There is irony in the modern idea that consciousness is an accidental side effect of brain complexity.
Actually, it’s the other way around. The impression we are a body comes from identification with the appearance of it. We could refer to the body as a side effect of the dynamics of consciousness.
Our first liberation in Self Realization is liberation from that identification with the body-mind, with the idea of a local me.
The second liberation is that of the heart and senses in God Consciousness.
The third liberation in Unity is a deeper freedom from the local sense of self when we recognize we are everything.
A further liberation is from consciousness and all prior enlightenment into Brahman.
And a still further liberation is from Brahman into pure Divinity.
Eventually, even the body is liberated. But that is yet to come as it’s not individual.
To understand this, remember that even the first awakening is from the local sense of being a separate individual. At some point, usually after Unity, we recognize we are cosmic, even on the level of the body.
As each apparent person wakes up, that aspect of the cosmic awakens – including the body.
When enough aspects of the comic awaken, the group consciousness steps up into an “as if” awakened state. The majority enjoy a value of enlightenment. This enables a much greater value of Divinity to be embodied. That leads to a higher group consciousness, and so forth. These are the side effects we really want. 🙂
We live in remarkable times.
Davidya
Hi Davidya
How many aspects are needed for the group consciousness to step up into an “as if” awakened state and when will it happen?
Hi Bojan
It’s an interesting question. There has been studies that show 1% of a population meditating has a measurable effect on crime rate, hospital admissions, and so forth.
Later, they found the same effects could be achieved with the square root of 1% practicing advanced techniques in a group. They demonstrated this formulae by sending the right number into war zones. Simply doing their practice together ended the fighting while they were there. For a country the size of the US, thats about 1800 people. About 7500 for the world.
But its surprisingly challenging to fund and maintain a group that size together. One country adopted it for their military but governments change.
More recently, it’s been suggested that as few as 20 of the fully awake sitting together would have the same effect. The numbers involved are surprisingly modest.
However, we don’t just want to lower crime. And we need redundancy to sustain it.
It’s an organic process that takes time to unfold smoothly.
It’s not like it’s going to suddenly descend one Sunday afternoon. Rather, it will continue to unfold. It will become progressively more obvious.
There is lots of work to be done. What has been suppressed has been coming to the surface in all kinds of bizarre ways recently. It’s more helpful if we see it for what it is and help it go.
Hi David!
“Eventually, even the body is liberated. But that is yet to come as it’s not individual.”
Does that mean that the liberation or perfection of the body is a non-personal happening of divinity?
thanks in advance for the clarification!
Hi Michael
Yes, I explained that in what followed the quote, though perhaps not clearly enough. At some point in the process, we recognize the physical body is just an appearance and our body is actually cosmic. The cosmic body is the body of all bodies.
When someone awakens, another aspect of the cosmic is awakened. When someone releases a big stress, that aspect of the cosmic is purified. We’re in this together.
It’s curious to explain though as its not really true that the cosmic has any stress or karma. But when its cleared in the grosser koshas, the cosmic becomes more embodied.
And all this is from the perspective of the cosmic, not divinity. 🙂
Beautiful – Thank you David. Yes, awakening continues until we recognize the cosmic body as our own and then continues. Thank you for bringing this up. It is a means of the inner/outer paradigm dissolving, or becoming pretty fuzzy in any case.
Necessarily taking all of the [cosmic] body into account, and then realizing some of its full potential in interacting within all of the beings/energy inherent in the cosmos; discovering them within the body, a process than never ends.
Funny you have brought this up before and I couldn’t quite get it, until I recognized that the sensory impressions say associated with another part of the world were occurring within a totality, a body, the cosmic body; my body, or certainly one common enough to be intimately “owned” by each of us. 🙂
Yes, I’ve been poking at an article on “cosmic stress.” There’s no such thing as stress in the cosmic layers of being. But because the cosmic is also inclusive of all beings, their stress is inclusive. There is apparent purification in the cosmic and by the cosmic.
As those clouds are cleared, the apparent individuals recognize their cosmic nature and awaken, which awakens another aspect of the cosmic.
Hi Davidya
I am really surprised about the very low number of people for that effect to happen. But yes it depends on not only awakening but also about the degree of embodiment and also about all of us to embrace the repressed personal and colective shadow. You were talking about that several times. I know this also from my own life. But i think the full embodiement of Divinity and all of its gifts is posible only for some avatars and not for us, ordinary people. Not in this time anyway. Maybe only during the Golden age. Also the majority of people around the world are not interested for the spirituality so that will delay the collective state of “as if” enlightenment. So yeah i agree that will not descend sudenly but it will probably happen several centuries from now. I think we have to traverse the path of forgiveness by ourselfs and in that way contribute to wellbeing of other people too.
Hi Bojan
Well, it speaks to the potency of the attention of the very awake. Keep in mind, that even someone Self Realized is effectively meditating all the time. With further development, they can become lighthouses for the world. Established in the cosmic, they are benefiting all beings. Divinity takes this even further.
But that does take time. I’ve been watching quite a few people as they flower into it.
And yes, there are limits on what one human can embody. But thats the idea of the “An Avatar of the People” article – a group of the very awake can together embody totality.
I’m not sure how long this will take to unfold but anticipate it happening much sooner than that. We’ll see.
Nice discussion. I recall when I was going through the “Dark Night” a palpable recognition that what was being purified was also being purified in the field.
Hi Lorey
Yes, there are a number of experiences where that process is recognized. Further along, things become progressively more universal so anything happening locally is also seen to be happening in the whole. It may be expressed more here or there but is fundamentally universal.
On the Dark Night, this isn’t really a “the.” There are various scenarios that may be experienced or identified as a “dark night” or challenging period. Falling more deeply and consciously into our suffering, recognizing that we personally have no way to escape the ego, having a taste of the divine then loosing it, and so forth.
It’s also worth noting that such an experience isn’t a necessary step. It largely depends on how we respond to what arises. Sometimes, such a period is useful for disentangling. They can be profoundly healing if a bit challenging.
If you search Dark Night here, you’ll find articles on the topic.