A Beautiful Revelation

Abstract

The purpose of this essay is to critically examine the ways by which Beauty is revealed to the human consciousness and how this impacts its expansion and evolution from an individual and collective standpoint. Three main aspects of how Beauty is revealed is identified and situated in the context of its impact on the evolution of human consciousness.

Keywords: Beauty, Consciousness, Humanity, Evolution, Physical, Creativity, Art, Emotion

A Beautiful Revelation

From the dawn of civilization, humankind has always sought to answer the question “What is Beauty?” This simple question has perplexed philosophers, theologians and scientists alike and has resulted in the postulation of numerous definitions across different disciplines. What has emerged is an abundance of terminological ambiguities that neither satisfactorily encapsulate the underlying essence of Beauty, nor provide for any critical insight into its revelatory aspects. Perhaps this is because Beauty has myriad expressions that are revealed to the human consciousness at different levels or stages of its evolution. This essay will examine three revelatory aspects of Beauty and situate them in the context of the ongoing evolution of human consciousness.

As sentient beings in a physical universe, we perceive reality through sensory perception from which we construct and make sense of our world. In doing so, we interact with nature and each other which necessarily opens us up to what we come to know as Beauty. This element of truth is more than a mere ideation or construct of the human mind. It aids in the evolution of our species from a physical, emotional, and spiritual perspective by how it is revealed to us.

We can approach the concept of Beauty as being revealed to us in three primary ways. First, because we are part of the natural world, we perceive Beauty through our senses. When we employ these senses via sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell to our environment, our consciousness can become aware of Beauty as it is revealed in nature. Hence symmetrical patterns inherent on a butterfly’s wings or on a nautiluses’ shell can appear to be beautiful to us because of their aesthetic qualities. Similarly, the sound of rustling leaves or the taste and smell of food, or even the sensation of wind upon exposed skin, can all be perceived as being beautiful.

This particular revelatory aspect of Beauty can be viewed as Topical Beauty. Topical Beauty is the physical manifestation of Beauty as revealed to us solely via our senses. This aspect of Beauty exists in the natural world and is apparent to us from a mathematical standpoint. For example, symmetry can be perceived in the face of a young woman or man and harmony can be gleaned from the acoustics of natural or manufactured sound. The sensations of taste, touch, and smell can also be measured and quantified in a scientific manner.

Such beauty however, is topical because it is revealed only on the surface of what we deem to be reality. In other words, it can be construed as the proverbial “tip of the iceberg”. It is expressed in nature through geometric patterns and is readily observable and measurable to all. Topical Beauty thus represents the physical aspect of Beauty.

The second way in which Beauty is revealed to us is through works of art. When the consciousness of humankind engages in creative pursuits, we are able to perceive the revelation of Beauty on an emotional level. Thus when we listen to one of Chopin’s piano concertos, we can come away feeling deeply moved by the beauty of the piece’s arrangement. Similarly, when we look at a Van Gogh painting, it can have a profound emotional effect on us because it possesses the capacity to elevate our consciousness to a level that is at once both physical and emotional.

When artists engage in creative endeavors, they are opening their consciousness to the apprehension of Beauty that exists in the sphere of imagination and wonder. This is outside the purely physical realm and enables the mind to transcend it by acting as a conduit through which Beauty can be revealed to us from an individual and collective standpoint.  

Art forces us to look beyond the physical and allows for the evolution of human consciousness beyond its material limitations. When we have achieved such depth and breadth of consciousness, Beauty is revealed to us Sub-Topically. At this stage, Beauty has the power to move us in a physical and emotionally way simultaneously. Thus some individuals may weep at a musical concert or be left breathless upon seeing a sculpture, while for others; touching a quilt their grandmother made years ago can move them in a very deep and personal way.

Once revealed, Sub-Topical Beauty allows for the evolution and transcendence of human consciousness beyond the purely physical or emotional. This is because it engenders capacity building by elasticizing our consciousness through art. We can no longer just apprehend beauty via the senses, but we can now feel it in the very core of our being. This further enables us to partake in the beautiful for when we create, we beautify.

Upon reaching this level of consciousness, we are now in a position to understand how Beauty is revealed to us in the third way. When we engage in acts of virtue, whether towards other humans or to other species, we perceive Beauty that transcends emotion and reason. In such instances, the laws of nature do not apply since there is no inclination towards self-gain. Our actions become altruistic and in doing so, they beautify us collectively.

