Three levels of consciousness
First level:
I watch a football match in fascination and cheer along. I don’t realise that I’m reacting emotionally, such as swearing and cheering. I behave this way because I am simply following my intellectual and emotional impulses as they arise. I do have the power of judgement, but it is one-sidedly ego-bound and emotionally dominated. In fact, it is so strongly programmed that no real considerations are made. This is how the vast majority of people live. It is a person’s level of consciousness that has been completely taken over by the instinct for self-preservation. They follow our biological mammalian software with their minds. People on the first level live separately from their true identity. They are slaves to their instinctive soul, live according to their reason when it comes up, and yet are only “more animalistic than any animal“. (Goethe. Faust I)
However, the difference between the deranged everyday human being and the animal is still the potential of conscious being and thus at least the possibility of accessing the unfolding of the soul’s power. Humans not only know that they exist, but also that they know this – at least in principle. Although the mind usually follows the instinctual software, it can also be used to break down its material boundaries and make them permeable to the spirit soul. The animal does not have this property.
Second level:
The moment I look over my own shoulder, so to speak, and consciously register what I am actually thinking, feeling and doing, I find myself on the next meta-level of consciousness, because I am now in a realm where I can observe, identify and ideally even control my previously uncontrolled emotions and thought activities. (The Buddha in particular taught the necessity and method of controlling thoughts). It means taking a step towards gaining improved mastery over my life. Although I still remain under the control of the instinctual soul, I have moved towards the (initially humanly) good through impulses from the spiritual soul.
When I become aware of my thoughts and actions, reason comes into play, which is still characterised by self-preservation, but at least to a certain extent by self-reflection. While a lawyer unconditionally represents the interests of his clients and a public prosecutor those of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the judge will set aside his personal views on this meta-level and act in the interests of the overall good, the order of coexistence and social peace. Many people who selflessly stand up for others, such as firefighters, clergy, law enforcement officers, doctors and environmental activists who fight against the destruction of our livelihoods or help refugees, are also to be found here. At this level, the beginning of the opening of the heart takes place, the development of empathy, but still on a material level, such as why tolerance benefits me.
Third level:
Consciousness dives into the non-dual sphere. This is about looking through the surfaces to the substance of phenomena in the form of the interconnectness of people, like the fingers on a hand. There is an increasing realisation of the sonship of God and the powerlessness of external evil circumstances. The result is true love in action. This is the level of spiritual seekers who follow their inner urge. They have put a foot on the moving train, they leave the scope of karma, they place themselves under grace.
Basic consciousness E I – Progressive consciousness E II – Spiritual consciousness E III
Mind – Reason – Intuition
drive limited – thinking limited – unlimited
Reaction – Reflection – Meditation
Survival technique – Art of living – Life guidance
Outside view – Self-criticism – Looking through
Subconscious (drive) – Ratio and beginning of heart vision – guidance from within
Achievement – Devotion – Awakening
Ego-I – I plus conscience- I in me
I-love – Friend-love Enemy-love
Technical progress – Cultural advancement – Spiritual awakening
Materialism – Idealism – Spirituality
The third level of consciousness is the opposite of everything we have been taught since childhood.
Our animalistic heritage of ego consciousness is the starting point for higher development. It first had to be built up in order to be able to develop awareness of the alternative. No butterfly without a caterpillar. The ashes are the basis for the rebirth and rise of the phoenix. The self-awareness of the anti-egocentric divine image grows from the burning of one’s own egocentricity.
Dealing with the ego and recognising it are the characteristics of the second, next-higher level of consciousness. Mastering this in turn opens the door to the third level. You cannot build a multi-storey house without a ground floor. This is derived from the principle of opposites: Without an earthly experience of crisis, no liberation from it could be conceived. And this liberation from suffering is the decisive characteristic of man’s return return to the spiritual home of “paradise”, the return “to the Father” (Luke 15:18) as the ultimate meaning of earthly life.
The phoenix symbol shows: The daily “dying” of the self-preservation programme leads to its ashes, i.e. to its liquidation. This, in turn, is the breeding ground for a new beginning, spiritual consciousness, a new perspective. The bird rises from the ashes of material consciousness. It is the symbol for a being that can fly, i.e. free itself from its bondage to the ground – the opposite of the snake, which is bound to the earth. The phoenix then leads a rejuvenated new material life on a higher level of consciousness. Our world is a learning and purification system. Without imperfection due to the “expulsion from paradise” there is no growth towards perfection.
Stylised image of magic blue ice Phoenix on black background. Vector illustration template for print, fantasy poster, mascot, emblem, hope concept.
Phoenix; iStock 1297154921
The first two levels correspond to the state that scientific psychology refers to as consciousness. For example, states of sleep or intoxication would still be functions of this understanding of consciousness: The receptiveness of the sensory organs is largely reduced and therefore the power of judgement is barely present; however, it is not completely switched off. Overall, however, both stages represent the consciousness of the animalistic human being. Psychology does not recognise the consciousness of the spiritual human being (level III), which extends beyond the first two states and reaches as a gut feeling, as intuition and occasionally as spiritual dialog (see Odysseus with the goddess Athena) a higher level.
