Conscious Living: The New Man

Conscious Living: The New Man

“All sacred writings contain both a literal and a psychological meaning … The “sacred” idea of Man — that is, the esoteric or inner idea — is that he possesses an unused higher level of understanding and that his real development [Conscious Evolution] consists in reaching this higher possible level. So all sacred writings have a double meaning because they contain a literal meaning designed to fall on the level of a man as he is, and at the same time they can reach up to the higher level potentially present in him and awaiting him.”— Maurice Nicole

As a personal, long-term aim, I spent the better part of six years studying Shakespeare’s sonnets. I have come to regard the whole of his works as “sacred” texts containing both hidden esoteric ideas and ideas composed of sketches drawn from simple, everyday life which convey an ordinary, literal meaning. His works could satisfy the “groundlings” at the Globe Theater in London or the noble men and women of the court, including Queen Elizabeth I, who was one of his most notable patrons and admirers.

Shakespeare veiled the higher-level meaning by hiding it from his audience in plain sight — similar to other sacred texts, such as the Bible, the Koran, the Mahabharata, to name a few. As a person consciously develops, the higher-level meaning begins to emerge. As I studied, I felt myself progressing from a mere groundling’s understanding towards that of a noblewoman’s more privileged state – I could feel the sonnets nourishing the higher-level potential of my soul as my understanding ripened.

During my long walks, I would focus on a few lines of a particular sonnet and recite it aloud to the trees and neighborhoods through which I passed. I am neither a literature scholar, nor am I interested in the fashionable distraction and intrigue of who the man Shakespeare really was, and I was not troubled if a sonnet was nearly incomprehensible at the start. I let the words wash over me and reassemble themselves into my awareness “as sweet-seasoned showers” seep into the ground. Only after several years of studying all the sonnets, did I finally consult other publications on different scholars’ interpretations.

When studying a new sonnet, I noticed how the rhythmic collection of words — which may or may not have made logical sense to me at first — slowly began to fit together in my understanding. Each connection would expand, like a multi-dimensional jigsaw puzzle, whose clearer image emerged as subtle colors and refined shapes disclosed their position for me. This expansion of understanding is multi-directional and, like a personal “big bang,” it continues to expand.

Some of the recurring themes threaded throughout the sonnets are love, the passage of time, beauty, birth, and death. By being intentionally aware of these recurring themes, not only in Shakespeare’s poetry but also in our daily lives, the hidden deeper insight into the psychological meaning is revealed, connecting our awareness to the unused higher-level potential of living consciously — living from higher centers. Many mysteries, coincidences and synchronicities of life cease to exist when interpreted from a higher state. They contain hidden psychological meaning, and just possibly could be the invisible hand of a god who wishes to remain anonymous.

See if the following quotes, together with the image “take a new acquaintance of [your] mind," that is, your unused higher-level potential. Observations and questions are welcome in the comments.

Memory is synonymous with higher centers; when higher centers are functioning, memory is created. Memory exists independently of time. — The Teacher

In the state of self-consciousness, a man can have flashes of objective consciousness and remember them.— P.D. Ouspensky

Look what thy memory cannot contain,Commit to these waste blanks, and thou shalt find Those children nursed, delivered from thy brain,To take a new acquaintance of thy mind.— Excerpt from Shakespeare Sonnet 77

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Cupid and Psyche as Children (detail) William Adolphe Bouguereau, 1890