Chakras
Practice of Mind Skills
Expansions of Consciousness
"Training of an Adept"
The Ladder Path
Part One
By Valerie Bonwick And Jonathon Bigras
To know, but not to do, incurs its own karmic debt
It is in service that you emulate the wise
ones
And service that is the
safeguard,
Which insures that you will evolve through Wisdom
won,
Rather than involute through knowledge
gained
When you know and you do, you become the ADEPT.
You sometimes do not recognize you have already experienced initial expansions of consciousness, by maturing from infanthood through childhood to the many changes upon all levels that you encountered in your youth. these changes were all accompanied by expansions of awareness which were not necessarily registered as such because children are expected to grow as if to a blueprint patented by their parents. They were a preparation however, for setting in motion the process for expanding your consciousness, but your next step is the realization that your progress as an individual need not and should not end when you reach adulthood.
When individuals think of routine, their minds often turn to work schedules or fitness programs and few realize that for many people, a sleepwalking pattern of existence may be routine also, perhaps because their habits lack variety, maybe they are too dull or too comfortable and it takes an effort of will to awaken themselves to participate consciously in the evolution of life on the planet.
You cannot remain on the Spiritual plateau forever and if you're not involved in progressing towards your goals, you're slipping backwards. The key to remaining within the or re-entering the stream of evolution is " consciousness, " which presents many levels of opportunity related to fields of endeavor associated with each chakra as it becomes active.
Expansions of consciousness
Expansions of consciousness are subject to circumstances as well as to merit. When you are working towards a goal in the early stages of your study, you may not always register that you have experienced an expansion of consciousness. You may only be aware of a sudden flash of intuition, fleeting in influence, yet at another time you may worry away at an ideological problem like a dog with the bone and then a sudden flash of insight provide an answer.
Later on in your studies, an expansion of consciousness may provide the key to the next stage of the Path, leaving you astonished that solutions which eluded you previously, now seem so obvious. You may also for brief time experience an overview of life in general during which all your questions are answered, but this knowingness usually fades until your next expansion of consciousness, although the realization they you have glimpsed a portion of the Divine Plan will remain fresh in your memory.
When you continue steadfastly with the work of the Soul and as you work on yourself, you will gradually come to recognize these signposts for what they are and in this respect it is a good idea to keep a record of your insights, intuitions and dreams. Be quite straightforward in interpreting your dreams. If they include thought which is directed to you from a higher plane, it will be straightforward and not encased in interpretive detail that is too complex, unless of course, you have already schooled your memory to accept communication in such a way.
The mind skills described here very briefly, are based upon those which were developed among our own people in the very early stages of our history. They are skills which, once they are set into place as a background to your own personal life of the mind, translate into life skills on the physical plane and continue to intensify in quality and power without limitation. Their practice will eventually lead you to experience expansions of consciousness which will extend your field of awareness to every area of your life and beyond. We will touch upon various levels of consciousness in the exercises that follow:
Expanding
consciousness
Practicing
consciousness
Higher
consciousness
Bridging
consciousness
Dual
consciousness
Continuity of
consciousness
Planetary
consciousness
Universal
consciousness
Cosmic consciousness
Your levels of consciousness are related to awakened chakras that are also psychic centers of consciousness which contribute to emerging mindskills. An expansion of consciousness sometimes occur in conjunction with energizing a chakra and in response to your attitude of mind. Every degree of consciousness is subject to three stages of realization:
You reach a specific level of consciousness
And
enter into an expanded field of consciousness
In which you attain an elevated state of consciousness.
Your level of consciousness is personal to you, a level at which you arrive by intensifying your understanding, accepting yourself as you are in honest appraisal and accomplishing improvement by diligent perseverance, until all levels of your consciousness including your subconscious mind are positively involved in focused upon your spiritual goals. This is an intensely private effort, subject to your own inner being.
The expanded field of consciousness into which you enter is subject to the Ray-influence related to the Chakra you are energizing. The responsibility for the quality of the energy associated with your Chakra activity is yours.
This expansion brings you into close contact with senior disciples. You do not always register their presence, but they hold your vibration in their minds.
The elevated state of consciousness of which we speak is an interdimensional attunement which requires permanence with your practice. It is extremely difficult to describe adequately, because verbosity is not one of the characteristics which result from the venerable condition of Mind and Soul working in unison, suffice to say that such is the goal which permits you conscious contact beyond physical vibration.
RootChakra-OpenMind
Expanding Consciousness
An Open Mind prepares the Quester
for
Expansions of Consciousness
The individual who has not yet awakened the positive qualities of the Root Chakra and progressed onward to contact the qualities of the higher Chakras, quite often suffers from a closed mind.
