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<font face="Sylfaen" size=3>My conceptualizations of consciousness draw
on Carl Jung's ideas, but also from my own insights as a Shaman, and my
experiences with Kundalini. <br>
<br>
"As above so below"... I am going to describe the aspects of
the human consciousness in terms of layers. In my description we are
beginning at the surface and moving downward through the layers, into
unity, but I could just as easily speak of "higher" instead of
lower. <br>
<br>
I am defining separate layers of the unconscious mind, for the purposes
of conceptualization, but the map is not the territory. We
conceptualize in linearity, our minds are linear- we think one thought at
a time, but there really isn't any linearity, outside of our experience
of time-space. Space and time are illusion, an artefact of linear
perception. Everything everywhere is really happening all at once. <br>
<br>
We draw maps, and put in boundary lines defining areas and territory, but
those dividing lines are fuzzy to nonexistent in the reality of the
individual psyche. The spiritual truth is that 'All is One.' <br>
<br>
The "Top" or surface layer is the ego mind: who you think
you are; your conditioned mind. Usually, it is a grocery list of
qualities, much like how you might define yourself for a personal ad or
resume. Your age, occupation, marital status, politics, height,
weight, etc. Your beliefs, opinions, likes and dislikes, plus the baggage
of your experiences: The personal qualities that are a result of how you
chose to respond to events, in the past. The ego includes anything
that you believe about yourself, that is a fear, judgment, belief or
limit. Most people are only aware of the ego aspect of themselves,
as identity, although in dreams they may get a glimpse of greater
potential. <br>
<br>
Jung defines Shadow self as "What you think you are not."
Those qualities you deny and repress in yourself, and project onto, or
see in others. He classifies it as the part of the ego, and that
makes sense, because it really is a shadow cast by the ego, a mirror
reflection of ego beliefs. I consider it part of the unconscious...
because it is usually hidden from the ego. <br>
<br>
People normally do not consider what they are not, as part of what
they are; yet it is. Generally speaking, you only criticize
qualities in others that are also part of you.<br>
You are All that Is, manifest into an illusion of individuality.
Therefore, the content of Karma that is held by the Shadow is also the
veil of separation that keeps you from knowing your Divine, infinite
Self. You are All. <br>
<br>
The Shadow only takes form, as a guide if you are a Shaman. In
Kundalites, it remains hidden, mysterious and invisible except for the
growing awareness of how the things that bug us most about other people,
are faults we have ourselves. That which we think we are not, the
projections, are separation that keeps us from experiencing Unity. <br>
<br>
If you are All that Is, then you are Christ, Gandhi, Buddha, Mohammed and
all the Archangels. If you are All that Is, then you are also Hitler,
Genghis Khan, Dracula and Pinochet... but those aspects of yourself are
likely repressed and hidden by the Shadow. If you feel a negative
reaction to the idea that you are Hitler, then you understand better,
what Jung meant: "The shadow is that which we think we are not.
