Mystical Transformation and Spiritual Creativity

As we continue our awakening and learning of the process of creative intention, we better understand how the ego attaches to the narrow cause and effect of the physical band of consciousness.  The ego consciousness is conditioned in the belief that physical results emerge from only physical causes. 

In truth, the real causation emanates from consciousness through the heart and mind dimensions.  Consciousness causes physical manifestation.  Thus, consciousness originates and the physical is the result.

When we first awaken to the power of intention to create in the physical world, we often react with amazement.  The first results of our actions of creative intention usually take the forms of little signs of guidance.  For example, the spontaneous opening of a book to a seemingly random page which gives us the answer to a question that we had asked without attachment, or events and people showing up that assist our journey.

Our discovery of the intentional nature of the true self is inspiring.  As we persist in the strengthening and expanding of our consciousness, our intention will manifest in our overall journey of health, relationships, abundance, and purpose of life.  However, the fear-based ego consciousness of the false self does not relinquish all at once.

As we are practicing intention, the satisfaction of a given result can also coincide with the ego’s sense of unease or questioning.  This sense of questioning the spiritual cause of a result arises when the ego finds that it had no part in the outcome.  The outcome manifested from our attention and intention through the mind in the heart.  We detach from the outcome because it “already is beyond time and space,” and with ease we trust in the infinite organizing intelligence to manifest the intention into physical form.

Along our transformative journey to an intentional consciousness, we need to become aware of any ego beliefs, thoughts, and emotions.  Our self-observation will improve our focus on intention, and ultimately detach from the no longer necessary fears and doubts of the ego.  In this way, we will continue to transform to the fullness of our true self consciousness of love and creative intention.

If we do not intend from thoughts at the level of the rational mind or from the nondual stage of mystical consciousness that can be experienced as nonintentional, then what is the consciousness of intention?

The human consciousness of the true self in Divine unity is fully intentional in the Spirit.  The infinite and eternal Divine Being of God is love, which in essence is creative.  Love and creativity are one.  The Divine Being is both perfect rest and infinite action.  Love, truth, beauty, life, light, and creative action is the singular ground of being.  Thus, our heart-centered consciousness of the true self in Divine unity is ultimately perfectly intentional and creative.

The essence of intention proceeds from an originating desire or idea that is imaged as an action, feeling, or experience to be manifested into form.  The result that is initiated by an image in the formless dimension beyond time and space is translated by the Divine into the experience of form in the created universe.  How do we create thoughts or feel without the duality that is attachment and separation of the rational mind, emotion, and senses?

We can only perfectly intend from the highest dimension of the heart in the Spirit expressing through the mind and body.  Within the nonlocality and nonduality of this dimension, we can prototype an originating desire or image.  We can understand our ability to initiate intention as our participation in the Divine idea and nature.  The true consciousness of intention arises from our highest capabilities of imaging desire without thinking or creating images from the rational or intuitive mind.  Sri Aurobindo describes this level as the Supramental consciousness.

When we are detached from all outcomes and doubt within the eternal now beyond time and space, we approach the Divine human consciousness that is free to image and thus create in a whole new way.  In the dimension of awareness where there is no contingency, the Divine mind can freely flow through our being from the infinite into time, space, and matter of the physical dimension.  Creation emanates from the entirely new without any dependence on past results.  Thomas Troward describes this as “principle preceeds precedent.”

Creative intention proceeds from our unitary participation in God.  Troward relates this dynamic essence as the “Spirit’s self-contemplation.”  Sri Aurobindo understands this as the “exclusive concentration of the Absolute.”  Jesus reveals this truth in saying, “Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown in the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you.  So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:23-24). 

This is our intentional Divine human consciousness.  At this level of consciousness, we are one with God without boundaries, and free to create in that love from the oneness of infinite being to the multiple experience in the physical dimension of the universe.  Jesus says, “See, I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:5).  Therefore, in the consciousness of the true self that is beyond images and concepts, we can image and feel in a new way through the Spirit.

In the last post, I discussed how our healing journey of trauma releases the Divine energy of intention. Now, I will describe the importance of the practice of turning our attention to the interior of our heart.

We look within to access the higher frequencies of the Divine light that is beyond thinking, words, images, and concepts. By consciously stilling the lower frequencies of the body and mind, we open to the heart consciousness of Divine light that is beyond time and space. This is the practice of meditative awareness.

