Webster’s dictionary defines chronic as –

“1. lasting a long time or recurring often: said of a disease, and distinguished from ACUTE.  2. having had an ailment for some time (a chronic patient) 3. continuing indefinitely; perpetual; constant (a chronic worry) 4. by habit, custom, etc; habitual; inveterate  (a chronic complainer) – n. a chronic patient —chronically adv. —chronicity n.

SYN. – chronic suggests long duration or frequent recurrence and is used especially of diseases or habits that resist all efforts to eradicate them (chronic sinusitis); inveterate implies firm  establishment as a result of continued indulgence over a long period of time (an inveterate liar);  confirmed suggests fixedness in some condition or practice, often from a deep-seated aversion to change  (a confirmed bachelor);  hardened implies fixed tendencies and a callous indifference to emotional or moral considerations (a hardened criminal)”

At age 14 I was “given” this serious, complicated, dangerous and, often times, insidious, physical condition to address.  I guess it is called chronic because it is here to stay.  There is no cure.  Prior to 1921 any human being who “caught” this disease died in a matter of weeks.  And it wasn’t an easy way to go.  It is death by starvation.  Today Type 1 diabetics can live longer.  Some even make it past the current average expected life span of a human being.  We have injectable insulin and we have better tools to deliver it and to test our blood sugar levels.  The real chronic characteristic of the condition now is the constant monitoring of insulin dosage, food intake and blood sugar levels.  It is a 24/7 job.

In the past five years I have been working on “ways” to  assist others in confronting, understanding, integrating, mastering and transforming that in their life that they have become aware of as a chronic condition.  My intention in my service is to guide  and support them in discovering, experiencing, and practicing the “work” they must engage in and celebrating the outcomes they realize.  My experience with a dark and challenging physical, mental, emotional and spiritual chronic condition has shown me a path that has produced movement, softening, change and a “light at the end of the tunnel.”

Is life itself chronic?  It can be.

The Buddha, in his teachings, said;

Better a single day of life

seeing the reality of arising and passing away

than a hundred years of existence

remaining blind to it.

At the core of the Buddha’s teaching is the path to liberation from suffering by becoming conscious that we are, and for that matter everything in the universe, is constantly changing and impermanent.  “What arises is bound to pass away.”  And at the subtlest level the tiniest particles of the universe which make up everything are “arising and passing away at great rapidity.”  Quantum Physics is telling us that these tiniest particles are the most real thing there is.  In reality everything is a big vibration.

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