A closed mind is quite easy to recognize. It is a truism, that one of the most frustrating and frequent irritations encountered in a Questors life is the nagging, heckling or pestering of a close minded person. The best way to deal with the irritation is to look upon it as a test, for you cannot make a dent in someone's closed consciousness by appealing to reason.
Bigotry in any field of endeavor, whether religious, nationalistic or sexist, is a block to anyone's further progress on the Path until the fires of understanding have been lit.
Converts to religious fundamentalism for instance, no matter to what religion they may choose to belong, are very often close minded and obstinately refuse to acknowledge that good can come out of any doctrine if preached under another sect's "umbrella of authority," however similar It may be in practice.
Politics is another area of everyday life that seems to generate an absence of goodwill when adherents to a particular cause cease to grow spiritually or fail to mature when meeting the challenge of fresh concepts, then their party's ideology becomes crystallized.
Yet, the above characteristics are flaws in natural growth or the cause of a lack of growth, which sometimes take root in what should be fertile fields of spiritual service. Therefore, it is wise to re-evaluate your adherence to man-structured projects to ensure that they are maturing in Wisdom.
A conscious open mind is essential to the Quester, for the awakening of your Root Chakra is associated with patterns of physical behavior and Mindskills that are ritualistic in character. Energizing this center of consciousness represents a very important phase in your life and is worth while examining the list of positive and negative check points related to it.
Conscious open mindedness implies a liberal minded response on your part in the face of differing opinions and sometimes a non critical stance towards those who express unfair and antagonistic attitudes towards others. There are certain techniques which you will learn later that promote a better understanding on subtle levels which are not obvious at first glance.
Life and lifeforce sound the note of your Root Chakra, so it is obvious, the support of the higher qualities expressed by its energy is essentially in order to travel the path successfully while dwelling in a physical form.
Concentrate upon your Chakras positive qualities and remember, exercise of self discipline is the key note goal and principal requirement if you wish to eclipse the lower, negative expression of the center's energy by promoting the higher, positive harmonics of its sounding note .
Obviously, if you are physically strong person, exemplify heroism rather than the domination of the bully, express the courage of patience rather than the impatience of brute force and build into your consciousness love that is free of lust, in this respect, a diet free of red meat, spices and alcohol is advisable .
By cleansing the Root Chakra with the help of visualization exercises and adhering at the same time to a common sense diet and a moderate lifestyle, you promote good health and stamina, which are an asset to any one setting out on the Path and at any time in your life.
Crystallization is the antithesis of life force. You cannot expand your awareness with a closed mind. It is obvious that no Questor needs this advice, nevertheless we include it to encourage those of you whose patience is being sorely tested by colleagues or even by family members who lack the goodwill of open-mindedness.
Expanding your Consciousness
An expansion of consciousness is considered by many Questers to be the determining proof to themselves that they are making progress on the Path. Surprisingly, the work on yourself that sometimes leads to an expansion of consciousness by the swiftest route, is very often accomplished under the most mundane circumstances.
Undramatic as it may seem to be, it is the time spent winning Knowledge acquired in libraries, studying the past by visiting museums, and evaluating the world of tomorrow exhibited in futuristic technology when it comes your way and examined in the light of your own place in the scheme of things, which sometimes brings the sincere Quester to a crisis of consciousness leading to an expanded awareness for the portal of initiation. The observation of life around you always provides a stable basis for a deeper understanding, while quite often the monotonous duties of your everyday life provide opportunities for you to put your acquired knowledge and understanding to the test.
When applied successfully and unselfishly, spiritual diligence combined with physical plane duties quite often lead you to your goal, while confirmation that your efforts on the Path had not gone unnoticed may come from unexpected quarters.
When you work upon refining the qualities of your Root Chakra, the field of endeavor which responds most readily to your desire to serve as that of the will-to-good or goodwill. This sounds almost insultingly simple doesn't it, but how deceptive it is the same simplicity!
It is easy enough to spread goodwill to the obviously deserving, but how about the undeserving? " And what," I can hear some of you say, " can I accomplish if my circle of acquaintances is limited by my background, my environment or my age group? "
Silent Blessing
There is no law against you sending a silent blessing of goodwill to complete strangers as you walk along the street, to your bus driver or to the overworked cashier perhaps at your supermarket. Remember, " that which you sow, so shall you reap."
Many decent, hard-working individuals reaction when passing a beggar is, " there but for the grace of God go I." Sometimes it is possible to help financially, but whether you do or not, it is possible for you to give positive health by projecting a silent blessing. Do not analyze the beggars needs, that is not your department, but provide an environment of goodwill by your positive thought, within which those needs will be met.
A weakness to which all karmic participants are subject and therefore, most individuals who have reincarnated on the physical plane is, they tend to register only what is being done to them-not what they are doing to others and are rarely conscious of how much good may be accomplished in secret.
