Hearts in Transcendence: Human Consciousness Liberated

By Alexander De Foe

'Hearts in Transcendence' offers an insightful exploration of transcendental consciousness states that challenge the boundaries of human potential. These exceptional states of consciousness have been captured throughout literature, but seldom is the real, tangible, and practical significance of exceptional experiences discussed in the modern world. This book sets out to do just that to uncover the greater potential of the human being through a practical, applied approach to consciousness states and cosmic experiences of transcendence.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jan 16, 2015
• ISBN: 9781496959911

Alexander De Foe

Alexander De Foe is an academic psychologist who has spent over five years researching embodiment at Monash University's Psychological Studies laboratory in Melbourne, Australia. Alexander has produced several refereed scientific publications and conference proceedings on topics including perception, embodiment, and consciousness studies. In addition to his research credentials, he also holds a Master in Counselling degree from Monash University.

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Hearts in

Transcendence

Human Consciousness Liberated

Alexander De Foe

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This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

© 2015 Alexander De Foe. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 01/14/2015

ISBN: 978-1-4969-6008-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-5991-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014922503

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Premise

Introduction: Capturing Moments of Transcendence

Chapter 1: The Mind Illusion

Rise Of A Thinking Culture

The Heart’s Promise

Lesser Magic

Eavesdrop On Life’s Secrets

Chapter 2: Sublimated Consciousness

Detox From The Mind Illusion

Between Realities

Escape From Plato’s Cave

Raise Anima’s Creative Fire

Chapter 3: The Reimagined Self

Language And Power

Building Selves

This Meaningless World

Chapter 4: Reclaiming Disavowed Emotions

Lost Parts Of Ourselves

Embrace Raw Emotion

Congruence

Reignite The Flame

Chapter 5: Transformational Mind States

Cultivation Of Inner Power

Peak Meditation Experiences

Conscious And Unconscious Union

Chapter 6: Relational Depth

Deeper Connections

Creative Potential

Construct-Free Consciousness

New Realities

Chapter 7: Ultimate Freedom

Motionless Shape

The Final Revolution

Living Outside Of Ourselves

Chapter 8: Our Higher Mind Potential

Subtle Minds: Metaphors

Extended Mind Capabilities

Transcendence

Appendices

Appendix A: Double Standard Skepticism

Appendix B: The Transpersonal Dream

Appendix C: Toolkit

Appendix D: Notes

Sitting down with ‘Hearts in Transcendence’ is like engaging in a fireside chat with a kind, loving friend, delving into deeper self and our most intimate existential queries and angst. I especially appreciate Alexander’s warm, welcoming tone that encourages the tight and broken parts within to let go in the compassionate recognition of the trials of human suffering.

– Jana Dixon, author of ‘Biology of Kundalini’ and ‘Inner Arts 1 – Practicum’

‘Hearts in Transcendence’ is a truly inspiring look at higher states of consciousness and their practical benefits ... It is filled with practical exercises about how to open our mind and heart to experience what it means to be truly alive and human. Highly recommended!

– Dean Shrock, Ph.D., author of ‘Doctor’s Orders: Go Fishing’ and ‘Why Love Heals’

I thoroughly enjoyed ‘Hearts in Transcendence.’ Alexander has created a superbly well-written book on transcendental consciousness states. I highly suggest this book to anyone who seeks to uncover their highest potential and experience self-transcendence.

– Steve G. Jones, Ed.D., Clinical Hypnotherapist

Acknowledgments

This book is dedicated to those who have searched for a deeper purpose in life, having persisted to find meaningful answers in a world that often fails to ask the right questions.

I would like to thank my dearest mother for her encouragement when I was forming the earliest ideas for this book. I would also like to express my appreciation for my one and only, Izabel, for her support during the writing process. Much gratitude is also due to all those who took part in the discussions centered on the vast range of topics this book delves into. In particular, I am forever grateful to my close friends who stimulated numerous conversations and reflections on the nature of consciousness, transcendence, and human potential. These discussions inspired me to see this project through to completion.