" It also means the qualities you most admire in others are a part
of you, too. What you see is yourself reflected. <br>
<br>
The Unconscious IS the Divine Beloved. Jung said the unconscious
mind is the opposite gender of the body: anima/animus. The Divine
Beloved holds your whole life's memories. You don't see your whole
life flashing before your eyes unless you are dying or in serious crisis
situation, but the process of Kundalini brings forth a lot of forgotten
memories and emotional experiences up into consciousness so they can be
forgiven, surrendered, integrated. Kundalini is a death and rebirth
process, so you may see you life flashing before your eyes but over a
span of years of meditations, out of linear order, because your Divine
Beloved will pace and guide the process to what is best for you, and what
you can handle. <br>
<br>
Your Divine Beloved knows where all your personal karma is stored,
the Shadow is Gatekeeper who keeps you from being inundated by all of the
information at once. The Divine Beloved chooses what will come up to be
integrated or released, and when. It is in charge of your Kundalini
process. <br>
<br>
The form of your Divine Beloved will be unique to you, but the
Divine is All, so it also encompasses many of the deeper layers, just as
the vast unconscious mind includes or encompasses the collective
consciousness. The Unconscious is unified with the Collective Cosmic
Consciousness, which in turn is not separate from the Unity consciousness
which is All... Goddess. The Divine Beloved can take any form, or none at
all, but usually it will take the form of your "ideal" partner,
the man or woman of your dreams. Within you, Goddess takes a form that
you can love, to have a personal, intimate relationship with you. You can
have a personal relationship with your own Spirit. <br>
<br>
The layer between your personal memories, and the collective, contains
the Archetypes ... usually perceived as the "Old gods", like
Thor and Kali... they have *form*. That is, they often can be recognised
by how they look, dress, and behave. They are a part of you, but
they are also themselves, and are manifestations of the universal energy
and your own unconscious mind. Often archetypes are connected to
particular symbols, like how Thor is represented by the peculiar pointed
Celtic hammer, and a Nordic Rune. Archetypes are representations of
different aspects of being human, although some make take the form of
animals or monsters. <br>
<br>
There are many different forms or representations of the
Archetypes. One is the 12 signs of the Zodiac, another is the Greek
pantheon of old Gods. Each of the Greek Gods represents an aspect of
Being: Athena is wisdom, Aphrodite is sexual love, Mars is war and
aggression, etc. The Tibetans have a similar cosmology, with hundreds of
lesser deities or demons representing the many aspects of being human. In
esoteric Christianity, these take the form of angels or demons.<br>
Most older religions do not separate the old ones into concepts of
good and bad, so clearly. Aphrodite was the Goddess of love, but she
could also be jealous, angry, manipulative... just like people. <br>
<br>
Below the level of the archetypes, is the collective, which is the
storehouse of every lifetime that ever has or will be, or could be, on
every sentient planet. This is sometimes referred to as the Akashic
records. <br>
<br>
You can learn to read the Akashic records deliberately, but I do not
recommend it. It is not very useful, since limitless manifestation
suggests that within the Records, lies *every* possibility. Not
only what did or will happen, but also everything that ever could
happen. The possibility you tap into, is not necessarily the one
that was or will Be. What you will see, is yourself reflected. You will
see into a mirror of your fears and limiting beliefs, so you can
surrender your fear and integrate. <br>
<br>
Trying to be guided by the Akashic records can really pull you off
balance, especially if you get attached to what you see, as
"Truth." I have seen people get pulled into some crazy ideas
from going there, especially if they have an ego attitude of specialness
at being able to do so, or think they are some kind of clairvoyant
messenger of truth. Better to stay in the Now and let "Goddess
handle it"...let higher wisdom guide your path, and be a passive
recipient of Divine insights. <br>
<br>
If you need to know something, Goddess will find a way to communicate...
either intuitively, or through synchronicity. Goddess is omnipotent
and outside of time, She can arrange the synchronicities you need years
in advance, so to speak... and She will, because She loves you. A
song on the radio answering a question you posed in your mind, a show on
TV mirroring a situation you are struggling with... As you start to
become more observant of yourself, you will notice a line from a song or
conversation will seem to stand out, or stick in your head. Do not
get obsessive trying to give these events meaning. They will tend
to be clarified by appearing in patterns of 3 or more. Be patient; wait
to be shown meaning rather than quickly attaching to an interpretation.
When you consider interpretations, stay grounded and pay attention to
your gut reaction: tension means it is not true. <br>
<br>
The collective consciousness is also where your Past lives are
stored. I discourage people from getting too absorbed with the idea
of past lives. Sometimes people will use a belief in a special past
life to build ego, or they will use an idea of a bad past life to
emotionally abuse themselves. <br>
<br>
For myself, I believe in past lives every second Tuesday
and on those days I can contemplate whether the Tibetan elements of my
work come from a past life as a Lama, or the SM elements come from my
past life as a Romanian Prince. It is fun. The rest of the
time it is irrelevant. Here and now is what is important. <br>
<br>
If time and space do not truly exist and everything is really
happening all at once, what is past? It is better to consider
visions of past lives as parables or metaphors drawn from the library of
the collective, to give insights into what is happening in your life and
relationships in the present life and time. <br>
<br>
If you are truly All that Is, then all "past lives" are
yours, part of you already. It is best to think of past lives, as simply
metaphors of what is occurring in the here and now. Resonant parables
drawn from the collective, by your unconscious to give you insight into
current events.<br>
<br>
Below the level of the collective, is the "Light", the Godhead.