In a new vision of mystical transformation and creative intention, we transform to the heart-based consciousness of the true self through the depth healing of trauma and the creative action of intention. This path incorporates simultaneous healing of trauma and the meditative practice of opening to the infinite light of consciousness.

This way integrates the mystical traditions and the more recent transformative traditions that place more attention on the intentional creativity of the true self. The way emanates from the core of intention while recognizing the need for the depth healing of the wounded consciousness and the practice of opening to the Divine energy of the transcendent heart consciousness. In order to truly intend from the heart, we are always reducing trauma within our multidimensional being and increasing the light of consciousness in Divine unity.

As we transform ever closer to the true self in Divine unity, we are able to use the mind from within the heart to intend from beyond time and space. When the mind operates from the heart consciousness, it can form thought beyond the duality of the thinking consciousness of the mind. Therefore, intention proceeds by the prototypes of thought forms only when within the observing consciousness of the heart.

Our heart dimension is a nonlocal and nondual unity conciousness of infinite being, communion, and creativity. Because we have been conditioned to operate from primarily the sensory and rational bands of consciousness, the consistent practice of meditative awareness is needed to shift our awareness to the heart in Divine unity.

Our true self in Divine unity is a heart-based consciousness. This dimension of our being is nondual, nonlocal, and beyond time and space. Our true self of the heart is assisted by the mind to express our consciousness within the world. When unencumbered by the fear-based conditioning, this is the human level of being, that uses intention to create from the goodness, peace, and joy of the self in Divine unity.

In the physical world of time and space, we also live from a dimension of consciousness that experiences parts of reality through our sensory system and reason. While this level of awareness is intrinsic to our earthly journey, by itself it is a very narrow band of consciousness. The conditioning and programming of our fear-based consciousness and culture restricts our consciousness to an ego identity to sensory and rational mind levels of awareness.

As we heal and transform to the heart-based consciousness of the true self, the impediments restricting us to an identity with a narrow band of consciousness are released. However, transforming to a unitary consciousness does not necessarily shift the totality of consciousness outside the physical sensory and rational band.

In our multidimensional being, sensory and reasoning consciousness exists simultaneously with the infinite and eternal heart-based consciousness. The transcendent consciousness of the true self is beyond time and space, but it is also immanently present within time and space. Within this consciousness, sense and reason can be experienced, but they are no longer identified with the self. The consciousness of the true self is now understood to be infinite, peaceful, creative, joyful, and nondual. Now, the narrow band of sense and reason is not misidentified as the whole of conscious awareness.

Because of the experience of the multidimensional nature of our heart-based consciousness, we can have a clear awareness of current reality in sense and reason and not be indentified with it. This multidimensional nature of our consciousness is at the heart of our ability of creative intention. We can live from the pure consciousness of our intentions beyond time and space (in the now of already present) while we have a clear awareness of appearances without identifying with them.

The conditioning of the fear-based consciousness and culture results in an ego consciousness of conflict and separation. This ego consciousness is encoded in the earliest years of life in the physical body through the energy and information of prior generations, the consciousness of the family system, and the overall culture.

Because of the nature of our early awareness of the world and our true being of relationship and connection, the mind cannot prevent the identification with sensory, emotional, and intellectual attachments that form the restricting ego consciousness of separation. As a result we forget our heart-based consciousness that is our true self of multidimensional unity. Because we are no longer aware of our unity consciousness, we develop a feeling of lack which the ego consciousness is a defensive adaptation.

The ego attempts to fill this feeling of something missing from the outside-in. Unfortunately, by its very nature the ego is doomed to continue to receive separation and disunity. To the awareness of the fear-based ego, it is caught in a paradox in which it cannot see.

When the ego tries to fill the negative feeling by seeking to cause relationships and material possessions to feel unity, it is actually reinforcing its feeling of separation. Its very efforts to try to control the outside world in order to feel connected is an expression of its fear and conflict. In order to awaken to our true unity, we need to enter the heart within. Our heart-based consciousness in Divine unity is our wholeness. From this awareness, we can intend, create, and allow relationships from a world in which we are already connected.

The blindness of the ego consciousness perceives the seeking of unity within as an isolation or alienation from the connection and unity we desire. In truth, when we seek unity from without, we experience separation from others, and when we open to our unity within, we experience unity with others. The difference is that the ego consciousness feels fearful, negative, and empty, whereas the true self heart-based consciousness feels peace, joy, and love.

We must experience our unity consciousness in order to be effective creators of our destiny in the world. If we continue to live from the ego consciousness that feels lack, then that is what we will see reflected in our world and reinforced in our awareness and feeling.

