Abstract

This paper is about Hadot’s notion of “cosmic consciousnessµ, the relation it bears to nature in general and today’s ecological crisis more specifically, and finally the transformative practice of meditation. Although closely related to nature, the notion of cosmic consciousness has not often been explicitly linked to the ecological crisis. This is somewhat surprising, given that early warnings of the ecological crisis already date back to the early 1960s. Since Hadot’s passing in 2010, the crisis has accelerated rapidly with biologists and climate scientists from around the world issuing warning after warning about the dire ecological consequences we face if we fail to meet sustainable goals. The existential threats posed by mass species extinction and climate change heighten the need to investigate the ecological and transformative potential of Philosophy as a Way of Life (PWL). Given the complex and interdisciplinary scale of the climate crisis, there are clearly no easy or straightforward solutions that address the problem in its entirety. But as I will argue, any attempt to transform ourselves should start from the idea that the universe is a system of interconnectedness. After all, we clearly live in a milieu of living beings whose lives overlap with ours, and this demands a revitalised cosmological consciousness and approach to philosophical spirituality. What cosmic consciousness demands of us today is a different relationship with the idea of the Self, other beings and the world.