Kosmic Omegapoint

by Marinus Jan Marijs

Eschatology and subtle energies

In many mystical traditions there are concepts relating to the Ultimate destiny of humanity and the kosmos.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a French Jesuit, did describe what he called “Omega point”. With this concept he expressed a process in which consciousness and existence evolves towards an ultimate convergence point, a final unity that he called the Omega point.

This kosmic process has a meaning, a direction and a goal and when this Omega point is reached, it is irreversible. This final unification of the world was, in his words: “Not only survival but as super-life” (in: “The phenomenon of Man”, 1950), meaning it was not just life after death, as in some permanent ‘out of the body’-state but a much higher superior form of Life. Sometimes he did refer to the unification of planetary consciousness, but in the end he characterized it as a kosmic event affecting the whole kosmos. Within this collective process he saw it as the work of Christ to lead the material world into kosmic redemption.

The concept of Omega point falls in the field of eschatology, the part of theology and philosophy concerned with “the study of” the final events in the history of the world, or the ultimate destiny of humanity.

Eschatological concepts cover future and final events and are concerned with the ultimate purpose and the destiny of all things. They are found in many spiritual traditions. The oldest eschatology in recorded history is the Zoroastrian eschatology, according to which there is a ‘final judgment’ after which the world will reach perfection. In Judaism there is the concept of the ‘end of days’. Remarkable is that they don’t see it as a pre-ordained event but brought about by religious observance and good deeds. Within Christianity there is the concept of the ‘Kingdom of God’. It is the central theme of Christ’s message in the Gospels. These words appear more than a 100 times in the New Testament. The Sunni-Muslims believe in the ‘judgment day’ that revolves around the purification of the earth. Within Hinduism there is the manifestation of the ‘Kalki Avatar’ by which righteousness will be established upon the earth. The Hopi Indians have the concept of the ‘day of purification’ which is followed by a great renewal.

A more elaborate list is presented below:

• Lurianic Kabbalah              : Tikkun‘ Olam (cosmic restitution)
• Teilhard de Chardin            : Omegapoint
• Book of revelations 21:1-7 : A new Heaven and a New Earth
• Christianity                         : Kingdom of God
• Aurobindo                          : Supramentalisation
• Chassidism                        : The messianic Era
• Islam                                  : Eternal Kingdom
• Daniel 7:13-14                   : An everlasting dominion
• Zachariah 14:1-7               : The day of the Lord
• Buddhism                          : End of the middle time/construction of a new world
• Sunnis (Muntazar)             : Return at the end of time
• Aztecs (Quetzalcoatl)        : Quetzalcoatl’s return
• Hopi (Pahana)                   : End of the current Fourth world, beginning of the Fifth world
• Central Asian nomads       : Spiritual rebirth of the entire human race
• Hindu (Kalki)                      : Worldwide spiritual change
• Hindu (Avatar)                   : Descent of the divine awareness
• Shiite (Twelfth imam)         : Ultimate savior of mankind
• Maya (Kulkulkan)               : (God of) resurrection
• Buddhist (Bodhisattva)      : Bring enlightenment to all sentient beings
• Zoroastrian (Saoshiant)     : Find restoration, souls reunited with God, 
                                               everlasting immortality.

These widespread eschatological concepts, representing events on a collective scale, are strongly connected with the concept of a Messiah, an individual who is coming to the world for the sole purpose of bringing forward a collective, planetary and inevitably Kosmic Ultimate transformation. Within Judaism this individual is called the Messiah and is prophesied by Isaiah, identified by Christians as Jesus Christ. Within Buddhism this individual is called Maitreya who’s coming allows the construction of a new world. Muslims believe in the arrival of al-Mahdi who will restore righteousness and change the world into a perfect and just society.

