Why
Develop Higher Consciousness?
What are the potential advantages of moving into the higher state of
consciousness? Let us look at a few areas.
Personal growth
The essence of personal growth is that you transition from the lower
state of consciousness to the higher state of consciousness. The end
goal is that you leave the lower consciousness behind so that you are
permanently anchored in the higher consciousness.
By going through this process, you will:
- Gradually find
meaningful personal answers to all of your questions about life.
- Gain a new understanding
of who you are and why you are here.
- Gain a new sense
of meaning and purpose.
- Attain an understanding
that will empower you to solve your personal problems and put your
life on a positive track.
Instead of going
from one crises to the next, you will go through a series of positive
experiences that build upon each other. Instead of spending your life
defending your present beliefs, your life becomes a journey of discovery,
and you are constantly embracing new ideas that enrich your life. Eventually
you will begin to experience the true, inner happiness and peace of
mind that all people (even if they are not consciously aware of it)
are striving for.
Sounds too good to be true? Well, the proof of the pudding is in the
eating, so you can’t know until you try. The courage to try something
new, to experiment, is the first step towards any kind of progress.
Resolving the conflict between science and religion
In the Western world, the major factor that prevents people from finding
answers to the deeper questions of life is the war between orthodox
Christianity and materialistic science. Is this war inevitable, or is
it the direct result of the lower state of consciousness?
Let us begin by looking at the history of the Christian church. We have
an organization that is based on the teachings of Christ, such as “do
onto others as you would have them do onto you.” After several
centuries, this organization commits a series of almost unthinkable
atrocities, such as the massacre of the Cathars, the crusades and the
inquisition. How can we explain that an organization based on the teachings
of Christ can commit such acts? Clearly, few people in the modern world
would argue that the teachings of Christ justifies such acts.
The logical conclusion is that the church perverted the teachings of
Christ. How did this perversion come about? Isn't it obvious that it
was the result of the lower consciousness which causes people to make
everything relative? Therefore, even the teachings of Christ can become
a tool in the “eternal human power struggle” which simply
springs from the lower consciousness.
Science evolved as a reaction against this perversion. Unfortunately,
science is not above the human power struggle. Today, many scientists
have realized that materialism has certain limitations. Some even suspect
that materialism is a dead and that it restricts scientific progress
as much as the medieval church restricted spiritual progress. In today's
scientific climate, voicing such ideas can be dangerous.
Many scientists fear speaking out against materialism, because they
know it can damage their reputation and credibility and prevent them
from getting jobs or research grants. While this state of affairs is
more civilized than the medieval inquisition, it is nevertheless a modern
inquisition, and it proves that science is not above the human power
struggle.
The logical conclusion is that the perversion of science and religion
is not due to some inherent flaw in either science or religion. In other
words, we don’t need to reject science or religion. We simply
need to realize that the lower consciousness can and will pervert any
human endeavor and turn it into a weapon to be used in the ongoing power
struggle.
Therefore, we cannot allow ourselves to fall into the trap of thinking
that an endeavor is above being corrupted by the lower consciousness.
Many religious people assume that because a religion was inspired by
God, it could never be perverted by the lower consciousness. Many scientists
assume that because of the commitment to objectivity, science could
never be perverted by the lower consciousness.
Both of these assumptions are dangerously naive, and they must be abandoned
if we are to resolve the conflict between science and religion. Either
side must give up the idea that their side (for whatever reason) is
incorruptible and infallible! Both sides must recognize that the lower
consciousness can pervert and degrade any human endeavor. The only way
to avoid this perversion is to constantly strive for the higher consciousness.
When you do strive for the higher consciousness, you realize that science
and religion are simply two different ways of seeking to answer our
questions about life. They are not mutually exclusive, in fact they
could easily be seen as complimentary. Both approaches have strengths
and weaknesses and none of the approaches is infallible. Obviously,
a person in the lower state of consciousness will be extremely reluctant
to give up the claim to infallibility, whereas a person in the higher
state of consciousness has no use for this claim.
When you begin to look at the conflict between science and religion
in terms of the lower and higher consciousness, it becomes clear that
this conflict springs from the lower consciousness. It is this state
of consciousness that causes people to become attached to certain beliefs
and to close their minds to a higher understanding of the issue. Therefore,
people in this state of consciousness are not looking for truth. They
have adopted a particular world view, and they desperately seek to force
reality to conform to their world view.
The war between science and religion springs from a conflict between
two viewpoints:
- One viewpoint
wants to force reality to conform to a particular interpretation of
the Christian scriptures.
- One viewpoint
wants to force reality to conform to the world view that there is
nothing beyond the material universe and that everything has a materialistic
explanation.
From the lower consciousness,
there is no way to resolve this conflict. Because the two viewpoints
are mutually exclusive, one must be right and the other must be wrong.
From the higher consciousness, it becomes obvious that both viewpoints
are incomplete. It is possible to find a higher understanding that will
resolve the conflict.
Evolution and religion
As an example of this higher understanding, take the idea of evolution
which has traditionally been a source of tension between science and
religion. Based on the fossil record and many other scientific findings,
it simply isn't feasible to hold on to the idea that the earth is only
5,000 years old or that all of the animal species appeared at once.
The earth and the wide variety of living creatures are obviously the
result of a gradual process. However, letting go of this particular
interpretation of the Bible does not mean that we have to abandon all
religion or the validity of the scriptures.
Science still cannot fully explain how an evolutionary process that
is guided only by randomness and chance could produce an incredibly
complex and highly organized universe.
