The Journey
of Ascension
Ascension is talked about a great deal nowadays, yet
it is still somewhat misunderstood and also still seems to create
confusion, even in the minds of individuals actively seeking it. Just
hearing the word "ascension" used to evoke visions for some
people of motherships coming to the rescue, or the hand of God coming
down to lift us up sometime in the ominous future when it was predicted
that the going would get tough. Seemingly to some, it was about being
able to escape from the harsh, cruel world that was to be our lot
when we reached the fast-approaching end times. Nowadays, since there
is a greater receptivity to what ascension actually is, there is also
a need to look more deeply and realistically at it.
In fact the experience of ascension has been with us for eons. And
it is a very real, tangible and immediate experience available to
us right now, should we choose it-an experience completely connected
to our physical life and body. Ascension is actually another term
for the experience of awakening to the state of enlightenment, or
unity consciousness, our highest potential. The misunderstandings
around it exist because it is definitely a non-ordinary state, difficult
to define and as yet very little understood in our ordinary world.
The word "ascension" is a very graphic and literal description
of the journey to enlightenment, especially when viewed from the perspective
of the anatomy of the subtle physical body. This is because it describes
the energetic journey in an ever-ascending path, up through the chakra
levels from the root chakra to the crown chakra. While this is an
inner energetic and bodily experience, it also depicts the complete
transformation of our perceptions and experiences of the outer world
around us.
Ascension through the chakra levels is also about individual consciousness
moving from the ordinary, worldly state, which is a fairly slow vibration,
into a higher and faster vibratory state, yet at the same time remaining
solidly grounded. We venture forth from a judgmental, polarized and
limited mind, which keeps us susceptible to states of negativity at
least half the time, to the experience of being liberated from negativity
and limitation into the expanded, universal mind. It is in this state
that we can realize our full potential as humans and experience more
of the interconnectedness of all of life.
As we take this journey, we become beings of heart, living in compassion,
generosity, and tremendous strength and wisdom. We are diving into
the mystery of eternal beingness, yet simultaneously we become more
practical, grounded and "real" as our consciousness becomes
more based in truth. We are moving from an old, dysfunctional system
into a new, more inclusive system, from the third-dimension into higher-dimensional
consciousness, from a win-lose paradigm to a win-win paradigm.
The journey of ascension actually takes place right in the energy
body. Our awareness is aligned in and moves through the energy body
continuously, reflecting our shifting states of awareness. With every
thought, emotion and action, our awareness flows through the body,
either ascending or descending our consciousness. Sometimes it moves
in a way that is harmonious with life and is aligned with our highest
good. When it does, we feel fulfilled, alive, able to meet life with
enthusiasm and optimism, ready to meet the world fully. Other times
it moves erratically, seemingly out of synch with the rhythms of our
natural flow, and we feel drained and depleted, as though we are wasting
our energy. In this instance, we feel confused, thwarted by life's
roadblocks, unable to fulfill our dreams, and we wonder what is going
wrong.
In this book we take a detailed look at exactly how this works, at
why consciousness sometimes moves in an erratic, draining way, and
at how certain "locks", states of consciousness or thought-forms,
which reside in the body, obstruct our natural flow of life force.
The seven "keys" help to open those locks and restore the
natural flow that is our birthright. We will use the subtle body and
chakras as a map in order to explore how our consciousness moves through
the body on the journey of ascension. But before we go there, let's
look first at what ascension is not.
Completing
Life in the Separate System
Ascension does not mean leaving something behind, just walking out
on, or abandoning the old system of consciousness. And this is a very
important point to understand. Rather, it means completing the old
system.
You cannot leave the old third-dimensional system, a system of great
disconnection and separation from one another and from other species,
until you have completed all of the incomplete lessons that still
await you there. The system of separation is an old way of perceiving,
in which we see, feel and believe that we are separate, autonomous
entities, and that we are not connected to the outside world, to other
people and to God. All your unfinished business in the separate system
will hold you back, and therefore you must attend to it. In the separate
system we believe reality is the material world; we believe matter
is what matters. We believe that what we can see and touch is real
and that what we cannot see or touch is not real.
