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Higher Consciousness Higher Consciousness - also called Super Consciousness (Yoga), Buddhic Consciousness (Theosophy), Objective Consciousness (Gurdjieff), Christ Consciousness, Cosmic Consciousness and God-consciousness (Islam and Hinduism), to name but a few - are expressions used in various traditions of spiritual science and psychology to denote the consciousness of a human being who has reached a higher level of evolutionary development and who has come to know reality as it is. Evolution in this sense is not that which occurs by natural selection over generations of human reproduction but evolution brought about by the application of spiritual knowledge to the conduct of human life. Through the application of such knowledge (traditionally the preserve of the world's great religions) to practical self-management, the awakening and development of faculties dormant in the ordinary human being is achieved. These faculties are aroused by and developed in conjunction with certain
dispositions of character such as patience, kindness, truthfulness, humility and
forgiveness towards one's fellow man – qualities without which Higher
Consciousness is not possible. In each person lie potentialities that remain inchoate as a result of the individual being caught up in mechanical, neurotic modes of behavior where the correct use of energy for personal spiritual development has not been understood but is squandered in unskillful ways. As a result of the phenomenon of projection the cause of such a person's suffering is often seen to lie in outer circumstances or other individuals. One prerequisite for the development of consciousness is the understanding that suffering and alienation are one's own responsibility and dependent on the mind's acquiescence (through ignorance, for example). Traditionally, both in the Eastern and the Abrahamic spiritual traditions a person who sought mind-body transformation came under the tutelage of a Master (Rabbi, Sheikh, Guru, Acarya, etc) who would oversee their progress. In the past, as today, this education would often involve periods of retreat in communities (ashrams, monasteries, meditation centers etc.) whose sole purpose is the cultivation of awakening. Ordinary Consciousness as Projection In the spiritual traditions of India, consciousness is understood to be
obscured by defilements (Skt: Kilesa) which are compared to clouds covering the
sun. These defilements are the result of conditioning (Skt:samskara),
accumulations in the unconscious caused by past actions (karma) . As a result,
what any individual perceives as reality is a picture of the world at one
particular moment filtered through his unconscious conditioning – a ‘reality’
that western psychology calls ‘projection’ (i.e., of the contents of the
unconscious). Every individual human being has their own store of conditioning
based on their unique past experiences. The goal of spiritual practice (buddhadharma,
shariah, yoga etc) is the transformation and higher integration of these
contents so that any practitioner following a spiritual path comes closer to
reality as the causes of delusion are dissolved. Enlightenment (also called
salvation, kaivalya, moksha, Union with God,etc) furthermore, involves the
complete dissolution of all the causes for future becoming so that reality is
seen, finally, as it is, rather than through the veils of projected unconscious
contents. It may be protested that the mere possession of an apparatus such as
the mind and body of a human being with its genetically predetermined structures
prevents the possibility of unconditioned consciousness (Skt: asankhata-nana or
nibbana) but the testimonials of numerous saints and mystics throughout history
bear witness to the contrary. The path of cultivating consciousness
requires the adoption of certain self-imposed rules or vows. These are generally
concerned with exercising restraint with respect to actions of body, speech and
mind. Examples include the five precepts of Buddhism. The effect of this
restraint is to begin to contain energy and prevent unskillful actions that
cause ongoing harm. Over time changes in the moral disposition of the aspirant
are accompanied by physiological changes in the brain and nervous system opening
up the energy channels (nadis or meridians) present in the subtle bodies which
are thereby activated. Critical (indeed central) to development of one’s latent
spiritual faculties is the practice of meditation. After moral restraint,
meditation is the most important tool in the purification of the mind.
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