If you are lonely, realize there's always someone who is even more lonely than you. You will also feel less isolated if you practice the exercise of making silent, valuable contact by consciously directing positive goodwill to others. It is the good that is accomplished in silence which sometimes bears the most fruit.
Do not become disheartened when you are over burdened by household duties or struggling with the challenges of an irritating job, these environments present very fruitful areas of working goodwill. They might also be areas where a conscious open mind will pay dividends.
Splenic Chakra-Flexible Mind
A flexible mind promotes
the
Practice of Consciousness
The Splenic Chakra is an important center of consciousness which may very well decide your life-Pattern, according to your personal choice in expressing its vitality. For although energy is the quality expressed by this Chakra, discrimination is the keynote goal.
When you energize this Chakra, a variety of choices will become available and to the discerning and discriminating Questor, there are few conflicts of interest once his or her decisions have been made, but to the unknowing individual, many problems present themselves.
For instance, it is with the contributing vitality of this center did you decide with prior consideration, upon the deliberate initiation of a family unit, the conception of a child, an excellent goal when determined with the highest of dedication.
Sometimes however, a lack of control of your awakened Chakras energy accompanied by frequent drains upon your vitality sometimes results when raising a family, leading to a sense of boredom and restlessness. The body responds to the mind with a listlessness and you are inclined to overdo both work and play a spasmodically as your vitality fluctuates.
This situation may be compounded by an inflexible mental attitude which is prone to creep up on you once the initial surge of this Chakras energy has been fulfilled. Your mind, even though your consciousness centered at your Splenic Chakra, needs the flexibility of a certain amount of mind stretching. Some study course is essential for any one to feel fulfilled. To live through someone else's personal goals is not an adequate exercise, even if it is through the achievements of your own children.
To some extent, this need is due to a subconscious awareness of the intellectual pull exerted by the higher center of consciousness at the Solar Plexus and instinctively, the individual realizes that he or she will become a better parent and a more satisfied life partner when able to " tone " the mind and keep it flexible. The brain is a tool which needs exercise and children learn best by example.
Many of the most successful parents are those whose Splenic chakras are energized positively. They practice at keeping their minds alert and expressing a flexible mental attitude, even though they also combat the fatigue of a job outside the home, because this Chakra is closely associated with the expression of Devotion in practice.
Nervous energy that is the result of overtiredness and the need to accomplish too much in too little time, sometimes gives the impression of a super active mentality, but it is instead a sign that the physical body is drained by overwork and expressing itself in emotional excitement or over activity. The " grasshopper " mind must not be confused with the conscious mind that is flexible.
The Practice of Consciousness
Perhaps because there are so many calls upon your energies when you are working with an energized Splenic Chakra, the practice of consciousness does not come easily.
When this Chakra is awakened, all kinds of responsibilities present themselves for you to shoulder, with increased opportunities for service and certainly service, but not servitude, is one of the areas of your life in progress by which you can ascend the Ladder Path.
Quite often the accelerating pace of life at this time will include responsibilities to your partner and children while sharing home care, as well as a career outside the home. If you are reliable and fairly energetic, you will also be drawn into various community projects.
All these activities are a very important part of your life and service which cannot and should not be neglected at any stage of your progress on the Path. It is also possible however, because of fatigue and so many distractions, to neglect that part of your inner being which responds to the note sounded by a higher plane to which you may have won conscious entry because of your efforts. By your unintentional neglect, you may relinquish contact with a higher source from which direct help can reach you when you are experiencing adversity, you may also overlook a source of practical encouragement which is so welcome in times of crisis.
It is quite usual for many conscientious would be Questers, to make the decision to cope with necessary duties there must be performed in order of priority and afterwards, you anticipate an idyllic time in your lives when your families are fully grown and set upon their own course. After all those responsibilities have been fulfilled you will then be free to devote your time to study meditation etc..
Unfortunately, the postponement very often results in cancellation of your plans concerning your personal goals for study, meditation and spiritual attainment, because when you successfully fill one set of responsibilities, others seem to take their place. Caring for your children in your youth for instance, may turn into a responsibility of caring for your parents in your middle-aged or for grandchildren in your later years.
The above is not intended to dissuade you from your duties, but to encourage you in your resolve to reserve a little time for yourself each day, to contact your higher centers of consciousness through meditation which will sustain and support you with added vitality to help you to meet your commitments.
Consciousness- Conscientiousness
Practice consciousness, for if you don't, how will you register a subtle contact from a high Vibration you may have been waiting for? Sharpen your sensitivity by practicing consciousness at all times during your waking hours, so that you are prepared for that long awaited recognition from your spiritual Master for instance, for approval will not necessarily hit you on the head to attract your attention.
