Variables Affecting Consciousness

Yoga, Tantra, and the Vedic experience, which we engage uniquely in our Yogic Mystery School, is about heightened consciousness, which, in turn, is related to several factors or variables, even though "consciousness" is philosophically and theologically something that seemingly stands by itself, independent of any variables other than its state.

If you are into Eastern philosophy, you are acutely aware that enlightenment is its own state that has no connection to anything else. The word "enlightenment" is often a synonym for consciousness, where this "consciousness" is not our typical everyday self-consciousness but something else entirely. The frequently repeated message is that once we realize this enlightened state of consciousness, we will be completely fulfilled because the self of enlightenment is our true self. The nature of enlightenment is our true nature. Once we realize this experience, we will want nothing more as it will satisfy all our needs, particularly the deepest ones that endure for eternity.

Many of us who faithfully practice Eastern methods in our daily spirituality, and I am the poster boy for this approach, have been influenced by this thinking model. After 40 years of daily practice and tapping into many deep states of consciousness, I have adjusted my thinking model in one essential way: enlightenment is natural but does not stand all by itself. It is, in other words, connected to our everyday self-awareness, which is also "conscious," and our developmental psychology plays a role in our enlightenment, meaning we cannot suppress psychological development and evolve in our enlightened state. We can, but it might also leave our state of enlightenment questionable.
 
From everything we have discovered through human psychology and the Age of Enlightenment in the West, our psychological health and emotional well-being are crucial factors influencing our everyday consciousness. And suppose there is a state of consciousness that is more evolved, significant, higher, and more profound than our everyday consciousness. In that case, that state cannot be entirely disconnected from our self-awareness born of our physical and psychological development. In other words, there has to be some connection, a living connection, not an arbitrary mental assumption, between all types of consciousness.  Since John Welwood's seminal discovery of spiritually bypassing, we now know that someone deeply engaged in spiritual practices could avoid addressing their emotional issues under the guise of spiritual reasoning. This understanding empowers us to address our emotional well-being in our daily spiritual journey, not delay or avoid it in pursuit of enlightenment.  

What we call "Supraconsciousness" and "Supraconscious Living" is a method of avoiding spiritual bypassing while tapping into a depth state of consciousness that, for want of better language, we might also call the enlightened state. It is a new way of approaching, thinking, and living enlightenment. However, as we all know, the word "enlightenment" is problematic because of how often its description seems to be removed from everyday reality. The core of Supraconsciousness is that while, on the one hand, it is a state that is beyond the mind, that is, not arrived at by "thinking about it," it is, on the other, connected to everyday self-awareness. And, if it feels like it isn't connected, then that is precisely what we must learn to do in order to create Supraconscious Living in our lives. Without that connection, we would have Supraconsciousness, another word for enlightenment that is far removed from our everyday reality.

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Supraconsciousness, therefore, is supported by variables. Just as psychological and emotional well-being should be addressed, developed, and connected to higher states of consciousness, our physical health is another variable. We know that physical conditions can influence our emotional well-being. For instance, we do have emotional conditions that result from chronic health conditions. Even a common cold can have an emotional effect. Does not every cause have an effect? Isn't this the law of karma? In other words, if our everyday self-consciousness is related to several variables, is it not Supraconsciousness, and will any particularly heightened state of consciousness, such as enlightenment, also be affected by variables? And might not there exist a string of interconnected variables that function in a way that changes in one affect changes in the other?

There's an approach to spirituality, one that I used to adhere to for a very long time, that suggests achieving enlightenment or God-Realization will solve all our problems, be they physical, emotional, or circumstantial. Thanks to Asha, I now understand that I cannot develop an approach to higher consciousness with everyday implications without attention to the variables that influence consciousness. This understanding makes me more aware and mindful of my daily spiritual journey. And really, her constant definition and redefinition helped my spiritual discernment process that would otherwise be replete with spiritual bypassing.
 
Like me, you have had "peak experiences," the type of experiences that stand outside the range of everyday human experience. Has this solved "all" your problems? Do you not continue to have areas in your life that affect you negatively? Do you not deal with resistance and apathy to spiritual practice regularly? Are you not encountering a "lack of fulfillment" in your life?
 
Asha and I have been exploring consciousness for the three-and-a-half decades of our marriage. We've done it professionally, from co-teaching live retreats to creating online programs. We have also studied the process with many luminaries in the field of consciousness. However, our most profound insights have developed within our daily lives, and we want to share these insights and methods with those who have a genuine interest in consciousness beyond that norm. To engage in such a process, we need to chart our path to discern what is consequential in spiritual practice and what isn't. There is so much fluff out there and so much hype around spiritual practice. Supraconsciousness sounds like another new-age term, but hopefully, this article sheds some light on how we want to approach this term.
 
Essentially, it's not just about knowing spiritual practices yielding results. Every spiritual practice does produce some result. The real essence lies in the consequentiality of our spiritual practice in our daily lives, in the regular effect it has on our consciousness. There's no point in dwelling on past spiritual peak experiences if our everyday consciousness is clouded with doubt, lack of spiritual inspiration, and disappointment. This understanding should motivate us to commit to a more consequential spiritual practice. Supraconsciousness and Supraconscoius Living are what we are discerning as a way to live a consequential life, and we want to share it with those who feel called to do the same.