165. HIGHER LEVELS — C

CLUES 25, 26, 114, and 146 all dealt with consciousness. The triptych for this week focuses on the higher levels of consciousness. In a recent lecture that I gave on the benefits of dialogue, I noted that we are more inclined to practice dialogue when we reach higher levels of consciousness. My explorations in consciousness have led me to believe that we need to challenge ourselves to stretch our levels of consciousness for a variety of reasons. In this and the next two posts, we will visit perspectives that seem to point in that direction.

When you Google “higher levels of consciousness,” you find quite a few links. For this post, I will glean from three of them.

From Mindvalley:

“Higher consciousness is ever-increasing awareness of the meaning of existence, your spiritual essence, and of the spiritual or energetic nature in all things. … Heightened consciousness is something that surpasses our ordinary, conscious mind. It’s the ultimate consciousness, the consciousness of higher self, universe, and God.”

“At the higher levels of consciousness, we no longer feel separate. We feel, know, and experience oneness with the universal energy field. We are points of energy, but energy has no limits, only characteristics.”

“Imagine if you stopped seeing yourself as separate. How differently you would feel? You would see your face in the face of a stranger or an enemy. You would become patient, kind, and compassionate toward all beings. You would experience unconditional love, patience, kindness, truthfulness, and humility (among others); you will reach a higher level of consciousness.”

“We can alter our state of consciousness through meditation, prayer, yoga or when we have a religious experience. We can think, say, and do things that feel good and right and avoid things that feel terrible and wrong.”

From Avatar:

The benefits of a higher consciousness include the following:

· Realize Life’s Greater Purpose

· Feeling Whole and Grounded

· Natural Abilities Increase Greatly

· Heightened Sense of Awareness

· Faster Learning

· Emotional Control

· Honesty with Yourself and Others

· Stronger Relationships

· Attraction of Abundance

From Genefe Navilon:

“Hindu sages, Christian monks, Buddhist ascetics, western philosophers and different cultures all have their own beliefs and definitions when it comes to consciousness. But perhaps the simplest way to describe ‘higher consciousness’ is to refer to an elevated sense of body, mind, and soul.”

“As human beings, we spend most of our lives functioning in states of lower consciousness, where what we are principally concerned with is ourselves, our survival and our own success, narrowly defined.”

“However, at rare moments, when there are no threats or demands upon us, perhaps late at night or early in the morning, when our bodies and passions are comfortable and quiescent, we have the privilege of being able to access the higher mind — what neuroscientists call our neocortex, the seat of imagination, empathy and impartial judgment.”

“In such states, the mind moves beyond its particular self-interests and cravings. It’s an astonishing gradual evolution to develop the ability to explain others’ actions by their distress, rather than simply in terms of how it affects us. We perceive that the appropriate response to humanity is not fear, cynicism or aggression, but always — when we can manage it — love.”

Mary O’Malley, author of Belonging to Life: The Journey of Awakening, believes that there are six levels of higher consciousness. She includes Agape Church minister Michael Beckwith’s four stages and adds two more of her own:

1. Life happens to you.

2. Life happens by you.

3. Life happens in you.

4. Life happens for you.

5. Life happens through you.

6. Life is you.

“It’s like a veil has been taken off, and now you can truly see and feel, without questioning it. And yet, with a deeper understanding of everything.”

No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.

~Albert Einstein

Q: Where do you think you are and where do you wish to be in your level of consciousness?