A more extensive list is presented below:

• Lurianic Kabbalah           : Messiah
• Teilhard de Chardin         : Christ
• Book of revelations          : The lamb
• Christianity                       : Savior
• Aurobindo                        : Gnostic individual
• Chassidism                      : Messiah
• Islam                                : Al-Mahd
• Buddhism                         : Maitreya
• Sunnis                              : Muntazar
• Aztecs                              : Quetzalcoatl
• Hopi                                 : Pahana
• Mahayana Buddhism       : Amida
• Central Asian nomads     : The white burkan
• Hindu                               : Kalki
• Sufi                                   : Khidr
• Shiite                                : Twelfth Imam
• Maya                                : Kukulkan
• Hindu                                : Avatar
• Buddhist                           : Bodhisattva
• Zoroasterian                     : Saoshyant
• Daniel 9:25-26                  : Mashiyach nagiyd

Subtle energies and The Omega point

What is presented above are the historical and cross-cultural data related to eschatological concepts. These seem to present some sort of universal ‘consensus’ where to the manifestation is evolving.

If the ultimate goal of manifestation really is the reaching of this end point as suggested by the spiritual traditions and their mystics, it presumes that certain processes already working within Reality to make this end goal feasible.

The proposition here is that the knowledge relating to subtle energies, displayed in here, makes it possible to hypothesize how these fundamental processes, that drive reality toward the Omega point, work and can be conceptualized. The aim is to put forward a theory, which conceptualizes these presumed fundamental eschatological processes.

Basic foundation: involution and evolution

The backbone of the theory consist of two processes called involution and evolution. These will be explained below.

General description of involution

Involution is a process by which the emanating force or potential gradually descends from the Spirit into the different dimensions of reality, with the physical dimension being the last in the sequence. Involution, or emanation, is central to neo-platonic philosophy and can also  be found in Platonism, Gnosticism, Manichaeism, the Kabbalah, Catharism, esoteric Christianity, Pythagoreanism, and some forms of Hinduism and Buddhism. These different dimensions that exist after involution are undeveloped and not activated. The process of involution is followed by the process of evolution, which proceeds through successive stages.

Detailed description involutionary sequence

The teachings of Lurianic Kabbalah describe a cosmology of successive Worlds. The first world that emanated and thus had manifest existence was called ‘Olam ha-Tohu’ or ‘World of points’. This was a state which existed as unformed and unordered points. It was called the ‘World of points’ because at that time they were not related to each other but were in the form of unorganized (chaotic) atomic separateness.

General description evolution

The Kosmic process of evolution starts after the emanation process. This means that the non-activated dimensions of Reality (‘ontological levels’) created in the involution, are now activated in reversed sequence. Because living beings need subtle energies to obtain consciousness, this is the beginning of life. The end goal of this process is to fully activate all dimensions of Reality To activate an entire ontological level at once collectively, apparently takes too much energy to succeed. Therefore individual development was necessary to gradually activate an entire ontological level before the next ontological level could be activated. To use a metaphor, it is easier to start a fire in a small place then to raise the temperature simultaneously in a large area.

Therefore within this Kosmic process at a certain moment in time individual development takes place. With individual development, the unordered, non-connected points laid down during involution, change into activated clusters of subtle energies. These clusters of subtle energies are called auras. These individual clusters of subtle energies make a much faster evolution possible.

In terms of the subtle energies, we see the generation and activation of a series of levels of subtle energies, going from the physical world up to the high-causal level, the divine. Although this emergence of the subtle energies starts at the lower levels, these energies cannot be reduced to the physical world. These subtle energies are capable of existing independently from the physical realm.

These different kinds of subtle energies exist not only in the world around us, but also within the human body, where they are much more concentrated and activated.

The activation of these subtle energies unfolds slowly, sequentially, one level after another, gradually obtaining consciousness at these levels. This activation and development of the subtle energies can only start at the lowest level, the emotional level. This is clear not only from visually observing these subtle energies at different levels, but also from the sequence in which the different stages develop according to developmental psychology. The higher-level subtle energies cannot develop unless there is first adequate development at a lower level. However, permanently activated subtle energies of a certain group of developmental lines (visible in the aura as a certain color, will lead to the gradual development of subtle energies of that color, and thereby of that group of developmental lines at a higher level.

This process has been graphically illustrated here below. It has been described in detail in ‘transformations and subtle energies’.

The ultimate meaning of life is to transform the involutionary power into an unfolding evolutionary upward process in which increasingly higher/deeper levels of subtle energies are activated. Finally, the subtle energies at the highest level are activated and a high-causal bhava samadhi is permanently realized.

It is important to realize that the emanation process continues through time. This means an ‘emanation stream’ is still present from the High Causal level ‘down’ to the physical level. It didn’t stop being present since the evolutionary journey started.