All the stories about life that you still believe are real will be
blind spots that suck you into a maelstrom of attraction and repulsion
and negative and positive thinking, keeping you connected to the old,
limited, dualistic, third-dimensional paradigm.
Since life is really about learning lessons, you cannot move on until
you have learned them. When you have done that, you are free because
you have incorporated, completed, and integrated the third dimension,
and thus you move on.
Because of this very important fact, we must attend to clearing and
deconstructing any states of mind and emotion that keep us attached
to the old way. We must process all of our old issues, limiting beliefs
and personality patterns that lock us into these limited states of
consciousness.
Processing is a form of self-inquiry-a way of looking at our egoic
self. "Ego" refers to the personality structure, which results
from childhood and worldly conditioning. The term "to process"
means to examine and to inquire deeply into the nature of our conditioned
and unbalanced egoic programming with the intention of moving our
awareness into balance and truth. We process our consciousness in
order to become clear and ultimately to find our wholeness.
Processing the egoic programming is a very fast way of parting the
veils of separation and refining our awareness to where we are not
part of the old system any more, and begin to live in the open heart.
Without that "seeing" of life's lessons, we have to live
out those lessons in the physical world in the form of negative experiences.
That can take years and causes much unnecessary suffering. The approach
of processing the imbalances in the personality ties in with the old
yogic instruction to be "in the world but not of it".
Passing
Through the Eye of the Needle
Your growth toward higher dimensional consciousness means a gradual
dis-identification with your old reality and old identity. It is preparation
for the journey through the eye of the needle. The eye of the needle
represents the doorway through which we pass when we allow our old
reality to dissolve. Only the essential Self, the pure essence that
you are, can pass through the eye of the needle, ascending into the
next dimension. That essence is you, not as your personality but as
Oneness, and in that state of Oneness, you pass through the minute
opening between the worlds and into the next dimension.
Thus the most important thing for us to attend to at this moment in
time is our attachment to our old, third-dimensional personality programs.
We can let go of attachments by deeply processing them, to where we
are well and truly complete with all that the third dimension has
to teach us. In this way we are actually decoding it to the point
of becoming completely unplugged from it. We will then come to the
place where we understand deeply that we are actually not the personality-that
the old third-dimensional personality is a false self with which we
are mistakenly identified, and that our true deeper nature is as the
eternal Self.
The old third-dimensional system of separation is a certain bandwidth
of vibratory frequency-a small part of the huge range of all the frequencies
of creation. The ego is programmed to perceive only within that bandwidth.
We, acting through the ego, are bound by its limitations. By seeing
and transforming the old personality patterns, by letting them go
and making new and different choices in our daily lives, we vastly
increase the speed of our vibration to where our consciousness is
no longer bound by the limitations of the old system. We begin to
expand beyond it, into a new bandwidth.
Processing will wake us up to all the structures still rooted in the
old way and bring us into a place of witnessing all the sides of this
third-dimensional system that are still hidden from our sight in the
unconscious. This will allow us to see where we are still hooking
into it. Making the unconscious conscious is what the journey of ascension
is all about.
Time is of the essence now for all of us as we approach the moment
that has been predicted for the completion of this cycle, the year
2012, and processing becomes a very fast way to gain the understandings
of our lessons. Completing the lessons allows the release of our attention
from those places where we previously had blind spots.
The technique called "squares" that I teach in the book,
The Marriage of Spirit-Enlightened Living in Today's World,
is one method of processing, and it especially helps you see hidden
sides of your old personality and thus awakens you to all the unconscious
sides of the programs you run. Doing squares will also actually de-construct
the egoic programs as you finish with them.
Using the seven keys presented in this book is also a powerful way
of processing. In this accelerated time, you must have some method
of processing the ego in order to stay on track with your path of
transformation and spiritual awakening. Any way of processing that
works for you is fine, as long as you do it regularly! You will not
be able to ascend into "unity consciousness" and leave the
old system without some proactive way of letting go and dissolving.
Duality
All the dualities that we hold in consciousness can be unified into
the Oneness that is our origin and source, bringing us back to perceiving
unity consciousness and allowing a tremendous speeding up of our vibration.