When we show compassion to the other, we engage each other in a beautiful way. When we impart kindness or tenderness to others, there need not be an aesthetic quality to such acts for us to find meaning and beauty in them. When we show love to an animal, it beautifies the human in us. When we forgive, our mercy allows us to redeem and beautify the other and this in turn, beautifies us. Understanding and perceiving Beauty in this manner allows for not only an expansion of our collective consciousness, but a deepening of it too. As human beings, we are flawed creatures. But, if our imperfections are what make us human, when we consciously engage in a virtuous act, it is our humanity that ultimately makes us beautiful.

This third way of perceiving and understanding Beauty thus transcends the physical and emotional. It is, in effect, apprehended by our consciousness intuitively. Such beauty affects us spiritually since we begin to see the other in ourselves and better understand our interconnectedness with all forms of life, human or otherwise. This is what I call Intuitive Beauty.

In conclusion, the apprehension and understanding of Beauty is directly linked to the evolution of human consciousness. As we mature and evolve as a species, so too will our capacity to beautify and become expressions of Beauty ourselves both in a concrete and abstract manner. Our pursuit of knowledge inevitably opens us up to the possibility of finding elements of verisimilitude from a physical, emotional, and intuitive perspective. In this respect, our potential to find Beauty within ourselves is, ultimately, one of humanity’s most profound endeavors.

Jeevan Bhagwat, See Bios Section for more information -

Contact Information:  @j_bhagwat

What Was it That Was Leaving Me? An Unusual Out-of-Body Experience (OBE)

Abstract

This paper is a narration of a unique experience, that which is arduous to circumscribe as an out-of-body experience; ambiguously to-be called a fractional out-of-body experience or a partial autoscopy. It was an experience in the presence of observers who were naive of what the individual was experiencing. This experience has surely helped the individual plummet into imagining the existence of an form beyond the body; the existence of a soul; that which is conscious; that which can think like the mind; that which resides within the body and that which can detach from the body when death advances. There is a possibility of it being a neuro-psychological or neuro-parapsychological experience; an experience whose actuality is grim to prove or construct in third person, but certainly subsists for the experiencer; the experiencer being myself.

Key Words 

Out-of-body, Experience, Soul, Consciousness

The experience of being out-of-my body

It was a beautiful day; I was with a few friends sitting on the over-head water tank of my 6 storied building, approximately 90 feet high. This place was our regular hangout, as it always felt great to be up there, as the view till today is always amazing. I was 18, with an eagerness to enjoy and explore life; with an enthusiasm to do things that would defy life, but the least I knew that this day would change my perception of life forever. As we chatted, jokes filled us with joy and play, which somehow lead us into trivial games; games that one should never play. The over-head tank is laden with water-pipes and has a large water-pipe approximately 2 inches thick, that runs along the tank, where one could attempt to balance on it; an insane thing to do at such a height, but definitely gave a feeling of achievement if completed. It was not something new that I was doing, as I had been repeatedly doing it whenever I would go up there and therefore was confident about completing it without tripping over.

Excited and with my adrenaline all pumped up, I challenged my friends that I would complete the walk in one go and I decided to attempt the task, not knowing what I was about to experience. Over-confidence made my strides wider and faster, and with everyone cheering, it heightened my confidence and inadvertently my ego. While balancing on the water pipe, I missed a step and slipped, I lost my balance and at that point I felt my body fall off the water tank; I felt my body being pulled away from the tank and with nothing there to cling on to, I knew that it was the end; I was aware that my body would fall 90 feet to the ground and death was approaching. My confidence and ego was shattered as my legs left the ground and my hands precipitously moved around to grab whatever came my way, but all that I felt was nothingness. That moment resulted in an experience where in a flicker of a second a life review began; my past flashed in front of my eyes and I saw images as one would see it in a personal scrap book; my life story in frames flashing in front of my eyes.

As my life review began, I somehow felt being detached from my body and lost sensation of being within it; a feeling of weightlessness. I felt as if I was rising rather than going down. My life review stopped and I could see myself in a form emanating out of the body from the face till my chest and at that moment I felt someone grab me and pull me to the ground. It was my friend who did this as part of his reflex and therefore I owe my life to him. I was back again in my body when I hit the ground and passed out. All of a sudden my eyes opened and I saw all my friends staring at me, all perplexed. It felt as if I had just woken up after a long night sleep, to see my friends looking at me. The frightful feeling of falling didn’t seem to exist and at that moment I felt a feeling of joy and happiness; a feeling as if I had learned something.

As I woke up, my friends asked me what happened, but I did not know where to begin or rather I could not put it into words; I was confused. I asked them how long did I pass out, and they said that it was just a few minutes, but for me the whole episode seemed to have lasted for almost half an hour. The trip, the fall, the review, the experience of the departing form, all of it happened in just a few minutes, but for me it seemed like a long period. As I narrated this experience to my friends, they laughed and joshed about it. It was a personal experience, a beautiful experience where I defied death. If that was my soul, it was definitely nimbler than my body, and in case I would have fallen, that form would have taken off from my body. It was my experience and I felt no one and neither did I see anyone; all that came as a flash in front of me was my past in the form of images.

