The Cosmic Perspective, a central concept of exopsychology, is an important variable to consider when discussing Disclosure scenarios. I argue here that premature Disclosure could be disastrous. Not because it might trigger panic, but for other, more subtle reasons. (We will assume for the moment that the extraterrestrial hypothesis is valid.)

The Cosmic Perspective is the perception that the world is a whole, united, perhaps even conscious, and that we are an integral part of the planet. The perspective can extend to the solar system and universe, as when Apollo 14 astronaut  Dr. Edgar Mitchell went into a blissful state for three days when travelling back from the moon. His experience is a prototype of sorts for the Cosmic Perspective, but it is by no means the only example. Frank White wrote “The Overview Effect” in 1987, describing in detail the various psychological impacts experienced by people who had been in space. He interviewed astronauts and cosmonauts, in an attempt to understand the phenomenon in terms of human evolution. His learned opinion is that Contact would not take place until humanity had already reached a certain level of presence in space…but he did acknowledge that UFOs could introduce a wild card into the game.

Frank’s book presumed that the Overview effect was increasingly invoked when spatial perspective was altered, as when people flew for the first time, and especially, when they went into orbit, then to the moon, and when on space walks. He acknowledged that the experience of being in space is not enough, in itself, to invoke a full-fledged cosmic experience, and that preparation and predisposing mind-set would maximise the probability that the experience would take people beyond their conditioned mental frame, and introduce a new way of looking at themselves and the planet. (Interestingly, the same provisos exist for people who take therapeutic, supervised doses of psychedelic drugs: solid preparation enhances the experience, and, along with other considerations, ensures that the experience will be safe and illuminating, as opposed to confusing or disturbing. The connection between outer space and inner space is significant.)

The Cosmic Perspective is on a continuum, or spectrum, that begins in everyday experiences.

A greater, more inclusive perspective is experienced when people look out from atop a mountain for the first time,

Or when coming upon a scene of breathtaking beauty and grandeur, such as when hiking in the mountains, and you round a bend to suddenly behold a wide flower-strewn valley: you have a momentary alteration of consciousness, enough to stop you in your tracks, and perhaps exclaim aloud. Such scenes are often described as being “stunning”. Indeed it is a tiny jolt, experienced as pleasurable, suggesting an evolutionary benefit.

Why would such a perspective confer evolutionary advantage? To better see enemies? Perhaps, but if that were the case, humanity would be clustered on mountaintops, instead of valleys and coastlines, where there are even greater advantages. The advantage is psychological. It encourages us to consider a greater range of not only visual stimulus, but all the associated thoughts that go along with it: other villages and cities, climates, a more realistic sense of time and distance, and a slightly improved quality of comprehension of the context within which disparate peoples and life forms co-exist. In other words, it is, like well administered psychedelics, mind expanding.

A greater perspective in time is experienced when people undertake a genealogy project, and understand their origin and family in a historical context. Children love to hear stories of their parent’s and grandparents’ childhoods - again because it situates the children on a continuum that extends from the past, where they begin to create a sense of where they come from and who they are. Adults experience the same thing when they contemplate a family history that extends back hundreds or even thousands of years. There is power in such knowledge. I once met a Chinese healer whose family tree had (recorded in stone) at least sixty generations of healers. Such knowledge confers a power and a presence that may in part be due to an overview effect, a psychological impact that stretches the mind and induces a slightly altered state whereby you can see yourself as deeply connected over time and space.

Travel has been considered by the wise to be an excellent means to promote growth and maturity, for the reason that it expands one’s sense of the world, and the range of possible experiences and people. Travel can also help activate one’s latent capacities, that become operative for the first time in the context of foreign cultures, where conditioned patterns of behaving and responding are no longer as operative, and where non-conditioned, genuine impulses can become more evident. Travel also expands awareness of context, and situates a person more solidly within the human family. Upon return, home is seen differently, with fresh eyes, as though from a mountain top.

When doing psychotherapy, we will sometimes ask people to imagine that their life is “fast forwarded” to a point in the future, so they can consider greater time frames, and practice forethought. Or we remind them that they are the product of thousands of generations of people, who all lived and died, so that they might be here now, as a survivor, descended from a long line of survivors. We will also have them draw concentric circles, representing their self within widening circles of relationship and meaning, again, to introduce or reinforce the notion that they are not in isolation, but are part of a greater network of people, processes and institutions. In the future, will those circles extend to include the ecosystem, solar system, sun, and star systems?

Note, however, that a cosmic perspective can be threatening as well. Some people are accustomed, highly habituated, to live in a small, circumscribed world - so much so,  that to prematurely introduce them to a larger framework would be harmful. It is this dark side of the Cosmic Perspective that poses a great danger to an ill-planned Disclosure.

Hear this Sufi tale:
There was once a garbage collector who had accidentally wandered onto the street of the perfume sellers. He fainted, and nobody was able to revive him. A Wise man came across the scene, and asked what was going on. Once he learned that the man was a garbage collector, he said, “Bring me some foul-smelling garbage.” This was done, and when it was passed under the man’s nose, he revived. He was so used to the smell of garbage, he was incapable of tolerating the impact of the perfume.

