The present state of consciousness of the vast majority of people living today is a state characterized by separation, independence, and self-reliance. I call this state Adamic consciousness because it closely resembles the description of Adam from the Bible after he had experienced his transformation in the Garden of Eden. Prior to that transformation of consciousness Adam was an instinctual creature who knew no separation, sin, or shame. But after his life-altering experience he immediately became fearful of God, to the degree that he now sought to hide from God. He also was no longer innocent in relation to sin and felt shame about his own created givens. And these qualities became more than just a passing phase. His sense of separation was so strong that he wasted no time in clicking into an altogether new orientation pertaining to how he should live and take care of himself. Prior to his transformation all of Adam’s needs were perfectly well met through the created environment of the Garden. But afterwards he suddenly felt constrained to fend for himself. It was no longer desirable to live like he used to. He now wanted to be independent and make things happen in his own strength. He spurned his former basic, simplistic situation in favor of one that would require more problem solving and ingenuity—one that held out the promise of greater prosperity and fullness. And then lo and behold this change in his consciousness manifested outwardly when he was told he had to leave the Garden and go out into the world.
What followed after that was the populating of the earth with his offspring—all of whom were immediately initiated into his new state of consciousness. And so this age or
dispensation of human history began. In almost no time the new Adamic state of consciousness became the dominant consciousness of our species. We filled the earth not only with our biological presence but also with our newly adopted orientation. In other words, since Adamic consciousness is one of human self-initiative and the desire for a fuller life, it was no longer enough for us to simply populate the earth. We felt constrained to subdue it and rule over it—to mold it more to our liking and extract riches from it. Since we were the ones that needed to make things happen we took a proactive approach to arranging both our environment and circumstances. And this often caused us to come into conflict with both the environment and the creatures that inhabited it. It even caused us to come into conflict with ourselves—that is, our fellowman.
But clearly Adamic consciousness was here to stay. Conflict or no conflict, we persisted in our orientation of natural strength and survival of the fittest. Then at some point in our collective experience we coalesced into a society—that is, a collective gathering that shares the same values and orientation. And after that happened, human society was also here to stay. Plus having adopted Adamic consciousness as its own in the beginning, our society became sold to it to the degree that it has never changed its collective climate over the course of the age (that is, the past six thousand years).
So it is no surprise that most of us who have been born into this world throughout the age have been born into Adamic consciousness. Why is this? Because once human society solidified its grip on Adamic consciousness, it completely ruled out the possibility of there being other states of consciousness. It unabashedly asserted that Adamic consciousness with all its nuances and modes of perception is reality—the one and only reality for mankind to abide by. And it was not enough to simply assert that Adamic consciousness is reality; at some point our societal leaders decided to get heavy-handed about this assertion. In other words, they not only proclaimed the absolute nature of reality; they forced that proclamation upon all who were entering our world. They did this through the vehicle of infantile psychological conditioning—thereby indoctrinating each and every newborn human into this one reality view in such a foolproof way that most never even have recourse to question it.
And so all of us became Adamic in our reality view pretty much from the get-go. Our indoctrinating conditioning was so insistent and thorough that we automatically assumed it must be true. And that is how we grew up and approached the potentialities inherent in this lifetime.
But then for some of us the wall of certainty pertaining to our conditioned reality view began to develop some structural cracks. We began to smell a rat. And this disillusionment, though slow to take root, eventually led us to embrace a spiritual practice—one that presented to us the arcane possibility that there might be more than one state of consciousness that mankind can aspire to. And if there were other states of consciousness, it logically followed that there must also be other reality views.
Still, most dare not question the status quo. They follow the prescribed routes and work hard to find a niche for themselves in this present world order. Then they settle in for the long haul. This raises the question: Why do some open themselves up to the possibility of there being other states of consciousness and reality views, while others refuse to go that route? And this is a difficult question to answer with certainty. One might even say that it is a mystery. So let us explore this mystery and see if we can make some sense of it.
When those who have decided to oppose the status quo and explore other alternatives through a spiritual practice are questioned about their choices, many cite the phenomenon of suffering. In other words, like all of us born into this world, these too wholeheartedly embraced their conditioned self for a time, replete with its prescribed reality view and life-orientation. But what caused them to open their hearts to and yearn for other possibilities was the fact that somehow the experience of viewing life from the Adamic perspective seemed to cause them inordinate suffering. They not only experienced this for themselves but at some point they began to look around them and they observed that others were also suffering. Some were suffering on account of health problems; others were suffering from emotional-mental distress; some were suffering on account of supply issues; some were suffering on account of substance abuse or other manifestations of false appetite; some were suffering because of moral lapses that had brought them into conflict with the governing powers; some were suffering from an overweening fear of death; and some knew that they were suffering, but they did not know the source of that suffering. This vast extent of suffering in our societal ranks then got them to thinking and searching. And for many on the spiritual path that is how their journey began. Something about a reality view that routinely causes suffering among regular, well-meaning people did not sit well with them. And so they began to ask themselves: What is really going on here? Could it be possible that the conditioned reality view we have all inherited is askew? Is it possible that it is false and corrupt? And what could have motivated us to build such a societal edifice?
