Q: I notice many seekers in the New Age Community seem to rely greatly upon sources of “spiritual causation,” and don’t seem to focus on actions that would improve their lives. They seem to want to get what they desire through miraculous manifestation and not have to work for it. Is there a reason for this?

A: We can characterize seven different functional states, as people advance in meditation. A functional state is both perceptual—what you are aware of when your attention is focused in that statemdash;and dynamic, which defines what you capable of doing in that state and what you perceive as the source of that behavior.

These are seven common functional states that seekers inhabit:

1. You only operate in a material, brain-based consciousness, and you have no awareness of any higher state of consciousness.
2. You primarily operate in a material, brain-based consciousness, but you are aware of a subconscious or liminal zone of the mind that appears to operate autonomously; it seems to strongly condition or influence behavior—this had led some researchers, who have discovered this state, to conjecture there is no free will, or that free will is an illusion.
3. You become aware of a witnessing consciousness, which we call attention that can observe the activities of the mind objectively. You become capable of entering the state of mindfulness at this level.
4. You become aware of different layers or levels of mind as attention interiorizes along the track of the thread of consciousness. At this stage, you begin to move into deeper stages of meditation.
5. After moving along the thread of consciousness through the focal points of the Conscious, Subconscious, and Metaconscious mind, you become aware of the Self at the core of the personality. You discover the faculty of volition, through which you can make choices and determine what you will accomplish in your life.
6. As you continue to move more deeply into the mind, you become aware of the levels of the Superconscious mind. At this level, you may have spiritual or mystical experiences, and encounter archetypes and numinous beings.
7. As you continue to ascend though the levels of the Superconscious mind, you gain union with the Soul or Higher Self. Many seekers identify themselves as the Soul at this stage, which leads them to perceive they have the power to create whatever they visualize.

At levels one to three, action appears to come from the brain or mind in response to environmental stimuli or from somatic and intrapsychic motivation, but there is no sense of an abiding self or a stable volitional power.

At level four, the layers of mind appear to add their perception and abilities to material, brain-based consciousness, like modules that provide additional capabilities to human functioning.

In the Conscious mind, you can observe your experience of movement and body position (proprioception), sensation of the external world, awareness of the sensations arising in the body, your emotions, your thoughts, your identification with the roles you play in life, and memory, as they operate in the present time.

In the Subconscious mind, you become aware of the reservoir of memory, the creative intelligence of the chakras, and the subtle bodies that operate in the dreaming and sound sleep states of consciousness.

In the Metaconscious mind, you become aware of the executive functions of the personality: commitment, social skills and humor, conscious, planning and goal setting, intelligence, and the capacity to intuit what you are experiencing at each level of the mind and to enter the experience of others through empathy.

At level five, when you discover the Self and volition, you can begin to take charge of your life. Activating your volition enables you to use the faculties of intelligence and problem solving, goal setting and planning, the ability to identify your values and guide your life with them, to establish supportive and collaborative relationships with others, and to sustain long-term commitments. When you can operate from this level, you are capable of work; you can set goals and achieve them.

At level six, you begin to have mystical and spiritual experiences. If you do not have a framework for understanding and integrating these experiences, you can come to believe in conspiracy theories and delusional ideas. For some people, this immersion in the Superconscious mind can drive them off the deep end into madness.

At level seven, you ascend to the presence of the Soul or Higher Self. At this level, you can contact the source of your Soul’s intuitive wisdom and unconditional love, and uncover its innate gifts. Continually remaining in this altered state of consciousness, however, can lead some people to become detached from their life, grandiose, and delusional.

Those that remain in the consciousness of level seven may come to believe that simply by visualizing and affirming, they can miraculously manifest whatever they desire. Some who remain in these states become passive, and they wait for the universe or God to manifest what they need—instead of using the constructive action at level five to actively obtain what they want.

We suggest that those who have reached a state of union with a higher spiritual essence at level seven learn to readily shift into level five, where they can take action to achieve their goals and dreams—and not merely rely upon visualization, affirmation, decree, claiming God’s promises through faith, or using hypnotic suggestion to the subconscious mind to miraculously fulfill them.

