Consciousness Before Enlightenment

We live in a world of duality where everything created has a companion of its polar opposite. There is a Native American story by the Cherokee that describes this duality. The story is similar to this: one evening an Elder told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said: “My son, the battle is between two wolves inside each, and every one of us, one wolf is evil, and it manifests as anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego." He continued explaining: "The other wolf is good, it manifests itself as joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.” The grandson thought about it for a minute, and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf wins?" His grandfather replied, “The one you feed.”

In my opinion the story describes two things: the state of consciousness, and the stages of enlightenment. Consciousness can be described as a state of awareness, and integrity of all aspects of self, yet amidst consciousness exists it’s opposite in this world of duality, that can be described as dissociation, separation of mind, and lack of awareness. The world today is engulfed in fear due to Covid, which disrupts personal peace, and exacerbates mental instability. One solution that addresses core issues within the heart, and soul of every human during a time of isolation is taking a journey down the road to self-healing, and self-love. There are many ways to look at isolation, one way is to describe it as: "To know oneself is to love thyself." One doesn’t have to feel alone, when the most important person to spend time with is yourself.

Mystics teach that during the inception of the universe, one energy of reality polarized itself at the moment of creation into a seeming duality, good and evil. According to eastern philosophy it is the resistance of our mind that creates these opposites in the universe to manifest in our reality. This resistance is reflected in the structure of our human brain. The right, and left hemispheres of the brain mirrors this dual nature. The fact is that in all people the hemispheres of the brain are not lateralized by nature, but through lifestyles that promote separation. Anything less than moving through the stages of human development experiencing love, and acceptance leads to lateralization of the brain hemispheres. The brain filters and interprets reality in a split-brained way, this causes us to see things as separate, and opposed, rather than connected, or part of "oneness". The greater the lateralization in the brain, the greater the feelings of fear, stress, anxiety, and isolation. Worse cases may include dysfunctional, and addictive personality syndrome, however, meditation exists as a solution that synchronizes brain hemispheres, which can create profound inner peace and happiness.

The idea of the perusal of enlightenment can cause the ego to think we have the intention to become superhuman, or godly, when the truth is, our natural inheritance is to love ourselves, to understand, and to be understood. This means connecting to something immeasurable, indestructible, timeless, and free, called our consciousness through finding, leads to enlightenment. Finding and loving ourselves, living in a peaceful state is key to living within the flow, and frequency of universal creative energy.

Another theory suggests our DNA was split at some point in our created history, and this produced the opponent, or resistance within us. Our world became two, "as above so below," and we default to negative thinking. We can learn naturally to choose right thought and action, with the application of ethics. Right action is key to deflating the opponent within us. Resisting our reactive behaviour, reduces our having to correct the situations we create in life by reacting instead of embodying patience. Positive self-esteem is built through right action, and is considered a victory in the evolution of consciousness.

The practice of mindfulness gives us tools to overcome our reactive nature. A key aspect to practice as we move forward in consciousness is to recognize when an issue occurs that leads to an emotional reaction. It is our emotional reaction that leads to a behaviour, and further action. When silence is chosen, along with contemplation in these circumstances, we learn to postpone reactive nature, which results in acting proactively in situations, this behaviour will bring more light into our interactions with others. This supports consciousness in evolution, as we learn to recognize emotion in ourselves, we understand, and can be understood on our journey up the ladder of enlightenment. This awareness feeds the good wolf. Find your centre, seek Bindu, the point of creation.