It seems that my nimbler form exists within my body and knew the limitations of my body as I felt it ripping out of my body, for it knew that my body would not survive the fall; a mutilated body is definitely no place to reside. The moment I was held and pulled back, it realized that my body is safe and it pulled itself back, putting me into a deep sleep. It is an experience that bought a significant change in me; a change that has made me fearless of death; changed my perception of death. I have been very reluctant to share this experience, but my endeavors to understand the existence of a non-local soul or consciousness or mind has made me more open towards sharing it. The vividity and richness of the experience still persists that only I as the experiencer could experience.

Conclusion

My out-of-body or fractional out-of-body experience fortified the feeling of the presence of a form that resides within me; call it my soul, consciousness or mind. Based on this first experience, it can be said, but not concluded that this form that resides within me is aware, it thinks and sustains. This event could be easily passed-off as a neuro-psychological or neuro-parapsychological event associated with the dysfunctioning of the brain, where the brain in mental shock could possibly result in such an event. But for me as the experiencer this event will always remain phenomenal until proven within the realms of scientific explanation. It is definitely a difficult experience to understand and explore from a scientific perspective, but surely a vivid experience that made me realize the beauty that lies within; for it remains as my experience and therefore is purely my opinion. 

Contzen Pereira, Ph.D. Independent Scholar, Mumbai, India. Email Address: contzen@rediffmail.com, contzen@gmail.com

 

Cadence

Introduction
I have had many meditative experiences.  Some I documented, many I did not.  After my experiences, I have had and probably always will have many questions.  I will share one here that I titled Cadence.  There could be many rational explanations for what I experienced but I choose to keep an open mind rather than judge a thing.  For me, I find that once I have judged a thing, I have limited the scope of its potentiality.  I don't like the idea of limited potential.

Meditative Vision
Into the depths of the darkness of the void I traveled with my consciousness. No sight or sensation to guide me, just this sound that seemed both within me and outside of me. For long moments I drifted with one foot in two worlds. Before long the entirety of the Multi-verse appeared in my field of vision. No longer had I a physical body but rather a strand of energy consciousness that comprised my being. In the heart of the Multi-verse did I appear to be and then with lightning speed, it began to grow distant. So distant, in fact that the Multi-verse itself seemed to be one tiny pinprick of light in a vast canopy of pure darkness.

To the very edge of the Multi-verse I had somehow traveled and within this space of pure darkness all I saw were thin wisps of blue lightning that appeared now and then without any sound. The peace and the stillness were palpable, peaceful and awe inspiring broken by this beautiful cobalt blue streaks of light. A voice spoke with such a richness of tone that reverberated throughout the whole of my being but there were no words to recount. Being so used to using words, I sent out a thought, “Where are we?”

“We are outside of both space and time as you know it,” said my companion in a wave of feeling interpreted by some understanding I had lost touch with.

“Why am I here?” I sent back to my seeming companion still awestruck at the blue light flickering now and then in the pristine darkness of the void.

“You wanted to explore and so you have come,” my unseen but very much felt companion conveyed.
“Who are you?” I asked so very curious.

“I am the Omega or the Alpha but words and names mean nothing here in this place. Be not so concerned with words,” my companion said.

Contemplating the tiny dot of light in my field of vision, I asked, “Are you the Creator of that?” I indicated focusing on the tiny pinpoint of light that was the Multi-verse.

“I am and I am not,” my companion said.

“Well if you are not the creator then who is the creator of the Multi-verse?” I asked still so very curious.

“The Elohim created the Universe that you know and the Multi-verse that houses it,” the presence answered in response feeling sympathetic to my questioning.

Thinking carefully about the fact that if the Elohim created the Universe and the presence referred to the Elohim as separate from it, I assumed he may have had a different creator. I asked then, “Who is your creator and where do you come from?”

My companion said, “Come, I will show you.”

We traveled, I sensed, as I felt a strange movement as in slight changes in barometric pressure on Earth. I asked about the “traveling” and received in response that we were traveling not within a dimension but through dimensions. After a short time the void of pure darkness was replaced with a light. Glowing pink living light filled my field of vision. A sight my mind could not interpret but for the color and a visual beating with the same cadence as a human heart. A slight motion to the right of the pink light was a blue light and again with a visual I could not interpret or put to words but the same beating and cadence. Another turn and there were more colors that I could interpret but the rest I could not. I felt completely at peace but surrounded by these fields of pulsing light. I asked again, still so very curious, “This is your Creator?”

