Conscious Evolution

Conscious Evolution

From our friend Charles R.

A request. Before reading further, please enlarge or download the accompanying image and look at it. Take in the impression for a few moments or however long you are able to look at the image without descending into imagination. Stop thoughts and opinions. Simply look. Then come back to the post.

When we speak or write about conscious evolution, there are two elements that are part of the foundation of the system, Firstly, this system does not belong to anyone. We did not invent it. If we had, it would be the same as any other psychological knowledge. The system comes from higher mind, a conscious source.

The second element depends on you to neither believe nor reject anything you read on these posts or what you may hear from us. Instead, verify what is presented. Verification is one of the foundational pillars of conscious evolution. If we cannot verify an idea, then it will have no practical use. The system is not theoretical. It is a method of how to evolve rather than why.

The ancient expression ‘Man, know thyself’ is not some prehistoric poetic exhortation. We literally do not know that we are subject to a lower self comprised of four brains rather than one. Neither are we familiar with the possibility of a Higher Self, an objective state of consciousness free from imagination and identification.

We believe we are unified, that we are one and the same person from birth to death, and we ascribe the word ‘I’ to all our thoughts, sensations ideas and emotions. Instead of one ‘I’, which we mechanically associate with our name, because of the fragmented nature of our natural state, we are a multiplicity of wants and desires that are generated by the different stimuli to which the four lower centers are subject. Each ‘I’ is emperor for a moment, dragging us into different situations and encounters. Because of our natural state of ignorance, we also harbor the belief that we are masters of our destiny, regardless of the circumstances in which we find ourselves.

Peter Ouspensky states, “Nature develops men and women only up to a certain point.” From the coarsest existence to the most refined, there is no conscious life, or conscious development. We are molded by circumstances; it is all accidental. We are creatures of mechanical habits shaped by our environment.

Conscious evolution is the development from a sleeping state of unawareness to a living principle of continual conscious existence. Contrary to contemporary scientific, spiritual and religious opinion, there are four states of consciousness that a man or woman may experience. The first state of consciousness occurs when we are asleep in our beds at night. The second state of consciousness is our usual waking state. In this state we are able to navigate the world about us, but with little to no self-awareness. The third state of consciousness is an objective self-awareness. We sometimes experience this sate of consciousness, and only momentarily, when we encounter new or unusual circumstances. It appears for a moment or two and then dissipates into the second sate, submerged by our usual habits of imagination and reactions from identifications. The fourth state of consciousness is an objective awareness of oneself as well as an objective relationship to the external world. Both the third and fourth states are profound wordless experiences.

We are also comprised of two psychological characteristics, namely personality and essence. Personality is learned and acquired, from our family, friends, our social status and so on. It is a wholly subjective state formed unconsciously. Personality easily takes on fashions and trends and just as easily discards them for others. Essence on the other hand is what we are born with. Our natural tendencies and proclivities issue from our essence. Often country folk are nearer to essence that city dwellers. The same person who’s attended a rock concert or a sports event and acts and speak in one manner, becomes quite a different, and usually a quieter individual at prayer in church or temple or mosque. Funerals often evoke more essence from us, probably because of the stark and immediate reminder of our mortality.

Although the previous paragraphs paint a grim and perhaps slightly depressing picture of the human condition, a school and the system are the means that allows us to transcend an habitual mechanical life into a living conscious existence. Objective consciousness begins with self-remembering. Efforts that support this state are the non-expression of negative emotions and transformation of suffering. All activities in a school are for the aim of creating consciousness in it’s members. The apex of efforts within a school results in the permanent fusion or crystallization of higher emotional and higher intellectual centers. At this point, efforts to introduce and prolong the third state are no longer necessary since presence is now a permanent state in which the individual lives. It is a state too beautiful, too definite for mere words to describe.

Now, look again at the accompanying image. Look at it for a few moments, or however long you are able without descending into imagination or allowing the usual internal chatter. Again, stop thoughts and opinions. Simply take in the impression and look with presence.

The pure, clear-eyed countenance of the child gazing at you with conscious love is your reflection. It is the image of higher centers looking back at you.

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Image: Fra Angelico, detail of the Madonna delle Ombre, 1450 fresco, Monastero Domenicano di San Marco