Against the Natural Order: When Human Systems Contradict Universal and Natural Law
A reflection on the consequences of living out of alignment with truth, and the quiet invitation to return to harmony
During my undergraduate and later graduate years in Atlanta—first studying History, then Sociology—and later in Iowa, where I pursued both a Master’s and PhD in Consciousness and Human Potential Studies and Vedic Science respectively, I began to see the world through multiple lenses. Further independent study in Neuroscience expanded that vision, giving me language and frameworks to interpret not only human behaviour, but the deeper architecture of Consciousness itself. What I observe in our present social situation, however, remains both fascinating and troubling.
Surveying the socio-political landscape through these lenses—History, Sociology, Psychology, Neuroscience, and the evolving literature on Consciousness and Human Potential—it seems the world has gone off the rails in our shared human experiment. In many instances across the globe, horribly so. The more I observe and reflect, the more I find myself constantly asking: What are we doing!?
Now, I understand there are those who will argue that the world’s social systems are “working as designed.” I get it. I truly do. Yet there comes a time when one must ask in earnest: What are we doing!? Is what we are doing truly the best path for the collective of our species—irrespective of either our social or geopolitical location on this “pale blue dot”? Allow me to suggest, we could be doing better. A lot better.
There is a subtle but undeniable force that undergirds the workings of the cosmos—what many traditions have called Natural or Universal and Natural Law. These are not human-made statutes, but intrinsic patterns that bind the stars, the atoms, and the quiet urgings of conscience—what I have elsewhere described through the Seven Layers of Manifestation: Local and Non-Local Consciousness, the continuum through which reality unfolds from Pure Consciousness into the visible world. Yet in our modern social systems—governments, economies, and cultural hierarchies—we see a growing dissonance. We build atop sandcastles of convenience and planned obsolescence, often either blind or indifferent to the tides of deeper truth—the fundamental aspect of Pure Consciousness, or Layer I.
This reflection is not simply a critique of current events or institutions. It is an invitation—to remember what was always already known from epochs past. To interrogate the comforts we have inherited, all too often, unquestioningly. To discern between the scaffolding of human systems and the architecture of cosmic order (Layer V: the Human-Derived World) with increased sagacity. And, above all, to ask: What becomes of a people, a nation, a civilization, that lives out of alignment with the laws that govern all life?
When Human Systems Contradict Universal and Natural Law
The arc of human evolution is, in many ways, a tale of forgetting—forgetting the layered nature of existence itself. Particularly so in our modern age. Forgetting that we are not above Nature, but part of it (Layer III: the Natural i.e., Phenomenal World). That we are not its masters, but its stewards. That our laws, no matter how eloquent or codified, are only as legitimate as their alignment with the Universal and Natural Laws (Layer II) that govern all of life—and I do mean all.
It is easy, in the modern world, to confuse human invention with natural inevitability. Skyscrapers, borders, stock markets, debt—all feel immovable because they are reinforced by socially constructed institutions and norms. But these constructs (Layer V) are not fixed truths. They are stories we agree to live by, and many of them are, sadly, written against the grain of the natural order. These stories, born of collective mental energy and reinforced by belief (Layer VI: Collective Constructs), can either mirror or distort the coherence that originates in Pure Consciousness (Layer I).
The more distant our constructs become from Universal and Natural Law, the more suffering they tend to produce. Here, I am reflecting on pre-14th Amendment American life for people of African ancestry as but one example. When governance is rooted in exploitation rather than reciprocity, when economy is driven by extraction rather than regeneration, when education prioritizes conformity over curiosity—we are witnessing a systemic breach of natural principles across multiple layers of manifestation. And when these breaches persist, Nature has its own way of rebalancing.
Consider, despite arguments to the contrary, the climate crisis. The Earth’s response to our centuries-long blatant disregard is not punishment—it is correction. And Nature corrects as it is designed—forests burn, waters rise, and species disappear not out of vengeance, but out of balance recalibrating itself between Layers II and III. Similarly, the rise in mental illness, societal anxiety, and spiritual disconnection among an appreciable percentage of our fellow humans are signs of a psychic ecosystem (Layers IV–VI) pushed to the brink by unnatural demands and disconnection from the foundation of Layer I, Pure Consciousness.
