Spiritual Forums - A Little About Consciousness and Morality Part one

The second part of the title might be “as compared to we humans”. This is interesting as it purports to use ours as the benchmark. But how and why is this so?

We have to begin at the beginning or at least the beginning as it fits within our world view. There are limits after all into or beyond which we cannot penetrate. I am going to speak of the spiritual universe for just a moment. Do not confuse this with any references to religion or some other dogmatic approach.

Let’s begin with a primal topic and it, in it’s most elemental form. Consciousness. If everything else in the entirety of “creation” was removed this principle would remain. When we use the word we are approaching all beginnings. And what limits us? It is our minds. No matter we can do this or that. We have certain abilities to consider, visualize, dream, wonder… no matter. When we do these things are are nearing the position on the highway that both defines and limits us. Think of a scale in graduations. From nearly nothing to some very high number. We humans are, arbitrarily, somewhere close to the mid point. But how does this work?

Forget, for a time, the lower rational mind and it’s function. Let’s not begin there. Let’s go higher on the scale. Remember “consciousness”? I am not here referring to “self consciousness”. Not yet. And what about the apparent relationship between this and what we call mind? In our discussion lets refer often to the scale… It gives us convenient access because of it’s tabulated nature.

Before we can speak at length we have to assume, allow for a moment, that our physical world is not all there is. Again…. Move away from religions. They came much later. They, all of them, are products, not causes. Less capable minds are responsible for them.

In the beginning was the single great mind of the “source”. Because we are limited in our capabilities a statement like this one gives us a beginning from which to base our conversation. Supposing we call this source that which is responsible for creation? It is the nature of deity to express and this is done through the process of expansion. Not some easy to imagine lineal progression but something much more complex. We will use the word spiritual. This is also a convenience. If we don’t use that word then what other shall we select?

The consciousness of deity expands. Here is the beginning that philosophers seek. All else is merely the effects of this primal movement. But it is not the reason. Deity expands because it seeks to express. This is the primal force that we cannot even come near to understanding. Let’s set our inability aside though and continue… As we progress answers will become apparent. And why? More about that later.

The spiritual heavens, spiritual matter, are, all of them, manifestations of consciousness. They are nothing else. For a moment let’s return to the idea of expansion. Looking closer we find that as this happens changes are made. As consciousness is expanded it also changes the nature of it’s expression. Let’s watch as this continues. Imagine we are moving at the speed, not of light, but of thought, from the source. As we look out the window we see wonderful landscapes passing by. We note that as we look in the direction of travel and then compare the view to that of the other direction, that of the source, it is much different. It is in some way more clearly defined, almost “thicker” in a sense. We are amazed. And we note too, that what we are seeing seems banded together in layers. Most interesting. But what are these? What we are seeing is consciousness “thinned” to the point at which it begins to gain “form”. And this continues for a very long distance.

We will speed up now and take another look at the whole of what has been happening. We find now while again looking out our window the addition of colors to the various shimmering bands of “energy” that pass by. And again as we look forward the view is less distinct. But… we know that a little later we will see those same areas again and they will have changed as they, too, find their places in what is being formed outside. Let’s not forget, what we are witnessing is an act of creation. The great source, the primal consciousness, has begun to expand itself and, in so doing, has found “form” (from the formless… sound familiar?).

After a time we find stabilization. All seems to have paused in it’s rush of activity. Perhaps it is rest period? Now instead of just looking out our window lets use our human minds, our higher ability to visualize, analyze… to reason it all out. We have just witness the first stages of the great act of a deity in the process of creation.

Now we rest and watch again. Not only the landscape has developed but there is more. Here and there we seem to be witnessing a kind of peopling what these new lands. We see points of light within the layered masses. Each grouping of colors seem to attract more of their own “kind”. And now this is more distinctive. What are they? Amazing!

Consciousness has begun by expanding and coalescing. Form is now apparent. There is a new kind of manifestation in evidence. At the source is oneness, completion. Here, though, there is form which seems to have dimension. Even though we are yet in the higher spiritual realms we find that time has begun. With form comes dimension. The effect of time now is apparent. There is a flow of time outside out window. What is all this?

For a moment now let’s go back to the beginning. Deity seeks expression through expansion. But what more, what is the reason for this particular choice, means? Why not just create directly? And, it this some kind of creation that we witness? Let’s look out our window again and see what happens next.

Suddenly where before there was seeming stability, now there is an explosion, a fury of activity that frightens us. Now we see again that a mad rush of activity has begun. The movement though is not as it was before. Now it seems to be going in one direction only, towards a single point which is up ahead somewhere but what is it.. and why?

Having reached the intermediate conclusion this mighty act of creation has stopped for a time, or seems to have stopped. It did not really. It only pauses. And now, having resumed it has burst through some barrier. What will happen next?

What we have just witnessed is the beginning of a great story, one of expansion caused by Will alone. One of change as this continues. Looking back now to where it all came from we seem to see that each higher layer is less dense than those below. They are all still layered and within those are those curious points of light. They remain.

We have just read about the creation of the spiritual heavens. They were not made by any God. No. They are an expansion of God. Deity has sought that expressiveness which is it’s raison d etre. The above story is true but it exceeds our ability to imagine so we do the best we can with what we have. Our minds have limits. And trailing behind them are, as always, those others who seek to quantify in mathematical terms, to prove. In the realm of mind thinkers lead the way…. They go fearlessly… and others follow.