That story was meant to teach truths about the danger of prematurely eliciting spiritual states of consciousness, but the lesson applies as well to the potential impact of a premature Cosmic Experience, which is, at the highest level, indistinguishable from a mystical state.

Much therapeutic work is dedicated to helping people break out of a constricting shell that is composed of layers of conditioned ego. They are unaware of the impact they have upon others, their quality of relationships, and how others impact them. When they are aware of other people, it is often to engage in a blame game, and to avoid genuine interaction and relating, either with their real self, or others. This is the sad reality of many people. Perhaps as many as 15% of the population experience this in a relatively extreme form. Introducing them to a cosmic perspective would be premature and unethical, when they cannot even enjoy a healthy perspective of their own Self, spouse, employer, and children.

If and when Disclosure takes place, the natural reaction of this type of person, will be to reflexively fall back upon their standard operating procedure when faced with uncertainty: perceive whatever it is, as a threat, become defended, and blame someone.

For this reason, a gradual disclosure process is preferable to a dramatic announcement. As people become more accustomed to the idea of bacteria living on Mars, or Titan, then perhaps traces of life on a distant star system, it may be easier to accept the idea of intelligent life travelling near our Terran neighbourhood. Those stages of exposure are more natural, allowing for an assimilation and adaptation process that is certainly preferable to a reactive, emotional response. If fifteen percent of the population goes berserk, they will agitate perhaps another fifty percent, who would otherwise be able to assimilate the information, given some time and reassurance. People need time, and when in a period of uncertainty, they will latch onto any idea or theory that provides meaning. If a minority becomes freaked out, they will negatively impact many others, and spoil the show, so to speak.

Consider an analogue to sudden Disclosure. Most people have no real preparation for Disclosure and Contact. Neither are most people ready to experience, without any preparation or choice, a high dose of LSD. To provide LSD to someone without adequate preparation could easily induce negative reactions, panic being only one possibility. A psychotic reaction is a distinct possibility. You could see them become tearful, anxious, overwhelmed, overconfident, delusional, clingy, regressed, anguished, obsessed or suicidal. Sudden Disclosure might induce in many people a variety of similar experiences, because it would not be something they had taken under their own volition, in a cultural context of acceptability and with peer guidance (as LSD was introduced in the 1960s).

If Disclosure is premature, and the population becomes too agitated, we will see the ideal circumstance for a fascist minded regime (or Military Industrial Media Complex - MIMCO) to bring forth a charismatic leader who will clamp down on freedoms, for the purpose of “instilling order”. Disclosure is fraught with peril as well as promise. Will Disclosure seem worth it, if the price is loss of freedom and an implanted RFID chip?

It is not just a simple matter of potential “panic”: it is more subtle than that. A population can avoid panic, but still become vulnerable, agitated and anxious, and thus, when faced with a Disclosure based uncertainty, be more receptive to propaganda. No matter how carefully done, no matter how reassuring our leaders may be, people will wonder, worry, and be vulnerable to exploitation.

For a human-planned Disclosure to go well, there will have to be some immediate advantage, such as a cure for a disease, or free renewable energy for everyone, to help make the news truly acceptable. Either that, or Disclosure would be by means known only to the Star People, who would ensure a positive Terran reaction. They may in fact be doing just that, as we sit here reading, through their gradual “one person at a time” contact process, and “peek a boo” UFO sightings here and there, more or less obvious, but never much to get too excited about.

Exopoliticians advocating for governmental Disclosure soon as possible need to balance the risks described above against the potential benefits. The benefits of gradual assimilation, and staged exposure to a stimulus that could be perceived as threatening, are well known in psychological circles. It also appears to be the modus operandi of the Star People - an observation made by Jacques Vallee decades ago.

If the Star People are working with Terran contacts, and the present day gradual disclosure process is being conducted with Extraterrestrial guidance, then we can imagine a scenario that has not yet been given much consideration:

Scenario: There is a faction of the Military Industrial Media Complex that is working with Star People to usher in a new enlightened age for humanity, one that does not involve a fascist world government. This is the best of all scenarios, and one that makes more sense than the idea of Star People working in cahoots with psychopathic fascists intent upon taking over the world. Well, maybe it doesn’t actually make more sense, but it is less threatening. It could be that, through natural selection, cold-hearted psychopaths have taken over the Galaxy, and a fascist puppet government on Earth is just what the aliens want…sigh…such a depressing thought. We can only hope for the best, and prepare ourselves psychologically and spiritually for whatever comes to pass. For we know one thing for sure: we are at a crossroads, and something has to give. The more resilient we are, the better we will be able to tolerate whatever is coming, and to help others.

Either way, it is best to not push too hard for Disclosure. Patience. Just because some are ready, by virtue of years of study and thinking about contact, or because they have seen UFOs and thought about it, does not mean that the world at large is ready.