The emergence and development of memory in the human animal was profound―possibly the most significant, powerful, and influential experiment ever performed on Earth. It is through the establishment of memory that the intellect and thinking became possible, which in turn, allowed humans to gain a sense of individuality, or self. It is also this ability to think that has enabled us to be the very creative Beings that we are today. 

The suggestion that it was the emergence of memory that spawned increasing growth and creativity through humans should not be too difficult for us to accept because clearly it is the memory capacity of a computer, for example, that facilitates unprecedented creativity and growth in a technological sense. Memory, wherever and however it is established, is a powerful evolutionary tool. So how, and why, did it begin to develop in the primitive human animal? 

Remember that the human body emerged as the vehicle through which Consciousness could express more fully. But what does this mean exactly? 

Using the analogy of humans creating intelligent robots once again: after developing them to the point where they could move and sense the environment they existed in consistently and reliably, what might it be that would make them greater, more like us, and something that would facilitate an extension or expansion of creative possibilities? 

There is only one answer: they must be made to be more autonomous somehow, made to become creative agents of their own accord, independent of us as the creator. As the human beings designing and developing these machines, we would have to look into our own experience to see what it is that gives us our capacity for individual creativity, and then affect that somehow in the robot. The challenge for us, therefore, would be to develop the robot’s Central Processing Unit (CPU) to have sufficient processing power and memory (or access to memory) from which an artificial intelligence and creative ability might then emerge. So, in a similar way, the challenge for Consciousness at the time was to develop the primitive animal to incorporate the functionality that allowed Consciousness itself to be creative. 

Knowing that in the natural state, memory was an immediate and inseparable part of the appearance of anything, and that the movement (vibration) of Consciousness between that appearance and the memory or knowledge of it generated an intelligent creative state, then to affect something similar in the individual primitive body could be the way to achieve the intended autonomy. 

Allowing the flow of Consciousness to move or push out through the senses and reflect off the Creation―what was ‘out there’―achieved the necessary effect, and it is this movement that began the development of memory and the human mind. Being possibly the most significant event in the history of the Earth, I will expand on this in much greater detail very soon. But before doing so, it will be advantageous for us to appreciate the situation prior to this powerful turning point. 

Primarily, the most important thing to understand is that the senses of the primitive, pre-self-conscious animal that was to become an autonomous, creative human, were receptors only, just like all the other creatures, as we have talked about previously. As receptors, their function was to receive information―specifically whatever the moment was communicating to them as a function of them being there. Them ‘being there’ was in turn a function of them having been guided there from within―instruction from the psyche of the Earth from which all things are born and directed. 

Effectively, this guidance from within is synonymous with instinctive animal behaviour, and the way it worked, and still works, is that information received from the environment is fed back through the senses of a creature to the psyche of its species. That information then moves the creature in accordance with its evolved programming, and the cycle repeats until death, determining the exact nature, behaviour, and characteristics of the creature in question. This cycle of relationship between the inner and the outer creates an ongoing intelligent expression and it was, and still is, a perfect guidance system that directs all Earthly events to unfold as they are intended. 

Before Consciousness began to focus specifically on the primitive human animal as a body capable of expressing more fully the nature of itself, those bodies lived in absolute alignment with this natural system. They lived in the natural state―that pre-existent and eternal singularity from which everything comes and goes. As far as they were concerned (if they had had the self-awareness to be concerned), their experience was one of being completely here and now as one with the Earth―an integral part of the workings of one mighty Being. 

Therefore, as an animal, the primitive human body was a sensorily receptive, biological machine that had no awareness of itself. 

It is quite challenging, however, for us to get a sense of what this might really mean, or be like, as a reality because most of us today have a huge awareness of ourselves as a body that exists in time and space. This sense and awareness we have occurs for us because of memory, but more specifically, from what memory allows―thinking. Primarily, thinking is the distinguishing feature that marks the difference between primitive animal and modern human beings. The very first humans could not think. 

The fact that our early ancestors could not think in the way that we know thinking to be today is difficult to appreciate, but it has major implications. Without this ability, the early people had no sense of being different from, or separate from, the world they lived in. Without memory and thought, they were not able to identify with anything, and therefore there was no opportunity for any kind of ‘identity’ or entity―the self―to develop and arise. 

The first humans were entirely selfless. They had no concept of you and me, yours and mine, and therefore they had no sense of ownership either, other than the natural sense of belonging to the environment in which they lived. Without a sense of separateness and self, nor any idea of themselves as individuals disconnected from one another and the Earth, the early humans had no personal feelings either. 

Remember, they were a part of the whole, and although their bodies would have reacted to stimuli, and perhaps whimpered in pain if physically hurt as any animal today would do, they could not identify with that pain. Such an event would come and go, impacting upon the creature and leaving residual instinctive knowledge behind, but without the faculty of memory, the event could not be revisited, rehashed or analysed in the way that is possible for us to do today. Consequently, there was no opportunity for the energy of any event to linger and distort to become what we now know as ‘emotional’ or ‘psychological’ pain. At this stage of development, such personal pain was something completely unknown in the Universe, let alone the individual.

Further, the concept of time was not something possible for the early people. They had absolutely no sense of it because it is thinking alone that gives rise to the sense or notion of time. This is because memory facilitates our ability to differentiate between this moment now and the moment just passed, and thinking is the movement of energy between now and the past. It is this movement, and the awareness that it creates, that generates a sense of time for us. Without the ability to think, there is no time in the way that we know and work with it today. Accordingly, life for the early people was an entirely timeless experience. 