We teach you to progressively master meditation in our courses. We train you to explore levels three through five in our Introduction to Meditation Program. We teach you how to safely enter and integrate your experiences at levels six and seven in our intermediate meditation classes, the in-person Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation and the by-mail and online Accelerated Meditation Program.

We encourage you to learn how to commune both with your Self and your Soul, and to be able to flexibly operate from these two functional states as the situation requires. Do your work of visualizing and affirmation, but also take constructive action.

Q: What is the role of suggestion in meditation? Is meditation a variety of hypnosis?

A: Suggestion in meditation plays a role in information gathering, soliciting the activity of a vehicle of consciousness, or bringing about realization of a spiritual essence. We can describe seven major ways suggestion is used in meditation:

1. To gather information related to the function of a vehicle of consciousness
2. To produce action from behavior that has already been learned
3. To change action and practice a new or different behavior
4. To gain information about the structure of a vehicle of consciousness
5. To gain information about what is in the unconscious mind
6. To identify the personal and transpersonal integration centers that control the operate the vehicles of consciousness and to request that they generate a specific outcome
7. To gain union and identification with a spiritual essence—attentional principle, spirit, or Soul

In hypnosis, suggestion is typically made to the astral body to direct it to view, change, or interact with the content at different levels of the mind. Hypnosis can be used therapeutically in a number of ways.

We detail the channels through which the astral body can be directed in our article, “Levels of Autohypnosis,” which is part of the addendum of our intermediate meditation classes, the in-person Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation or the by-mail or online Accelerated Meditation Program—as we teach autohypnosis in these two courses. We teach our students to change their behavior using autohypnosis, but we also identify 32 additional channels that can be accessed through the movement of the astral body using suggestion.

Meditation’s range of suggestion is much broader than hypnosis. It can interface with the active vehicles of consciousness of the Conscious, Subconscious, Metaconscious, and Superconscious mind; with the unconscious bands of the mind; and with the essences of consciousness—the attentional principle, spirit, or ensouling entity. Meditation’s keynote is gaining mastery over all levels of the mind and the enhanced utilization of the innate faculties of the active vehicle of consciousness at those levels.

There is an overlap between hypnosis and meditation in that both employ suggestion, but the scope of suggestion in meditation is much more extensive than in hypnosis. We identify the solar plexus center of the inmost form of the attentional principle as the place where suggestion originates in meditation. Where this suggestion is anchored is a function of what your meditation objectives are. For example:

To gather information (“show” me or “tell” me)
To activate the native functioning of a vehicle of consciousness
To introduce novel programming into a vehicle of consciousness
To promote insight and realization

When you use suggestion in your meditations, it plays a powerful role in facilitating your gaining inner mastery and realization.

Q: Does one have to maintain extended celibacy to awaken the Kundalini? Do breathing exercises that enhance prana, also intensify Kundalini?

A: Many people conflate ojas, prana, and Kundalini. While there may be an association between these three separate currents in that they support the awakening of the Kundalini to some degree, you need to understand that these three aspects of the mind run in different channels.

The Ojasic channels are etheric tubules that extend beyond the physical endocrine glands—gonads or ovaries, adrenals, pancreas, thymus, thyroid, pituitary, and pineal—that sublimate the energy of these glands and draw it upwards. Those in whom these channels are fully opened gain holy virtues, such as chastity, love and forgiveness, wisdom, and purity.

The Pranic channel animates the Metaconscious, Subconscious, and Conscious mind, and anchors life force in the physical body. The eternal sun of life force within the Soul activates the Anandamayakosa, which turns on the switchboard of the Pranamayakosa—this sends the life force to animate the personality and the body.

The Kundalini channel awakens awareness and energizes the vehicles of consciousness—from the system of chakras in the Subconscious mind to the Soul’s essential vehicle, and reveals the presence of the Soul above its vehicles.

