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feature | awakening collective mind and heart
Collective Bodhisattvas
by Jean-François Noubel
to reach this state of consciousness. They diminishing others. Offices, stadiums, the-
argue that when enough individuals reach aters, city halls, jails, hospitals—different out-
this state an enlightened wisdom-driven comes for different architectures. The same
society will naturally emerge. group of people will manifest different indi-
vidual and collective behaviors depending on
A third way is now arising. Collective Intelli- which physical architecture they are placed.
gence, Wisdom and Consciousness (CIWC) For instance, we all know that placing a
as a discipline provides complementary paths group of people either in rows or in a circle
and a new understanding of how collective shifts the whole context.
wisdom can emerge. It observes and de-
scribes how social collectives operate as Invisible Architectures
wholes; how consciousness expands through Invisible architectures are more challenging
evolution by creating new forms in which to to grasp because they operate mostly in
manifest; and how the judicious combination worlds that are not directly perceivable to our
of architectures can help individuals and or- biological senses. The role of invisible
Most spiritual traditions have developed ganizations enter into and remain in wisdom. architectures is as important—even more
strict disciplines to help individuals reach important in many cases—than visible archi-
higher consciousness and then to attain wis- What is the Purpose of Architectures? tectures. Examples of invisible architectures
dom, liberation and enlightenment. Wisdom Architectures are structured spaces in which are language, money, social codes, time,
in this context is not a set of ethical and we evolve individually and collectively. They cultural beliefs and the law. Let's take a quick
moral propositions, but rather a specific state provide initiatory contexts of constraints and look at the first three of these in order to
of consciousness experienced by individuals freedom for consciousness to confront itself, become more familiar with them.
and groups when inner guidance is received generate creative energy, and overcome lim-
or spoken through them. its through quantum leaps and thus take pos- Language is generative as well as descriptive.
session of new, wider spaces. More Words and grammar can expand conscious-
Most people have this experience at one time experience and mastery will certainly be ness or leave it trapped in disempowering
or another whether or not they have a spiri- realized within new architectures. spaces. When Michelle says, “What Allan
tual practice. It usually happens in extreme said hurts me,” the grammatical structure
conditions when the person is facing him- Some architectures are directly accessible to suggests the words pronounced by Allan
self/herself in the absolute. The automatic our senses (building architecture, space oc- have an intrinsic property that can create
pilot of ordinary life is turned off; all beliefs cupation). Others are only partially perceived pain. Ordinary language does not invite
and past experiences have become irrelevant. (language, money, social conventions, time). Michelle to step into sovereignty by becom-
At this point something unusual happens— In the first case we will refer to visible ing accountable for her own pain. Ordinary
guidance is felt inside as if coming from an architectures and in the second to invisible language keeps Michelle trapped in the ordi-
external, transcendent source. Although the architectures. We will use architectures in nary consciousness of the society in which
context might be traumatic in its external the plural to refer to this broadest sense that she lives, thus producing conditioned out-
aspect, internally the anticipated fear is re- includes both. comes. When it is time for Michelle to shift to
placed with a sense of clarity, a feeling of stages of consciousness, beyond that of her
being in the right place at the right moment, Physical Architecture society, she will experience difficulties with
making the right decisions in harmony with The easiest, most intuitive and pragmatic way ordinary language. It takes some practice to
the universal order. to understand how architectures work is via say “I have created some pain for myself after
architecture itself. Physical architecture (for Allan said these words.” She will need to
Do we have to wait for extreme situations in buildings) and space occupation is the sci- build a new language architecture to express
order to realize a state of wisdom? The Spir- ence of designing three dimensional spaces her new reality.
itual traditions would say no. They have fo- and relational configurations among people
cused on individual practices leading to for specific individual and collective out- Money is probably the trickiest and most
individuation and the self-control necessary comes, liberating certain possibilities and powerful invisible architecture because it is
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