The Inner Cosmos
Experiencing the Body-Mind-Spirit Connection in a Living Universe
by Paul Robear

I was recently asked to share more about what I mean when I speak of our deep interconnectedness—with one another, with the Earth, and with the cosmos. In my experience, the more I explore the body-mind-spirit connection, the more a quiet shift begins to take place. The lines between “me” and “the universe” begin to blur. I start to sense that I’m not just a passive observer of some grand external mystery—I’m immersed in it. I’m part of it.

Today, modern science affirms what ancient traditions have long intuited: all matter is energy, and energy is never static. It vibrates, oscillates, and flows in patterns that form everything we see and experience. The Earth spins within an infinite electromagnetic field, a dynamic force that touches every aspect of our existence. And yet, we often think of this energy as something “out there,” belonging to distant stars and galaxies.

But the same energy pulses through our own being. It lives within us, in every breath, every cell, every moment of awareness. We live and move within this ocean of energy. We are living expressions of this universal current, and it flows through us whether we’re aware of it or not. When we are aware, something opens. This isn’t abstract or mysterious, it is intimate. It is the space within.

Teilhard de Chardin, the Jesuit priest, mystic, and scientist, referred to this inner dimension as interiority, a term he coined to describe the idea that just as the universe evolves outward in complexity, it also evolves inward in consciousness. That inward path, that inner cosmos, is just as vast and mysterious as the outer one.

I remember many quiet mornings at the Institute, standing standing on the ridge just before sunrise. There’s a stillness in the air, so complete, so alive, that I can feel the land itself breathing. In that moment, I was able to sense the presence of something vast and intelligent. That stillness was filled with the same energy I felt moving within me. It was a reconnection, a living dialogue between the cosmos and my own inner being.

This is the heart of what we explore at the Cuyamungue Institute. Through our embodied practice, we return to that quiet space inside, what Teilhard might call interiority, and what we might experience as presence. Practices such as Ritual Body Postures give us a way to tune into a deeper rhythm, to engage directly with the cosmos that lives within. The path of living the Body-Mind-Spirit Connection is not accidental—it’s an intentional choice.

As part of embracing the mystery of life, perhaps the real invitation is this:
To rediscover ourselves as part of a conscious, living universe—and to realize that the doorway has always been right here, in the space within.