The Four States and Stages of Consciousness

The stages of consciousness are the developmental path we take as we grow into greater levels of awareness of the spiritual nature of Life and who we really are. A state of consciousness is the level of awareness of our co-creative nature we are currently expressing in any given moment. Everything we discover, every skill we learn, and every release of limitation we experience in one stage, we bring with us into the next higher level of consciousness. Yet we can, at any moment, consciously or unconsciously, move into and out of any state of awareness.

There is a portal of discipline and self-awareness through which we must go to move to the next level of consciousness. This is what our spiritual practices allow us to do – know where we are on the map of consciousness and intentionally engage with our own awakening. With this awareness, we become the master of the game of life, rather than simply a pawn on the board, moving at the whim of circumstances or subconscious programming.

Stage 1 – TO ME – “ASLEEP”

This is ordinary, autopilot, unconscious living. We are not aware that we are co-creating our own life experience and so we feel at the mercy of outer circumstances which we believe are out of our control. We often feel like a victim and play out the patterns and beliefs laid down by our past, our families and the culture we grow up in

Portal from stage 1 to 2 – Responsibility

We must learn to take personal responsibility for our part in co-creating our lives. This means taking responsibility for our thoughts and emotional reactions, recognizing that our own beliefs are being mirrored back to us, and learning that we are responsible for how and what we create. The good news is that anything we are willing to take responsibility for is something we can affect. As we take responsibility for more aspects of our life, that very responsibility allows us to engage and create with a new level of direction and control we have never experienced. We discover the Spirit within, rather than the old idea of “God” out there somewhere.

Stage 2 – BY ME – “ATTITUDE”

This is the moment we start creating our life rather than simply reacting. We discover that there are Universal Principles and Laws that govern life, and we can learn to use them. We learn the power of intention and attention. We begin the directed spiritual work of attitude and affirmation. We develop our ability to choose and decide. We awaken to the fact that we are the captain of our own ship of life and masters of the journey of our soul.

Portal from stage 2 to 3 – Surrender

Eventually, we realize that we ourselves aren’t the ones doing the creating. We may even find the diligence and deliberate act of going for what we want becomes exhausting because so much of it has been guided by our human needs and limited ideas about how to get what we want and what makes life truly worthwhile. We begin to realize that while we can choose what we want, there is a Universal Principle and Presence that is actually the creative power. We must surrender our need to know how, our need to manipulate circumstances, and our desire for control of the process. We surrender to a greater Universal Intelligence. We discover and surrender to the benevolent, trustworthy nature of the Law of Cause and Effect.

Stage 3 – THROUGH ME – “AWAKENING”

This is when we realize that we are meant to do more than simply manifest things and change circumstances as we need to. There is a larger reality, a Universal Presence that is flowing through all of creation with the desire and purpose to express and experience Itself. This Presence is the impulse of Love, the very heartbeat of Life Itself, and we choose to align ourselves with It. Our human, egoic needs and desires are replaced by our desire to allow the Light of Love and Presence to shine through us in everything we say and do. We work to build consciousness and become aware of the qualities of Spirit, Life, and Love that are always already present and flowing through us. We awaken to this deep spiritual truth as we become receptive to inspiration and intuition, guidance and flow. We learn to trust the process.

Portal from stage 3 to 4 – Transformation

We are actually spiritual beings having this human experience. Our true identity is spiritual, not human. It is the “I AM” which is Life Itself being individualized as us. This transformation of identity from the limited human “I” to the unlimited spiritual “I” is as dramatic as the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly. We let go of our stories, our excuses, and the idea that any past experience or part of us is more powerful than the Spiritual Truth of who we are. We learn to stand in Universal Principle and move as Universal Love.

Stage 4 – AS ME – “AWARENESS”

There is only ONE thing happening anywhere, all the time. It is Life loving Creation into existence for the purpose of expressing and experiencing Its Infinite Self as Infinite variety and expansion. We are the place where this ONE Infinite Reality is aware of Itself and Its ability to create. To have this awareness, the Infinite must become individuated, seemingly separate, so that it can become aware of this ability to create and the process of creating. We are a place where this self-awareness is arising. Our very life is the Life of the ONE. When we know this and live from this awareness, every word and every act is a moment of Creation. We become aware that our deepest desires, beneath any ego or human needs, are the very desires of the Life expressing as us. We learn to align with and choose from this deep inner awareness, knowing that this is who we came here to be. Our conscious awareness of the Presence and Power within as the actual Universal Love and Law is the state of perfect Wholeness – spiritual and human, universal and individual, being and becoming, director and receiver, creator and creation – the living awareness of Oneness. We learn that Life is living AS us for the purpose of Life becoming more than it could ever be without us.