 Instead of a direct response to my question, my companion said, “The time for thinking is done. Notice the beating of your human heart so very far away back on Earth. Notice how the cadence is the same as it is here and feel it. There are no words but there is feeling, so feel it. Tune into the cadence and know the answer to your questions. The time for words and thinking, the time of questioning and answering is done. It is time now to feel,” the presence said again without a single word.

And the rest was lost in translation and I fell from that place in my consciousness. I opened my eyes and saw a single candle flame dancing on an altar. It was my own back on Earth comprised of sacred things to me. I stared at the flame for a time trying to understand and I heard a faint whisper, “There are no words, there is only consciousness.” I blew out the candle.

Conclusion
I can conclude nothing from my vision with certainty.  Perhaps I simply have a very imaginative and creative mind, maybe I connected with something or maybe everything I saw, felt and seemingly "heard," was just symbolic of what was happening at this point in my life.  I note this experience occurred before my kundalini experience.  In fact, I had many of these types of experiences before my kundalini experience.  Maybe they are related?  Honestly, I do not know.  The feeling during the experience was beautiful and peaceful.  So, maybe I just suspend the desire to judge or label it and leave it at that?

 

© 2016 Jaie Hart

Rev. Dr., J.L. Harter, see Bio Section for more information.

The White Hot Light That Burns (without hurting)

Introduction:
I had a personal experience with Kundalini back in February of 2013. Having read about the experiences of others with Kundalini, nothing could have prepared me for my own experience. It occurred unexpectedly and was life changing in ways I am still only discovering. I was skeptical of the experience even though I had read about it. I am a skeptic, no more. The experience is real, the life changes that followed were truly in my best interest and I’m truly grateful to be able to finally recount it in this way. I’m sharing this experience here for others who may be curious.

A Beautiful Memory:
I was never certain that I believed in Kundalini experiences. I've read about them off and on for over 30 years since I took an interest in life before lives, rather than life after life. I guess the journey began for me some time ago with what was termed for me as a "spontaneous past-life memory." That event lead me on a quest for over 30 years. I didn't have a teacher, a guru or spiritual wise one to guide me in my search for answers to all the questions I had about some pretty amazing experiences I can recount over the whole of my life. At some point during my journey, I picked up meditation. I'm not sure why exactly. Maybe it was the promise of peace, calm and even greater self-understanding. Did it bring me that? Yes, I suppose it did. Some 14 years or so after experience an Near-Death-Experience during pregnancy, and following some pretty tiring and trying life experiences, I just started. I started meditating out of desperation to find calm, peace to reconcile disappointment, anxiety, heart-break and this weird sense of knowing that none of the experiences I've ever had were anything to be concerned about.

The Experience:
After about 5 years of nightly meditation of at least 30 minutes, something changed. I began my nightly routine as I usually did. I cleared all of the negative energy from my being merely breathing in each of the colors of light of the rainbow. It began with a deep beautiful purple light extending into the core of my being, followed by blue extending further out to my entire home, then a deep emerald green encompassing the entirety of my city, then a beautiful sunny yellow to encompass all of the united states, then a beautiful brilliant orange to encompass the Earth, a deep magenta/red expanding into our galaxy, I brought in a beautiful golden color when I imagined the entirety of the Galaxy and then beautiful opalescent white I as I extended the light into the void and beyond. I stayed there for the longest time, it seemed. When all thought of my own existence dropped away, I heard a faint pure tone. I could not tell you the key but it was beautiful. I felt then a vibration that seemed to start in the very Earth and move up into my body. I breathed gently and slowly to stave off the thinking part of my mind that prickled with a feeling of something supernatural about to occur. Just then, the vibration seemed to swirl in a clock-wise fashion physically about me. I stayed with the feeling and allowed myself to remain present. Another tone came faintly, at first, into the edges of my consciousness. Another pure tone, I also could not describe by note. It harmonized with the first tone but was higher in pitch. I stayed present with the sensation of swirling, not one tone now but two and then I felt a white hot burning in the very base of my spine. It did not hurt but the more I felt it, the more I felt the swirling, felt the tones vibrating and a hissing sound became apparent. I sat with the feeling not knowing what was happening, trying with all I had in me to keep my thinking mind partitioned. Then the third and final tone, even higher pitched than the other two began and it blended in beautiful harmony. The white hot burning sensation began to move up my spine. It moved slowly to the middle of my back but the higher it rose, the louder the hissing was.

