Considerations on Consciousness

I wish to share with you some considerations on consciousness from one of my works.  Exploration is an ever unfolding task as is the resulting understanding that comes in waves.  But, we all must begin from some point of origin or premise and go on from there.  This was one of my points of focus and although written just earlier this year, the thoughts and ideas for greater understanding continues.

From my exploration into the topic of consciousness, the ego as the veil, I begin to come to the conclusion that the life we experience here on Earth is the result of a conscious individuation from the Cosmic Mind or One Mind in the form of ego for the purpose of a physical experience in an individuated focal point of existence in a specific time.  The ego is the veil that separates humanity from the Cosmic Mind or that, to us, which is unconscious or simply, not yet known.  The veil does not separate us from our Source or sever the connection to that Cosmic Mind but rather obscures it through the existence of the ego.  We remain part of the entirety of the cosmos, our cells, molecules and particles gathered as a density intentionally collected in a point of focus here in this now as are all entities in existence within this frame or dimension.

The ego exists as learned scholars and wise spiritual teachers will in unison agree.  Where they all may diverge is on the purpose of the ego and understanding its related consciousness.  In my dissertation, I posit that it is because of the ego that we have individuated from the One Mind or Cosmic Consciousness and this intentionally formed the veil between the physical conscious world and the world of unconsciousness, ether or the ethereal realms of the spirit.  It is through the process of choosing individual experience that seems to separate us from our Source at a purely physical or conscious level.  We did so in order to experience creating and the receiving of the gift and the use of free will from whatever Source or Force in this universe that created us.  As a unified whole, we still exist, I think, as everything in creation is interconnected as well as interdependent.  Others are beginning to join this body of thought. 

Another wonderful work I encountered that describes this thought in part a little more comes from Eva Herr in her work, Consciousness, within the Introduction section.  The author describes a moment in her life in which she became aware of her consciousness.  She describes going to sleep one night during a troubling time and awoke with a new sense of purpose in that she moved away from “the dogma of materialism, vanity and self-consumed ideations” (Rainbowbridge Books, xix) and moved to a more full understanding of consciousness.  She describes it within this same section as “The God force—behind everything that exists’’ and that accompanying this thought or feeling was “a powerful but simplistic idea of agape—the love for one’s fellow man as one loves oneself, because we are all one.” 

It is not enough to become enlightened to the mechanics of the fullness of our physical existence; the ‘hows and the whys’ in which we have come to exist.  These things are just the vehicles designed to carry forth our points of focus for an individuated experience of the wholeness of the Source of All That Is in order to truly experience and understand the significance of it.  Perception affects the perceiver and thus the perceiver learns through his or her own perceptions of individual experience.  If there were no veil of egoic consciousness, we might know the ending of the movie before the movie is finished playing and thus remove our ability to learn in the now moments as they pass as we intended.  The ego is not something to be destroyed but rather, better understood.

Various disciplines describe the Cosmic or Quantum Whole with different languages.  Many see the similarities in the words and descriptions and yet others see only a single source language with which to define our place in this world.  I like to use the analogy of a tree.  There is a beautiful tree planted on a beautiful green hill.  How would a psychiatrist define the tree and its existence?  How would an artist or poet describe the tree and its existence?  How would a carpenter or mechanic see a tree?  How would a reverend see a tree?  How would a mystic describe a tree?  How would a scientist or physicist define a tree?  What about a botanist? Each would view the same tree and describe it in accord with his or her selected discipline or experiential perspective focus. There is no other way each could define the tree. But then what would happen if the Truth were explained that each perceiver from within his or her discipline was the tree or an integral part, thereof?  

Like a perfect circle, each discipline has a degree from which they work within the construct of the circle.  What if the reality of our individuated experience is the circle and yet there are increasingly ever more concentric circles overlaid upon our dimension of reality?  Would it be too much for a simple human being to take in all at once?  Does the ego create a sufficient veil that allows us to take in the information we need in bite-sized chunks that are much more easily digested and that make it easier to live our lives in our current point of focus for the experience we most desired?

