Consciousness Continuum

Until recently, I’ve stayed away from using the word “consciousness” in my practice.  I don’t know, maybe I wondered if people would want to debate what consciousness is or isn’t – and I felt inept to convey my lay viewpoint while some of our best philosophers and scientists continue to debate the issue:  is it neurological, quantum or spiritual?  I’m still not prepared to answer that complicated question, but it’s clear we need a little common sense on the topic.  More important, people need to understand how — in the simplest of terms — one’s level of consciousness dictates how we respond to the circumstances of life.

First and foremost, let’s make it simple — consciousness is nothing more than describing how awake you are to yourself, and to the world around you.  You can be awake a little, or a lot.  If you are only slightly awake, the world is a subjective place where you are thrown about by circumstances, emotions and safe choices.  For these folks, the world can easily become a platform of doing in the name of self-interest and ego.

Conversely, if you are fully awake, the world is a vast and interconnected plateau where your personal contribution makes an investment to the greater whole.  As a result, you more easily transcend the grip of circumstances and emotions and make conscious choices aligned with the highest good.  These folks are more interested in the art of being, meaning they do as well, but from a place of clarity, love, expansiveness and service.

And of course, it’s a continuum and most of us live somewhere along this spectrum.   David Hawkins in his book on consciousness, Power vs. Force, says one in fifteen million people live at the far right of the continuum and experience what we’ve come to call enlightenment.  

I suppose you might be curious about where you sit on this continuum, right?  Well, it’s actually fairly easy to discern.  Just notice if you have a stronger propensity to operate from a place of ego and negative emotions, such as guilt, fear, hopelessness or pride…or whether if you’re more apt to be carried by a sense of love, faith or deep inner peace even during challenging times.

In short, consciousness allows you to transcend circumstances, which is what transcendence means in Latin:  beyond this.  And the more you wake up, the more you’re able to get out of your head and untether yourself from the exaggerated emotions that plague many of our lives today.  It doesn’t mean you don’t feel anything, but you can put things in greater perspective because your heart is open.  This expansiveness became increasingly evident to me when my husband suffered a stroke late last year. As you can imagine, I was certainly concerned and felt emotionally jostled occasionally.  And yet, I also felt incredibly strong.  Not because I emotionally disconnected or retreated for survival purposes, but because a sense of faith was palpable whenever I found myself being fully present.  In fact, I would also experience moments of deep appreciation in this presence – for the lessons, technology, staff and the loving support that seemed to be all around us.  But it wasn’t until the crisis passed that I realized that this uncanny sense of presence was new to my life.
 
I want to be clear that being present is not something I learned how to do consciously.  In fact, I can remember reading both of Eckhart Tolle’s books, The Power of Now and A New Earth, and thinking that this way of being, as he described it, was more easily said than done.  After all, he had the benefit of enlightenment to guide his thoughts, behaviors and emotions.  As one of the 14,999,999 million other people who haven’t experienced spontaneous enlightenment, I remember being frustrated that I couldn’t create a bridge from his lovely words and experiences straight to my heart.  I had an intellectual understanding of being and presence, but that didn't help me avoid being flung about my life’s little circumstances.  Until, that is, I started to work on my level of consciousness through blind ignorance.
      
You see, I’ve lived my work over the last few years.  Meaning, I created a practice of releasing old beliefs or healing old wounds using the restorative techniques I use with my clients.  During the process, it’s natural to connect momentarily to the state of being – a place that feels objective and neutral.  When I first started releasing, I’d receive moments of what felt like common sense or clarity.  But as my practice continued, however, I started to connect more often to a sense of joy or peace or contentment, until the feelings finally progressed to a state of pure bliss.  And what I now understand – is that with every beautiful encounter – I would bring a little bit of those emotional states back to expand my conscious awareness.   In the end, it was this regimen that allowed me to transcend the storm of natural emotions, worries and fears that come along with any medical crisis.
     
Maybe you’re still curious about your own level of consciousness, but it feels too unfair to think about life’s big challenges.  If so, just reflect on how you respond to the little things in life.  What happens when someone accidentally butts in front of you in the line at the grocery store or cuts you off on the highway?  What do you say to yourself, or to them?  What feelings run through your body?  How do you behave?  Can you distance yourself from the emotions and ask yourself what might be happening for them?  Can you be curious even in the face of a potential affront?  Do you feel the propensity to do something to prove you’re right, or can you be with the moment and respond from a place of clarity, expansiveness and love?  It’s these everyday moments that often cause me to ask myself:  Is it time to wake up some more?