Cosmic Consciousness

There are three aspects of human existence -- basic instinct, self consciousness and cosmic consciousness.

Basic instinct is the natural survival mechanism of all living entities.

Self consciousness is an awareness that an individual is a distinct entity.

Cosmic consciousness is a clear conception of the meaning of the universe, an absolute certainty that the cosmos is in fact a living presence. It’s a complete comprehension of “the whole” with an accompanying sense of immortality.

Carl Jung (1875-1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist, the founder of analytical psychology known as Jungian psychology. He coined the term “Collective Unconscious” -- in essence the same ethereal object as Cosmic Consciousness, except most people are unaware of its existence.

Jung believed the Collective Unconscious to be part of the evolutionary process and shared by all people, but not all people are able to tap into it. He called it the foundational structure of the personality on which the ego is built. Basically, cosmic consciousness is a single entity containing a connection to all other consciousnesses -- past, present and possibly future.

All is one.

A project was initiated in 1998 at Princeton University in an attempt to prove the existence of what they called a Global Consciousness, another term for Cosmic Consciousness.

The Global Consciousness Project (GCP) is an international effort set up to explore whether interconnected consciousness could be validated through objective measurement.

Research in this field started decades earlier when a number of controlled laboratory experiments demonstrated that human consciousness actually interacts with random event generators (REGs), causing them to produce non-random patterns.

In other words, thoughts were found to have the capacity to become actions that altered events.

Since electrical impulses transmitted between brain cells reflect patterns of activity that in turn generate consciousness, it became a theoretical possibility that the same phenomena would also be true for a global collective consciousness of the entire planet. Therefore, if individuals could create deviations from expected chance results simply through the thought process perhaps it could also be true on a global basis.

Dr. Roger Nelson, Director of Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research, a leading parapsychology institute, examined what happened to a REG when several people focused on a single event. The results were impressive. Plus, the effects were clearly noticeable regardless of the generator’s location.

There are now 75 networked computers in over 50 countries worldwide feeding a probabilistically random series of digits to a host computer. The system searches for periods when the random number series become slightly non-random.

Major world events seem to trigger non-randomness in widely isolated global locations. For example, the 9/11 tragedy produced a massive spike of non-randomness in the entire system.

The implications are astonishing. Not only is each person an individual entity with a distinct individual consciousness, but the combined consciousness of all of humanity also appears to be an individual entity.

All thought is connected.

This collective consciousness has been tapped into many times. A mother in Boston senses her son in Phoenix has had an accident that later turns out to be true. A man knows his old Army buddy is about to call him just before the phone rings. A little girl finds her lost purse where a dead grandparent told her it would be. A boy has an urgent feeling about going to a function where he meets his future wife. It happens all the time.

As a theoretical psychologist and practicing clinician, Carl Jung explored the psyche through an examination of dreams, mythology, religion and art.

He also spent much of his life delving into alchemy, astrology and Eastern philosophy. Some of his notable achievements include the concept of psychological archetypes, synchronicity and the collective unconscious.

Jung emphasized the importance of harmony and balance. The process of “individuation” was the central concept of analytical psychology. For a person to become whole, it requires a psychological process of integrating the conscious with the unconscious while still maintaining conscious independence.

In 1916, Jung wrote VII SERMONES AD MORTUOS, meaning “The Seven Sermons to the Dead" -- written by Basilides in Alexandria, transcribed by Carl Gustav Jung.

That year, Jung had been contacted telepathically by a “highly cultivated elderly Indian” who had been a commentator on the Vedas (early Hindu sacred writings) and had died centuries ago. He would become one of Jung’s spirit guides (gurus).

Rather than assume he had gone insane, Jung believed he had crossed into the same realm as the ancient priests and others who had experienced the divine.

Then many strange occurrences took place in Jung’s house, such as haunting aberrations, poltergeist incidents, and so forth. Jung finally shouted, “For God’s sake, what in the world is this?”

In unison, several voices cried out, “We have come back from Jerusalem where we found not what we sought.”

Then over three straight evenings, while being in a state of “possession” performing automatic writing, Jung wrote VII SERMONES AD MORTUOS.

Basilides, a valid historical person, was born in Syria and became a teacher in Alexandria in 133-155 AD. Jung had channeled and transcribed Basilides words.

The finished work was more than an exercise in automatic writing – the contents have been described as a “core text in depth psychology.”

Within the text, Abraxas is the name used for the Supreme Being that created individuality and mental powers. Upon death, individual human beings maintain the fullness of their human individuality rather than being absorbed into the oneness.

From this experience, Jung formulated the concept of the collective unconscious.

He stated, “The collective unconscious is common to all. It is the foundation of what the ancients called the sympathy of all things. It is through the medium of the collective unconscious that information about a particular time and place can be transferred to another individual mind.”

Jung later claimed to have numerous spirit guides, including Basilides, Philemon and Salome.

Gnosticism is the belief that spiritual knowledge comes from within. Gnosis is esoteric knowledge of spiritual truth held by the ancient Gnostics to be essential to salvation.

When Jung discovered the writings of the ancient Gnostics, he wrote, “I felt as if I had at last found a circle of friends who understood me.”

In 1926, Jung had a vivid dream whereby he was in the 1600s, engaged in the “Great Work” as an alchemist. He believed that alchemy was the connection between the modern world and the ancient world of the Gnostics.

Coincidentally, Albert Einstein read from ancient alchemy texts every night when he went to bed.

Jung considered alchemy to be the key to the transformation of the soul on its path toward perfection. His manuscript titled PSYCHOLOGY AND ALCHEMY was published in 1944. He wrote that the cosmos contained a divine light, the essence of which was a trap, presided over by the Bringer of the Light, called Lucifer, a demiurge (a subordinate deity who is the creator of the material world).

The focus of the alchemist is the union of opposites. Rather than a battle between good and evil (dualism), Jung claimed there was no right or wrong, no order or chaos, no black or white – they are simply opposites that transform into grey, demanding of humanity to be transformed.

In other words, everything is a blend of completeness when comprehended as a whole, therefore everything is perfect. The micro world may appear to be highly flawed, but the macro oneness of the universe and beyond is in a complete state of righteousness.

According to Jung’s Psychology of the Transference, the key to success in love and psychological growth is the ability to endure the tension of the opposites without abandoning the process. It’s the stress of the process that permits one to grow, to blossom, to mature, to become transformed.

Basically, we as a human species are all interconnected in a metaphysical or spiritual sense. Our individual thoughts affect the collective consciousness of the Oneness.

Thus, thoughts are deeds.

Everything is as it is, and the totality of it all is magnificent. As individual entities, we are on a journey through Eternity, destination Infinity.

Life is simple – accept the challenges, embrace the suffering, don’t follow leaders, watch the parking meters.

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Quote for the Day – "Show me a sane man and I will cure him for you." Carl Jung

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Bret Burquest is the author of 12 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a few dogs and an imaginary girlfriend named Tequila Mockingbird.

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