By George A. Boyd © 2021
Q: You mention that when attention moves along the thread of consciousness, it is able to detect the identity state of each level of the mind. Could you shed some more light on this?
A: In addition to the subtle sensory faculties that you can access through the mind’s eye of the attention, it can also tap into the intuitive, discernment, volitional, and identity functions that can be detected in each vehicle of consciousness. For example:
Intuition reveals the content of the vehicle in a global sense. You put together the different streams of sensory information into the big picture of how the vehicle is operating and what it does.
Intuition also allows you to shift dimensions of how you perceive each vehicle of consciousness… from the single point of the attentional focus… to the line of the thread of consciousness that leads to the seed atom of that vehicle… to the field of perceptible content in that vehicle… to the sense of the form of the energetic vehicle as a shape or volume… to the present time experience in that vehicle… to the integration center that operates it [in the Conscious mind, this is the ego]… to the detached witnessing of the attentional principle that observes the activity of each of the centers of the Conscious mind from beyond it.
Discernment enables you to recognize where you are in your inner journey through the inner vehicles of consciousness. This function labels each level of the mind: this is my movement center… this is my sensory center… this is my deep body awareness… this is my feeling center… this is my mental center [the faculty of reason]… this is the volition of my Conscious mind… this is my ego… this is my preconscious…
Volition is the conative force that operates the vehicle of consciousness. In the Conscious mind, this aspect of volition is anchored in the ego. It enables you to perform selected activities through each of the vehicles of the Conscious mind. For example:
You can make movements with your body… you can voluntarily focus on a particular sensation… you can tense your muscles and slow down or speed up your heart rate and breathing with visualization… you can focus on a particular emotion or thread of experiences… you can apply your reasoning ability to analyze why something isn’t working… you can carry out discrete individual behavior you have learned… you can communicate from the different identity states of the ego… you can request specific memories from the Subconscious mnemonic temporal band…
Identity arises from you realization of the seed atom of each vehicle of consciousness. You typically experience this state of realization when you are in the state of Samadhi, and the seed atoms of each of your vehicles of consciousness in the Conscious, Subconscious, Metaconscious, and Superconscious mind declares itself. For the Conscious mind, these identity statements might take the following form:
- I am the one who is aware of my body position and movement.
- I am the sensorium: the switchboard of the senses.
- I am the awareness of the deep body sensations and the activity of each of my organs and physiological rhythms.
- I am the awareness of my feelings as they arise, and the attachment bonds of love and caring I form with other people.
- I am my analytical mind, the faulty of reason.
- I am the aspect of will that allows me to carry out individual units of behavior.
- I am the ego, the one who lives the experience of my life.
- I am the preconscious: I interface with the reservoir of memory of the Subconscious mind.
Once you have isolated attention and have been able to move it at will through each of the focal points of the Conscious mind, we encourage you to see if you can tease out these higher order functions at each focal point. In addition to noticing what visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, and tactile impressions arise at each focal point, you can also tap into the functions of intuition, discernment, volition, and identity.
We train you to access each major focal point of the Conscious, Subconscious, and Metaconscious mind in our Introduction to Meditation Course. This practice of focusing on each level of the mind improves your ability to concentrate and contemplate. It enables you to utilize the abilities in each vehicle of consciousness consciously. It leads to enhanced self-knowledge and insight.
Those of you who wish to gain a thorough grasp of the rudiments of meditation to prepare yourself for the more advanced work presented in our intermediate meditation courses—the in-person Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation and the by-mail and online Accelerated Meditation Program—will benefit from taking this introductory meditation program.