This spiritual consciousness is also there when you are consciously “loose”. You just can’t register it. This can be seen in near-death experiences. Here, after their clinical death and return, patients can reproduce what was said and done next to them while they were “unconscious”. This concept of consciousness differs from the purely material emotional and intellectual activity of psychology. In the spiritual understanding, consciousness refers to the activity of the soul that goes beyond the mind. In this respect, the first specimens of Homo Sapiens already had consciousness in this sense thousands of years ago.
In this respect, consciousness (according to John C. Eccles: How the self controls its brain) is a separate form of being that makes a person human in the first place. It is separate from the body and belongs to the subtle world after the body has been discarded. From this point of view, third-level consciousness belongs to our soul.
Everything that we stably make the content of our consciousness becomes reality. Christian wisdom teaches this with Jesus’ healings and feedings, especially with the feeding of the five thousand: “He looked up to heaven.” With messages such as “be it done to you according to your faith”, he clearly demonstrates the function of fuelling consciousness. This applies in principle to both good and evil. If you decide in favour of the paradisiacal direction, you are not blinded by the forms and concentrate on the invisible principle. This principle is that of personal responsibility and not the prevailing victim consciousness. I am not the object of the prevailing conditions – i.e. initially my microcosmic conditions – but their creator. I can “subdue” all the circumstances around me, provided I do not try to mould them according to my own ideas, but entrust them to the “Father who does the works”.
Jesus does not try to fight the error, i.e. the lack of provision, but only charges his consciousness with perfection despite all deficiencies on the level of form and then leaves the realisation to his inner spiritual substance. He does not use divine power, he lets it through, he brings it to expression, to unfolding, to moulding. He emphasises that “the Father [does] the works in me”, whereby he only ever shows the spiritual leadership level.
In concrete terms: Suppose someone grows up in a slum, but – probably unconsciously – is not impressed by lack and leads a life of serving, helping and loving in an awareness of abundance. Then he also has no material lack. You can observe this from time to time, even if it is rare. An improvement would be to lead such a life in a clear awareness of the omnipotence within.
This expresses the fact that we are the owners of the divine inheritance. This refers to the level of principle, i.e. being charged with abundance or lack and, above all, with – humble – power. As Paul puts it, you can either put your trust in the “flesh” or in the “Spirit” (Gal 6:8). What people put their faith in is obvious. According to our faith, enemies are all around us because we have the consciousness of enemies. We have the awareness of enemies because we have left the “Father’s court”. What happens to us personally is the result of the orientation of our consciousness towards spirit or flesh. In this respect, the content of our consciousness is the legislator for the content of our lives. Matter is the form of (God’s) consciousness. This refers to creation, which became the material universe and life through the divine spirit. It also refers to the states of this creation through the human spirit, characterised by good and evil. That is why there are successful criminals and failed saints. When it comes to our problems, we are not dealing with our external environment, but with our own state of consciousness. It “happens to us according to our faith.” But this is not clear to anyone who superficially talks about coincidences, fate, bad luck, a chain of unfortunate circumstances or enemies and therefore immediately sees himself as a victim, although he is the unconscious cause of his suffering. Accordingly, the state of our planet is a product of our consciousness: its external pollution is the result of our self-centred internal pollution of senseless self-preservation. This applies to all the terrible phenomena of poverty, misery, terror, torture and mass murder in our world, from homelessness to townships to genocide. The reason for self-preservation applies to the ruled and the rulers. With the awareness of the I AM identity on both sides and the associated love of enemy that creates unity, all the horror can no longer exist.
To assume such an idea collectively for the entirety of humanity is initially illusory, but for the personal microcosm, the personal circumstances of life, on the contrary, extraordinarily realistic. This can be moulded by spiritual consciousness like plasticine.
Despite Jesus’ unmistakable teaching in the parable of the Prodigal Son, the churches find this perspective incomprehensible and therefore postpone the way out of the vale of tears to the time after death, as in the Middle Ages. (These and all the other criticisms of the church presented here are nevertheless not linked to resentment or hostility – in the knowledge that “everything comes from God” (Jakob Böhme). The destination of the churches is the temptation, which should “always create the good”).
Of course, we are born into a world of imperfections and suffering, and therefore we unconsciously regard this as an unquestionable status quo, conditioned by external moulding. But entry into the realm “without suffering” (Dhammapada 347) does not depend on the conditions or imperfections of the outer world, but on those of the inner world. Apart from the wisdom teachers, few realise that we are endowed with the ability to substantially control our destiny. It means that we still have the freedom of choice to opt for the “tree of [eternal] life” rather than the “tree of good and evil.”
Digitally translated