What if our body, the physical body that we seemingly exist within is the ego or the point at which the spirit and soul meet the physical world?  What if that ego is the tiny tip of the gigantic iceberg in terms of the divine aspects of the souls that we are and further yet, the spirit that lies beyond the veil?  Beyond the spirit is the Source of All That Is and that is simply beyond a tiny particle’s ability to comprehend.  A tiny bug cannot comprehend the entirety of the universe cohesively and completely, as it hasn’t got the capacity.

We have the potential for the capacity but our purpose and point of focus does not necessarily include understanding the entirety of the whole of existence precisely while our point of focus and materialization exists in the third dimension physically. 

Understanding that we are not the limited, unimpressive mere egoic humans pursuing our desires to our detriment or betterment may yet buoy humanity as they work their way through the construct of this experience here in this world, in this dimension at this time.  Physics theorizes and contemplates that our existence is not in a singular dimension but that it is quite possible that all that we see and experience has multiple layers of existence beyond that which we can readily comprehend. (Exploring the Conscious Self: For Greater Understanding, 125)

Referenced Work:

Harter, J.L., Exploring the Conscious Self: For Greater Understanding, 2014. California, The Ministry of Connected Consciousness.  Print. 

Herr, Eva, Consciousness, 2012.  Virginia, Rainbow Ridge Books.  Print.

Rev. J.L. Harter, PhD, M.Msc., B.Msc., Author, Blogger, and Spiritual Counselor, Editor of the JMCC.  See Bio section for more information.

Holding Your Power

Oh the ways we give it away so unaware.  If only we knew the keys to prevent ourselves from giving away our power at every turn, we might be better able to address our human interactions in this life.  You see, there will always exist those who know no other way to exist than to intimidate and manipulate others for their power (not realizing they have it within).  There too will always be those of us who too willingly give it away without thinking or realizing.  We are not taught this subject in main stream education but maybe we should be.   Here are some ways to know when you have given your power away and I put them in no particular order of importance:

1. Victim thought processes or identification.

2. Blame thought processes or identification.

3. Dependency thought processes or identification.

4. Manipulating thought processes or identification.

5. Intimidating thought processes or identification.

6. Judgmental thought processes or identification.

7. Persecuting thought processes or identification.

8. Negative self-thoughts and perceptions.

9. Vengeful thoughts and identification.

Do you begin to see where I am going maybe even just a little?  The moment we have given in to any of the above thought processes, beliefs, actions or identification, we have diminished our own power and given it away either through holding a false belief or a fear that we created in response to some kind of external stimulus that it was actually we who created to begin with.  No, this is not a blame the victim thought process and if that is what you take from this so far, I must ask you to go much deeper than the superficial egoic mind to understand.  Going deeper within to feel for understanding will actually raise you above your ego that believes that it always must be right, perfect, save face, be the most, the best, the whatever anyone else may think of as cool and wonderful.  We have to get beyond these things in order for us to begin to dust off the emotional debris we’ve collected inside of us through our lack of awareness that keeps our truth hidden from view.  We have to learn to see the above as messages to us from the heart of our spirit.

First and foremost, we are powerful always in all ways all the time.  It is only when we choose not to be powerful that we sink into the dramas of the world that we momentarily think have more significant meaning than they really do.   Going back a bit further to form a framework for you from which you may begin to understand, you are here, believe it or not, to experience and experience life in ways YOU choose.  Yes, you choose and there is no room in your choices really for judgment, blame, seeking perfection, to be right, better, best, etc. without understanding what these things are for.  These are merely road maps or sign posts that it's time to pay attention.  Truly, you can give your power away through these things if you want to and it is neither wrong nor right but I'd like you simply to know that don’t have to.  It is a choice. 

Some things don’t seem like choices at all.  Some things feel entirely thrust upon us quite unexpectedly and it is way too easy to get caught up in identifying with the victim or blaming activities in order to vent your way through an experience.  It wastes your precious energy to engage in such thinking and sometimes acting.  It takes less energy and promotes a greater sense of balance for you to attempt to seek understanding for your own choices (whether you realize you made them or not).  Bad things happen to bad people.  Bad things happen to good people too.  The judgment of “bad” is just that, a judgment and it is a judgment most often based on a false premise or belief.  When you begin to understand that we are all part of the whole of life, you start to think about things a little differently.  At some point you begin to disconnect from the world of victims and villains and start to instead embrace the world as it is through compassion and seeking understanding of what you really intended in your creation of this dramatic experience or that one.  You had an intent.  You just can’t recall it.  