I noticed I felt a sensation of pressure now along with the white-hot burning that did not hurt, the swirling, the hissing and the beautiful tones that I just wanted to become forever lost in. I willed myself gently now to just stay present for the experience and the feeling moved into the space behind my heart. The intensity of feeling, hearing, sensing grew and grew and then the white hot burning moved again to the back of my throat. I involuntarily sat up very straight and aligned my neck because I knew it was going there next. The white hot burning moved into my neck and it stayed there for the longest time. My throat felt warm and tingling and the other sensations continued. The white hot burning moved seemingly into the very center of my brain and I could feel it there and the moment I did, the colors burst into my inner vision like fire works. The most memorable ones where the beautiful purple and orange colors, burgundy and blue, blinding white and golden light. I could feel this light in a way my words will not do justice. It was alive both inside of me and outside of me. I stayed with the feeling enjoying it so much. I could feel the tears falling as I very emotionally began to feel pure joy. The white hot burning sensation began to move again and I thought of the crown of my head and I had an urgent thought to will the crown of my head to open to allow the energy to come all the way through me. The feeling of energy was so intense that this was something I really felt I had to do as if my very life depended upon it. In my mind, with all of these colors flashing, the heat of the white hot burning sensation filling me fully now as if it were 100+ degrees there in my room on a cool February night and finally I could collect the thoughts, OPEN, OPEN, OPEN.

I felt the energy rushing through me like a white hot raging river but it was gentle as much as it was forceful and the colors and feelings just continued to explode. I felt bliss. I felt love. I felt absolutely wonderful. As the last drops of that white hot energy sailed away through the top of my head, I was left in this dreamy, comfortable space of pure peace, calm and silence. I could physically feel the pressure of the energy all around me and I could not stop crying. When my normal and logical senses began to return, the thought occurred to me to just be very grounded. I held a small stone my youngest daughter had given me. A simple rock we found on the beach that had been perfectly tumbled smooth in the waves. I imagined feeling so very connected to the Earth. It helped with the very drunk and giddy feeling the energy left me with. I had to get outside and so made my way down stairs and stood barefoot on the cold concrete just staring up at the stars feeling so very connected. No longer able to fight my logical mind, I thought - is THIS what a Kundalini experience feels like?

The Aftermath:
The weeks that followed brought me frequently interrupted sleep as the energy would often surge at night while I was sleeping, waking me up with that feeling of overheated and swirling or pulsing. It would pass fairly quickly and I'd fall back to sleep, only to be awakened again in an hour with the same sensation. It passed in intensity and still comes at times even though 3 years have passed. The things that followed were interesting. In the physical world, there was recovery to do. Things I thought I wanted no longer worked. I gave up a challenging position I worked long and hard to get that no longer suited me. I changed my perspective on much. I met my life partner after that as well and well, I nearly had a nervous break down. It was not harsh and overly painful but clear...clear in that I felt the impetus of change upon me and new I had to follow my intuition. I had ignored it for far too long.

Conclusion (or New Beginning):
I became much more intuitively sensitive. Things got my attention more clearly than before. The experience of my NDE coupled with a Kundalini experience has left me feeling so strange at times. The things I once loved to do, to strive for and to agonize over just no longer served me. I had to let go of so much because the thought of carrying animosity or even trying to made me sick. I forgave a lot, became much more gratitude focused and all the energy seemed to calm within me. I could feel people differently than before. No matter what they said to me, I could feel the origin of the feeling behind their words at times. It was a bit strange and at times left me feeling both very connected and yet also a bit isolated and sometimes confused. My Kundalini experience occurred in 2013. Following that experience and a near nervous breakdown, I was medicated for a couple of years and that got me through the worst of it. I don't recommend that route though as it is a long and arduous journey out of it. Today, today things are so much better. I am peaceful and accepting and have given up my spiritual quest. I learned that I hold the answers I seek. If my NDE and the Kundalini experience brought me this, well, I'm just grateful. I have enough and I now finally realize, I am enough. For the first time ever, I am comfortable in my own skin even if the bulk of my world and responsibilities feel a bit limiting at time. At some level I realize that I have the life I always wanted, the perfect existence for me and I'm still just so very grateful.

In a way, I am still recovering and discovering exactly what that means. For the rest of my life I will be integrating the experiences of both my NDE and Kundalini experience and I welcome every breath and step with much gratitude.

© 2016 

Dr. J.L. Harter, Editor see bio section for more information.

Malware in the Conscious Operating System

We’ve all got some form of what I like to call “malware in the conscious operating system.” Malware as I use the term in this context equates to belief, which is like a computer virus or adware that infects a computer system and renders it less than optimal and only partially functioning in many ways. Some of our beliefs are very much like a virus as they are formed and seep into our conscious operating systems unconsciously. To understand this completely, we really need to look at these terms in a little more detail so we can clearly understand what is plainly right in front of us in terms of our daily existence. Until it’s called out, we are unaware of the existence of a thing. Without said awareness, the “malware” so-to-speak, lives on unfettered by understanding creating some interesting challenges for a soul to deal with. That isn’t bad or wrong, I’ll say. Keep in mind this is just a framework for understanding.

