The Living Universe - Duane Elgin [59]
Awakening to the living universe seldom happens all at once; instead, it involves a demanding process of learning and discovery, often over a period of many years. There are three major steps in this awakening process that are recognized in different ways by all of the world’s spiritual traditions.8 Stated simply, our conscious relationship with the universe moves from reflection, to communion, to flow. The accompanying figure presents patterns of words to help describe the nature of these three stages of consciousness.
Let’s consider these three stages of awakening more closely.
Stage I: Reflective Consciousness
Whether an individual or an entire species, the first step in awakening is to stabilize our capacity to pay attention by cultivating a reflective or witnessing consciousness. The word consciousness refers to our “knowing faculty”; therefore, to bring a reflective consciousness into our lives means to live in the mirror of our own knowing. When we are standing and talking with someone, we see ourselves/ know ourselves while standing and talking. When we are sitting and eating, we see ourselves/know ourselves while sitting and eating. This is a completely simple and straightforward process. We all have the capacity to consciously reflect upon and observe ourselves as we move through life. Despite the simplicity and directness of paying attention to ourselves, this is a very demanding and difficult task. We can easily get lost in the flow of our thoughts and the busyness of our lives. A brief moment of self-remembering is often followed by distraction and forgetfulness. Yet, with practice—with meditation—we gradually learn the skills of being present in our everyday lives. This is not a mechanical process, but organically observing and consciously tasting our experience as we move through life.
Three Major Stages in Awakening to the Living Universe
In cultivating our capacity to live more consciously, it is important to develop two qualities of conscious attention that balance one another—concentration and mindfulness. Concentration is the ability to focus on the precise center of our unfolding experience. Mindfulness is the ability to be aware of the panoramic totality of life. Concentration without the balancing influence of mindfulness results in the mind sinking into an activity, getting lost in the details, and losing perspective. Mindfulness without the balancing influence of concentration results in the mind becoming so diffuse and expansive that we feel “spaced out” and unable to be present within the precise center of the flow experience. With a dynamic balance, each acts as a corrective against the excesses of the other. Nothing is left out of our experience, as both the details and the spacious context of our lives are embraced in our consciousness.
Cultivating a reflective consciousness is a basic skill recognized in all of the world’s spiritual traditions as well as in psychotherapy. All understand that the first step in awakening and healing is to simply see “what is.” In other words, we begin by becoming an objective witness or impartial observer of our lives and telling ourselves the truth about our situation. Honest reflection and non-judgmental witnessing are fundamental to both individual and collective awakening. In paying attention to our lives in the mirror of consciousness, we gradually make friends with our soulful nature and come to greater self-possession. The capacity for honest self-reflection provides a way to cut through the surface chatter of our lives and discover the deeper voice of our soul.
A reflective consciousness will bring a new tenor and feel into the world. Where the industrial era mindset with its “thinking consciousness” brought an aggressive, materialistic, and self-promoting orientation,