States and Stages

I had been through changes, some minor some not; but i was surprised at this turn of events. My vision changed; it was a subtle but definite shift. The first couple of times it happened i thought it was a case of spontaneous increased peripheral acuity. However, over time, i came to understand that it was a permanent shift; what at first seemed to be an altered state was actually an entry into a different stage of being or consciousness.

Integral theory holds that anyone can experience altered states at any stage of development; even infants can have ‘mystical’, if temporary, experiences. Stage development, once acquired is more or less permanent and more or less accessible at will; similar, i suggest, to the acquisition of language or the multiplication tables.

Here is a self-evident scheme of human development: infancy, childhood, adolescence, to legal adulthood. It is a typical linear straight-line model; but even astute students of astrology bend this straight line into a circle, becoming something like an auroboros, a snake eating its own tail. However, this model, which notes moments of recurrence at more or less seven-year intervals is also inadequate; evidently, if at a moment of recurrence, a shift can be made then a given cycle no longer needs repeating. The circle of development now becomes a spiral.

Such a shift is not dismissive of what it transcends, but includes and is built on what has come before. Words include but transcend alphabet, as do sentences with words, and paragraphs with sentences, and so on along the spiral; with each stage offering a greater depth and breadth of meaning.

Changes in vision are akin to if not identical with changes in perspective or viewpoint. In this case, it was as if the center of my typical viewpoint had changed; it appeared to move from within the head to a position slightly above and behind the head. From this position, it simply watches, taking note of all that comes along, both internal as well as external; discerning but not saying ‘good’ or ‘bad’.

So this turns out to be the story of the arising of the ‘witness’; which proves to be a great place to hang out; and just possibly a key to deeper more inclusive states.

The graphic above is from M.C. Escher; my guess is that it was created while in ‘witness’ mode; similar perhaps to the vision i now obtain from the fingers on the hands in front of me flitting about the keyboard where this is written.

Choiceless Awareness

The Way is not so
Difficult, if we can give
Up our need to choose.