Please understand as I write these words that I in no way intend for anyone to disregard emotion.  We are humans and emotion is part of our existence in this 3rd dimensional reality.  You must process your emotions.  This article is about helping you see emotion for what it is, understand it, how it is created and through that understanding, bring about a greater sense of well-being by learning to stand firmly within your own power confidently, purposefully and contently.

You may have heard the term Maya as an attribute describing the superficial consciousness of and happenings in this world as illusion.  In the world of Maya, ego rules supreme and merely battles and clashes with all it encounters in the fight for better/best, etc.  Ego judges, persecutes, attempts to steal what it already has, competes for some superficial prize that doesn’t take one anywhere or give anyone anything of lasting import.  Spoiler Alert:  There is no prize for being better, best, right, stealing energy, giving it away or striving to master illusions.  What we get from this life is the richness or value of our experiences rather than the experiences solely.  If we maintain a place of power, which is our right, we do not have to choose the world of villains and victims whether or not others wish to exist in those worlds and believe in those frameworks.  You can live your life in fear or worry or you can choose not to. 

I’m not saying any of this is easy.  I can’t even say I’ve done it all the time.  I too am a student of this life but I do know a surely as I’m sitting here breathing and typing away that I can feel it when I give my power away and I can feel it when others try to take it from me.  Psychology and lack of awareness runs rampant in our world.  It has been this way always.  But some of us who care to look can catch glimpses of the truth deep within us and take great comfort in the knowing that it is we who choose to be energized or depleted, to become victorious or defeated as we face each of the scenes of our lives we have created for the challenge of the experience.

I suggest to you that despite how you have lived and what you have experienced up to this point in your life, you can make a choice to understand your beliefs, their origins and whether or not you will continue to buy into them or not.  You too can choose whether or not you will stand in your power full of love and light or hand it over to the very next person who demands it through manipulation or fear generating villain-like postures.  It’s all up to you.

In the midst of some of our darkest and most challenging experiences, these little flashes of insight will come from your soul and your spirit.  Watch for these and expect them to show up for the purpose of your truest and most reliable guidance.  Steer clear of energy robbing anger, frustration, fear, intimidation and all the other negatives as much as you can.  Do so through seeking understanding and choosing how you wish to participate with such things in such a way where you hold yourself accountable for neither doing yourself nor anyone else any intentional harm and you can find and hold your power to you.  If you give it away in fear of worry, you cannot positively create.  I can attest to this fact.  If you hold it with the knowing, trust or faith in yourself as a Source-Connected miracle of energetic existence, you have half the battle of dealing with the challenges you face won.  You can then step back a bit and observe what you might have wanted to glean from the experiences you go through.  The self-love you do hold in the heart of your soul knows that you established experiences for much higher reasons than reinforcing your weaknesses.  The heart of you knows that you created experiences to rediscover your strengths and learn to transcend that which no longer serves you.

It’s a huge leap sometimes to go from fearful to courageous.  So, start with one little step instead and that very simple step begins with curiosity.  Be curious rather than assumptive, judgmental or resorting to persecution, blame or vengeance.  You’ll feel much better about your experiences in the end because then you are moving in tune with your soul as well as your spirit that has a much longer-lasting impact than the superficial pursuits of the ego.   Speaking from experience, when your heart stops and your consciousness goes on, the things the egoic little "c" aspect of consciousness thinks are important here on Earth do NOT come with you.  What does come with you is the love you held inside (as an intrinsic aspect of the Big "C" Consciousness), the compassion you experienced, the awe, wonder and beauty of your experiences comes with you and nothing more.  Okay, for some maybe regret comes too but if you are alive right now and reading this then there is plenty of time for you to shift your thinking.  Do it today.  You have the power within you and all the love in the Universe behind you and to support you.  ~Blessings of infinite love and light.

Rev. J.L. Harter, PhD, M.Msc., B.Msc., Author, Blogger, and Spiritual Counselor, Editor of the JMCC.  See Bio section for more information.

© 2014 Rev. J.L. Harter PhD (Photo created with http://weavesilk.com/)