In this world all individuals are holding varying degrees of separation
in their patterning. How much separation someone experiences seems
to depend on how much wounding he/she is carrying. Separation and
wounding cause the vibration to be slower. Let's talk about duality
for a moment so that you have an understanding of the dynamics that
give rise to the slower, and also to the faster, vibrations-so that
you understand how you can affect them.
This world is a world of duality. Because of the dual nature of our
consciousness and our world-dual meaning divided in two-we perceive
life in myriad pairs of opposites. Good and bad, pain and pleasure,
joy and sadness, and life and death are just a few examples. There
are many, many more pairs of opposites to which we are subject on
a daily basis. Just a brief moment of reflection will reveal the truth
of this.
Each person's egoic consciousness is programmed to exist within the
context of all of life's pairs of opposites. The ego, or personality,
is involved in all the pairs of opposites all the time. Life is dictated
by our experiences of these states.
All the pairs of opposites are polarized by a magnetic field that
holds them in a dynamic interplay with each other. The two sides of
every pair spin around each other as a result of the magnetic force
of attraction and repulsion. Since we are identified with the ego,
this subjects us to the positives and negatives of all the states
of mind and emotion in our bandwidth. In other words, in the third
dimension we cannot experience the positive side of a pair of opposites
without being subject to the negative side at some point.
The motion caused by the magnetic field is an oscillation back and
forth, operating like a pendulum. And the further apart the extremes
of polarization are, the slower the vibration we will experience in
our minds, emotions and physical bodies.
This back-and-forth motion accounts for the mood changes that we experience
in our daily lives. The ego balances itself by flip-flopping between
negative and positive. However, this is a crazy, roller-coaster kind
of balance and can be very stressful. It results in consciousness
vibrating more slowly. Human life is stressed by living at a slower
vibration because of the extremes of dark and light we experience.
There is another way to find balance, a far less stressful way, and
that is by unifying the pairs of opposites and coming back to our
original state of unity. In other words, consciousness oscillates
less and thus has a higher vibration. This allows the consciousness
to ascend. Ascended paradigms vibrate at a faster speed.
It is not within the scope of this book to explore in any detail how
the system of separation and duality works. But if you feel you need
more information on the subject, a major portion of The Marriage
of Spirit-Enlightened Living in Today's World, is dedicated to
exploring it.
The
Flow of Life Force through the Body
We have many bodies other than the physical. Our complete, all-encompassing
body is really a body of energy and consciousness. It comprises a
mental body, an emotional body and a vast light body as well. Our
life force is always naturally flowing through and animating all of
our bodies. When we choose to awaken to truth, a particularly powerful
and vital flow of energy or light is activated in the body. In the
East it is known as kundalini. It comes from the Sanskrit word, kundal,
which means "coil." Seen clairvoyantly, kundalini is coiled
at the base of the spine, like a snake, and when awakened, moves serpent-like
up through the body. The natural flow is from the base of the spine,
or the root chakra, to the top of the head, or the crown chakra. Before
we proceed with our discussion of how this flow relates to the seven
keys, let's take a brief look at the anatomy of the light body, also
known as the subtle body or aura.
The Light Body Anatomy- the Chakras
Chakras are energy centers in the body and are active at all times,
whether we are conscious of them or not. Chakra is a Sanskrit word
that denotes circle and movement, or it can be translated as "wheel."
Chakras are associated with aspects of the physical, mental and emotional
bodies. We have many chakras within, and even some beyond, the physical
body. There are seven main chakras in the body, and they are the ones
we will address here. (Please scroll down or click
here to view a diagram of the chakras.)
There are aspects of consciousness and behavioral characteristics
associated with each chakra. Often in meditating on the chakra, we
can perceive the unique attributes of the consciousness associated
with each chakra as described below. For the purposes of this book,
we explore only the basic aspects of consciousness associated with
each chakra; there are actually many more.
The first chakra is called the root chakra and is located between
the anus and the genitals, at the base of the spine. The consciousness
associated with the root chakra is that of security, physical survival,
the fight-and-flight mechanism and life-and-death struggles.
The second chakra is located on the front of the body between the
navel and the genitals. Sexuality, procreation, creativity, the nurturing
emotions and family or tribal issues are associated with it.
The third chakra is located at the solar plexus. It is the power center
and is where we work out dualistic issues of power-powerlessness-tyrant-victim,
loss-gain, success-failure, and dominance, manipulation and control.
