Ego Consciousness

Ego Consciousness and Cosmic Consciousness

Posted on by Harold Boulette

“Psychology stops when it reaches the limits of Mental Consciousness, or as it call is ‘Self-Consciousness,’ and denies that there is anything beyond. … Nevertheless, there are schools of thought that teach of these higher states, and there are men of all ages and races that have entered them and have reported concerning them. …
“There are two planes of Consciousness, of which we feel it proper to speak. … The first of these planes of Consciousness, above the “Self-Consciousness” of the psychologists (which we have called ‘Mental Consciousness’) may be called ‘Ego-consciousness,’ for it brings an ‘awareness’ of the reality of the Ego. … This Ego Consciousness is coming to many as a dawning knowledge—the light is just rising from behind the hills. …
“There is a stage still higher than this last mentions but it has come to very few of the race. … It has been called “Cosmic Consciousness” and is described as an awareness of the Oneness of Life.” ~William Walker Atkinson

Ego Consciousness?

While the three levels of consciousness described by Mr. Atkinson make sense, I think “Ego Consciousness” was a poor choice as a name for the second level. Most spiritual teachers consider ego to be a part of the lower level of consciousness. It might be more appropriate to call it Ego Plus Consciousness, or Beyond Ego Consciousness.

Whatever you call it, this is the first level of consciousness where you are aware that the lowest level of consciousness in a human is not the true you. You become aware that you are thinking about something, or reacting to something. That awareness is that second level of consciousness. Continue reading “Ego Consciousness and Cosmic Consciousness” →

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God's will, Overflowing Beauty

Overflowing Beauty in Spiritual Realms

Posted on by Harold Boulette

“When the soul cleaves to what is kindred to it, how can it turn away from what it loves to anything inferior? It will even resent its incarnate life, finding it a hindrance to the attainment of the beautiful. For though the intellect, while living in matter, beholds intelligible beauty but dimly, yet intelligible blessings are such that even a slight emanation from that overflowing beauty, or a faint vision of it, can impel the intellect to soar beyond all that is outside the intelligible realm, and to aspire to that alone, never letting itself lapse from the delight it offers, come what distress there may.” ~The Philokalia

Soul and Intellect

The fist thing that must be said about the quote is that the author seems to be confusing the soul with the mind (or intellect). Perhaps he was using intellect in a different way than we generally do today. In any case, the soul and the mind are not the same and only the soul witnesses that overflowing beauty. The mind knows of such things only when the soul links to it and shares knowledge with it as much as possible.

Overflowing Beauty

While “beauty” can refer to many things on many levels, it is clear in the quote that the author is talking about the Divine beauty of the spiritual realms. There are beautiful things on the physical level, but they pale in the light of the overflowing beauty of spirit.

purple and white roseTake, for example, the beauty of an earthly rose. While the flower is beautiful, and smells wonderful, that beauty is limited. It is limited by the nature of matter and by your own mind. While you are enjoying the beauty of the rose, some part of your mind is dampening that pleasure with the fact that in a few days the rose will wither and die. How much more enjoyable it would be if you knew that the rose would never fall, but stay the same forever. That is what spiritual beauty is like.

While there are no roses or puppies in the spiritual worlds, at least not as we see them here, there are things of greater beauty. And since the spiritual world is permanent, those beautiful things are eternal. Continue reading “Overflowing Beauty in Spiritual Realms” →

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Universal Life

Universal Life and a Living Universe

Posted on by Harold Boulette

“The idea of Universal Life composed of individual atomic lives is one of the oldest teachings of esoteric philosophy, and the very modern hypothesis of modern science1, that of crystalline life, is the first ray from the ancient luminary of knowledge that has reached our scholars. If plants can be shown to have nerves and sensations and instinct (but another word for consciousness), why not allow the same in the cells of the human body? Science divides matter into organic and inorganic bodies, only because it rejects the idea of absolute life and a life-principle.” ~H. P. Blavatsky

Universal Life

There are two possible meaning to the ides of universal life. One is simply that life is common throughout the universe. That is generally accepted by science and most people. Yet is needs to be looked at with greater detail. The other interpretation of universal life is that all things are living, even if they don’t meet the generally accepted theories on life. If you combine both concepts, you get a universe made entirely of the living, in one form or another. This is a lot harder for many to accept. A truth, however, remains true, even if the majority rejects it.

Universal Life in all Things

The idea that all things are alive is generally rejected by science. Yet science cannot say exactly what life is. Nor can they say when life starts or what is the smallest thing to be alive. This much they do accept: there are single-celled plants and animals that are alive. This tells us that, with a few exceptions, all cells in our body are alive (more on the exceptions later). Continue reading “Universal Life and a Living Universe” →

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Attraction Between Human Souls and God

Posted on by Harold Boulette

“All mystical thinkers agree in declaring that there is a mutual attraction between the Spark of the Soul, the free divine germ in man, and the Fount from which it came forth. ‘We long for the Absolute,’ says Royce, ‘only so far as in us the Absolute also longs, and seeks, through our very temporal striving, the peace that is nowhere in Time, but only, and yet absolutely, in Eternity.’ … The homeward journey of man’s spirit, then, may be thought of as due to the push of a divine life within, answering to the pull of a divine life without. It is only possible because there is already in that spirit a certain kinship with the Divine.” ~Evelyn Underhill

Mutual Attraction

Our soul is attracted to the Great Soul of God. All great mystics and spiritual teachers have said this in one way or another. You cannot turn it off anymore than you can stop steel from being drawn to a powerful magnet. You can block the steel object from being pulled to the magnet, but the attraction remains.

Many people don’t feel that attraction. The most common reason for this is simply that the person has not awakened his spiritual faculties with the light of the spiritual sun. Even so, a small attraction remains hidden below his conscious awareness. It is why some people who have so much still feel that something is missing. Continue reading “Attraction Between Human Souls and God” →

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