Expanding the Consciousness
Mystics talk about expanding the consciousness. This means that aspects of the mind that you were previously unaware of are brought into your conscious control. At its advanced state, people who have expanded their consciousness are
able to control their body temperature; and it is said of advanced mystics that they are impossible to condition. In other words, the conditioning process that people usually respond to unconsciously has moved into their conscious domain and they are able to control it.
An article in New Scientist (‘Glad to be Gullible’ – New Scientist 28th January 2006) discussed what the researcher called ‘the goats’ and ‘the sheep’. The sheep were more accepting of ‘new-age’ ideas, such as paranormal experiences, mind reading and the like, and the goats were not. On parapsychological tests sheep tended to perform better. What they found was that sheep were more aware of subtle signals than goats. The report goes on:
Sheep also tend to be more imaginative and more creative. Some psychologists even believe that people who believe that they have paranormal powers such as telepathy, dreams that foretell the future, or other forms of Extra Sensory Perception (ESP) might actually be accessing information stored in their subconscious without realising it.
In other words, the researchers claim that such people are not really accessing paranormal abilities but are tapping into subliminal cues. It may be true that such people are able to tap into normal but subtle cues but it is also true that the intuitive processes that enable people to pick up extrasensory signals or communicate with spirits are, in most people, very subtle. It is only with an expanded consciousness that they are able to tap into these abilities. The importance of expanding the consciousness cannot be emphasised enough. Most people are in a dream state and are influenced by factors that they don’t understand.
I’ve heard it said that people are basically rational. Nothing could be further from the truth. Derren Brown, a practitioner of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming), hypnosis and straight-up slight of hand shows how irrational people can be. You can see some of his stuff
here. In
this clip he convinces someone that they really want a BMX bike and even that they wrote "BMX bike" for their birthday wish. In another clip he gets people to hand over their wallets and in another he gets a whole shopping-centre of people to put their hands in the air at the same time.
People are not rational and are influenced by factors that they are unaware of. When you have expanded the consciousness these become part of your conscious mind. You become in control of yourself.
One of the reasons that I argue against Darwinism is not so much because it is based on poor science (although it is), but because people accept these ideas simply because they are told they are true by scientists. (A similar argument exists for
global warming). I often ask people who claim to agree with Darwinism whether they do so because either:
a) They have examined all the information, can explain how it works and have determined that this is the most reasonable theory or
b) They agree with it because scientists and others who they respect tell them it is so
In my experience most people answer to option a. (This may well not be true in the general population however). What I find though, is that when I start asking some tough questions on Darwinism many people resort to such statements as “Well I don’t know about this one but I’m sure scientists have examined the evidence” or “…have done computer modelling” etc. I’m sure that there are people who can answer any question that is thrown at them. My issue is that people think they have arrived at an opinion through intelligent, rational thought when in fact they are simply following a dogma. They believe it because scientists who they respect tell them it is so. It is only a short step from believing something because a scientist tells you it so, to handing over your wallet to a stranger who tells you to.
Of course it would seem that there are many issues where we simply do not not have enough information to form a rational opinion and are dependant on the opinions of others. However, firstly, if we do this we must be aware that this is what we are doing and not kid ourselves that we are forming a decision based on a full understanding of the issues; and secondly, we should not throw out common sense. Does a view ‘feel’ right? If not, why not? I sometimes reply to questions to the effect that “… scientists have determined that xxx but I’m not sure if I’m convinced”. There’s nothing wrong with this – I’m admitting I don’t have a rational answer to say why they are wrong. I’m not even saying they are wrong, simply that I’m not convinced.
I’ll write more on this in later articles but at its heart is the very important topic of being true to yourself. The subtle feelings that tell you that something seems not quite ‘kosher’ must not be ignored. They may not be correct, but they must be understood. Only by taking notice of these feelings can you expand your consciousness and wake up out of the sleep that most people in the West are in.
Some time ago a program interviewed survivors of a train crash that took place outside of Sydney in Waterfall. A woman recounted how she had had dreams of train crashes for some time prior to the accident and she told her husband that she didn’t want to go on the train. He dismissed her concerns and when she said that at least they should sit at the back of the train his response was that they always sat at the front. They sat in their usual place and her husband was killed in the crash. It is common that inflexibility of thinking goes hand in hand with a contracted consciousness. Her husband was rigid in his thinking and cut off from any suggestions that his wife may have genuine paranormal knowledge. It cost him his life. It is a good idea to break a routine and act spontaneously, not for any rational reason but because it opens the mind up to possibilities and different ways of seeing the world. It may save your life.
It is my view that America, as a country, has lost this contact with its real self. People who think in an original way used to be admired. Now they are viewed with suspicion. The attitudes that made America what is are now discouraged and this has removed the heart from the country.
