There are predictable phases of consciousness that we go through in this life.
We come into this world open, enlightened, and connected to divine consciousness. We are naïve, and we can't communicate using words. So we do not have knowledge or wisdom as such, yet we have a particular enviable state of being. And provided that we're given love, food, and physical contact, we feel bliss. That bliss is a feeling of safety—a complete relaxation of our central nervous system and a feeling that our needs are being met. This type of consciousness moves back and forth quickly between being relaxed, being alert, feeling discomfort, and feeling panic.
As we grow up we enter into a new kind of consciousness in which we recognize the existence of a self. And as we enter into it we slowly fade away from the openness that we had when we were born. Even if we're given everything we need, and even if we stay calm and relaxed, we begin sinking into mortality. We start to become creatures seeking to meet their own needs, creatures with ideas, judgments, philosophies, preferences, and personalities. As personalities develop in this consciousness, extremes in both negative and positive feelings will be apparent.
If we developed well during our youth, we will carry positive things into our young adult life. As we fit into society, we will have reasons for living other than taking things for ourselves. We may choose career paths, experiment with romantic partners, become educated, and plan and dream about our futures.
If we stay on such a path, nourishing our minds with the right practices, right thoughts, right speech, and right actions, and simultaneously compassionately care for society, we will move to the next stage of our development. That stage will be starting to return to the open consciousness we had before we were born, but now we're returning there equipped with knowledge. We'll be able to do things for ourselves, imagine things, and create things in ways that we weren't able to when we were children.
We're moving into a certain empowerment at this stage. We’re coming to a place where we’re able to understand the passage of time and able to take our gifts more seriously to give positive things such as poetry, music, and architecture to the world. We can compassionately give to others by becoming schoolteachers and healers and serving in other positive roles.
It's important to note that all human beings have healing capabilities. We were born with them, and they can be either developed or become suffocated (which happens if we're dealt with harshly when we're children).
If we drift away from our healing potential, we can still work on healing ourselves. And when we do that, healing from whatever difficult and painful things we experience, we develop empathy and the potential to become better healers of others over the long run. This is the case because we will have found our ways back to the right paths, so we'll be able to tell others how to do so.
The next stage of consciousness, which I consider to be the last stage, is being in a state in which we’re completely undistracted and are able to focus intently on each moment. When we're in that place we can try to live each moment as if it were our last and find the world to be humorous, serious, and totally fascinating all at the same time.
This stage of awakening shouldn’t be regarded as the mysterious, esoteric, out-of-reach entity that most people think it is. It's written about in all of the great ancient philosophies, and it's something that many have achieved. You can achieve it as well, and I urge you to. Go for it!