We teach how to safely awaken the Kundalini in our in-person intermediate meditation class, the Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation; those who take the by-mail and online version of this class, the Accelerated Meditation Program, can optionally schedule a supervised session in which they can be trained in how to awaken the Kundalini safely.

As you spiritually evolve, you purify the Ojasic channels and increase the Prana that flows forth from the Soul. You do not need to do any separate exercise to do this, as it takes place spontaneously as the Soul tunes up and purifies the karma behind its vehicles of consciousness. Concomitantly, you also extend the channel through which the Kundalini rises, as the Soul moves from nodal point to nodal point along its Path.

We suggest that you study these three separate channels, so you can understand what they do and discern their activity in you. While sublimation of hormonal essences and optimal pranic charging may enhance your experience of the Kundalini, they are not synonymous with Kundalini energy, nor do they hinder it rising, if they are not in their best possible configuration.

Q: You have referred to the World Mind in your recent writing. Could you spread some light on what this is?

A: We can distinguish the World Mind through the activity of those who operate within its sphere, and those that transcend it. We can characterize seven zones that make up the World Mind, and five that transcend it:

[We list these zones from the outermost to the innermost.]

Zone One – The realm of the haters and abusers: racists, White Supremacists, and terrorists; criminals and warlords

Zone Two – The realm of the true believers, whom lies and conspiracy theories seduce and lead astray

Zone Three – The realm of the skeptics, nihilists and narcissists, who have no moral compass, and who do whatever they need to obtain money, pleasure, fulfillment of every fantasy and desire, and to gain power over others

Zone Four – The realm of the people dedicated to a cause greater than themselves, who seek to improve the collective welfare and contribute to humanity

Zone Five – The realm of the creators and visionaries, who function as “thought leaders” and “influencers”

Zone Six – The realm of the thinkers and philosophers, who look at the problems of the world and attempt to find solutions

Zone Seven – The realm of the gatekeepers of consensual and accepted reality, who define the paradigms allowed within the aspect of the World Mind that shapes religion, culture, society, the legal canon, politics, and economics for a group of people

Zone Eight – The realm of those who transcend the World Mind, and regard it from the perspective of detachment and compassion

Zone Nine – The realm of the spiritual guides, who lead aspirants out of the World Mind to gain union with their spirit, a nucleus of identity, or an ensouling entity upon the Continuum beyond the World Mind

Zone Ten – The realm of the transformers, who unfold their spirit, nucleus of identity, and/or ensouling entity to actualize their spiritual potentials

Zone Eleven – The Adepts and Masters, who supervise the guides and transformers. And offer support to those who have broken out of the World Mind

Zone Twelve – The realm of those who have completed their Path and reached Liberation

The Mudrashram® teachings focus on those who have transcended the World Mind, guides them to unite with their spiritual essences, and trains the to be transformers of these spiritual essences. This ultimately leads them to become Initiates or Liberated Ones.

Those who are caught up in the drama of the World Mind often cannot see anything beyond the apparent limits of this collective mental field, and do not conceive of anything that transcends it. They are encapsulated in their scaffolds of belief; they are entrapped in their paradigm.

A few individuals have glimpsed what lies beyond the World Mind. Some have transcended it temporarily through ingesting psychedelic drugs, having an out-of-body-experience, or a “peak experience” in which they feel oneness with the cosmos. Some have risen out of the World Mind on a more sustained basis through mysticism and meditation practices.

Those who continue to maintain a strong identification with the content of one or more of the seven zones that make up the World Mind may find themselves drawn back into its mindset. This may limit the ability to transcend the World Mind.

Moreover, those that embrace the modes of hatred and criminality, conspiracy theories, and nihilism may actually create sufficient new karmic accretion to delay or even reverse their spiritual development beyond the World Mind.

We encourage you to meditate on the seven zones of the World Mind, and seek to glimpse what lies beyond its veil. This will have the effect of “de-hypnotizing” you from the thrall of the World Mind. This lets you enter the state of witnessing and detachment, which enables you to meditate.