Little by little, for those who persist in the spiritual quest the answers to these questions become clear, though this is no easy process to undergo. At first, as light begins to dawn, it is not uncommon for us to become angry and resentful. As we discover that, in fact, our present world order is not all that it claims to be we might respond by wanting to blame the institutionalized powers-that-be and lash out at them on account of all the suffering they have willfully caused us and a multitude of others over the course of this age. We might demand that justice be done and begin to long for a complete societal overhaul. But eventually we work through this emotionally reactive stage and begin to see the bigger picture. We do not delude ourselves about our predicament but we cease to lash out with blame and criticism and instead adopt a more compassionate stance.
What we begin to see is that no one is to blame. Why not? Because we have all been constrained by our state of consciousness to build a world exactly such as the one we have built. So it is as though we have not been responsible for our actions. That is what Jesus meant when he said, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34). And Jesus said these words while hanging on the cross. In other words, if anyone had reason to blame and resent his fellowman, it was Jesus. For, his fellowman had not only caused him and those he loved to suffer; they had acted to cruelly do away with him. So, in truth, his outpouring of forgiveness was the ultimate display of compassion. But it was not only Jesus’ intent to forgive those who crucified him; rather like every other word he ever uttered this too was meant to teach us the truth about how we human beings were made. It was meant to teach us about compassion.
Human consciousness is not merely a bundle of mental concepts and ideas; it is a state of being—one that consumes us in its entirety. Thus if our collective state of consciousness is Adamic and this state is passed on to generation after generation through the vehicle of psychological conditioning, we cannot help but do its bidding. We not only close ourselves off to the possibility that other states of consciousness exist; we also must act out every last nuance of the state we have inherited. Our entire perspective will be sold to that state, and that will become our reality. In the case of Adamic consciousness that means no God in our experience; it means fending for ourselves until the bitter end; it means being perpetually fearful that someone or something is going to come between us and our needs being met; it means routinely resorting to sin to make our way, and it means swimming in a sea of shame about who we perceive ourselves to be.
How then could Jesus have forgiven his murderers? Was he not a man like us? Shouldn’t he have responded like Adam and sought to exact vengeance against his antagonists? Shouldn’t he have fended for himself and used his powers to get down off the cross? Wasn’t he afraid to die? The answer to all these questions is the same: Yes, Jesus was a man like us, but no, he was not moving in Adamic consciousness. What then? Jesus had not only come to believe that there were other states of consciousness for mankind and rejected Adamic consciousness for himself; he had actually evolved into an altogether different, higher state—that which we now call Christ consciousness. This evolution of consciousness consumed him in the same way that we have all been consumed by Adamic consciousness. It brought with it an entirely new reality view. In contrast to Adam, Jesus’ state of consciousness reconciled him to God; it put an end to all inclinations of self-preservation and self-aggrandizement; it removed all fear, including the fear of death, and it rendered sin utterly impotent, to the degree that it simply ceased to exist. And so, Jesus did not respond to this world’s onslaught of suffering like we do. He did not hate and revile. He did not get angry and vow to revenge. Rather he forgave. And how was he able to do this? No, it was not through a human effort to be a nice guy; rather it was a natural response based on his state of consciousness.
What does all this have to do with us? And what can we learn from Jesus’ response? First, that there is, in fact, more than one state of consciousness for human beings. Yes, there is Adamic consciousness—the state we are all so painfully familiar with. But there is also the state of consciousness that Jesus was moving in—Christ consciousness—and this state of consciousness is neither exclusive nor elusive. Just like Adamic consciousness, it too can be readily adopted by men and become our reality. This is, in fact, what all of us on the spiritual journey are aspiring to. And these aspirations need not be in vain. All we have to do is seek it with all our hearts and we will find it.
Therefore we too are capable of displaying the kind of compassion that Jesus had. But we must not make the mistake of thinking that this is possible for the Adam man. I can tell you in all earnestness that it simply is not a part of his repertoire. But it is very much a part of Christ consciousness. So with all of our spiritual practice and aspirations let us not lose sight of the goal. Let us remember that the key to attaining true spiritual life and its seemingly superhuman responses is to change our state of consciousness. This not only can be done, but if we are sincere it is nothing short of inevitable.
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