Premise

Moments of expanded human consciousness have captivated the hearts and minds of philosophers throughout millennia. Despite how we might see the world through certain philosophies and scientific theories about the nature of consciousness, there is something alluring about the direct experience of self-consciousness. Experiences in which we transcend the personal self and connect with broader states of awareness are therefore well worth exploring. There comes a point in human experience in which the reliance on external theories, whether philosophical or scientific, becomes redundant. At such a point, the direct unfiltered experience of life is paramount – it is here that we endeavor to expand our consciousness threshold from a practical, approachable stance.

Before the Age of Reason, profound states of self-transcendence were associated with religious experiences of divination. In modern times, such states tend to be studied within psychological science. Yet, aside from examining the theories and models behind consciousness, it’s critical that we learn to make sense of transcendence as it pertains to us in a direct fashion. In this book, I endeavor to take a refreshing approach to consciousness, a hands-on perspective, if you will. I introduce several explorations and self-awareness techniques that encourage readers to arrive at new practical understandings in their own lives.

Philosophical frameworks, no matter how well thought out and articulate, can also serve as barriers to direct conscious experience, leading us into an intellectualization of consciousness. For example, the attainment of higher states in theological accounts tends to be considered in terms of particular rituals, lessons, and dogmas, rather than through direct spiritual experience. This divide between doctrine and experience can be noted in most religions, and more often than not, this divide separates us from the heart of spiritual experience.

Threads of distinction between higher and lower (or broad and narrow) experiences of consciousness run through most religious and ontological theories. In all religions, we can look to a central doctrine, and then we can also discover the direct experience of spiritual transcendence from which that doctrine was born. In science, like religion, we also have definitions of consciousness: Altered and baseline, normal and abnormal, healthy and pathological, and so forth. These definitions, again, refer to a mere theoretical understanding. For each definition, there is also a corresponding firsthand experience.

Such definitions have echoed through the epochs, and at the heart of each one remains the lingering question of self. How does human conscious experience translate into the procedural construction of an individual self, a distinct identity, a personality-level existence? Scientists and religious leaders alike have struggled with the question of self-consciousness through the ages, resorting to their respective devices – observation and faith. Yet, at the heart of it, human beings can encounter and experience a soul essence at the personal level, a consciousness that appears to be ever-present. There is a certain sacredness of experience here that is accessible to all, and this is well worth engaging with. All encounters with consciousness are, in a manner, encounters with transcendence, as our consciousness is never fixed nor stagnant. It is never definable to a singular instant, it is ever-flowing, ever-evolving. It is rather the intellectual mind that attempts to define consciousness to certain parameters or limits.

Once we recognize our conscious experience for what it is, the canvas of life itself takes on quite a different appearance. In fact, people who report self-transcendence experiences tend to talk about a drastic change in their worldview. A broader experience of self-consciousness comes about. Some refer to a newfound awareness, an Awareness (with a capital ‘A’), as Igor Kufayev put it. This awareness is the recognition of the broader-self, the all-self.

Rather than consolidating theories of consciousness in this book, I would like to instead encourage you to reflect on your personal experience of self-consciousness. What is the nature of consciousness? In this book I’m not going to ask you about what a local religious leader tells you regarding this question, or the answer that a neuroscience professor might provide. Instead, I am going to ask you to take a more courageous approach: To look within your own heart for the answers. The personal experiences that led me to write this book were not grounded in religion nor science, but rather in practical observation on the nature of existence and self, and thus, I would like to encourage you to take a similar empirical approach here.

One day, after learning a basic meditation technique, I commenced a simple practice of sitting in a quiet place for a few minutes a day. I embraced the experience of just being. For a moment, I stopped interacting with my thoughts, my emotions, and even with my body. I focused instead on the essential experience of what it is to just be. After a time, I would notice that the darkness behind my closed eyelids would begin to expand, it expanded further and further outward, and in doing so, this darkness began to transform into a three-dimensional blackness that traversed the distance in all directions.

As my practice advanced, I began to perceive colors, images, and what I could best describe as short motion pictures, appear in my mind’s eye. These visual impressions were not related to active thought, as I was not thinking about anything when these visions arose. Later, I discovered that these impressions corresponded to direct experiences with the unconscious and super-conscious mind. I found that when I quieted myself within, I could see more, I could connect with more conscious experience beneath the surface. I had a canvas of sorts for interacting with the conscious and unconscious mind – a bridge between worlds – and this, I found absolutely fascinating. These experiences convinced me, beyond a doubt, about how much hidden potential is awaiting to be discovered just below the surface of our constructed identities.

