Frank M. Wanderer, Ph.D., Contributor
Waking Times

When we are asked what we find the most important thing in our life, the most of us would be able to answer the question. We would, naturally, come up with different answers, but that is not the point; the point is that we are able to answer. But as long as we are able to answer, we remain detached from the higher levels of Consciousness. How is that possible?

The Nature of Higher Consciousness

If we wish to find out how that is possible, we must first examine the nature of higher Consciousness. A number of people have experienced those higher levels, and there are thousands of reports about that state of Consciousness.

Still, if we penetrate deep into that experience, we find that no higher levels of Consciousness exist, only Consciousness itself. That Consciousness has only two states that we are able to experience: one identified with various forms and shapes, and one that is free of forms and shapes.

The Consciousness Identified with the Forms and Shapes

What does this identification mean? It means that we identify with a form (e. g. our name) that originally did not belong to us (we are all born without a name), but through identification this specific form has become a part of our existence.

When the Consciousness identifies with a form, the Ego appears. The Ego always means some sort of an identification, self-determination (I am a man, I am a father, I am an Englishman, I am Christian etc.) The Ego therefore rests upon our identification with things that are important for us ego. If I am able to answer the question, ”What is important for me?” I am in the state of identification with the forms and shapes.

This state of Consciousness is always restrictive and exclusive. Identification is always preceded by a process of selection: this thing–this form–is important for me, whereas that one is not. We usually choose the forms and shapes that we find beautiful, good and valuable, since these are expected to make us beautiful, good and valuable people. Selection always comes hand in hand with anxiety and fear that we may loose what is important for us and, together with those things, we may loose ourselves.

The process of identification does not stop just because we have become spiritual helpers.  But now different things are becoming important for us, for instance the extended state of Consciousness or the experience of the astral projection. At that state of Consciousness, we identify with these experiences, these are the factors that are important for us, they provide the identity of our spiritual Ego. Nothing has really changed, apart from the forms and shapes we identify with.

The Consciousness Free from Forms and Shapes

There moments in everybody’s life when our identification with the forms and shapes loosens a little bit for a short while, and in that instant we may experience an entirely different state of Consciousness.

When our identification with a form ceases, a new space is generated between us and the form and we are able to see and recognize that we are not identical with that form. With the dissolution of the identification, the Ego also disappears. When we are in that state of Consciousness and we are asked what we find important in life, we are simply unable to answer the question, as everything that we formerly regarded as important vanished together with the Ego. Still, we sense that we are alive, and we did not disappear with the Ego.

What we then experience may perhaps be best termed as Being. There is only the pure existence, we are eyewitnesses, contemplating the dance of forms and shapes around us. We do not identify with anything, we are a Consciousness free of the obligation to make choices. We are free and independent of the forms and shapes and of the necessity of choosing from them. All our suffering and problems have vanished, we are surrounded by peace and tranquility.

Awakening from the Stupor of Identifications

On most occasions, one is only able to experience that state of Consciousness free of identifications for very brief periods only. This is, however, one of the most wonderful and certainly one of the most important experiences in our life. It wakes us up, in fact shakes us out of the stupor of identifications.

Once we have had that experience, our alertness will increase, and we will pay more and more attention to the present moment. When we are alert and shift the center of our existence into the ”here and now,” our identification with the forms and shapes will further loosen. Such moments may therefore appear more and more frequently in our life. As we are bound to the forms and shapes to a lesser and lesser degree, the periods and intensity of these experiences increases. In the end it will remain the only reality for us.

About the author

Frank M. Wanderer Ph.D. is a professor of psychology, a consciousness researcher and writer. Frank is the author of the books The Flames of Alertness: Discover the Power of Consciousness!,The Biggest Obstacle to Enlightenment: How to Escape from the Prison of Mind Games? andseveral books on consciousness. With a lifelong interest in the mystery of human existence, Frank’s work is to help others wake up from identification with our personal history and the illusory world of the forms and shapes, and to find our identity in what he calls “the Miracle”, the mystery of the Consciousness.

You can also follow his blog HERE

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