When we look at belief alone, we can begin to understand precisely what it means. In fact, dictionary.com defines it as:

noun

1. something believed; an opinion or conviction: a belief that the earth is flat.
2. confidence in the truth or existence of something not immediately susceptible to rigorous proof: a statement unworthy of belief.
3. confidence; faith; trust: a child's belief in his parents.
4. a religious tenet or tenets; religious creed or faith: the Christian belief.

A belief in a thing does not make it real or a fact. A very quick and simple example of this fact is our common belief for the sake of convenience that the sun rises and sets each day when in fact, it is the Earth that is turning. We might even think the world turns slowly when in fact the truth is that the Earth spins on its axis at the speed near the equator at approximately 1,070 miles per hour according to starryskies.com. So, we can believe the sun rises and sets all we want to or that the Earth turns slowly but we can see from the facts, that these things are not true. The beliefs are not real. We have come to believe the sun rises at sets or that the Earth turns slowly from things that we have read or been told by others who held these beliefs.

There is another term I have often used, “Environmental Psychology.” This term references the things, situations and influence of the outside world upon a person that leads to the forming of belief about one’s self, one’s life or life in general that has more of a psychological nature. Such things might include beliefs that we are worthy or unworthy, gifted or cursed, lucky or unlucky, lovable or unlovable and the list goes on. Again, our environmental psychology has shaped our beliefs about ourselves, other people and the world. But if our beliefs are not true and we’ve built the entirety of our lives upon a false premise in the form of belief or holding unconsciously to a belief created by environmental psychology, how might that affect our experience of life?

So above we have defined how our beliefs are formed. Let us get into the now and sit very comfortably with our new understanding for just a moment. How might this new information assist us in how we live our lives right here and right now? Well, it can help us in a great many of ways but we must first steer clear of any form of blame for the series of beliefs that we hold that limit us in any way. We’re going to start living in the now positively because that puts our power right where it belongs, in our own hands. So, let us be accountable for our beliefs because whether or not they were given to us or we formed them in response to environmental psychology, it is we who decide to continue to hold the belief or not. Right? Give that some thought. No one is holding a gun to your head forcing you to hold that thought from your childhood where you overheard Aunt Martha or Uncle Harry say to each other you were a "this kind of child" or a "that kind of child" that left you feeling either bad or good. Belief is not real. It is untested hypothesis.

Moving right along, we can unleash an anti-virus program for the Malware running in the background of our Human Consciousness Operating System in the form of belief given us by environmental psychology. But to do this, you must realize it will take effort, commitment, courage, tenacity and a little bit of reflection and critical analysis. You have to find the malware first before you can remove it. If you do not know it is there, you will never find its source and never be able to remove it successfully and will always resort to behaving as if old beliefs are facts. So, the simple way to find them is to look for them.
 

An easy way to spot them is to think about something that you really want right now in this moment. Go ahead, think about that for a moment. Have you got something in mind? Good. Hold that thought. Now, think about what in your mind prevents you from having what you want? Jot down all the reasons or rationales that have you believing that you cannot or do not have what you want. Continue until you have every possible reason whether real or not real, vetted and noted. Don't judge what you think, just write it down. Now, take a look at your list. I am willing to bet that there will be at least one if not many more life limiting beliefs representing themes of malware that you’ve lived with your entire life staring right back at you hidden quite conveniently in simple thoughts. 

Choose one of those thoughts on your list that you’d like to investigate further. Take that thought and ask yourself is the thought you chose real? Is the belief behind it real? Can you prove that it is real? How can you prove it is real without using an assumption and only dealing with independently verifiable facts that stand up to repeated testing with the same outcome? By critical thinking I mentioned above, I did not mean to think of yourself critically. I meant to start critically analyzing your beliefs with the rigor of a scientific researcher. Is that thought or belief true? How do you know? If you run across a belief on your list that cannot be independently verified as definitive truth or fact, I invite you to introduce yourself to your first piece of malware. Now, if you’d like to eradicate the malware you have to be willing to let go of the belief no matter what that means. Sometimes letting go of a belief can be simple and at other times it can be very difficult. Letting go of the idea of Santa Clause was not easy at first as a child now was it? Letting go of the idea of monsters under the bed also wasn’t easy but getting to the truth and dealing with reality is how we can set ourselves free from malware.  