As a possible middle way between creationism and evolution, one might
suggest that there is indeed an evolutionary process, but that it might
not be a random process. When you embrace a higher consciousness, you
realize that there is something beyond the material universe. Therefore,
it becomes highly unlikely that planet earth is the only place that
houses intelligent beings. If there are other worlds or octaves beyond
this world, they might well hold a variety of intelligent beings, and
some of them could be involved with the material universe.
In other words, the evolutionary process might have been started by
one or more intelligent beings from a higher world. The process might
run its own course most of the time. However, once in a while it might
receive a little help, which might explain the evolutionary leaps that
materialistic science cannot account for.
It might even be possible that human beings play an active role in the
evolutionary process. We might have the capacity to shape our world,
not only through outer actions, but also through our state of consciousness.
Therefore, we might have the capacity to create a world that is out
of sync with the original intent. Which might explain many of the conditions
that most people find it difficult to see as the creations of a benevolent
deity.
Beyond religious conflicts
It is a grim fact that more atrocities have resulted from religious
conflict than from any other single cause. Yet, virtually all religions
state that it is wrong for people to kill each other. This discrepancy
has caused many people to abandon religion as an inconsistent or hypocritical
approach to life. However, we now see that there is an alternative.
The cause of religious conflict is not religion, but the lower state
of consciousness which perverts religion and turns it into a weapon
in the human power struggle.
The essence of religion is that an intelligent being from a higher octave
brings forth a new religious teaching (often through a particular person).
This teaching is given from a state of consciousness that is above and
beyond the lower human consciousness. Therefore, the religious teaching
is true and valid. However, to fully understand and embody the religious
teaching, people must raise their state of consciousness to the same
level from which the teaching was given. People must turn the dial of
consciousness until it is tuned in to the particular level from which
the teaching was released.
Unless you step up to that level of consciousness, you will inevitably
attain an incomplete understanding of the religious teaching. In other
words, instead of attaining a direct inner experience, you must rely
on an interpretation. This interpretation will often (if not always)
be affected by the consciousness of the interpreter. And the more a
person is anchored in the lower consciousness, the more incomplete,
perhaps even perverted, the interpretation will be. That is why some
people manage to interpret Christianity or Islam in such a way that
they feel their religion justifies the killing of nonbelievers.
When you embrace the higher consciousness, you realize that there could
be more than one true or valid religion. Many people find it difficult
to see why one God would bring forth more than one religion, but there
are at least three good reasons for this:
- Most religions
are brought forth in a particular culture and at a particular time.
For example, Jesus used images and metaphors that appealed to an agricultural
society. Although all religions contain timeless teachings, it is
possible that a religion can be designed to appeal to a particular
group of people living at a particular time. Therefore, such a religion
might not be intended for all people at all times. Whereas human beings
become attached to a particular religion, God might have no such attachment.
God can always bring forth a new religion when needed.
- A brief look
at humankind demonstrates that human beings are very different and
that they are in many different states of consciousness. Perhaps God
realizes that no one religion can appeal to all people, and therefore
many religions are given. A central theme in all religion is that
God wants to bring people home. Perhaps God is more concerned about
bringing people home than about getting them home through one particular
religion. Once you are in heaven (which is simply a higher octave)
it doesn't matter how you got there.
- If there is something
beyond the material universe, there might be several levels of this
higher world. For example, Jesus stated that “my father’s
house has many mansions.” The Bible talks about the “seventh
heaven,” indicating that there are at least seven levels of
the heaven world.
Many religions originate from a spiritual or mystical experience.
We can now see that such an experience is the result of a person tuning
the dial of consciousness to a higher world. This might explain why
different religions are based on different visions of the heaven world.
The founders of those religions might have experienced different levels,
different octaves, of the spiritual world. In other words, the different
visions are not mutually exclusive. They might all be valid; they
simply originated from different levels of the spiritual world.
Universality behind all religions
As you embrace the higher consciousness, you begin to see the futility
of religious conflict. Behind all religion is a universal element which
can briefly be described as follows.
Human beings have lost their original contact with the spiritual world
(higher octaves). Our consciousness has become attuned to the vibrations
of the material universe, even to the extent that many people have forgotten
their spiritual origin. The goal of all true religion and spirituality
is to regain that higher consciousness through which any human being
can gain a direct experience of the spiritual side of life.
The overall goal for all spirituality is to help people attain the higher
consciousness. We might say that religion is meant to be a bridge that
helps us cross over the gap between the lower consciousness and the
higher consciousness. Religion was never meant to be a source of division
and conflict. Conflict only binds people even more to the lower consciousness,
and therefore it works against the true goal behind religion.
People are different, and different people might need different ideas
to come to the essential realization whereby they can let go of the
lower and embrace the higher consciousness. The true goal of all religion
is to take people to a higher state of consciousness. Fighting over
which religion is better or which religion is the only true one is in
direct opposition to that goal. Instead, all truly religious people
should unite their efforts in an attempt to awaken people to the need
for a higher consciousness.
What matters is that people cross the gap and enter into the higher
consciousness. It really doesn't matter how they cross that gap or which
vehicle they use to cross it. Once you are in the higher consciousness,
it really doesn't matter how you got there. Therefore, you can begin
to accept that there might be many valid religions or belief systems.
Instead of looking at other belief systems with suspicion, fear or hostility,
you can look at them with respect and acceptance.
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© 2003 by Kim Michaels |