The spiritual heavens are now in stability. They have form and time flows within and through them. But like sound in our atmosphere the velocity of time varies with the density of it’s habitat. So… let’s not use time as a standard. Let’s use the speed of thought. It, too, is finite, it has a speed limit, but it is so much faster than mere light that we will scarce note any differential in our computations.

It is not really possible but let’s now pretend. We will step down now, go through that opening that we thought existed a minute before and see what there is to see. We stop and turn about. All is darkness and, again, formless. No space. No time. But in a moment of blinding fury a tremendous light has burst forth from the “firmament”. This has happened before. As those layers of spiritual matter were created each seemed more dramatic then it’s predecessor. But this… none before has been like it.

We are witnessing the great moment of creation that our science has called the Big Bang. A mighty pinpoint of Light, velocities so rapid that it must be no less than an explosion of indescribable magnitude. Spiritual matter has suddenly expanded then, a moment later, contracted and found new form. It slowed and congealed. The first physical matter has been created. And with it time as we’ve never seen it before. Much faster. This new plane is much more dense than any of the others. And the matter is more well defined. It appears in bits and pieces. Little particles. All very hot from the speed, the friction, of movement… outward. Remember the layering of the spiritual planes above? These were caused by the natural proclivity of matter, be it spiritual or physical, to separate out, like to like. This idea is the natural resultant of a “distancing” from deity, source, God. Call ti what we like. And now in the beginnings of the physical universe which is yet in the first moments of it’s being we find it apparent, too, in the newly formed matter. Science has seen this too and realized that it was the polarity of matter. Positive, negative and neutral. These are no more than the continuations of the process which began much earlier at the first expansion of deity. They, too, are “of time”.

What we have been witnessing could be called evolution. It is. The evolution of spiritual matter. And now the most dense of them all, the physical universe has been created. It, too, must evolve. It does. And here we are, what we see in the night sky right now, is the result of that singular moment when time began in the highest of the spiritual heavens… by our reckoning long, long ago.

Now lets fast forward ten or so billion years and step back. What do we see? The physical universe is both chaos and stability, depending on our interpretation of the scene. But we can, to a degree, make sense of it. However we cannot see the other universes that are it’s parents. The much less dense spiritual heavens are unseen. They are all still there though. We, limited by our inability to imagine sufficiently, are inclined to believe only that which makes sense to us… to our rational minds. More of this in a moment.

Let’s move far away from the point of it’s beginnings now, go back in time a bit, and watch as our star is formed. The great attractive forces cause pressure generating heat. Soon the nuclear furnace is lighted. Now as this process has begun matter, simple matter within is bonded in new ways. At the moment of the beginning there were only the most elemental sub atomic particles, then combining we found the simplest element, hydrogen. Now inside of our star heavy matter is produced… and along with the various radiations which are a part of the process are ejected in streams which form clouds. These then join with other groupings of matter which never quite made it to the star. Much later we find planets circling the new sun. Our Earth is one of these. Let’s pause here.

If we look again at the entirety of our universe we will find that, as was hinted at, it is interspaced with the less dense, spiritual universes which were the parent worlds. From any point in our physical universe, if we had the eyes to see clearly, we would find that the spiritual layers are just as apparent as they were long before when we witnessed the initial expansiveness. Remember looking out of our window and seeing layers? They are all still here. We need only the eyes to see them. Now lets go to our planet, our home world, our Earth. Look closely. We see again the layers that we have come to be used to. A very heavy core yet in a plastic state surrounded by another, somewhat less dense. Now another. This one is slightly less dense and not as heated. Then another the outer edge of which is an easier to imagine boundary. Upon this we find water, our oceans. Next is the heavier component. Our atmosphere, it’s gasses seems to float over all else. And beyond? What do we see? Well it depends on our eyes. With physical eyes we see only outer space.

If we could see the subtle worlds that we know are there though we would again see the same views that we did long ago from our window while traveling. Close to the Earth, in relative terms, are the Earth’s heavens. These are layered as we might expect. Because of the nature of our planet in spiritual terms let’s just look at the main spiritual divisions. There is a lowest component. This one is a part of each bit, each particle or atom, of physical matter. This lowest of the spiritual planes is called by us the ethereal plane. This is what we can sometimes feel with our hands or see with our eyes if the lighting is just right. It is only slightly less dense than our familiar matter. This plane largely is the same size as that which it surrounds and impermeates.

Let’s speed this up a bit. There are many layers to the Earth’s heavens. They, all of them don’t just happen to be there. In the grand cosmology just spoken of each lower of the manifested “layers” of deity are caused and are nourished by those above them. Likewise our Earth is sustained by our heavens. It is these which both source and guide Earth processes. The Earth is quite complex only because it’s heavens allow it. Above the surface of the Earth and extending outward to a physical distance of about 26,000 miles is the next of the spiritual planes. We call this the astral plane. Next above this and extending out quite a distance to beyond the orbit of our moon is the Earth’s mental plane. And there are others too. But each of these is a part of the dynamic whole that we can rightly call the Earth system.

Look a little closer now and note that each of the major subtle (spiritual) planes is further divided into subplanes. Each has seven of these. This is a requirement when complexity of form is desired as it is on our planet. The next part in this discourse will be about biological life. It won’t take nearly as long to discuss. But I ask the patience of the reader.