You see, malware is a prison we commit ourselves to for many very good reasons but mostly due to lack of conscious understanding. You may have full understanding at the spiritual level and any malware you hold may be the very premise from which your greatest life lessons are learned. However, if you find at some point that your beliefs limit you in ways that you no longer desire, you can relinquish the beliefs that don’t bear out under the scrutiny of testing and in so doing you reveal to yourself the hiding place of the key that unlocks the door to your self-made prison cell.  
Do you remember I said earlier there was no right way or wrong way to learn life lessons? In this wonderful piece of wisdom from the Kybalion written by the Three Initiates early on in the last century, the following phrase comes: "Every Cause has its Effect; every Effect has its Cause; everything happens according to Law; Chance is but a name for Law not recognized; there are many planes of causation, but nothing escapes the Law."--The Kybalion. There is cause and there is effect. Your beliefs create the path from which you learn about your life. If you find your lesson plan enjoyable, proceed without change. If you find it isn’t and you seek greater understanding, then look to your malware, beliefs and environmental psychology. The emerging patterns and themes will be your guide and will help you to understand you. It’s one tiny part of the reason you are here.  

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little bit of food for thought. If you'd like to learn more about this topic and how the concepts of it can help you remove the obstacles in your life that prevent your growth, let me know. I've got a book and workbook for you that can help you discover more about yourself called Exploring the Conscious Self. With the self-study guide book and work-book, you'll be well on your way to discovering a good many things about you that you may never have given thought to. If you're interested in more details, please contact me at jaiehart@gmail.com.  

  Dr. J.L. Harter, Editor see bio section for more information.

Tell Me Not About the Weather but How You Perceive It

The quality of light is slightly different at 6:45 am when it’s already 79 degrees Fahrenheit than on a day that has started out at say, maybe, 60 degrees or below, I’ve noticed.  I’m not sure why that is.  Certainly there must be some scientific explanation that might serve as suitable enough a description to satisfy an inquiring mind such as mine? 

Alas, however, I am not a scientist but a philosopher and it is not may way to grab hold of scientific knowledge to tout it about but rather to take it in if and only if it might serve in some way to improve or challenge my understanding of a thing.  To describe my sunny observation of these hot days I have to go into a method of using the words inside of my mind to attempt to convey the richness of the hues, the golden ever so slightly rosy tint of silver everything seems etched in on the early morning of a very hot day and realize this scene and its accompanying set of associated feelings is not something we all notice very often if at all.  I notice it only because I am an early riser and I see this on every very warm day.  Sometimes my perception is accompanied by a neutral nonchalance while at others, a fair bit of trepidation as my mind runs simulations of the days' potential events and future potential resulting feelings.

We’ve been unseasonably hot with much humidity of late in my part of the world but I’m not really here to talk about the weather.  I’m here to talk about the human condition and leading up to that moment when we encounter something we just simply think we can bear not even one more single moment of.  What then do we do?  I suppose our individual environmental psychology might take over then and dictate how we will handle ourselves when the weather is so hot and we’re not used to it.  For many of us, we’re likely to feel quite miserable and no doubt that misery is likely to be shared with all in even remote proximity is some way.  Perhaps we are grumpy and frowning or elated and joyful with the warmth?

Unfortunate or fortunate as that may seem there is something I wish to convey in order for you to consider.  No matter what we face here, life on Earth is tenuous at best. 

Our consciousness however, is not.  Many moons ago on a hot summer day I learned about consciousness in a different way and I’ll never forget what I learned.  The impact that learning had on my awareness has nagged me for nearly 20 years and so it is not so surprising I guess that I’m awake staring into the darkness, noticing the stars and the fact that it is still 79-80 degrees Fahrenheit at precisely 5:38 am and I’ve got a full day of yoga training ahead of me.

One thing I’ve noticed is that the mind is so very powerful as is our ability to perceive and make choices.  Although so much seems so involuntary, it isn’t.  Maybe we can’t instantaneously and miraculously change the weather in an instant but we can choose whether we feel good or horrible about it and in so doing, changing our experience and how the experience is written into the archives of the soul that bears witness to everything we experience here incarnate and beyond.  And through the soul peers the observer that holds nothing other than its drive towards existence in the absence of judgement…a curiosity or knowningness perhaps that regardless of heat or not, the individual is going to be okay no matter how he or she perceives, reacts or does not react to a thing or situation.   

When I look at the day ahead this way, It doesn’t much matter to  me whether it is hot or cold.  It matters to me that I learn to understand the data I take in consciously and sort out that taken in unconsciously and then choose my perceptions and experiences carefully.  I also think it is important that I consider well my own ability to help me see my own way home and I’m talking about the home inside of me no matter where I am or go or exist.  I exist.  Smiling at that, I leave you with wishes for a beautiful day.

