Are You Enlightened?

I rarely ever use the word “enlightened” because, like many people (including those on a spiritual journey), the concept is heavily culturally laden. It seems arrogant to think of being enlightened, or to say that my representation of enlightenment is truer than yours. It’s also fashionable, and indeed politically correct, to state that enlightenment is relative, and that each representation of spiritual development is perfectly valid according to the culture and time in which it occurs.

Yet those who have reached the higher stages of human spiritual development do not seem terribly interested in such arguments.

Can Consciousness Levels be Measured?

 Marcus T Anthony's new web site and blog can be found at www.mind-futures.com.

The evolution of consciousness is central to the overall purpose of humanity here on this planet. Ironically, it is in part, the fixation with measurement in modern science which has seen this understanding vanish from the annals of modern scientific literature. There has not been a verifiable means to measure consciousness levels, so science has tended to ignore the idea. The advancement of consciousness in any given lifetime is also heavily dependent upon exploring inner worlds, and especially the waves of thought that emerge from the substrate of consciousnesses within the mind. Since meditation and reflection have largely been extracted from modern education and science, very few people working there understand consciousness very well at all.

To even begin to measure consciousness evolution, we first have to perceive that such a thing exists, then define it. Consciousness evolution refers to the process of never-ending unfoldingfrom ignorance to cosmic bliss - or enlightenment. This progresses through various stages - which have been mapped by sages throughout history. In a sense it is the journey from darkness to light, illusion to truth, fixation with form to the recognition of the essential role of self in structuring and emotionalising reality.

There are ways, however, to measure the consciousness levels of people, books, movies, newspapers, curricula, institutions, entire populations and so on.

One method which has recently surfaced is outlined by David E. Hawkins in his books such as Power Vs Force, and the Discovery of the Presence of God.