The Evolution Sutra

~ Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species, the final paragraph

One of the most important lessons we can learn from evolution is that we are related to all that lives, and to all that has ever lived. Once we begin to include ourselves in the story we are no longer on an individual journey, but have joined that grand procession of "endless forms most beautiful and wonderful." Instead of being the singular focus of all creation we are now at one with all creation. It's an excellent trade-off.

When we join the evolution story our family suddenly increases by a million, million fold. Almost as deep as being blood-related, we are all cell related, and the proof is in the pudding, and in this case the pudding is the plasma, and inside of it lies the secret of all living things -- the DNA.

Have you seen a strand of DNA? It looks like a slinky with a purpose. It would make an excellent religious symbol, with its two identical halves and elegant spiral shape: the logo of life. It is ready for the evolution artists to adorn and embellish.

From the funkiest fungus to the most nothingness bacteria, to the ordinary grass that grows all around, to the great cats and big-brained humans, even the weeds and mosquitoes -- all beings grow out of the information contained in the double-helix. This is the stuff that seems to separate life from non-life; that turns ordinary matter into replicating plasma. It is the physical manifestation of spiritus mundi: the holy ghost, the eternal Tao.

As the seed substance of the entire biota, I think the DNA deserves some spiritual attention. We could start with its name, "deoxyribonucleic acid," which is much too cold and clinical. I have created a new acronym, and I suggest that from now on, whenever you read or hear the three letters DNA, think "Divine Natural Abundance."

The DNA also carries with it a powerful message of self-liberation, because as scientists unravel the codes, we discover that we are not so particular and individual. Consider the fact that your personal DNA is 99.99% identical to the DNA of every other human being. In other words, the instructions for building and maintaining you are almost exactly the same as the instructions for building and maintaining me, the Dalai Lama . . . Oprah, Julia Roberts, Jack the Ripper, and the Buddha. Our individual looks, personality, and I.Q. are just a thin layer of paint over the basic human design. We are over 99% the same. "Can't we all just get along?"

Meanwhile, over 98 percent of our DNA is the same as that of the great apes, and even more shocking is the fact that we share about 90 percent of our DNA with mice! But we don't have fur or tails, and not only can we run a maze, we can build one. So why is our DNA code so similar to mice? The answer is because it takes most of our DNA -- that enormous library full of information inside each of us -- just to create a basic mammal. It took billions of years for nature to learn how to build a good skeletal structure, circulatory and nervous system, and those designs are at the core of who we are.

DNA also connects us to the slimier side of life. The Victorians were shocked at Darwin's suggestion that we are related to apes, but they would faint dead away to hear that we share nearly 60 percent of our living instructions with worms. Indeed, we owe a lot to the worms of the world, who were the first creatures to develop spines: they virtually invented our phyla of vertebrates! And do we ever thank them? No, we put hooks through them and use them as bait.

The DNA lesson in humility goes even deeper with the revelation that we share about 50 percent of our DNA with . . .yeast! Yes, the stuff that makes the dough rise. But that discovery also raises an important spiritual question for those who believe in an eternal soul -- does the yeast have a soul? Does each individual yeast cell have a soul? I mean, if we are going to declare ourselves divine, then what about the slime? And if we don't consider the slime divine, then where do we draw the line? Do mushrooms get a soul? How about mollusks? Daisies? Crab grass?

A t-shirt created by a bunch of scientists at the University of California conveys the same message, "We share 25% of our DNA with bananas. Get over yourself!"

Our species could certainly use some humility, but the message of DNA does not necessarily put us down. It doesn't deny our divinity -- it just denies our exclusive divinity. Everything that lives contains the seeds of Divine Natural Abundance. 

Survive or Die

The story of evolution teaches us the laws by which we must live, and the first commandment is to stay alive. More specifically, the first commandment is to make sure that your information stays alive, your particular instruction manual, your imprimatur, so to speak. That is the number one imperative of every living being, including every single one of the trillions of cells inside of us. And yet, the notion that we are driven by the survival instinct is traditionally cast in evil. As if you should be caring more about some DNA other than your own.