This class is really a part of a two-part series, but it's fine if you weren't here or haven't

listened to the first part. The title is evolving into unconditional loving, and the perspective

is kind of taking a look in an evolutionary way. It's something I like the term the big

squeeze that we each have this very primitive conditioning to react to our world with

fight, flight, and freeze to be defensive or aggressive and perceive ourselves as separate

and navigate that way. We also have a more recent conditioning, which is quite different,

and it sets us apart from other creatures in the degree, which is that we collaborate

with each other. What sets us apart in evolutionary ways, we can collaborate and communicate,

and the indicators are we can empathize, we can have compassion, we can be with each other

and feel a sense of togetherness that really allows us to come alive fully. That's our

full potential. So I often use the language of fight, flight, freeze as the mode that's

more primitive and attend and befriend as our more recent evolutionary capacity. Last class,

I spent some time talking about Nelson Mandela, because he is a spiritual hero that really

exemplifies kind of being at the leading edge in terms of expressing our evolutionary potential,

expressing this capacity to live with a very inclusive heart versus an us against them kind of

mentality. I mentioned briefly the truth and reconciliation hearings, which again are kind of

evolutionary model far from perfect in the way they've been done, but they're an evolutionary model

of this possibility of communicating, of speaking truth and listening, that actually leads us from a

sense of separation to a sense of connection. And I heard one story, one young man in South Africa

described what happened. He had been blinded by policemen when they shot him in the face at close

range. And he was part of the hearings and what he said was, I feel what has brought my eyesight

back is to come here and tell the story. I feel what has been making me sick all the time is the

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