 Detailed description evolution

The octagon serves as a comprehensive framework to indicate structures and processes already generated and laid down during the evolutionary process. These structures and processes are generated at every ontological level, in which the general direction from the physical level up to the high causal level (called ‘vertical’ growth) is guided by the Absolute and through concentrations of energies. The exact forming of structures and processes are generated by evolutionary principles such as differentiation, selection and amplification at every level (called ‘horizontal’ growth). The octagon even indicates future structures and processes which (presumably) will be laid down before reaching the Omega point.

Comparison Cosmic Omegapoint and Kosmic Omegapoint

Introduction

In the text above the general framework for a mystical eschatological model has been laid down. To build accurately such a model, a well-known eschatological model from the modern scientist Tipler has been chosen to determine the essential elements of the mystical eschatological model.

A comparison has been made in figure 59 here below between an materialistic based eschatology ‘Tiplerian cosmic Omega point’ and a mystical based eschatology ‘mystical Kosmic Omega point’. A model of Tipler has been chosen because it is the most worked out model of its kind.

Cosmological Omegapoint

In the Tipler model it is taken for granted that when a computer reaches a certain complexity, it becomes conscious. While there is a direct connection between the complexity of the brain and (the level of) consciousness, that doesn’t mean that a computer/computer system will become conscious.

So consciousness deals with ontological levels, which is not the same as levels of complexity. See Roger Penrose’s “The Emperor’s New Mind”. Oxford University Press 1989 (who challenges the idea that complex computer systems will become conscious).

Working mechanism of Supramentalisation and Ultimate Divinisation

The main elements of the mystical eschatological model are presented here. The working mechanism is illustrated below.

Description

On the left side we find the involutionary process, emanating from the High causal level ‘down’ to the physical level (the lowest level (Ur.) is the physical world). Next to it the ‘up going’ human evolution is presented, which is described in ‘transformations and subtle energies’. Alongside the human evolutionary process the parallel evolution of concentration of subtle energies (‘devas’) is presented. These concentrations of subtle energies are not connected to any physical system. As explained in section ‘The Kosmic meaning of life’ of this website, devas can’t reach the causal levels because they lack a physical body that compresses the subtle energies and generates enough momentum to reach the causal levels.

The human evolution is heading towards the extraordinary point in time is called by Teilhard de Chardin ‘the Omega-point’.

The combined presence of individuals on a High Causal level, who have developed permanent High Causal energies, is described by Alexandra David-Néel in her book ‘Buddhism’ as follows: “Buddha’s also contribute to sustain the Dharmakaya, which is but the sum of their spiritual energy”(from the Mahaparinirvana sutra).

When the high causal level is activated to sublevel C, the process by Aurobindo called the Supramentalisation” starts. This causes that the (second) emanation/ involutionary force/’emanation stream’ (as mentioned earlier, it is still present during the evolutionary journey) becomes extraordinarily ‘charged’. The movement of the involutionary force all the way ‘down’ to the physical level, penetrates all levels with an unimaginably high activated energy. This process is named the “second Emanation” and the “first feedback loop”.

In the first stages of this ‘second Emanation’ the newly, highly activated immanent force will reach the levels where the deva-evolution experienced a stand-still. These levels will now be energetically highly activated. As a consequence the energies of the devas gain enormous extra momentum. This makes it possible for them to finally reach the high causal level on a permanent basis. Within Christianity this concept is expressed as; ‘Salvation even has ramifications in the sphere of the angels’. (Angels is the Christian word for devas).

This generates the “Second feedback loop” for human beings and devas together at the same time and which one can name “Ultimate Divinisation”.

Phases up to Kosmic Omega point

Throughout history many people have speculated about the exact time at which these events would take place. In the figure here below a twelve phase time scale is represented. This time scale starts with the historical emergence of the low causal mystics around 1350 B.C. all the way up to ultimate divinisation.

It is this process which is the answer to Leibnitz’s Question: “Why is there something instead of nothing?” Of course this gives only the sequence of events and no concrete timescale. So the question is, whether there is a way to find a logical approach, a pattern which could show the speed of future development and eventually the definitive time when the omega point will be reached.

