Following up on the last Post, here I’ll look at a feature of consciousness that is also fundamental, motion.
I’ll begin with one of my favorite Einstein quotes: “Everything is energy and that is all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality that you want and you cannot help but get that reality. This is not philosophy. It is physics.” (turns out this is not an Einstein quote)
The foundation of this Blog is that we live in constantly moving energetic fields. At the most fundamental physical levels, the Earth is rotating and also orbiting the Sun, which in turn is rotating in our spiral galaxy, which exists in a universe that is expanding. Add to that the fairly recent measurement of gravitational waves from two black holes that merged 1.3 billion years ago and rippled space/time here on Earth in Sept. of 2015. Apparently there are innumerable large-scale interactions occurring in space that have this type of impact. Given that they are now measureable, it means that they are, and have always been, sense-able as energetic motion. This kind of motion, of course, does not include all of the smaller flows of weather, wildlife, people, our respiration, our moods and the like, with which we are more familiar. Though the scales are obviously quite different, our bodies (gross, subtle or causal) can tune to any of it, in my view, even though our attention tends to habitually remain focused in particular energetic ranges. The bottom line here is that everything is moving and what moves is experienceable by the very fact that it is moving, in relation to some given point of perception.
Now you cannot make any distinction without some kind of demarcation line between one thing/experience and another. I posit that all boundaries are delineations between relative experiences of shifting energy, and that the wavelengths that we are able to experience impact what our intuition reveals to us, thus what might then arise in our imaginations. Those imaginings will be the basis for what we might choose to create as the next most beautiful/perfect thing that we might want to experience.
We’ll take a look at Observation again, but first I’ll remind the reader that I have previously noted that, from an energetic standpoint, thoughts are experiential too. There is no sensation-free place from which they arise or in which they exist. They both arise from moving energy and can generate moving energy.
When observing anything, there is a sense of stepping back away from it in order to have a look at it. Whatever we are shifting into will not be a pristinely quiet state, since movement is still occurring, but as long as it is different enough from the experience that we were just “in”, that which we were “in” becomes accessible to the observing feature of our consciousness to some degree – it’s a bit like a subject looking at an object, though we don’t typically describe experiences as objects.
As I have reflected on it, it seems that the relative space of observation always feels relatively more “still” than what I “exited”. In the most extreme case that I have experienced, the Witness resides in apparent absolute stillness. Not even thoughts exist there so it feels like the ultimate in extraction from tangible motion. Thus it seems correct to say that there is a pattern to observation, which is that it reflects a sense of relative stillness compared to whatever experience the observer shifted out of in order to do that observing.
What follows observation can vary, but the options do seem to be naturally arising, which is why I’ve called them primary traits too. Some are simple and passive, such as Delight, Love, or Awe. Others are more active, such as Fascination or Curiosity (“What is this?”). Whatever experience might follow simple observation, all are typically followed by another trait mentioned in the last Post, Assessment.
Assessment, as I am seeing it, is a form of assigning a description – some would say meaning – to something distinct, not just experiencing it or silently observing it. It will typically follow observation if one’s attention remains on a particular distinction long enough for it to arise.
With that as preparation, I’ll get to the point of what has come to mind. As I have said all along, my interpretation of Steve McIntosh’s “purpose of evolution” is that consciousness is in the process of creating beauty/perfection in order to then experience it. Therefore, following immersion in an experience, at some level there would be an assessment of its beauty followed at some point by the question “What is the most beautiful thing that I could create now?”
As I have delineated on several occasions, longer wavelengths are experienced as quieter, more still. The frequencies experienced in meditation are longer, thus more experientially still, than driving your car in traffic. The Earth’s rotation on its axis is approximately a 24 hour cycle and though that is too subtle for us to experience under normal circumstances, it’s pretty obvious that its 365 ¼ day cycle around the Sun would be more subtle still. It’s all relative. For all I know, the apparent absolute stillness of the Witness state may simply be the experience of a frequency whose wavelength is as long as the Earth’s yearly orbit. Whatever takes a year to go, metaphorically, “up and down” once would be way too subtle to sense for most of us, but it is, nevertheless, movement so at some level of consciousness it must be distinguishable by one of the three bodies mentioned above.
So if greater stillness does bring into view frequencies that move more rapidly, as posited, then the longer the wavelengths that we experience, the more that can be observed from there. The more that can be observed, the broader and more encompassing will be the perspectives and patterns that dwell in those places. Thus as longer and more “still” wavelengths are experienced, the question of “What is the most beautiful thing that I could create now?” will take into account a view of beauty/perfection for a larger range of our observable reality. Perfection for this whole planet, for instance, must take into account perfection viewed from its relative wavelengths, which would to us appear as vastly greater relative stillness.
We live in our own natural frequency ranges and are mostly anchored there due to all of the beauty experienceable within them and our habit of creating our own perfect experiences where we most naturally perceive. But whereas our individual focused attention can create many wonderful experiences, it appears to take collective, collaborative intention to create something really big. In other words, it would take more of the conscious component parts of the planet, working collectively, to act like a singular creative entity that can manifest its intent such that it can be experienced as perfect by a larger collection of entities in our perceived world. Building a subway system, for instance, takes collective focus and intent, whereas making a sandwich typically does not. Each reflects a manifestation of imagined perfection to be experienced, but at different scales.
What we perceive as beautiful in Nature is Earth’s manifestation of perfection. If we are to manifest an imagined perfect society at anywhere near that scale, we will need to take the imaginings of those vaster perspectives of Beauty and convert those energies “downstream” to where humanity primarily lives. I would say that the U.S. Declaration of Independence is an example of this kind of broader beautification/perfection process.
It seems to me that stillness practices, like meditation, will certainly help accelerate this process. They will illuminate the visions that naturally inhabit very long wavelengths, which we can then share in such a way as to allow access to those spaces for other people. Collectively, our imaginations will reveal the most beautiful possibilities inherent in those states and our collective choice can enact their manifestation.