Most people who have Near Death experiences don't make it all the way
into the Light. They stop at the edge of it, Heavens gate where they
meet angels and dead relatives. <br>
Deeper in, you will find a non-dual place of light. In that place
you are God, there is lots of bright light, and you are alone. You are
All. <br>
<br>
If you go through the light you come out the other side, into the
Void: the place outside of time that can be thought of as the
"Dreamtime"... the place "before" creation where all
of creation comes from. Infinite womb of Goddess, a place of no forms,
but infinite potential. <br>
<br>
In the Genesis of the Old testament, it says that in the beginning there
was Void, nothingness. Out of the Void came a voice that said "Let
there be light." Goddess, the Void (Consciousness) giving birth to
her consort, God the Light (matter and energy)... and between them, they
created everything else. <br>
<br>
There spiritual aspects of consciousness that are individual,
include the soul and the Higher self. The higher self often appears in
dreams as a wise older person the same gender as yourself. The higher
self is like halfway between the ego and the soul. It is individual as
you are, and it interacts with people as you do, but it is closer to
spirit. Sometimes it is easier to deal with someone on a higher self
level, and allow things to trickle down into physical reality; but it is
best to let your Angels negotiate on your behalf. The Higher Self has
free will, like the ego, and so it carries a reflection of your karma,
and becomes more enlightened as you do. I have found some peoples higher
selves in need of healing, whereas the Soul cannot be harmed by anything
you do in this life. <br>
<br>
The soul appears as a tiny, infinitely bright spark of light, most
often found near the power chakra. It is Divine, it chose from your
parents DNA to make you, and it knows your path for this lifetime. What
you incarnated to experience. It does not experience separation from
Goddess, beyond duality there is only one soul, having every experience
everywhere. It is like that physics theory that suggests there is only
one photon, very busy appearing everywhere at once. <br>
<br>
I know these are tricky concepts, slippery at best. I will
explain it another way to give greater understanding. <br>
<br>
Consider the aspects of your consciousness, as if they are sitting
together, at an outdoor cafe on the French Riviera. <br>
You sit in one chair. You as your ego, that which you think you
are, your conditioned mind. Anything that you believe about yourself that
is a fear, judgment, belief or limit. All your ideas about yourself.
<br>
Across from you, sits your Shadow side. Your inner demon, that
which you think you are not. It may look like simply a very deep shadow,
or it may take the form of someone you judge and reject. Or even
someone you admire, someone you think you cannot measure up to. The
Shadow is a reflection of the ego: the bigger the ego, the larger
shadow it casts. They both represent your separation from the Divine,
except the Shadow is the part of the Divine that has taken on the task of
reflecting your fears back to you, so you can choose love instead and
clear karma. <br>
For everything you believe you are, there is a belief of what you are
not. Ego polishes its buttons of pride and illusions of holier than thou,
because all flaws and negative judgments are projected onto the
Shadow. The Shadow plays the bad guy, by reflecting it all back at
you so you can see what you fear, and have the free will option to choose
love and unity. In most awakened people the shadow is integrated through
the discipline of seeing yourself mirrored as what you judge. With
some spiritual awakening, such as Shamanism, it is not unusual for the
Shadow to take a form, to be an inner teacher. A harsh trainer, whose
sharp tongue teaches humility. You have to learn to love and accept your
own shadow unconditionally, to integrate it and become self realized.
