Photo Credit: Unsplash/Yuri Bodrikhin
By Gregg Sanderson
Each of us is a facet and expresses differently; still, we’re all from the same jewel.
It’s peculiar, I know, but I like to define my terms. Then I know what I’m talking about, and so do you.
As we see from other articles in this magazine, “Higher Consciousness” means different things to different people, so let’s look at a few examples with this little quiz. Rate these people in order of their consciousness:
The Evangelist who saves a thousand souls a week.
The sinner who has been given up as hopeless by a thousand evangelists.
The guru from India who teaches a thousand students.
The perpetual student who has a thousand gurus.
The seeker who meditates in a cave for a thousand days of silence.
The charlatan who leads a cult of a thousand followers.
The reincarnation of an Egyptian princess from three thousand years ago.
The reincarnation of a Brooklyn deli owner who made a thousand pastrami sandwiches.
The channel of an ascended master to an audience of thousands.
The channel of dear departed Aunt Tillie that misleads thousands.
The doctor who heals a thousand patients.
The doctor who charges a thousand dollars.
The entrepreneur whose business employs a thousand people.
The entrepreneur who sells a thousand Chinese can openers.
The vegan who saves a thousand cows by not eating them.
The carnivore who thins out the herd by scarfing down a thousand Big Macs.
The environmentalist who lights a thousand homes with squiggly bulbs.
The consumer who contributes a thousand plastic bottles to fill up the land.
The person devoted to the betterment of mankind.
The person devoted to the betterment of himself.
The person who is happy all the time, no matter what is going on in his life.
The person who is miserable all the time no matter what is going on in his life.
I’ll bet you think this was a trick question. Well, it was…You see, there’s really no such thing as “Higher Consciousness.” It’s only “Other Consciousness.” Let me explain.
We’re all spiritual beings having a human experience as we adventure in space and time. At the deepest level, we are all connected to the Universal Consciousness. I call it Unconditional Love.
Picture the Universal Consciousness as a jewel with infinite facets. None is higher or lower—better or worse—than any other. Can any facet be made of different stuff than the others? Of course not.
Each of us is a facet, and expresses differently. We each have surface residue to clear away in order to shine out the Love inside. Still, it’s all the same jewel.
I believe the concept of “Higher Consciousness” can be an ego trap, because it leads to comparison. For example, we may think of Mother Teresa as more Spiritual than Kim Kardashian, yet both are spiritual beings by definition.
Each decided what kind of human experience they’d have and bolstered it with a belief system to match. One has nothing to do with the other, and both seek to fill in their pictures of happiness in their own way. They act out their lives according to their values, and reap the consequences.
It’s that way for each and every one of us. We try to organize our “residue” in a way we think will work. The consequences give us either more residue or more clarity. One is not better or “higher” than the other, but one might be a lot more enjoyable.
What is this “residue” that keeps the light of love from shining out? It’s anything we feel we must have in order to feel love. “I’ll love you unconditionally as long as you meet my conditions” doesn’t do it.
If there’s no “higher” or “lower” consciousness, what, then, is the purpose of life?
Obviously (to me) it’s to be happy. Why else would we eternal beings subject ourselves to the limitations of space/time but for entertainment and adventure? After all, eternity takes a while, and it could get pretty boring without something to do.
So we join this life and play the game where we get to sort out an infinite variety of experiences and beliefs to find our way to unconditional love—the key to happiness and the “stuff” out of which we’re all made.
Some get it, some don’t. Some come back for more, some go elsewhere, but no matter what, Love is the game and the prize.
That’s my consciousness. I don’t know if it’s higher or lower, but it sure is fun!
What’s yours?
Gregg Sanderson is author of Spirit With A Smile, The World According To BOB. He is a licensed practitioner in the Centers for Spiritual Living, and a Certified Trainer for Infinite Possibilities. His earlier books were, What Ever Happened To Happily Ever After? and Split Happens—Easing The Pain Of Divorce. His latest project is the New
Thought Global Network, where subscribers can enjoy the best in New Thought presentations from anywhere at any time. You can see it at http://www.newthoughtglobal.org.