After a period of exploring the world of meditation and esoteric practices, it dawned on me that most people live their lives believing that their threshold of conscious experience is somehow immutable. Most wake each morning and find that the same sense of ‘I’ is always there (to borrow William James’ notion of the continual stream of consciousness). In my practice, I discovered that the experience of ‘I’ is much more fluid than it is made out to be, and certain factors create the illusion of a fixed consciousness threshold. The true nature of the self, who you are, is much broader than the cognitive definitions and personality factors you may have come to accept about yourself over the years.

Meditation practices such as the technique I adopted can be best harnessed when we learn how to use the power of focus to direct our awareness – this unlocks the secrets that determine our self-experience. In meditation, we take our focus from our thoughts and then decide upon a new focus, and we can indeed choose from an entire spectrum of conscious, unconscious, and super-conscious potential to place our attention on. The problem here is that most novice meditators do not recognize the vastness of this potential at first. This grand spectrum features broad potentialities, worlds much vaster than our conceptions of them.

The following quote, which has been attributed to the Buddha, is useful in our discussion so far: The thought manifests as the word; the word manifests as the deed; the deed develops into habit; and habit hardens into character. Consider what would happen if we reversed this quote for a moment. One’s character begins to change when one’s habits begin to change, and these habits change as a result of new behaviors that come about from a new focus that takes form. It all starts with focus, doesn’t it? In following this, the grand consciousness spectrum can be experienced firsthand. Our connection to higher states of consciousness can be, in part, determined by how we decide to focus our awareness.

So, the premise I’d like to propose here is that consciousness has an intimate link with our self-experience in this world. There is little sense theorizing about consciousness, we must rather experience, expand, and understand ourselves on a deeper level in order to grasp our broader conscious potential. Shamans and esoteric philosophers have understood the importance of self-transcendence throughout the ages, and historical documents have alluded to countless encounters with higher states of consciousness in which a person transcends the boundaries of their constructed self (their intellectualized self-concept). Yet, in our modern culture, most of us unquestioningly accept our normal range of emotional and spiritual awareness as a baseline for self-experience. In doing so, we often forget that one of the intrinsic qualities of consciousness is to expand, transform, and discover new experiences. This runs counter to how we process the world on a cognitive level, instead clinging to the familiar, the safe, and the predictable: Experiences that promise repetition.

It is only in the last few decades that scholars have begun to consider human consciousness on a spectrum leading to self-realization and psycho-spiritual maturation. Researchers have now begun to discover that the expansion of our consciousness threshold corresponds with our personal development, quality of life, and spiritual connectedness. Rhea White, founder of the ‘Exceptional Human Experience Network,’ instigated a major change in attitudes toward the study of altered states. White suggested that a number of altered consciousness experiences are in fact exceptional human experiences (EHEs). She argued that EHEs have tremendous potential for spiritual growth and emotional maturity. I support this idea strongly, and I believe that it is important to recognize the potential of exceptional, or transcendental, states of human experience more broadly in our world. It’s also crucial that we remember that altered states do not just come about due to neurological damage or errors in cognitive-perceptual processing. Rather, exceptional states of consciousness often arise when engaging with the human experience at a deeper level, and quite often show us a new means of engaging with life, and with ourselves, and with others.

Over time, insights and lessons learned from transcendent states can be integrated into our self-experience. A good example of this is that of near-death experiences (NDEs), which often involve a glimpse of self-transcendence. Bruce Greyson, Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia, found that NDEs which occur as a result of suicide can inhibit future suicidal tendencies, as these experiences have such an immensely powerful impact upon a person’s self-concept. Some people who have NDEs find that their perspective about life and death transforms, as they experience their consciousness beyond the temporary death of the corporeal body.

Yet, such profound experiences are seldom cultivated, and in most cases people either believe these experiences to be delusions or spontaneous states of spiritual enlightenment. Few test the experience firsthand and attempt cultivating it in a methodical fashion. For example, most religions appear to have been born from of a mental conceptualization of real, tangible experience with higher consciousness. Yet, rather than cultivating these states and teaching their practical significance, most doctrines appear to enforce the idea that transcendence is impossible, other than with the aid of spiritual guru, master, priest, or other initiated person.