Historical development

If one examines the historical archeological and anthropological data relating to the history of man, it becomes clear that the development that took place has progressed in several distinct collective developmental levels.

This development did not take place in a linear(ly) unfolding process, but in transformations that occur in quantum like, discontinuous leaps.

From these transformations new structures of consciousness did emerge, each with new (fundamentally different) ways of experiencing reality in ever-increasing levels of depth.

The timescale of the first emergence of these new levels is as following:

1. ± 200.000 B.C.   First ‘modern’ humans
2. ± 50.000 B.C.   Archaic
3. ± 10.000 B.C.   Magic
4. ± 500 B.C.   Mythic
5. ± 1600 A.D.  Rationalistic
6. ± 1900 A.D. (1960’s collective) Pluralistic
7. ± 1980’s A.D. (not yet collective) Integral

A more extensive overview is described below, future levels included.

Level 1:

First emergence 200.000 B.C. →

• Spiral Dynamics :                     – Beige
• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs :  – Physiological
• Behavioral thinking :                 – Instinctive
• Economic distribution :             – (Don Beck) ‘Eat when hungry’
• Economic systems :                 – Autarkic
• Level of communication :         – Oral
• Level of organized media :       –
• Infrastructure :                          –
• Political systems :                     – (Don Beck) survival clans
• Techno – economic :                 – Foraging
• Social system :                          – Survival clans
• Values :                                     – (Clare Graves) Autistic
• Cognitive development :           – Impulse
• Worldview :                               –
• Further :                                    – Use of fire, simple language

Level 2

First emergence 50.000 B.C. →

• Spiral Dynamics :                     – Purple
• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs :  – Safety
• Behavioral thinking :                 – Animistic
• Economic distribution :             – (Don Beck) Mutual reciprocity & Kinship
• Economic systems :                 – Natural economy
• Level of communication :         – Oral
• Level of organized media :       – Storyteller
• Infrastructure :                          – Roadways unpaved
• Political systems :                     – (Don Beck) Tribal orders
• Techno – economic :                 – Hunting gathering
• Social system :                          – Ethnic tribes
• Values :                                     – (Clare Graves) Magic/animistic
• Cognitive development :           – Emotion
• Worldview :                               – Archaic
• Further :                                    – Complex language, shamanism

Level 3

first emergence 10.000 B.C. →

• Spiral Dynamics :                      – Red
• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs :   – Belonging
• Behavioral thinking :                  – Egocentric
• Economic distribution :              – (Don Beck) ‘To victors belong the spoils’
• Economic systems :                  – Pre-capitalist
• Level of communication :          – Image
• Level of organized media :        – Iconography
• Infrastructure :                           – Roadways paved
• Political systems :                      – (Don Beck) Feudal empires
• Techno – economic :                 – Horticultural/simple agricultural
• Social system :                          – Early state
• Values :                                     – (Clare Graves) Egocentric
• Cognitive development :           – Representational thinking
• Worldview :                               – Magic
• Further :                                    – Civilization

Level 4

first emergence 500 B.C. →

• Spiral Dynamics :                      – Blue
• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs :   – Esteem
• Behavioral thinking :                  – Authority
• Economic distribution :              – (Don Beck) ‘The just earn the rewards’
• Economic systems :                  – Plan economy/mercantilistic
• Level of communication :          – Textual
• Level of organized media :        – Written text
• Infrastructure :                           – Ports and terminals
• Political systems :                      – (Don Beck) Authoritarian democracy
• Techno – economic :                 – Agrarian
• Social system :                          – Empire
• Values :                                     – (Clare Graves) Sociocentric
• Cognitive development :            – Concrete thinking
• Worldview :                                – Mythic
• Further :                                     – Philosophy, abstraction, civil society, objectivity

Level 5

first emergence 1600 A.D. →

• Spiral Dynamics :                      – Orange
• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs :   – Cognitive
• Behavioral thinking :                  – Strategic
• Economic distribution :              – (Don Beck) ‘Each acts on own behave to   prosper’
• Economic systems :                  – Market economy (capitalism)
• Level of communication :          – Telephone
• Level of organized media :        – Radio
• Infrastructure :                           – Railways
• Political systems :                      – (Don Beck) Multi party system
• Techno – economic :                  – Industrial
• Social system :                           – Nation/state
• Values :                                      – (Clare Graves) Multiplistic
• Cognitive development :            – Abstract thinking
• Worldview :                                – Rationalistic
• Further :                                     – Empiricism, science, critical thought, doctrine    
                                                            of progress, modernism

