Integral Consciousness

To transcend separation and realize oneness is the supreme goal of our human evolution, by the power of which we come back to our original state and actualize our eternal identity. True oneness cannot be accessed prior to the awakening of the inner state, for without the inner state there is no existential bridge between self and reality. As we move into the states beyond the mind, our human consciousness gradually begins to surrender to reality as a whole. Expansion into no-mind, the awakening of integral consciousness and the return to the natural state are the various aspects of our enlightenment to complete oneness with existence.

Integral consciousness is another name for the unification of the mind with the inner state and the ego with the soul. In our journey towards the realization of oneness, we must merge our human personality with our eternal essence and attain inner wholeness. Integral consciousness signifies this state of internal harmony. Through the integration of all aspects of our multifaceted existence, we give birth to one, single state of consciousness. The attainment of this integral consciousness is the flowering of our spiritual evolution through which we realize true oneness with the soul and the supreme reality.

The Split Between the Mind and the Inner State

It is the experience of almost all meditators that the awakening of the state beyond the mind does not necessarily bring true peace. On the contrary, in most cases the inner awakening has little or no effect on the fundamentally neurotic nature of the mind. In spite of reaching even a profound inner state, we continue to suffer a schizophrenic split between our human personality and the bliss of being. On a deep existential level, our personality is unable to follow the dramatic shift of awakening that has occurred on the inner plane; our level of consciousness as human beings is simply too low to recognize the immense value of spiritual awakening. We have our own unintelligent vision of happiness which has nothing to do with inner silence and the repose to be found in the beyond. Due to our basic ignorance, the mind persists in obsessively circulating endless thought-forms of desire and fear based on the reality of the earth-plane and the collective unconscious. Even after awakening to the inner state we usually remain fragmented and incomplete inside.

Seekers often wonder why, despite the presence of the inner state, they continue to be lost in the mind most of the time. It is essential here to comprehend that arriving at the state beyond the mind does not automatically transform our basic unconsciousness. To be truly conscious is much more profound than the awakening of any state, pure awareness included. One can be in the state of presence and remain completely unconscious. One can dwell in the profundity of the absolute state and remain hopelessly controlled by the mind. Shifting to a state beyond the mind does guarantee that one existentially owns it as a new condition of being. Though it may have been realized on the energetic level, if the inner state has not yet become filled with the presence of I am, the consciousness of the soul cannot embody the inner realization.

Most meditators, regardless of having the inner state, will still indulge in incessant thinking and daydreaming, unable to dwell with total presence in the depth of being. To move beyond this neurotic divide between mind and being, they must gain a deeper insight into the truth of their internal reality and merge with their essential identity. The integration of consciousness is the missing link between the awakening of the inner state and the awakening of the soul.

To Go Beyond the Mind

If the most profound state is given to someone who does not possess a reflective consciousness, it has no existential value. What gives value to any state is our ability to see its transcendent depth and meaning. When we are unconscious and ruled by the mechanical mind, no benefit accrues to our awakening. To devote our existence to inner silence and being, we must awaken true understanding and transcend our habitual identification with the mind. Only the power of our intelligence can distance us from the state of forgetfulness and bring real meaning to our abidance in the inner state. In the state of ignorance, the intelligence of our human mind is disconnected from the soul. Our responsibility is to develop a deeper wisdom and the spiritual intuition to activate the intelligence of the soul. The awakening of this level of intelligence is far more complex than the awakening of the inner state, and requires a long period of evolution to clearly reflect the intrinsic wisdom of our higher being.

The intelligence of most seekers lags way behind their awakening to the states beyond the mind. The presence of the inner state does not give them enough motivation to renounce excessive thinking, for they still habitually seek happiness through the mind. The mind continues to constitute their fundamental identity. Furthermore, they cannot succeed in going beyond the mind by reaching other, even more profound states, because their problem lies elsewhere - they are asleep in their essence. Their intellect may understand that they should be conscious and transcend the mechanical mind, but because this conviction is purely mental, it is impotent to transform their experiential reality. The intellect is of the mind, and does not have the necessary power to bring about a real change in our perception on its own. It is the function of an evolved intelligence to align and integrate the mind with the realm of being. Integral intelligence still operates within the mind, but belongs to the soul and serves our higher purpose. It owns the knowledge I am.

A seeker has to recognize that living in the mind is none other than spiritual death. Unless we truly see the tremendous loss we suffer by forgetting our inner light and living unconsciously, how can we transcend the mind? The conversion of our perception is only possible when we finally recognize that there is no other way to exist than through continuous surrender to the inner realm.

Merging the Mind

We cannot surrender the mind unless we are able to see our existence from the higher perspective of the soul's intelligence. The moment we reach this essential maturity, we begin the process of becoming whole. Only the soul is able to recognize that, in the absence of thought, something infinitely more valuable emerges as our sacred presence. This maturity is a function of our very evolution, the growth of our consciousness and being. To surrender the mind is to open an inner space within which the mystery of being can manifest and absorb our separate self.

To merge the mind is to unite the thinking part of self with one's inner being. From the place of stillness to which merging the mind delivers us, thinking can still arise in a gentle and transparent way without causing an existential split between the human and the soul. Truly conscious thinking is an extension of the soul's intelligence - not an expression of the mechanical mind - and possesses the qualities of tranquility and bliss, for it is fully embraced by the light of awareness and being. Thinking that arises from the depths of non-thinking is nothing but the natural creativity of silence, for it is the soul abiding in the unbroken awareness of the self that bridges arising thoughts with the silence of being..

The merging of the mind is a gradual process of growing into the state of surrender. The mind still has things to think about, as the human has not yet completed his evolution and existence on earth - but a mind that is conscious during thinking does not disrupt the simultaneous awareness of the inner state. While pursuing the relative, it dwells in constant remembrance of its unchanging essence. It does not act outside of the self, but is contained within the all-pervading presence of I am.

Becoming Conscious

The process of becoming conscious is perhaps the most significant element of our evolution. We do not refer here to increasing the power of awareness, but to the very illumination of the soul's intelligence. We can activate many components of our internal reality through practice, but we cannot awaken true understanding by means of meditation or mindfulness. Intelligence cannot be manipulated or activated from outside of self, for it represents the very consciousness of the soul. The evolution of our deepest intelligence is the result of an existential awakening to both our essence and our higher consciousness. The intelligence of the mind is something that we possess and can work with, but the intelligence of the soul is what and who we are.

Intelligence is the state of the soul's consciousness, the frequency of her light and the pure reflection of her identity. To be conscious is to embody the existence of the soul on the plane of pure knowing - to honor and treasure our true nature by constantly abiding in the light of I am. This unremitting devotion to the self is an expression of our real awakening as the soul.

Complete Presence and the State of Oneness

Integral consciousness is the consciousness of the soul fully integrated with the inner state, uninterrupted by the movement of thought. As her awakening deepens through integral consciousness, she not only dwells in continuous remembrance of the inner state, but also of her own holistic, undivided existence. Ultimately, integral consciousness is the soul's complete presence merged with unbroken awareness of the beyond - the state of being whole.

Through the awakening of integral consciousness we transcend the split between mind and no-mind. Through the awakening of complete presence, the witness to oneness is no longer external to the consciousness of unity. When the mind surrenders to the inner state and our sense of identity shifts from thinking to being, we expand into the ultimate transparency of the universal I am. From the heart of pure subjectivity, we dissolve through the realization of the soul into the supreme subjectivity of the nameless undivided one reality.