Lately I have been exploring a CD set of guided practices by William Buhlman about have OBE’s (out of body experiences). I already feel the benefits as I find myself less attached to my physical body and more in touch with the infinite within me. This exploration feels meaningful and fresh because I have never intentionally explored being out of my body and as I said I already feel an expansion of consciousness. I have been a student of higher consciousness for 30 years and now understand better than ever that there is so much consciousness still to be explored.
The other day I was listening to an interview over at Sounds True of Shinzen Young a well-known meditation teacher who spends a lot of time doing research on the benefits of meditation. He was talking about consciousness and said that if the Buddha was alive today he would have more consciousness to discover than he did 2500 years ago. My immediate reaction was if you have achieved the enlightenment the Buddha had then you have realized all the consciousness there is. The Buddha’s enlightenment was aware of all there is and this knowing in timeless not a product of human history. It seems modern enlightenment is not any further advanced just maybe more articulate. What do you think?
It seems I got a bit distracted by my thoughts about the Buddha's consciousness being timeless. You have that same potential to become an enlightened one. There is unlimited consciousness waiting for you if you so choose to explore it. Higher consciousness is available to you through practices the produce greater awareness and deeper knowing. You can keep going higher and higher if you have the interest and discipline to see where consciousness will take you. You can become a modern day Buddha and bring a bright light to the world.
How do you expand your consciousness and to what are the benefits? The benefits include: being fully present to your life; living at a higher vibrations level which makes thing happen in positive ways; lifting those around you up by your good vibrations; real inner peace and joy; a very spacious and inclusive heart; all the knowing you need; the clarity of purposeful existence; a strong sense of well-being and vibrant health; the real happiness of total freedom; and much more. The more you open to consciousness the more it will be made available to you.
The “how” question is addressed in the esoteric practices of all today’s religions. The Catholics have contemplative prayer. The Buddhists have meditation and mindfulness. The Muslims have the Sufi practices. The Jews have the Kabbalists. The Native Americans have drumming and journeying. The New Age have visualizations and other practices. Your way will have to be your way but there is much to borrow from and explore.
Why not start simple and bring as much awareness to your day as you can. If you set the intention to wake up as fully as you can each moment, the universe will provide you with many opportunities to be a more conscious human being.
I commit to being a more conscious being every day. Will you commit to doing the same? Together we can all help to awaken the entire planet.