We are not passive observers in this equation. Each of us, knowingly or not, is either perpetuating or dismantling the systems that contradict Universal and Natural Law. And while many systems are too vast for one person to dismantle alone, every action toward alignment matters. Every refusal to dehumanize, every choice to repair rather than dominate, every practice that honours interconnection over hierarchy—each is a movement from distortion (Layer VI) back toward coherence (Layers I–III). For, in the end, to deny the wholeness of humanity is to violate the very laws that govern the stars.
To live “against the natural order” is to live against our own nature. But to remember, to reorient, and to rebuild—these are not acts of rebellion. They are acts of return.
And so we must ask: What does it mean to build systems—of governance, education, economy, community, and personal development—that reflect not merely human will, but cosmic intelligence? That honour not just the cleverness of our species, but the wisdom of the universe that birthed us? That, perhaps, is the next frontier—not to conquer, but to remember. And in remembering, to redesign. You do not have to move the entire structure—only the brick within reach. But move it with awareness. And move it with love.
A Framework for Return
This reflection finds resonance within the Seven Layers of Manifestation—a model describing how reality unfolds from Pure Consciousness through the Natural and Human-Derived worlds into the collective constructs that shape societies and, ultimately, the outcomes we all experience (Layer VII: Outcomes / Non-Local Influence). When our systems violate Natural Law, the misalignment begins at the deepest layers and expresses itself as imbalance throughout the rest. To restore harmony is to realign with the whole—to let coherence ripple upward from silence to structure, from the unseen to the seen. Study the framework closely. Contemplate it deeply. And let it be among the oft-used tools for refining both thought and action on the personal and collective levels. Since every action is preceded by a thought—however subtle—and is, in effect, a monument to an idea, close study of the Seven Layers of Manifestation will prove helpful.
Closing Contemplation
Before we return to our day, let us pause. The work ahead is not only structural; it is interior. Conscious realignment with Universal and Natural Law begins in the smallest unit of agency—a breath that remembers silence; a choice that refuses untruth; a gesture that repairs what power has frayed—and tends that repair with care. Each such act is a quiet restoration across the Layers: attention settles in Layer I, insight steadies Layer IV, conduct reshapes Layer V, agreement softens Layer VI, and outcomes turn toward mercy in Layer VII.
Begin where you stand.
Move the nearest brick with care.
Let coherence be the signature you leave behind.
In this way, the future is not something we await, but something we remember—and rebuild—together, in favour of life and in honour of the order that holds us all. Let even a few of us, collectively, begin. Our future selves—and our society—need our energy now.
Shall we begin?
Suggested Reflection Practice
Set aside 20–30 minutes in stillness. Read the essay slowly, pausing at any passage that stirs discomfort or insight. Then, journal your response to the following:
Where in my life or community have I accepted inherited comfort without question?
What assumptions have I made about power, worth, or belonging that may be rooted in contradiction to Natural Law?
What would it mean for me to live more in harmony with truth—not as society defines it, but as my inner knowing recognises it?
What might I need to let go of to realign with the deeper order?
Who suffers when I choose silence over discernment?
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About the Author
Dr. Baruti KMT-Sisouvong is a consciousness scholar, executive coach, and Certified Teacher of Transcendental Meditation® based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His work—spanning the Model for Perpetual Growth and Progress and the Seven Layers of Manifestation—explores how Pure Consciousness, neuroscience, and social-systems transformation intersect in the evolution of both the individual and society. Alongside his wife, Mina, he co-directs the Cambridge and Metropolitan Boston TM Program. He is the Host/Founder of International Meditation Hour (IMH), a quarterly gathering dedicated to experiencing the unifying power of silence. He writes from the conviction that the most important race is not between nations or machines, but between the conditioned mind and the awakening soul. They are the proud parents of four children. To learn more about him, visit: https://www.barutikmtsisouvong.com/.