The transformative journey of transcending the ego consciousness to realize the heart-based consciousness and being is a process of awakening to our true self in Divine unity. Our true self works from wholeness and love to create abundance, further healing, and mutually self-giving relationships. The path of transforming is growing awareness through becoming aware of the thoughts, emotions, and actions of the ego. This awareness is cultivated through meditation, self-observation, and practice in the activities and relationships of daily life. As we awaken, remember, and shift to our unitary consciousness of the heart, we understand and experience that our desire and longing for real unity only arises from our awareness and feeling from within our consciousness and being.

Along the journey of healing and transformation, we reach a point where we become aware that our ego personality has been, and continues to be, an ever-present lens of our experience in the world. While we may have intellectually understood the fear-based ego or felt its restriction for some time, we now see through and feel the totality of its illusion.

Because we have identified with the false illusion of lack, the ego consciousness becomes a reality of experience in the physical dimension. Even though we came into this world open to our true being of the consciousness of the heart, we became conditioned by the current fear-based consciousness and culture. All of the fear, control, conflict, and separation that is experienced from the family and our cultural environment is downloaded into our consciousness.

Because our early childhood consciousness cannot disindentify with the outside conditioning, we forget who we are–a multidimensional being of wholeness. Within our true self of the heart-based consciousness there is no lack. Our experience is love, intention, and creativity. We live from the abundance of the inside in unity, peace, partnership, participation, and cooperation. We are fully connected to everything because there is nothing missing that must be filled up by controlling the outside world.

When we are ready to see the totality of the false consciousness of the ego, we have reached a point where we accept that the ego consciousness does not work in our life. This is a stage where our consciousness begins to come home to the heart. The true self in unity with Divine energy is embraced within the heart through the Spirit. The ego’s attachment to control by seeking approval, acceptance, and validation from others no longer satisfies.

During our life in the ego consciousness, many of the strategies of the ego have remained unconscious. Part of the false fear-based consciousness conditions us to be unaware of the ego’s misguided attempts to fill a perceived lack. At the core of the fear-based consciousness is a darkness of separation and isolation. It is the absence of unity, love, and creativity. The ego forms its most intense strategies to avoid the experience of this dark emptiness. Here, we find our greatest fears and addictive behaviors. If these defenses become fully uncontrolled, the experience of life can be debilitating. Therefore, another part of the ego is a defensive adaptation to the core fear-based wound. Here, the ego takes the underlying true desires of the heart and filters them through its need to fill its identity from the outside acceptance of others. Because we feel that we are expressing the true intentions of our heart, the ego’s ways of subtle attachment to approval are some of our deepest blindspots. The ego controls from all directions–on one side it controls through self-centered narcissism in pursuing one’s objectives, or on the other side it can control by being compliant to the ego needs of others.

When we can see that our ego consciousness is always in operation, even when it recedes to the background during moments of authentic love, we are ready to begin relinquishing its need. We now strongly desire to live from the heart-based consciousness all the time, not from just sporadic moments when our heart opens. The ego’s defenses no longer work for us. We understand them for what they are–a misguided attempt for love and acceptance. We recognize that the ways of the ego consciousness will not bring what we are looking for. Our true being of love, acceptance, and support has always been within our heart in unity with the Divine. From this awareness our heart is expressed through our mind and body, and through our intention and creativity into our experience of the world.

Once we understand the ego’s all encompassing ways of being in the world, we can let it go with compassion and love. If we are still fighting it and judging it for its negativity, we are still using it. When we see through the fullness of the fear and false self of the ego, our heart-based consciousness can now view its misguided attempts with compassion. As our conciousness transforms to love the whole self, the role of the ego will fade. The ego’s fear-based conflict of control and judgment is no longer necessary. It ways of struggling for love, acceptance, approval, and achievement are not needed–and most of all our use of the ego to struggle against itself dissolves. It is healed by the awakening of the heart-based consciousness of love, intention, and creativity. From the unity of the heart-based consciousness, we are free to intend and create in the love of our true being of infinite potential and connection.

The center of human intention is within the heart. There, in the Spirit, we are outside of time and space where fear and doubt cannot enter. Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you” (Mark 11:23). Jesus is saying that the heart is the center of intention. The heart is the key to human intention because it is only there that we find love and the Spirit.

