Guest Post: Higher States of Consciousness – The 7 States of Consciousness
by Jeff Poole.
Ed Note: Jeff will be teaching our new Nakshatra class. Details below.
I wanted to thank the many who are writing to comment about enjoying the in-depth dives on the Nakshatras. I wanted to share something I’ve come to deeply understand over the past several years.
The Nakshatras are not just stories, they are the moderators of the lessons being brought out by the karmas ripening and being activated in each sign/house and the section of the Nakshatras (e.g., rajasic Nakshatras of Aries to Cancer; tamasic Nakshatras of Leo to Scorpio; sattvic Nakshatras of Mula to Pisces).
Each Deity is an expression of how a specific lesson will be observed according to the guna predominant for the 9 Nakshatras of that guna expression.
– So if they are in the first grouping of Nakshatras (from the beginning of Aries to the end of Cancer) you’ll notice how everything is about creation, birth and the rajasic guna expression.
– In the second grouping of Nakshatras (from the beginning of Leo to the end of Scorpio), you’ll observe how everything is about structures and creating those for protection of what was birthed, and created before and the tamasic guna expression.
– And in the third grouping of Nakshatras (from the beginning of Sagittarius to the end of Pisces), you’ll witness how everything is about higher universal values, peace, upliftment, and transcendence, beyond the structures of the world, which are about the sattvic guna expression.
It’s amazing to witness what’s happening as these occur with the movement of the Moon every day (your mind/consciousness). You’ll begin to observe if you follow them closely, how they show “exactly what they describe as happening,” and the planets that are associated with each Nakshatra will get activated when the Moon is in that Nakshatra and that will show the expression of their traits present in what’s happening at that time.
The process of awakening to what is happening in every moment requires alert awareness which gets cultured over time through the regular Vedic Yogic Practices which must be practiced with regular discipline so that they become a life habit, much as bathing, tooth brushing, eating and resting.
This knowledge of understanding the Self and then committing to these practices is detailed in Padas 1 & 2 of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. Pada 1 – Samadhi Pada describes how to experience transcending through meditation so that you connect to your source that you emerged from. Pada 2 – Sadhana Pada describes the commitment to the regular practice (sadhana) which cultures the mind-breath-body complex to reflect higher states of consciousness.
These are not options, they are highly recommended practices which reveal the truth by binding the Citta, or the mind and its nature to cling to negativity, which is clinging to the surface level of the mind through emotions, feelings, and events. In order to be centered in your awareness and to culture higher expressions of consciousness, these practices of the body-breath-mind must be undertaken (yoga asana, pranayama, and meditation) to experience higher states of Consciousness. They don’t just happen, you have to culture them over time.
By principled daily regularity in doing these practices, you bind the moveable nature of Citta to become still and centered so that it connects deep into the depths of your heart. There in the heart, the mind becomes centered, unaffected, and unattached to the external surface level dance of light and shadows that shows up as karmas that ripen and get activated. Your only job is to observe them and learn from what is happening. This is called the “Sakshat” or observer, in the Vedas. There is no action required since an action creates results which means more karmas.
When consciousness is cultured in this way, the inner light becomes effulgent there. That centeredness or groundness is the state of fullness and unity for your awareness. Once centered there, the fluctuating mind drops off, and innocence re-emerges. This is the beautiful “I don’t know,” in the state of Wonder which precedes the mind. This is awakened awareness. Consciousness then expands from it’s most innocent state into 3 more expansive states of Consciousness, beyond the first 4 states which are: Waking, Dream, Sleeping, and Transcending states of consciousness.
Noticing the process for how everything is just “happening” and then by daily aligning with “what’s happening” the observation cultures the witness-state of Consciousness which is known as the 5th state of Consciousness and it is called “Cosmic Consciousness.”
The Deities eventually begin to communicate with your consciousness through direct intuition and insight, and you start to perceive their presence emerging over time as they keep communicating within that 5th state of Consciousness. And you will notice this happening at the finest levels of relative creation/existence subtly at first and then more present with time. You will observe how they begin informing you of what’s happening at those levels of creation since they are the personifications of creation that are tasked with “doing things” as they are the personified laws of nature. They will bring happenings from the news around the world to your attention too (honestly, I seldom track the news, impulses to check while I’m writing posts each evening show me what is aligned with the Nakshatra energies each day).
When you start to notice this, that marks the emergence of the 6th state of Consciousness known as Refined Cosmic Consciousness, aka God Consciousness.
So gradually over time the further expansion of the 6th state of Consciousness becomes stabilized in your awareness and this naturally gives way to the 7th state of Consciousness called Unity Consciousness. This is where everything in the space around you also becomes so familiar that it is realized as happening “within your Self.” You realize “You Are That; Others Are That; All This is That.”
This becomes the unified totality of creative Consciousness. That is what is termed Brahman Consciousness, where all distinctions of separateness, even Unity with all things, drops away and merges into the expression of complete fullness and the realization that Consciousness is everything. Brahman is the fullness of consciousness, there is nothing higher.
STARTING, SATURDAY, FEB 13, 2021 FROM 12-2 PM CST
LIVE WEBINAR with BARRY ROSEN AND JEFF V POOLE
WILL MEET EVERY SATURDAY FROM FEB 13 – APR 3, 2021
FREE SNEAK PREVIEW: SATURDAY, JAN 23, 2021 AT 12 PM GO TO WEBINAR.
SIGN UP FOR THE FREE FIRST CLASS AT https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/566267591420482063