  Dr. J.L. Harter, Editor see bio section for more information.

Pure Consciousness

Photo:  Jaie Hart

Many a philosopher or those with a pioneering spirit from many other disciplines might argue about the concept of what precisely consciousness is.  From each of their individual perspectives and disciplines they may all be right, they might be partially right or they may be all wrong.  To define a bit:

The dictionary meaning of the word consciousness extends through several centuries and associated cognate meanings which have ranged from formal definitions to somewhat more skeptical definitions. One formal definition indicating the range of these cognate meanings is given in Webster’s Third New International Dictionary stating that consciousness is: “(1) a. awareness or perception of an inward psychological or spiritual fact: intuitively perceived knowledge of something in one’s inner self. B. inward awareness of an external object, state, or fact. C: concerned awareness: INTEREST, CONCERN – often used with an attributive noun. (2): the state or activity that is characterized by sensation, emotion, volition, or thought: mind in the broadest possible sense: something in nature that is distinguished from the physical. (3): the totality in psychology of sensations, perceptions, ideas, attitudes and feelings of which an individual or a group is aware at any given time or within a particular time span – compare STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS.”

Spend any time researching the topic of consciousness and pretty soon you’ll find yourself half mad with theories, hypotheses and words like qualia and awareness and many philosophical ideas of what consciousness truly means from so many different angles.  Hundreds of papers have been written on consciousness and still we are no closer to pure understanding but maybe pure is part of something we might need to branch off into and along with "pure" add consciousness and create a new term to explore.  

What is pure consciousness?  Well, I believe that it is that state where you experience not one single thing else but consciousness.  There are no thoughts, no sensations, no input no matter what the mind throws up, you let it slip away as rain down the side of a mountain.  Pure consciousness is like a mountain and something far beyond it as it has no limits or boundaries or definition at all.  From a state of pure consciousness, none of this matters, has bearing on or impacts pure consciousness in the slightest. 

Unless you have experienced this state it is a little hard to explain other than as I have.  The only way I know of to get to a state of pure consciousness is through the practice of meditation and it takes much discipline and practice to get to that state of pure consciousness.  To be honest, I first experienced it during an NDE (Near Death Experience - story for another time).  Knowing what it feels like, I took up meditation again out of curiosity and a desire to explore an experience and it took so many years to see it again, I don’t even want to tell you.  But you can learn to get to it.  The question I ask is, even if you get there and even if you find it and become "enlightened" at the finding of it...“And, so?”

Why would we expend so much effort to project ourselves into a physical existence if all we want to do when we get here is spend all of our time in meditation to make this world disappear?  Didn’t we want to be here in the physical for a reason?  So why not then see it through and learn why it has the parameters it does.  Aren’t you at least a little curious why or how you come to be here? There must be a reason and I think that it must be your reason alone. I don’t wish to know the meaning of life right now.  I’m focused instead on the concept simply stated as "I am."  I can’t tell you what it’s for but it relates to a focus on consciousness.  I can point you to a teacher if you are curious (just let me know).  What I teach is part of consciousness but focused more on the day to day stuff but this topic is never ending and all consuming if you let it be that.

I believe that we are consciousness.  We are part of the great unknown…The All of Everything...The Great Mind...the Source…God….Goddess – choose your term but focus as you do on the feeling when you contemplate consciousness and say I Am.  I Am is complete all by itself.  It needs nothing else but I resist it.  I resist it and yet I experience it every night in meditation…a vast nothingness of pure void, black, dark, beautiful, peaceful and wonderful.  It’s funny having experienced a concept and then rejecting it on another hand but only in a way and maybe it is just semantics and there is no resistance at all but instead an alternative angle of understanding present that will morph into some other understanding that might entertain my psyche for a bit.  It doesn’t matter, none of this matters. Being everywhere and nowhere and understanding what that means in terms of consciousness – now that is priceless.

This may make no sense from the outside looking in.  But if you cut off the outside entirely, breathe slowly and deeply, let your thoughts slide away like rain down the side of a mountain, you might understand what I mean.  In the stillness and quiet we taste a bit of who and what we are.  What does that matter?  I don’t know that it does other than to help you understand that you are more than flesh, bones, brain and a bundle of nerves.  You are that too but so much more.  Add emotion and you have the perfect storm of wonder that humanity is.  It’s truly beautiful.  You are truly beautiful.  Our consciousness from whatever angle for whatever purpose we design is amazing regardless of who is right, wrong or somewhere in between.

Source:

 http://dreamintime.blogspot.com/2015/12/pure-consciousness.html

  Dr. J.L. Harter, Editor see bio section for more information.