7.2.6. ENLIGHTENMENT

There are three stages within this process that correspond to the three states of spiritual experience relating to enlightenment.

• Ecstasy- the communication channels are opened to the composer.  In this experience we ‘meet’ our composer, and Higher spirit but there is no merge. 
• Moksha and nirvana – also called in mystic Christianity ‘Rapture’.  You merge with your composer.  This is often referred to as the ‘chemical wedding’, the will remains the will and the composer remains the composer, but you in effect act in tandem.  In this experience your personality is not extinguished – ‘you’ are still you. 
• Annihilation– the personality is annihilated and ‘you’ as a personality cease to exist.  The Higher spirit  then takes over, but in effect you become ‘divine’ – a sort of ‘god’ completely in touch with the spiritual world at all its levels. 

Balancing

The process of balancing aims to balance the Conscious and the Subconscious mind.  This is a precursor stage to the next stage of ‘the Chemical wedding’.

To understand what we are aiming to do here, we need to go back to the Model.  There are three parts to the mind – the Higher spirit, the Conscious and the Subconscious. 

The Conscious Mind is regarded as symbolically ‘male’, the Subconscious mind as ‘female’ . 

The Conscious mind is often symbolically represented by the colour Black, the Subconscious by the colour white.

The colour white is used because the Subconscious is usually regarded as being the route to access the Higher spirit and is as a consequence more ‘pure’.  The other symbol of the child is also used to express this level of innocence – the intellect is not at work, as such the Subconscious is childlike in its actions and functions.  Furthermore, the Conscious mind is regarded as being potentially more cunning, scheming and sly and as such has a ‘black’ or dark side to it. The shadow.

In order to meet our Higher spirit we have to balance the Conscious and the Subconscious.  Not eliminate anything, not subjugate anything to the point of extinction but balance the two halves of our mind so that they are on an equal footing.

The aim is to become more ‘childlike’.  How do we become childlike again, without becoming vulnerable to being exploited and as unruly and possibly misbehaved as a child?  The problem with all analogies using such terms as child and virgin bride, is that it can be taken too literally.  What is actually being aimed for is a move away from the intellect and a move towards the ‘heart’ instead – we move towards a childlike state, but in saying this the child envisaged is ‘pure in heart’ – not a vulnerable, petulant, tantrum prone, terrible 2 year old, but a sort of innocent – open and curious, honest and willing, loving and giving.

The techniques that help particularly at this stage are any that are geared towards suppressing [very gently] the Intellect but encouraging the child in us.

So which techniques do we employ at this stage?  All the ongoing suppression activities :

• Eating for health
• Exercising and keeping fit
• Reducing desires
• Reducing opportunities
• Reducing threats
• Reducing and controlling emotions
• Squash the big I am
• Suppressing memory [which inludes such key sub-activities as asking for forgiveness, forgiving, expunging demons, and questioning and doubting all beliefs]
• Know yourself
• Believing in the spiritual world
• DON’T HURT
• Suppressing obligations
• LOVE and Love with Visualisation - it is only via LOVE that you will ever experience what Divine Love is, and Divine love is one of the ultimate spiritual experiences

Once this has been done and balance has been achieved then the two halves of the mind can join and we have what is often called variously the Mystic Marriage or the Chemical wedding.

Through this balancing we meet our Higher spirit.