The cultivation of transcendental states is not just possible, but also practical. Take this example. A spiritual guru’s experience of expanded consciousness might appear quite normalized indeed, if we consider that the guru has meditated for the previous two decades. On the other hand, from the vantage point of an outsider who has had perhaps just a handful of deep meditation experiences, this guru’s normalized state of consciousness might appear quite extraordinary, powerful, and moving. From the outsider’s perspective, it’s much too tempting to adopt an attitude of praising the guru as an enlightened being, rather than asking the following question instead: How did the guru achieve this state, and how could I achieve a similar threshold of conscious experience?

The above example raises another question: Are transcendent experiences unique occurrences, or can we experience moments of transcendence in even the most mundane of situations? In this book, I suggest that we are responsible for furthering our conscious development, and there is no sense waiting for a special external experience, spiritual occurrence, or divine initiation. The potential to explore and expand our consciousness spectrum arises within. Thus, in this book I propose that it is important to become aware of, and remove, the inner obstacles to deeper conscious experience, rather than attempting to instigate transcendental states via external means. Once we remove the obstacles to Self-recognition (capitalized here to highlight the contrast between the ego-self and the higher self – the concept of the ultimate Self referred to in Hinduism), broader states of conscious experience become accessible and we no longer need to search for them.

You might recall a parent or mentor that you looked up to as a child who inspired you on your life journey, perhaps a teacher or a close friend who told you something along the lines of you can achieve anything that you put your mind to. For most, words of inspiration and encouragement are rare sparks in an otherwise difficult reality, a reality riddled with insurmountable expectations and judgments from others. Many of us have stumbled through cobwebs of other people’s beliefs, judgments, and expectations, consequently becoming misdirected and temporarily taken off course from pursuing our true life mission – disconnected from our souls. The constructed self that is driven by expectation and judgment is out-of-sync with the deeper experience of soul within, the True Self.

In that sense, it is important to return to the basic experiences of consciousness: Core happiness, raw emotional connections with others, and a deeper sense of inner freedom. Often the most basic and core experiences in life are the most powerful. These pursuits touch the conscious soul, rather than catering to the constructed self. Unfortunately, as we become adults, we move from a state of direct conscious experience into a state of intellectualized-consciousness. From our intellectualized framework of life, we never focus on the experience of life for the sake of living, experiencing and connecting with others, but we rather focus on worries, plans, fears, expectations and demands that take us out of peak states into a constricted fear-driven states. Those worries serve our limited existence in the material realm, rather than nourishing our ever-expansive soul.

Therefore, as part of this book’s overall process, I will critique our commonly held beliefs about societal roles, gender stereotypes, work expectations, relationship dynamics, and daily routines that limit our conscious self-expression. In this manner, transcendental consciousness states have the role of helping us to transcend the confines of our outdated, self-limiting, and non-useful worldviews and behaviors. This involves removing the mask of the constructed self in order to expand one’s consciousness to encompass broader experiences.

To provide an example of this process, let’s consider the conditions most conducive to states of self-transcendence. Transcendence experiences most often occur in moments during which we forget about how we know ourselves in terms of the personality-self, and instead experience life in the totality of the present moment, without preconception. Not surprisingly, it is during moments such as these that we flourish in life. Consider, for instance, the first date of your very first relationship. Consider your first day of starting a new job or a new business. Each time we pursue something new, our creativity and excitement about life raises to a peak level. Events such as these give us a glimpse into the nature of transcendental consciousness states. During these experiences we leave behind, temporarily, the baggage of ‘me,’ and we capture a glimpse of what it feels like to be reborn. Such experiences liberate us from the mundane routines of our baseline mode of living, if even for a moment.

Transcendent experiences also lead us to question the nature of self. Who am I? What are the limitations and potentials of my conscious experience? To commence our quest, we must first begin to ask these big questions about human consciousness, the nature of self, and the nature of the soul. David Chalmers’ hard problem of consciousness challenges us to go a bit further than a material definition that explains how basic processes such as cognitive processing and concentration appear to work. We must rather consider whether a materialistic definition of consciousness can explain more profound experiences, such as how we come to experience the smell of a rose, the taste of a strawberry, or the touch of a lover.