Level 6

first emergence 1900 A.D. (1960’s A.D. collective)→

• Spiral Dynamics :                       – Green
• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs :    – Aesthetic
• Behavioral thinking :                  – Consensus
• Economic distribution :               – (Don Beck) ‘All should benefit equally’
• Economic systems :                   – Network economics
• Level of communication :           – Interactive
• Level of organized media :         – Internet/world wide web
• Infrastructure :                            – Airports
• Political systems :                       – Social democracy
• Techno – economic :                   – Informational
• Social system :                            – Value community
• Values :                                       – (Clare Graves) Relavistic/individualistic
• Cognitive development :             – (Meta) systematic
• Worldview :                                 – Pluralistic
• Further :                                      – Sensitivity, contextualism, self-expression, multi-
                                                           culturalism, postmodernism

Level 7

first emergence 1980’s A.D. →

• Spiral Dynamics :                       – Yellow
• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs :    – Self-actualization
• Behavioral thinking :                   – Ecological
• Economic distribution :               – (Don Beck) ‘All formulas contribute to ‘spiral   .  health’
• Economic systems :                   – Economic interdependency
• Level of communication :           – Multi-media, co-creative (Wikipedia)
• Level of organized media :         – Multi-media application
• Infrastructure :                            – Transportation by the use of orbital (space shuttle/craft)
• Political systems :                       – (Don Beck) Stratified democracy
• Techno – economic :                   – Cybernetical
• Social system :                            – Integral commons
• Values :                                       – (Clare Graves) Systematic/integrated
• Cognitive development :             – (Cross)paradigmatic
• Worldview :                                 – Integral
• Further :                                      – Integrating of multiple systems, developmentalism,
                                                         consciousness studies, individual transformation,
                                                         communicational systems (Global Positional System),
                                                         Santa Fé;  institute founded in 1984
                                                         (understanding, complex adaptive systems),
                                                         Jürgen Habermas:Theory of communicative
                                                         action’ 1981,
                                                         Brundtland-commission 1987,
                                                         Ken Wilber’s; integral philosophy

Level 8

first emergence 2010? A.D. →    :

• Spiral Dynamics :                        – Turquoise
• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs :     – Transcendence
• Behavioral thinking :                    – Holistic
• Economic distribution :                – (Don Beck) ‘Resources focus on all life’
• Economic systems :                    – …….
• Level of communication :            – …….
• Level of organized media :          – Virtual reality/real life matrix (3D)
• Infrastructure :                             – ………
• Political systems :                        – (Don Beck) Holonic democracy
• Technic :                                       – Morphogenetical, quantum computer
• Social system :                             – Holistic meshwork’s
• Values :                                        – …….
• Cognitive development :              – Translogical, transparadigmatic
• Worldview :                                  – Panenhenic (Pantheistic)
• Further :                                       – Gregory West: Scaling laws.
   

                                 

A projection of future development

Level 9

first emergence : ?

• Worldview :                            – Panentheistic
• Technic :                                 – Transformational, Retro-causality
• Further :                                 – Archetypical (retro-causal working attractors,
                                                    responsible for lateral growth on the ontological levels)

 

Level 10

first emergence : ?

• Worldview :                             – Mystic
• Technic :                                 – Trans-dimensional; The use of multi-dimensional subtle
                                                     energy matrices for a fine-subtle energy fields,
                                                     trans-temporal.
• Further :                                  – Time-symmetry

Level 11

first emergence : ?

• Worldview :                             – Bodhisattvic
• Technic :                                 – Fine-tuning of planetary constants by backwards causation,
                                                    Supramentalisation

Level 12

first emergence : ?

• Worldview :                             – Buddhic
• Technic :                                 – Fine tuning of cosmological constants by 
                                                    backwards causation, ultimate divinisation.

Pattern

A remarkable pattern becomes visible. If one looks closely, one will see that there is a distinct pattern, every new level is reached in about a quarter of the time it took for the lower level to do the same.

If one extrapolates this pattern:

5. ± 400 years ago ± 1600 A.D.