<br>
To one side of you sits your Divine Beloved, your own unconscious mind
which has a mind of its own. It is usually the opposite gender of your
body. It is your soul mate, lover and guide. <br>
Behind and above you floats an invisible presence, the Witness. The part
of you can see outside of your ego, it sees things as they really are
without the distortions of ego or emotion. This aspect of you is
outside of duality, emotionless unconditional love. You will learn
how to deliberately invoke this presence, or state of mind, in a later
lesson. <br>
Behind the Shadow and the Divine beloved, there is a large crowd
gathered: the Archetypes. These are most easily understood as
manifestations of the old Gods. Many Pagan pantheons, such as the Greek,
Roman, Norse and Mayan Pantheons had a God for each aspect of being
human. Athena is the Goddess of reason and self defensive war, Mars
is the God of aggressive war and conflict. <br>
Behind the Archetypes, is an infinite crowd; the collective
consciousness. Every being whom ever existed, or ever will exist. Every
event, every blade of grass and every snowflake that ever has been or
will be, is alive in the eternal moment, outside of time. All of
this is within the infinity of the collective consciousness. <br>
The Divine Beloved, encompasses all the archetypes, and the entire
collective. Your unconscious, the "Divine Beloved", does not
experience itself as separate from the Archetypes, the Collective, or the
Witness Self. Many faces, one Self. Imagine all the
archetypes, the collective and the Divine beloved wear the same clothes,
the same uniform. <br>
One aspect of the Shadow, is that it is also the Portal Guardian, the
gatekeeper between your conscious and unconscious mind. The veil of
forgetfulness. Its role is protective; it keeps your conscious ego mind
from being overwhelmed by the crowded chaos of the collective. By
reflecting your fears back to you, it keeps you from going to altered
states that you are not yet ready for. You could say that it is the
Shadow that is in charge of pacing and arranging your process... the pace
and order of its unfolding. <br>
It is also the Angel of Death, because spiritually, death is the doorway
to the Light, and the unconscious is not separate from that. The
awakening process eventually leads you to experience the death of your
ego. The experience of separation from the Divine ends and you
become the Light and then eventually, the Void: Blissful, peaceful
nothing of a Zen silent mind. Ego dies and goes into the light, and
your Higher Self comes down into the body to be You. Body lives on as a
temple of your Spirit. <br>
The shadow keeps you from going there before you are ready, because too
much karma clearing all at once would be a mentally hazardous
experience. The Shadow, is the fiery sword that guards Eden, so
that only those who are without fear, can pass. <br>
Understanding the many aspects of consciousness is useful for the
Kundalini process, because these aspects so often show up symbolically,
in dreams. Understanding that your consciousness is made up if an
internal cast of characters is useful because it allows you to
communicate directly with these aspects of yourself, in meditation.
You already experience yourself as separate from these aspects of
you. Surrender to that, and create a relationship between the
aspects so they can teach and guide you. <br>
Ill give you a third metaphor. <br>
Think of your ego as a mountain that you can see. The mountain is
reflected in a lake. A lake or ocean is a metaphor for the unconscious
mind, the mystery of what is hidden beneath the surface. Water is
symbolic of spiritual energy, in dreams and visions. At the
boundary between air and water, the reflection of the mountain on the
lake is the Shadow, the Guardian who hides the secrets of the lake's
depths. Below the lake are the layers of the Earth, the Archetypes
and the Akashic records, the unity of the Earth itself, Gaiamind, and
encompassing it all is the Void. The Earth suspended in the starry
void of space. <br>
<br>
Through the process of consciousness expansion that is Kundalini, we
integrate with everything... but everything, would overwhelm awareness,
so we only get the "Reader's Digest version". We get
information on a "need to know" basis, we are shown what we
need to see, to choose to surrender, but we are not shown everything all
at once. <br>
<br>
Nor do we necessarily integrate the unconscious material in any
particular order... order implies linearity, and the unconscious is not
linear, although I describe it as such, for the purpose of
conceptualizing it for you. <br>
<br>
In a classical, idealized pattern of the awakening process, the chakras
open in order from the bottom upwards, and in this fantasy, there would