When I say that early humans could not think, this does not mean that they were stupid or foolish in any way. They were simply animals evolved by the intelligent Consciousness of the Earth and in many ways far more ‘wise’ than today’s humans. Would we observe the behaviour of any natural creature, the beauty of their being, the incredible displays of their interaction with each other, and the skill with which they build and navigate their worlds, and say that they were foolish or unintelligent? No, not at all. Nature is a perfect system and if we were ever going to attribute the words ‘foolish’ or ‘unintelligent’ to the behaviour of any species it would surely have to be today’s humans, who clearly live in ways that damage each other and the environment they live in. 

The existence of ‘non-thinking’ humans is perhaps nearly impossible for us to come to terms with today, because we all think a great deal now. In fact, in almost every school and university around the world we are taught and encouraged to think about everything, and it would seem difficult, or even impossible, for us to stop doing it. Nonetheless, we cannot ever think our way to understanding the reality of not thinking. The ‘non-thinking’ early people were no less―or more―than very fine animals living their lives in alignment with the life Source as expressed through the Earth, as were all the other creatures in the kingdom. But unlike all the other creatures, early humans were the focus of an opportunity to evolve a creative creature that could be independent of the Earth’s own creativity. 

Of course, it is exceedingly difficult for us to know the exact details of what happened to facilitate the transition from animal to human, but as I mentioned at the beginning of this section, this information is available at a very deep level within us. To piece it all together precisely―if it is at all important to do that―would require the cooperation of many people in many areas of research. But the transitionary dynamic I am endeavouring to explain here is twofold and directly related. 

First, a creature was developed so that it could express the full nature of Consciousness, which in turn affected the experience of Consciousness, and second, as a result of this expression through the creature, the nature of that creature began to mutate, specifically the brain and its ability to process information. 

Energy began to project out through the senses of the early human body (primarily the eyes), pushing against incoming information from the world outside. This action interrupted the natural flow of Earth Consciousness, and created a momentary and virtually immeasurable pause. It is possible, and also most likely, that there was an initiating mutation in the brain of some early tribes that facilitated this ability to project. The pause generated by this projection created the opportunity for an afterimage to form as a reflection of what was there in the moment, a reflection of the Earth psyche itself. This was the beginning of personal memory. 

The image generated was a faint impression, but it was also the first interpretation of ‘reality’ through the human brain. Although what was seen could not yet be named, it was something that now remained and lingered in the otherwise clear space between the psychic world and the physical world. Remember that the natural state is a place where there is no difference or separation between what is psychic and what is physical―they are two sides of the same coin, mind and matter, one complete reality of eternal being. Or, as stated before, the physical world is only a sense perception and interpretation of the true psychic world. Both definitions are correct. 

In the natural state, energy flows out from the psyche and back through the senses in an immediate and eternal movement of intelligent action or play. But now, the effect of Consciousness pushing against this flow created a new vibration in between, and it was this which began the development of an entirely new environment, one that is now more commonly thought of as the psychic world. Thus the second vibrational world or reality was born, as I mentioned earlier, and this is information never known or revealed before. This new vibrational world is the place that would facilitate the development of an independently creative creature, fuel the drive towards civilisation, and at the same time unknowingly create the environment for suffering to arise. 

It is important to understand that the original psychic world―the world of universal mind―is, in the first place, clear and non-existent. From the perspective of the human animal it is truly the Unconscious. However, over tens of thousands of years since the first impression was made, the unconscious has been layered over with uncountable numbers of impressions to become what is now a substantial world thick with images, sounds, smells, tastes, concepts, words, and emotions. It is a world of memory or past; an ethereal mirror image of reality itself, and to name it would be to call it the subconscious―the place that gives rise to the human psyche, or mind. 

This psychic world of the human mind is a place that is built through repeated inputs from every moment of human experience. As a result, the possibility then arises for imagery to form that is representative of the external world. You can get a sense of this right now by looking at this page for a moment and then closing your eyes. It is possible, and relatively easy, for you to remember what you just saw as imagery in your head, isn’t it? This is because, as the word suggests, it is a re-membering of an image built from links in the past, i.e. things (this page, and other things like it) you have seen before.

The human psyche is now unfathomably deep, rich, and thick with information, and it is a place where many things dwell, arise, and occur. For example, being a place full of imagery, it is here that the opportunity for us to imagine is possible, and it is where we are when we dream. This subconscious world of past is also the intermediate zone we pass through and experience after death of the physical body. Further, the existence of this dimension supports all concepts pertaining to soul, karma, and reincarnation, and it is where the self or ego dwells and draws its energy to survive and influence events on Earth. 

Finally, it is due to the existence of this second vibrational world that the idea and opportunity for a struggle, or battle, between good and bad, right and wrong arises, and therefore it is the only place where any notion of evil can ever be born―and survive. In a nutshell, although the human psyche is an interesting, influential place, teeming with information and opportunities, its existence allows people―you―to be manipulated and controlled by the energies (entities) that are grounded there, to the degree that you are attached to it. Consequently, the essential outcome for you as a spiritual seeker―or you as someone who just wants to experience a great life―is to detach yourself from the influences of this secondary world of past and realign with your natural state of being. How to do this will be covered later in the work. 

To summarise this section, its main points are: Memory has arisen as a result of Consciousness projecting out through the senses of the primitive human body and reflecting off the Earth Creation. This has formed a new environment that is now commonly referred to as a psychic world, the human psyche as we know it, and it is a very powerful place of influence. Effectively, it is a world of past, and it allows thinking and intellectual creativity to occur. This activity engenders the development of individuality, or the self, and all things pertaining to the emergence of modern humans and their civilised world.

In the next section we see how memory laid the ground for the emergence of the Self, through the activities of our ancient ancestors.