± 300 years

6. ± 100 years ago ± 1900 A.D.

± 75/80 years

7. ± 20/30 years ago ± 1980’s A.D

± 20 years

8. ± ~ 2010?

±5 years

9. ± ~ 2015?

±1¼ years

10. ± ~ 2016?

±4 months

11. ± ~ 2016?

±4 weeks

12. ± ~ 2016?

As already mentioned, the first 7 levels are academically established, and for the last 5 levels of this 12 level system, there is cross-cultural evidence.

Can one reasonably make this extrapolation?

It is very remarkable that this process, from level 1 all the way up to level 7/8, took place at such an accelerated speed and consistently every new level took  about a quarter of the time as it took the previous level before.

On logical grounds one must come to the conclusion that this acceleration at the highest levels is unsustainable and somewhere along this process this pattern must take a loop (if this process would continue at this acceleration rate, this will become visible within a decade at an individual level and within a few decades at a collective level). In other words, it seems highly likely and logical that with the shift from level 8 to 9 the ¼ pattern will be changed and the straight line will change into a loop.(This was written in 2006 since that time there are certain developments that show that (in 2016) the process – acceleration is still going on: This ¼ process runs parallel to what are called the waves of democracy:

•         Athenian democracy (Greece) 508 BC
•         First wave of democracy 17^th century parliament of England (1602-1670)
•         Second wave of democracy 1960’s
               (on an individual basis: second half of the 19^th century)
•         Third wave of democracy Eastern Europe late 1980’s
•         Fourth wave of democracy Arab spring 18 December 2010
•         Fifth wave of democracy 2016 The shift from neoliberalism to social democracy in the
          U.S.A. and England.

Next to this cultural / sociological process there are new technological developments such as the quantum computer (level 8 technology) which has recently become commercially  available, among other developments.

The recent global financial crisis shows that the capitalistic system reaches its limits, and new systems and philosophies need to be developed.

But even when this ontological singularity point will be reached, this will be first at an individual basis with collective chances later in time. {This ontological singularity point most not been confused with Ray Kurzweil’s technological singularity, which proposes that computers become conscious. Kurzweil makes the fallacy of not differentiating between ontology (consciousness) and complexity.}

However, it is important to see that while this omega point may be a unique point in time, there are several distinct and recognizable phases that lead up to it.

By comparing at which phase humans with the most advanced mystical development are on the ‘Twelve phase Time-scale’ (figure 61), it must be possible to determine at which point humanity is in the evolutionary development in the direction of the omega point.

The following question arises: Why is there such a time (1/4) pattern in historical development?

It seems unlikely that such a regular exponential pattern could be accidental.

If it is not, then there must be some arranging/regulating influence activating different higher ontological levels.

All these subsequent changes from level to level are speeding up at exponential rates with a remarkable regularity, almost as if the activation of higher ontological levels curves the time.
As the transformations between levels are directly related to the activation of subtle energies on higher ontological levels, these higher levels have far more energy than lower levels, and this could explain this exponential development.

Anthropological, biological, and genetic evidence all put the origin of modern humans at between 200,000 and  100,000 years ago, probably in Africa. There is also much data that show an outburst of cultural behavior occurring around 50,000-40,000 years ago in Europe. That’s when archaeologists date the oldest evidence of burial ceremonies, body ornaments, and cave paintings.” ~ William J. Cromie, Harvard Gazette article, ‘Facing up to modern man – Evidence shows our brains and faces have gotten smaller’, which discusses the work of Harvard professor of biological anthropology Daniel Lieberman

References:

• Wheeler’s “delayed choice”, in Quantum Theory and Measurement, edited by J.A. Wheeler and W.H. Zurek, Princeton Univ. Press, 1983.
• E.g., V. Jacques, et al., “Experimental realization of Wheeler’s gedankenexperiment,” Science 315 966 (2007).
• A.G. Zajonc et al., Nature, 353, 507 (1991);
• P.G. Kwiat et al., Phys. Rev. A 49, 61 (1994);
• T.J. Herzog et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 75, 3034 (1995);
• T.B. Pittman et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 77, 1917 (1996). The Jacques experiment is described in Physics World, “Photons denied a glimpse at their observer” (Feb. 15, 2007).