Some theorists have challenged the notion that consciousness arises in the brain altogether, suggesting that consciousness comes first, and material existence follows. Such an explanation seems to help account for mind-over-matter phenomena, anomalous phenomena that would otherwise appear inexplicable if we were to take the position that consciousness is born and dies in the human brain. This perspective is also relevant to questions of life after death. Most importantly, understanding the nature of consciousness goes right to the heart of what it means to be alive and human.

In 2005, researcher Susan Blackmore presented at the ‘Skeptics Society Brain, Mind, and Consciousness Conference.’ During the presentation, Blackmore argued that we cannot know for certain whether we are conscious or not. How can we know for sure that we are conscious beings? It is important to ask such questions in order to avoid living our lives in an unconscious manner, unquestioning. Else, we fail to engage with life, and consequently, with our true nature; we drift through life, as zombies, our potential unrealized. In the process of asking questions about the nature of personal consciousness, we recognize that we can engage with and expand our conscious experience to new frontiers.

Hence, perhaps a simpler question to start with is one of conscious engagement in life. What is the purpose of cultivating exceptional states of human consciousness? This is a question that researchers in the domain of positive psychology have brought into mainstream focus over the last decade. Do we live our lives at an optimal level of conscious engagement? Is our society functioning at the pinnacle of collective human potential? In my early twenties I came to realize that, in fact, most people are not living their full potential, nor are they even aware of their heart’s true intention. For me, discovering a sense of inner purpose appeared far more important than any generic marker of success that is often used in our world such as financial, scholarly or athletic success. I believed then, and continue to believe, that true self-mastery, true success, arises from knowing ourselves, from looking within and becoming conscious of our true nature and purpose.

In my psychology classes, I sometimes prompt students to ask themselves the following question: What do I really want in life, sincerely, from the bottom of my heart, regardless of whatever anyone else might have to say about it? At least a few students are often surprised by the question, and remark that no-one has ever sincerely asked them, or that they had never thought to ask themselves. Have you ever felt a passion from the depths of your heart toward life, or a particular person, or activity that you were involved in? When did you last experience this? It is so important to embrace moments in which we feel completely in-sync with our souls, and to cultivate these states of consciousness. It is in these states that we connect with the deepest parts of ourselves and learn how to expand the boundaries of self.

To provide one example of this, during my clinical placements as a counsellor I discovered that people tend to limit the amount of happiness in their lives via their assumptions and expectations in life. These assumptions about their own potential, about other people’s intentions, and about the world at large disallow them an authentic encounter with their true self, their essential conscious experience. In fact, such a large number of people seem to disavow their essential experience and replace it with a cognitive marker, an intellectual framework for life. Most people’s preconceptions about life, about love, about death, about religion, and so forth, tend to be quite specific, and often inaccurate. Even their understanding of self, of the determinants behind their personality, tends to be based in flawed assumptions. Few people pause and question who they really are, at the soul-level, at the heart-level.

Who are you, really, beyond the mask of the constructed self? What is it that drives you, beneath the surface? What is it that animates you? What is it that engages you in the here-and-now? Aren’t these questions central to understanding the limits and potentials of our consciousness?

Exploring such questions brings us closer to experiencing a purposeful and enriching life, a life in which our consciousness is engaged and most active. Instead of drifting through the dreams of others, we wake up, engage, and become more alert and connected with the world. From this stance, we can discover the more practical implications of working with consciousness states. We can learn to cultivate more peak states of consciousness, as Grant McFetridge and Wes Gietz put it. These moments of clarity about ourselves, and about life, grant us a unique chance to expand our consciousness threshold to new boundaries. And, as a direct result, our sensory acuity becomes crystalized, and our inner world becomes enlivened. ‘Follow your bliss’ might seem a trivial cliché to insert here, but now that we consider it, modern research has confirmed the hidden wisdom in these words, highlighting just how important it is to discover our authentic driving force in life.

William James suggested that human consciousness can be considered in terms of a stream in perpetual flow. When we experience such moments of unadulterated flow and pure connectedness, it becomes clear that we have a much greater reign over our experience of consciousness than we might at first believe. As I will explore throughout this book, when we depend upon our analytical faculties out of proportion with our hearts, we tend to experience our consciousness in a disjointed manner, out-of-flow. Yet, at the core, our conscious experience of life is not supposed to be disjointed. Its natural course is one of perpetual flow and movement, unfoldment, and creative growth. This is observable in all natural phenomena.