This is where we learn the lessons associated with polarized power,
authority, name, fame and all the shadow states associated with power,
such as rejection, betrayal and abandonment.
The fourth chakra is located in the middle of the chest and is often
called the heart chakra. The consciousness associated with the heart
chakra is that of love, faith, devotion, duty and compassion. It is
also associated with the ins and outs of love relationships-rejection
and acceptance.
The fifth chakra is located at the throat and is the energy center
of the voice, expression, artistry, knowledge, mastery and will.
The sixth chakra is located between the eyebrows and is known as the
third eye. This is the energy center of conscience, wisdom, insight,
clairvoyance, psychic perception and multi-dimensionality.
The seventh chakra is located at the top of the head and is known
as the crown chakra because it sits on the head like a crown. It is
a vortex of energy that opens upward like a funnel. The royal crown
that kings and queens wear is a representation of it in physical form.
Also known as the thousand-petaled lotus, the crown chakra is associated
with our sense of connectedness to All That Is and, at its deepest
level, with our union with the Divine within us.
It is easier to experience our natural state of non-duality or Oneness
in the upper chakras, especially in the crown. Many people make the
mistake of thinking that by keeping their awareness in the upper chakras
they are free of the third dimension, and they "train" themselves
not to go down into the lower chakras with their conscious awareness.
By opening your crown chakra, which you can do just by willing it
open in meditation, you can temporarily experience a unified state.
But the problem is that the crown does not automatically stay open
once you have opened it with your will. Because of the programming
of polarization in the egoic mind, the crown chakra closes again as
soon as you forget to hold it open. Then awareness drops back into
the programming and loses that open state. So training yourself to
stay in the upper chakras will not bring you to freedom from ego.
Trying to remain in the consciousness of only the upper chakras is
the practice of avoidance and denial. When we indulge in avoidance
and denial of the third-dimensional worldly consciousness of the lower
three chakras, the awareness is still trapped there from childhood
programming, and it is simply being kept unconscious. It has not been
cleared and deconstructed.
It is important to know that at the deepest level of the subtle body,
unified consciousness resides in the body all the way down to the
root, not just in the crown and upper chakras. As you use the keys,
especially clearing the first, second and third chakras of their shadow
content, you will experience unity consciousness all the way down
into your root chakra. Eventually your crown and your root will be
emanating the same unified state. There will be no difference between
them. So forget about the idea that to live in unity consciousness
you have to reside only in the crown and upper chakras. It just is
not so.
Awakening to the inherent unity in the lower chakras is immanently
possible. It does take a little longer and require more dedication,
however, because it means being willing to face the egoic shadow.
The
Light Body Anatomy- the Core
The light body has a core or central axis from which the chakras emerge.
In Sanskrit the core is known as the shushumna, and it corresponds
roughly to the physical spine. The shushumna is a pathway of light.
It is the luminous core of enlightenment within each one of us. It
is the center of the cosmos, and is known in the Bible as the Tree
of Life, one of its many names. Its "branches" of energy
or light spread into all the different dimensional facets of all of
the bodies.
Most people in the separate system are unaware that the core exists
and rarely feel it. All the veils of the conditioned personality-fears,
imbalances, negative and limiting belief systems, and so forth-have
been wrapped tightly around it and have hidden it from our conscious
view. In fact they resemble a coating of thick, black leather, like
a sleeve, around the core. Between the chakras are locks where the
veils constrict and cut off the flow of light and energy through our
physical body. The illuminating flow of kundalini, once liberated,
moves up and opens the locks to reveal the emanation of unity consciousness
from the core. The locks limit the quantity of light we can access,
thus keeping us in a limited system. As we ascend in vibration and
let go of the beliefs in separation and limitation, the kundalini
opens the locks and sweeps away the veils. We become conscious of
the kundalini ascending, of the light of unity emanating from the
core and of being connected all the way up, from root to crown chakra.
