There is a hyper-realisitic philosophy called sāṁkhya (literally, from categories or from numberings), which posits an evolution (or descent, depending on your point of view) from two sets of infinities.
One infinity is a unitary set called prakṛti (Nature/Manifestor) or pradhāna (Base/Foundation) [1]. From this infinity manifests everything non-conscious, including mind [8], body, and material universe.
The second is a set of infinities called puruṣa's. Like the sun radiates light, each puruṣa radiates consciousness. Every living thing is a unidirectional combination of one puruṣa and a part of prakṛti. Consciousness illuminates, but is untouchable by, the non-conscious. Vaguely similar to sun rays illuminating the earth. [3]
Now to evolution of the universe or multiverse. Think of a puruṣa as a consciousness source which purifies one part - a jīva (you or any living creature) - of an ocean of prakṛti. bhog, samādhi, and whatever else makes this purification happen for you as a jīva is by your surrender to this activity with minimal conditioning [4]. You, as an ocean current or whirlpool, are able to tune into the incessant inspiration from your puruṣa better with more and more purification. Your actions become more and more natural and less and less conditioned by subconscious and unconscious tendencies (vāsana's) and emotional residues (saṁskāra's).
Spiritual evolution of humans is purification of a significant part of the non-conscious ocean - a particular threshold of jīva's (humans, e.g.) attaining self-realisation, with its ripple effects.
Self-realisation, IMHO, is getting off the seesaw of habitual likes and dislikes (Babuji's Heart Region) and letting the seesaw of I and the Divine (Babuji's Mind Region) rest permanently on the side of the Divine. Kabir has a nice couplet for the latter:
Love's lane is exceedingly narrow; it can't hold two.
When 'I' was, the Divine [5] wasn't; now the Divine is, 'I' am not. [6]
I like sāṁkhya because it explains very elegantly a confusing Vedantic idea - I don't have to do anything as I am never bound - by splitting the I into conscious and non-conscious I's. The puruṣa 'I' is eternally free and unblemished. The prakṛti 'I', my bit of ocean, is what changes, maybe from iceberg to water to vapour to space!
prakṛti as a whole goes through cycles of simplicity and complexity, purity and impurity, lightness and grossness, across cycles of manifestation and unmanifestation, which cause evolution at a multiverse level.
sāṁkhya is atheistic as there is no need for a whimsical God to plan or direct anything. It is close to science in the idea of natural evolution occurring due to individual actions. ṛta (root of rhythm?), or collective karma at the level of the infinite prakṛti, instead of random chance as in science [7], also drives evolution. But ṛta is not arbitrary, and applies even to higher beings.
yoga/rāja yoga philosophy adds the concept of a special puruṣa, an eternal Guru or Guide, not subject to grosser mental effects even when it does associate with (a part of) prakṛti and incarnates in a physical body.
yoga is traditionally considered the practical aspect of sāṁkhya theory. Its practices or techniques take one's mind gradually from a mostly outward focus to an inward focus and then to one that can go both ways equally easily. Inward focus is of many levels or stages, and one key principle of sāṁkhya - an effect manifests from a cause - is used in the technique of resolving (Babuji's laya) a grosser effect thought layer into a subtler cause layer.
In Sahaj Marg, dissolution/resolution is done through cleaning. And in meditation, by letting the (almost?) infinitely subtle transmission of the Source of Divine Light guide your attention towards Itself, or your mental vibrations towards Its own level.
NOTES
[1] Babuji's bhūma [2] seems to be both pradhāna and puruṣa's, in a latent state
[2] From the chāndogya upaniṣad (7.24.1)
[3] Sun rays do enter into physical reactions as energy, even while illuminating. Consciousness rays, qualitatively different, cause understanding or wisdom in a layer of prakṛti, but it's a unidirectional relationship.
[4] Some conditioning is needed while living in a physical body, in a specific society, at a particular level of technology, kind of social stage (child, parent, elder, sage), etc.
[5] Kabir says 'Hari' for 'the Divine'.
[6] "'I' isn't" is technically better than "'I' am not", as 'I' is considered to be a set of "I, me, or mine" thoughts.
[7] Perhaps statistical random chance is indeed ṛta for gases!
[8] Mind, intellect, and ego (manas, buddhi, and ahaṁkāra) are considered non-conscious or jaḍa.