Individuals who maintain a state of continual flow are more inclined to engage with the moment, with life as-it-is, rather than their conceptualization of it. When in-flow, projects seem to come along perfectly and come together seamlessly. For a writer, the words may just flow from her mind onto the page with little effort. The meaning behind the words comes together too, and the writing requires little revision to perfect. For a basketball player, he may shoot a basketball right into the hoop several times in a row – but it wasn’t concentration or planning that helped him make such a strategic play, rather it was being in-flow, being in the ‘zone’ of the game.

The notion of flow is thus essential in our consideration of transcendent and exceptional states of human consciousness. If we do not consistently seek to engage our awareness in that which is occurring inside and outside of our frame of self, then we miss out on some of the most enriching and meaningful moments in life. Yet, when we do make the effort to engage and move into flow, something quite magical happens. A state of deep-seated mindfulness and awareness comes about, and this mindfulness can articulate into a state of self-transcendence and direct soul-experience. This is a state of meta-mind, so to speak. We transcend the fabric of personality-self and, almost paradoxically, make contact with a place beyond ourselves. Here the boundaries between personal (local) and cosmic (non-local) consciousness begin to blur.

These peak moments of transcendence are sometimes difficult to put into words. Take for instance a deeply moving experience of true love. The power of love can mend a broken heart. It can inspire us to move mountains and to create new worlds. Volumes can be written of it, and yet it is difficult to put a clear-cut description on a singular concept such as love. Isn’t it? Perhaps the reason is that the actual essence of true love cannot be contained. It is not subject to description nor fixed meaning. It is transcendental. It moves us, but we can never capture it nor contain it. Many human experiences are transcendental in nature just as this. These experiences show us a glimpse of something beyond, something inconceivable to the intellectual mind, and yet something greater than ourselves that can be experienced and felt within our hearts.

I believe that most people at some point in their lives have experienced a moment of transcendence, in which they have stepped outside of their personality-self to witness an extraordinary connectedness, emotional depth, and engagement with life. However, most forget about such peak experiences in passing, rather than cultivating them and working toward them. Although these experiences may arise in states of flow, when we are doing something that we love, or during mystical and spiritual practices, this is not always the case. It is possible to also experience moments of transcendence in everyday life, in our relationships, in our work, and so forth. This relates to the central tenet presented in this book. Not only can moments of transcendence be brought about consciously, but connecting with ourselves at a deeper level is easier than we might at first believe. So, before we jump right into this book’s main content, let’s consider, what are transcendental experiences? And, how can we go about placing moments of transcendence on the spectrum of human consciousness?

Moments of transcendence occur when we experience a depth of profound clarity in life, a clarity that comes from a place beyond the constructed self. You may recall a moment in your life when your awareness spontaneously expanded to encompass the environment around you, as you became aware of all of the sights, sounds, and sensations at a much more heightened sensory level than you ever had experienced before. Or, you might have once experienced a rich emotional connection that somehow seemed more meaningful, deeper than regular and mundane emotional states. You may have experienced a state of peace and stillness that rose from within and expanded to ecstatic proportions. Each of the above can be considered examples of self-transcendence, and each relates to a state of consciousness that touches a place of pure being, a place that exceeds what we have come to define as personal awareness.

Consider four of the common qualities of transcendental experiences below. Although a large number of transcendental experiences include mystical aspects such as encountering visions or glimpses of divine wisdom, these are not the defining characteristics of self-transcendence. At their most basic level, moments of transcendence show us that there is more to life than our limited mental framework of experiencing the world.

Though no account of transcendence is equivalent to another, states of transcendence tend to have a number of common qualities reported among individuals:

1) A temporary loss of our mental commentary or life-script: We forget how we ought to act for a moment and find that an inner intelligence and spontaneity takes over.

2) Spontaneously having feelings that transcend the regular spectrum of emotions: Spontaneously feeling a powerful state of love, or happiness just being alive. Often, these spontaneous emotions and feelings have no trigger or cause. These feelings just arise for the sake of experience, which can be contrast with traditional emotional reactions which are triggered by life events or cognitions.