In this one statement, Jesus conveys the complete context for the consciousness of human intention–there are no limits to what we can intend, we must be beyond fear and doubt, we must be in the heart, we must love, and we must trust in the grace of the Spirit. He continues, “So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24). Intention is from the heart in the Spirit with the congruence of the mind, emotions, feeling, and body. This state of being is conveyed in the meaning of the words “believe that you have received it.”

The gift of human intention and spiritual creativity is a glorious gift that is the essence of our true humanity. Jesus teaches its broad scope and its simple unified qualities. However, the complexity of human wounds in a fear based culture often inhibit us from living in the heart dimension where intention is activated. Unconscious patterns of thought and emotion can keep us in the negativity of the fear conditioned false self ego personality. Therefore, at this stage in our humanity, intention and healing work together.

While healing and transforming to our true self in the heart dimension (where intention becomes reality) can be a challenging and winding road, it is imperative to know that intention is ultimately our gift as human beings in divine union. It is where we are all journeying to the fullness of the true self of love and creativity.

The destiny of mystical transformation is to enable the true self full expression in all areas of life. One of the most important and joyous elements of life is the romantic relationship between a man and a woman. The union of masculine and feminine through spirit, soul, and body reveals the Spirit of love and creativity. The soul mate and marital relationship can be a deep expression of the mystic life.

Fear based cultural conditioning has tried to separate the mystic journey from the soul/body self-giving of romantic love. We desire to move from a disembodied spirituality to the oneness of a spirit/soul/body spirituality centered in the heart. We are unified spiritual/psychological/physical beings and will be for eternity, even though our current physical body will become a spiritual body. The human person lives simultaneously across several dimensions–Spirit, heart, mind, emotions, and body. The true self is a unity of spirit, soul, and body. The true self lives in a transcendent dimension and expresses itself in earthly life.

Mystical love in a romantic relationship is self-giving through all dimensions. The true self loves the very being of the other person from the heart in the Spirit. The true self loves through the mind by appreciating and supporting the gifts and talents of the other. The true self loves through the emotions with empathy and compassion for the other persons struggles and hopes, and the true self loves through the body in affection, sensory communication, and sexual love.

The new vision of mystical transformation and spiritual creativity sees living the transcendent within all of our human dimensions during our journey on earth in the physical dimension of the universe. The relationships of soul mates and spouses is a core of our humanity. Hopefully, as we evolve toward our true humanity, mystics as soul mates, and mystics and marriage will be seen as a normative path in everyday life.

Over the weekend, I was reminded of how physical work can be in service of interior transformation. As I was removing hundreds of staples from a flooring that was being removed, I realized how important it is to remain in the present moment. Negative thought patterns within the mind race forward into the future and focus on the length or tedious nature of a given work. This creates unease and tension in the present. If we bring our attention back to our heart, we avoid fear which clears the mind and relieves tension in the body.

My reflections on this work brought to mind the movie, “Enlightenment Guaranteed.” In the movie, two brothers from Germany travel to Tokyo, Japan and on to a week’s stay at a Zen Buddhist monastery.

As part of their daily routine at the monastery, they did manual cleaning whether the areas needed cleaning or not. They came to understand that this discipline was cleansing their own heart and the fears that reside in the mind. Here, physical labor is at the service of spiritual transformation.

In their trip to Japan, both brothers enter the journey to heal and transform to the true self. They learn to contrast the consciousness of the heart with the fear based and distracted culture in which they were conditioned. As they return to their life in Germany, they will be able to live the journey in their everday lives. The movie represents an excellent understanding of how we gain insight and feeling into our wounded personality and enter the journey of the transformative life to the true self.

Relationships in a fallen human condition are affected by fear. The personality fears being inadequate and as a result fears the loss of love. Because we fear that the self is not good enough, we try to gain power and control, self-esteem, and approval externally from others. The fear based conditioning is transmitted to us in early childhood by culture through the family and societal institutions such as religion, science, education, and media.

The wounded ego personality, both consciously and unconsciously, attempts to fill a perceived emptiness by using the other. The incessant competing for attention and control, lowers everyone’s energy. Joy, love, and creativity is lost.

By healing and transforming to our true self, we find the adequacy and ever-present connection to love within our hearts. Now, we are free to express a self-giving love to others. Relationships move beyond a competitive struggle for needs fulfillment to a cooperative mutual enhancement. Each partner in the relationship supports the other by coming from an authentic internal power and affirmation. The relational spirituality of our true humanity brings love and creativity through all types of relationships–parental, marital, soul mate, romantic, friendship, business, teacher/student, good samaritan, etc.