Yearning for More and the Quest for Enlightenment, Part Five

Unity Consciousness—Fulfillment of our Yearning for Happiness, Love, and Meaning

“I was out walking in the early morning. All of a sudden I felt very uplifted, more uplifted than I had ever been. I remember I knew timelessness and spacelessness and lightness. I did not seem to be walking on the earth….Every flower, every bush, every tree seemed to wear a halo. There was a light emanation around everything and flecks of gold fell like slanted rain through the air….The important part of it was the realization of the oneness of all creation…. The creatures that walk the earth and growing things of the earth. The air, the water, the earth itself. And, most wonderful of all, a oneness with that which permeates and binds all together and gives life to all….I entered a new and wonderful world. My life was blessed with meaningful purpose.” (Peace Pilgrim: Her Life and Work in Her Own Words, from Pearson)

Yearning for More: The Quest for Enlightenment, Part Four

The Sixth State of Consciousness: Refined Cosmic Consciousness

“The sixth state of consciousness is the state of enlightenment in which the individual…experiences a much deeper appreciation of the profound harmony and grandeur of creation.” (Alexander et al)

Refined Cosmic Consciousness, the sixth state of consciousness, is characterized by full refinement of our senses of perception and our ability to love. I remember vividly when I first heard about this further state of enlightenment. It was a few months after I had learned TM and I was utterly fascinated.

Sharing Expressions of Inner Silence with my Parents

My discovery that there is a field of Being—a silent source of creativity, intelligence and bliss deep within human awareness and at the basis of all of existence—changed my life. Gaining this knowledge not only on the level of concept, but far more importantly, on an experiential level, has rewarded me with riches beyond measure.

Throughout time and space, spiritual persons who have fathomed this field themselves have sought to remind us of our potential, sometimes called “enlightenment.” To discover this possibility, as a young person seeking for something more than the dismal grip of the status quo, was the turning point in my life.

Yearning for More: The Quest for Enlightenment, Part Three

Cosmic Consciousness: Functioning Within the Wellspring of Fullness

In my last post, Part Two of this series, I talked about the first of the higher states of consciousness, Transcendental Consciousness. In this blog we will talk about the next higher state of consciousness, Cosmic Consciousness, which unfolds naturally through the alternation of transcending with activity.

Cosmic Consciousness, the Normal State of Awareness

Persons who have had glimpses of the blissful serenity of pure consciousness describe the naturalness and familiarity of such experiences, as if something profoundly familiar—but lost—had been found again.

Yearning for More: The Quest for Enlightenment, Part Two

The Universality of TM and Transcendental Consciousness—the Basis of Higher States of Consciousness

The range of human life is not, as is generally thought, restricted to our various ways of living, sleeping, waking, playing, talking or behaving; these are only the gross levels of human values. The real, substantial value of human life is the bliss-consciousness that raises one to the high estate of eternal freedom while he is engaged in the day-to-day world of transitory values. —Maharishi

Our deeply felt “yearning for more in life” has its roots in the fact that our innate human capacity is so much more vast than our current experience. As an anxious, depressed teenager, when I first heard about the possibility of enlightenment, I was relieved, encouraged, inspired, and utterly fascinated. Since that time, the process of discovery has been extraordinarily rewarding. In this series of blogs on the quest for enlightenment, I will share my discovery of Maharishi’s teachings on higher states of consciousness.

Yearning for More: The Quest for Enlightenment, Part One

Most of us have experienced a deep yearning for something more in life—a sense that there is more than the status quo of work, school, relationships and family. We wonder: what is this life about? My search started intensely at the age of 13.

As the daughter of a minister, I shared my father’s commitment to ethical action and altruism. In junior high and high school I did volunteer work for programs of poverty and illiteracy alleviation, working with disadvantaged children. But it was clear that the unhappiness I felt in my own life was affecting my ability to help others. I remember once working with a child who came from a troubled background, and as he cried, I cried too—in empathy, sympathy, and bewildered frustration. I thought: how can I truly help this child and family? I wondered—how can I help myself, full of anxiety and depression? If I myself was suffering and unaware of how to find more fulfillment, how could I help others to live more fully?

Creativity Is Sharing, An Overflowing Of Fullness

“Why should we all use our creative power? Because there is nothing that makes people so generous, joyful, bold and compassionate. Because the best way to know the Truth or Beauty is to try to express it. And what is the purpose of existence Here or Yonder but to discover truth and beauty and express it, i.e., share it with others?”—Brenda Ueland, author*

“The artist, constantly using his creative impulses, continues to draw from the reservoir of creativity present in his own Being. This is how his consciousness, bathing in the fresh springs of creativity, rises to the prodigious brilliance of natural creation.”—Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Founder, Transcendental Meditation technique

Proof of Heaven and A Panorama of Possibilities

I first heard about ‘near death experiences’ in the late 1970’s when I was home from college on vacation. It was a term not yet in vogue. My dad was watching an interview on PBS with a middle-aged woman whose voice and demeanor expressed intelligence, groundedness, and compassion—someone with integrity. She was describing an extraordinary experience that happened while she temporarily died, of immense bliss, expansion, unconditional love. Whereas she had been doubtful about the existence of consciousness beyond this life, her inner journey gave an absolute certainty that human consciousness DOES exist beyond this material life. As a result, this woman dedicated her life to uplifting those who faced terminal illness, or had lost loved ones, by sharing her life-altering experience.

I was riveted by her account. I soon read Life After Life by Raymond Moody,an early pioneer in ‘Near Death Experience’ research. Since then, thousands of stories have been shared. Dr. Eben Alexander’s book, A Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon’s Journey into the Afterlife, has recently captured attention internationally. While in coma with a sudden illness that shut down key functional areas of his brain, he undergoes a ‘journey’ within consciousness that broke open his limited understanding that life is restricted to the material world. He enters a vast, magnificent world of beautiful sounds and sights and unsurpassed joy. His awareness went further into an essential ‘Core’ in which he was immersed in limitless, unconditional love and total knowledge. He experienced unity with the Divine and everyone and everything in the universe.