3) The suffering associated with previous emotional and physical pain (such as trauma or chronic pain) spontaneously disappears for a moment, as though someone had just lifted the entire world from our shoulders, leaving us as light as a feather.

4) Mental definitions and barriers begin to blur, as race, gender, age, religion, politics and other classifications no longer hold a prerequisite for developing a meaningful connection with other human beings.

Thousands of anecdotes attest to other qualities and attributes that differ from the four common features mentioned above, however the above are intended to give readers a glimpse of some of the more common features reported.

I should also note that each of the above qualities tends to be felt completely with one’s entire being, rather than merely known intellectually. Transcendental experiences, when they do occur, tend to feel like a rare gem among the mundane tedium of life. These states consume our entire attention, our entire consciousness. However these states of consciousness are more common than most of us would believe. In fact, these experiences are natural aspects of the human condition – an inherent birth-right, so to speak, an unfoldment of conscious potential. Transcendental states do not reflect a superhuman or extra-human state of being. Rather, these experiences help us reconnect with our essential nature beneath the surface.

The process of exploring transcendent states unfolds at each dimension of human experience: 1) Mental, 2) emotional, and 3) spiritual.

Consider, mental potential, for instance: During experiences of transcendence, the mind engages with the external environment at a much deeper level than what we retain and perceive with our surface-level awareness. These deeper levels of mind-engagement are both accessible and approachable. Trance-work, hypnosis, and meditation techniques lend testament to just how precisely our unconscious minds can assimilate and recollect very fine details about our external environment and inner world. As we lower our threshold of awareness, access to this acute information becomes seamless.

Consider, emotional potential: Human beings are capable of expressing infinite love and compassion. This is evident through examples of countless historical figures noted for their altruism, as well as spontaneous acts of kindness we can encounter all around us when we look for them. Emotions like envy, greed, irritation and fear retain very little energy when contrast with the insurmountably more powerful emotions that reflect our true nature, such as states of joy, love, peace, and bliss. The latter move us into congruence with our souls, while negative emotions appear to limit our conscious experience instead. As we let go of surface-level ill-will toward others, a powerful feeling of compassion and peace arises from within – a deep love and acceptance of others and ourselves.

Consider, spiritual potential: Transcendental experiences are often characterized by a deeper state of connectedness to our inner Self. Mystic and author Robert Bruce referred to this connection as a re-awakening to one’s higher aspect. Transcendental states of consciousness often cause us to re-evaluate our religious and philosophical beliefs by showing us the experiential value of living for the sake of living, rather than thinking about and ruminating on the process of living (contemplating how we should live, could live, ought to live, and so forth and so on).

The experience of raw consciousness appears to be very innocent and direct, free from mental filters or intellectual musings. We can intellectualize consciousness until we are bored to death, and yet never know what it truly is to be conscious, that is, until we take the path inward. This is precisely the process Gnostic Master Samael Aun Weor referred to when he suggested that the one who meditates seeks more than just inner peace, what he seeks is information. When we seek knowledge and wisdom with our spiritual sight (looking inward) we pursue gnosis (inner knowledge). This knowledge cannot be intellectualized with the scientific method, it can only be known via direct experience, direct witnessing, and personal evidence. Thus, during transcendence states, people often experience a state of no-mind, subsequently they cannot explain their experiences intellectually, but emotionally and spiritually these states can account for some the most powerful aspects of a person’s life.

Moments of transcendence can also appear inexplicable because the content of these experiences challenges our assumptions about the laws of physics and the boundaries of human potential. For example, accounts of psi (anomalous phenomena) in which a person experiences transcendence of their physical abilities are reported around the world. An example of psi is the demonstration of telepathic communication with another person, using mind reading, rather than verbal or written communication. To a skeptical reader, these accounts seem ridiculous, ludicrous, and tantamount to charlatanism. But there is some truth to the hidden abilities of the mind that we can cultivate during moments of transcendence. Even simple acts such as unimaginable courage, creativity, or kindness, can come about from such states, and more complex and heatedly debated abilities of the mind are also commonly reported as a component of transcendent states.

So, with that in mind, let’s jump right in to our exploration of transcendence. Before I finish the premise of this book, I would like to make a brief note here