impulse of evolution

"I’ll tell you what I think.
I think the [mystics and] sages are the growing tip
of the secret impulse of evolution.
I think they are the leading edge
of the self-transcending drive
that always goes beyond what went before.
I think the embody the very drive of the Kosmos
toward greater depth and expanding consciousness…

And I think they point to the same depth in you,
and in me,
and in all of us.
I think they are plugged into the All,
and the Kosmos sings through their voices,
and Spirit shines through their eyes.

I think they disclose the face of tomorrow,
they open us to the heart of our own destiny,
which is already right now
in the timelessness of this very moment,
and in that startling recognition
the voice of the sage becomes your voice,
the eyes of the sage become your eyes,
you speak with the tongues of angels
and are alight with the fire of a realization that never dawns nor ceases,
you recognize your own true Face in the mirror of the Kosmos itself:
your identity is indeed the All,
and you are no longer part of that stream,
you are that stream,
with the All unfolding not around you but in you.
The stars no longer shine out there, but in here.
Supernovas come into being within your heart,
and the sun shines inside your awareness.
Because you transcend all, you embrace all.
There is no final Whole here,
only an endless process,
and you are the opening or the clearing
or the pure Emptiness in which the entire process unfolds—
ceaselessly, miraculously, everlastingly, lightly.

The whole game is undone,
this [drama] of evolution,
and you are exactly where you were
prior to the beginning of the whole show.
With a sudden shock of the utterly obvious,
you recognize your own Original Face,
the face you had prior to the Big Bang,
the face of utter Emptiness
that smiles as all creation and sings as the entire Kosmos—
and it is all undone in that primal glance,
and all that is left is the smile,
and the reflection of the moon on a quiet pond,
late on a crystal clear night."

--Ken Wilber, from his Brief History of Everything.