When a single, thread-like flow of light, or kundalini, ascends all
the way up the core from root to crown, uninterrupted by egoic limitation,
we begin to experience unity consciousness. In Sanskrit it is a state
known as samadhi. The Christian Church refers to it as "the peace
which passeth all understanding". As we clear the constricting,
limiting locks in egoic consciousness and as we progress on the path
of Self-discovery, the thread widens and our samadhi state evolves
and grows. Samadhi is an actual experience of the light of the core
and is an awakening to the knowledge of the cosmos-the beginning of
enlightenment and of being "ascended".
Light is unified consciousness and contains information. When we enter
samadhi, we download the information in the light, or unity consciousness,
and later it is decoded through the mental body, where we become conscious
of multidimensional understandings. For example, we may gain insights
into a current process that would help to unravel a destructive behavior
pattern, like overeating or smoking. Many of the world's great scientists,
artists and leaders have access to higher realms of light-whether
consciously or unconsciously-and therefore they are able to receive
information and brilliant new ideas in this way. Light is sometimes
experienced-usually in meditation-as a blissful, ecstatic, ever-expanding
presence; it is the unconditional love of the Divine.
The light of the core is experienced as unified or non-dual awareness-divine
presence within us. Traditionally, developing awareness of the core
is done mainly with meditation practice. With meditation, doorways
gradually open in one's interior space, and the consciousness is flooded
with the state of non-dual awareness that is our natural state.
Using the seven keys and other processing techniques to unravel knotted
patterns and imbalances in the ego also allows us to thin out the
veils. The non-dual awareness seeps through and realigns the ordinary
everyday awareness, bringing us very easily and gently into a wonderfully
integrated state of awakeness.
Choosing
To Love at All Times
Since we are surrendering to the journey up the core, through all
the levels of the third dimension, our first stop will be the fourth
dimension where our consciousness begins to be centered more in the
heart. This means shifting into a love-based state from a power- or
fear-based state.
Daily we must make the choice to love even if we do not understand
how it will look. Even in the face of all of our tribulations and
fears about change, we must let go more and more of all our power
and control issues, which bind us to the third dimension.
In choosing love over power or fear, we pass through the eye of the
needle into the pathway to the next dimension. The pathway is the
river of light, the core, and we are carried along on its current
and reborn once again into the heart space. By choosing love, we are
reborn into our own true and permanent heart presence. When we live
life centered in the third chakra, the heart presence is hidden from
our view.
When you choose love and let go of the old way, you may not be completely
aware of what is happening to you. It can feel scary, and you may
balk since it feels as though you are entering the unknown, folding
your wings and going into free fall. If you react to the fear by buying
into it, you will resist the process, and it will not happen. You
will be unable to let go and experience the shift. Instead, you will
fall back into the negative side of the third dimension and be stuck
there until the next time the choice between love and fear, or love
and power, comes up. However, do not be concerned. The choice could
come up the very next day since we are each making choices that decide
our level of consciousness moment by moment. These choices are coming
up constantly in subtle ways. Letting go is a very important part
of the path of love; and be assured, it gets easier with practice.
As you enter the eye of the needle even momentarily, you become pure
beingness, nothing but light in fact. In our egoic self we are used
to feeling like we are "somebody" or even its alternative
on some days, "nobody". This doorway into the heart is about
passing between these two sides of the ego and momentarily becoming
who you truly are, pure beingness, energy without any human attributes.
The
Sequence of the Keys
The keys are presented in a unique sequence, rather than in the order
of the chakra numbers. It is a mystical order that most easily expedites
the unlocking of the doorways between the chakra levels. It is best
to learn the keys in the order they are presented here and initially
to use them in this order. With time you will become very familiar
with each of them. Once you have learned them, you can use them in
a free-form way in any order you wish.
THE SEVEN KEYS OF ASCENSION
The First Key: Do not believe in loss and gain (between the
5th and 6th chakras)
The Second Key: Forgive all betrayals (between the 3rd and
4th chakras)
The Third Key: Not my will but Thine (between the 4th and 5th
chakras)
The Fourth Key: Have faith in the support of the invisible
realms (between the 1st and 2nd chakras)
The Fifth Key: View the ego impersonally (between the 2nd and
3rd chakras)
The Sixth Key: Accept your death (just below the 1st chakra)
The Seventh Key: Accept your divinity (between the 6th and
7th chakras)
This
is an excerpt from Returning to Oneness The Seven Keys of Ascension