be linearity and order, in the integration... but the reality is that
people can experience a bottom-upwards opening, or a top down opening,
and often some of the upper chakras will open to some degree before the
snakes wake. The karmic issues of the individual determine the path, and
they may have some cultural commonalities but are essentially unique to
each person. <br>
<br>
One night you might be hanging with Kali, in your dreams, the next night
you might be in the void or surfing "past" lives. <br>
<br>
Or you might be dreaming, hanging out in the infinite alternative
realities of the astral realms, which are like a big adventure schoolroom
where you do role play games to grow in wisdom and experience. <br>
<br>
There is a Zen story of a teacher who asks his students to try to hold
the Ocean in a sieve. The students are confused by this and only
one student actually tries to do it. After many hopeless attempts at
understanding, the Teacher shows up and the student asks for
explanation. To answer, the Teacher throws the sieve far out into
the ocean, where it sinks to the bottom. <br>
<br>
This is a metaphor for the Kundalini process. The sieve is ego, and
the Ocean is the unconscious. The sieve cannot hold the ocean; it
is too small and full of holes. It needs instead to be thrown into
the ocean and immersed there. Then the ocean washes through it
eternally, and it is always filled.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Home work:<br>
<br>
- Try it! Imagine sitting at the cafe table from the essay, with the many
parts of your mind, plus your Higher Self and Guardian Angel... and let
them be a council, to sort out all of your problems for you. Even
if you cannot hear them, they will hear you, and act on your behalf and
in service to your highest good and the continued unfolding of your
spiritual path. <br>
<br>
- Become more mindful of your thoughts. Begin to learn to
watch thoughts go by and inquire of yourself, Where did that come from?
instead of reacting to the content of the thought. <br>
Notice the types of thoughts you have. Notice how many
different Voices you have in your mind. How often do you hear
remembered voices of other people? Parents, teachers, spouse or
partner, boss, relative, etc?<br>
Some thoughts come as music. Are there other
thoughts when the music is present, or is the music interrupted if you
have a thought? Who is the DJ? Does the music chosen sort of
match what you are doing, or is it a song you heard recently, on replay
in your head? <br>
Some people have an inner critic, and/or an inner narrator who
tells the story of what you are doing. Some have an inner defence
attorney pleading their case before the critic and some known, or unknown
judge. Is there a Judge? Who is the judge of you, in your
mind? Do you have an inner coach, or cheerleader? Do you have a director
who tells you what to do? Pay attention to the voices rather than
the words. Do they remind you of anyone? Are they male, or female?
Older, younger? <br>
Notice how your body and emotions respond to the noise of these
characters. <br>
Notice the conversations that go on in your mind. Do you find
yourself mentally rehashing an argument after it has ended, or rehearsing
what you would like to say to someone? <br>
If you are a visual person, what pictures do you get? Is it a
slideshow or a movie? Is there a soundtrack? As an artist, I
often get cartoon type pictures in my imagination.<br>
<br>
If I tell you to imagine a banana, does it appear floating
by itself, or is there a backdrop, or scenery? Do you think of a
painting, or Carmen Mirandas hat? When you think of a banana, what other
thoughts or feelings are associated? Do you remember the smell of a
banana, or when you last ate one? What other thoughts, memories, feelings
or images do you associate with Banana? A song? Day-O! Are there
some thoughts that always trigger a similar string of thoughts and
feelings? <br>
If you focus on the source of thoughts, you may find a level of
thought that is like a spark of beginning, before a thought is translated
into words, images or feelings. <br>
Similarly, you may feel a subtle spark before a taste, smell or
physical sensation translates into meaning. This can be difficult;
the spark is so tiny and fleeting. <br>
Notice how selective attention is. Right now you are
focusing on reading this, and so the rest of the world outside of your
attention to these words, fades into an unimportant blur. <br>
<br>
Notice the relationship between thoughts and groundedness.
What thoughts interfere with your being grounded? If you spend more
time being grounded, are there fewer thoughts? Do the inner voices
change or grow silent? <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Experiences needed.</font></html>