|
|||||||||||
|
Chapter 16 Supraconsciousness States (14) States of supraconsciousness are obtainable that can lead to the creation of higher-order concepts and a greater understanding of our reality. There is an increasing amount of evidence accumulating, much of it scientifically based, which would indicate that profound leaps of understanding can be achieved during certain altered states of consciousness. According to Andrew Weil, author of The Natural Mind, there exists a source of direct information about reality within each of us that can teach us new information. Many commentators have called this "superconsciousness" to differentiate it from lower subconscious functions of the unconscious mind.1... During this particular altered state of consciousness intuitive flashes are prone to occur. He believes that some of our greatest scientific thinkers have solved problems in this manner.2... During this state of supraconsciousness there is an acceptance of the ambivalent nature of things. Those concepts ordinarily seen to be in conflict or as opposites are perceived as harmonious. The apparent dualistic nature of reality is transcended so that there is an acceptance if not an understanding of it.3... Such phenomena as life-death, love-hate, pain-pleasure, particle-wave and mind-body are no longer seen as being in conflict but can be experienced in a common frame of reference within one reality.4 It is becoming increasingly apparent that virtually all scientific insights come in the form of revelation rather than in a logically deductive manner. The latter is used to sort out false conjectures that are internally inconsistent and which can themselves also masquerade as revealed insight. All new thought begins intuitively and is logically processed as a secondary phenomenon. The actual moment of scientific insight increasingly begins to appear as though it were an instance of mystical revelation.5 Charles Darwin justifiably has been given almost full credit for the theory of evolution since he did much more work than anyone else to give it a strongly-founded scientific basis. However, as is well known, he is not the only one to have formulated the theory. The naturalist-explorer Alfred Russel Wallace, while lying ill with a fever, experienced a sudden flash of insight. While tossing in bed in a state of restlessness, he had been thinking about the concept of how species might be transmuted. The answer came in an intuitive flash. Four months later on June 8, 1858, Darwin received a twelve-page summary of Wallace's ideas on evolution, which exactly paralleled his own.6 According to Marilyn Ferguson, people throughout history have had transformative experiences both accidentally and deliberately. Just as Alfred Wallace experienced, deep inner shifts may occur in response to grave illness, disciplined contemplation, creative effort, peak emotions, wilderness treks, spiritual exercises, controlled breathing, techniques for "inhibiting thought," psychedelics, isolation, music, hypnosis, meditation, reverie, as well as in the wake of intense intellectual struggle.7..."These systems aim to fine-tune the mind and body, to expand the brain's sensing, to bring the participants to a new awareness of vast untapped potential. When they work, it's like adding sonar, radar, and powerful lenses to the mind....8...Laboratory investigation, as we shall see, shows that these methods integrate the brain's activity, making it less random, provoking it into higher organization. Brains undergo a quite literal accelerated transformation.... The gifts of insight--of making imaginative new connections--once the specialty of a lucky few, are there for anyone willing to persist, experiment, explore.".9
page 16.1 |