It is possible to be completely conscientious without practicing consciousness. This is not an illogical statement. Many of your day-to-day duties can be performed in a zombie like manner, without you needing to make much conscious mental contact with your actions. This is a habit which presents its own dangers when you cease to be in control of your thinking process, but it is also a sad waste of your time, which you could use to greater advantage by practicing mantras or positive affirmations when you perform routine tasks, for you cannot expand your consciousness unless you are fully conscious.
Solar Plexus Chakra--Mindtouch
Higher Consciousness
The cultivation of mindtouch lends itself to a
Higher state of consciousness.
The Solar Plexus Chakra with our people call the Sunray vortex, was the original seat of telepathy in the consciousness of Ethereal Man and for the majority of mankind it continues to be so. When this Chakra is energized, even the Quester with undeveloped telepathic skills will experience moments of knowing, flashes of awareness or incoming transmissions concerning the events or situations, which cannot be explained other than by the telepathic process of mindtouch.
At this level telepathic reception, flashes of knowingness are usually related to an emotional crisis, an urgent situation concerning a loved one or a family member or friend leaving the physical plane, by astral travel or permanently.
It is when your Chakra is awakened at this stage of the mindskill development, that the needs of your intellect make their presence felt in tandem with expanding your field of awareness and you must respond to the need to expand your intellectual potential.
Let it be said, that there is absolutely no need for confusion or conflict to result from your recognition of mindtouch and the development of your intellect. The mindskills associated with E-S-P were inherent in man's original make up, therefore, this is a process of reclamation, while man's development of his intellect is exploration.
Sometimes it is necessary to train your mindtouch skills and your intellect concurrently and in fact, they may each increase the others potential. If you are a natural telepathic, ignoring mindtouch for what it is will not make it go away, you will continue to be subject to incoming transmissions from everyone in every situation, usually depressing. This is because mankind responds more easily to sorrowful vibrations than to a joyful flow of thought. Questers are often too busy or distracted to attune to the latter because happy vibrations reach you on a faster vibration and slip by you very quickly, but sadness is expressed on a slow vibration. Therefore, develop your mindtouch skills so that you can gain some control over this area of your life-expression.
Concerning your intellectual capability, greater contentment results from your personal achievements when your Solar Plexus Chakra is awake and energized, you experience surges of original thought and fresh ideas will stream into your mind. If opportunities to express your enhanced vision in practical terms seems to be few and far between, it is because hoped-for opportunities are moving on a slower vibration than your incoming inspiration and this sometimes lends a frustrating sense of despondency to your increased intellectual capacity.
Now is the time to remember that your keynote goal while working with this center of consciousness is the fortitude to faith. Faith in your own abilities and faith that the logic of intellect combined with your sensitivity of mind touch, will lead you to a greater understanding of potential spiritual accomplishment and possible material improvement, for truly:
Faith is the substance of things hoped
for
The evidence of things not seen.
Acquiring Higher Consciousness
The first question that many Questors ask is, " how do we develop higher consciousness? " When the Solar Plexus Chakra is awake and energized, it automatically lends itself to the promotion of higher consciousness. Higher consciousness is of paramount importance in your life to balance the life of the intellect and recognition of the fact that there need be no limitation, should spur you on to even higher levels of consciousness .
The solar plexus Chakra is related to the first initiation. Great enthusiasm is normal in research libraries and in studies of all kinds, particularly in relating areas of higher learning to each other and to higher levels of consciousness. This represents a very important phase in your progress. Your mind is alert and your intellect is already sharp and this is the time to use your intellect in the service of your instinct to expand your consciousness .
Consciousness-conscience
Provided you can find time in your day to day life to register incoming impressions and to recognize hints proceeding from contact with your higher consciousness, you will gradually build up firsthand proof that there's more to life than your everyday world leaves room for. This is the time to reinforce your search for truth with dependence upon your higher consciousness, which is increasingly important if you are to balance your increase intellectual potential with the supportive influence of your conscience. History is full of examples of Human tragedy that resulted when intellectual power ran riot without the watchdog of conscience.
Begin your own diary of impressions, dreams and interesting information that comes your way. Keep a record of your own reflection upon the world's problems. List your reading matter, record your reactions and thoughts, so that you can return to your journal a year or so hence and check how much you may have grown in the meantime.
It is particularly valuable to make a list of cause and effect patterns that come to your notice by way of the media. Now is the time to begin exercising your independent power of thinking. You can form your own opinion without becoming judgmental and anticipate the outcome to world news events by comparing facts when they are available. This is how you begin to practice in some small measure the Law of Probabilities and acquired the instinct that counsels you whether or not the facts with which you are working are accurate.
Eventually, your reaction to situations, whether world events or personal trivial, automatically become subject to response, according to the law of probabilities, resulting in an accurate overview of mankind's evolutionary flow, lighting your own spiritual path and the part that is yours to play.