Welcome to Day 4 of our Meditation Retreat.

Yesterday we spoke of expanding awareness and how in every situation we should try to work with expanded awareness – try to see as much as we can in every situation. We said that this is more than present-moment awareness.

Today I want to speak about Multi-Dimensional Awareness. We should be aware not only of the physical plane or dimension but also the other dimensions of being - emotional, mental, spiritual. These dimensions can also be viewed in terms of energy, the gross energy plane, the subtle energy plane and the consciousness plane.

Operating at different levels

If you observe, you will see that we are operating at different levels at the same time. Whenever we express ourselves in our world, we are actually operating at different levels at the same time.  The physical body is active, the emotional being is active, the mental being is active and the spiritual being is active. In this case when I say “mental” I include intellectual, mental being the plane of thoughts, images and the intellect.

How aware are you?

The question is, are you aware in every interaction in your world, even when you are silent and meditating, of how you are expressing yourself at every level in your space? This is a way of seeing more, experiencing more in your interaction and in every activity you are engaged in no matter how simple it may appear to be: walking, talking, eating, communicating, meditating or working with a group. Are you aware of all that you are expressing in all the different planes or dimensions of experiences? If you are, then your interaction will be a very rich one and a great learning experience if you can see deeply into the interaction.

I see how people neglect or overlook different levels in the human experience. They are taken up more with the physical, sometimes unaware of how many thoughts are moving in their mind. They are caught up or driven by their thoughts without actually seeing how these thoughts are arising inside.  They are not even thinking that they have the power to manage their thoughts; and it is the same with emotions.

Awareness of different levels of Being – the practice

In an immediate way, observe how you feel in this moment as you listen to me, “Am I listening at every level? Am I observing my experience in every level even as I sit in the audience? My physical body is sitting, how is it feeling in this moment, is it comfortable? Is it in the best possible posture? Is it allowing me to listen in a better way? Am I sitting in the best possible place in the room? Am I sitting around company that is also influencing how I feel in this moment? How am I emotionally in this moment? Am I carrying some emotional burden of yesterday or am I in a state of love and harmony?

How are my thoughts in this moment? What thoughts am I carrying in this moment? Is my mind clear in listening or am I carrying thoughts of yesterday?

How do I feel spiritually in the moment? Do I feel carried? Do I feel some greater power inside of me is supporting me? Do I feel an expansion in being that when I sit in the room, I feel as though my being is expanded to fill the whole room, so I am conscious of an expanded feeling in the space? Am I feeling oneness with everything as though there is just one being in the entire room? Am I in the space where I feel so lifted by the energy around me that my mind is quiet and is different from how I feel outside of the space? If I were to extend my awareness to the world around me, do I feel in harmony with everything? As I think of my world, do conflicting thoughts come to my mind, or do I feel in harmony with my external world so that when I extend my mind to the world I feel completely in harmony with it?

This is multi-dimensional awareness, when you are aware of different levels of your being at the same time.

It is such a rich and beautiful experience especially in communication when you can walk into a space and feel the quality of the mental energy of the space; you can feel the quality of the emotional energy of the space and the spiritual energy of the space.

Awareness enhances relationships

When you become more aware, you can tell the difference between individuals when you meet them. Some may stimulate you into thinking more, some expand your emotional space and uplift it, some bring you into contraction or defense, into putting up a wall. Some draw you into physical touch, while others push you away because you don’t want to touch. When you become more aware you can see all of this and that allows you to interact in a better way and not just to react. It is wonderful when you observe it because sometimes you don’t allow yourself to be carried away by feelings of the space. By doing so you don’t allow yourself to miss the opportunities for creating better relationships or even helping the person around you because you are put off by the little feelings that come to you.

When you become more aware, it is beautiful when you can feel the effect of the earth because the earth is an energy field too. The earth is not only physical but it has an invisible field of energy - a magnetic field. The subtle field of energy is also called the astral level. Those who are sensitive to the subtle energy can feel the energy of the space. Some people can even pick up the shifting of the energy. For example, people who are sensitive will pick up signals when the weather is going to change. 

Animals are also sensitive to the earth. You may recall from the tsunami incident in the Far East how the animals ran away to the hills while people were unaware. It is amazing when you are very much in touch with the earth energy, plant energy or the energy of animals.

Expanding  awareness

In your experience of the world dwell deeply into, “How am I feeling? How am I relating?” If you do that, the experience can be so much more. The goal will be to go deep inside so the spiritual dimension can be experienced.  It is the most expansive of the dimensions. When you enter the spiritual space, you feel peaceful.  When I speak about peace I don’t mean silence.  Rather it is a deep feeling of restfulness, alertness, a feel of love and harmony.  You become non-judgmental in that space and you feel oneness with those around you. You are able to relate to the world in a deeper way. In that spiritual space you are able to see clearly: how thoughts arise within you, how feelings come into your space, and how you interact with your space. You are able to see clearly the spiritual space which is the expanded space.

Expanding awareness is not a simple experience.  It requires the desire to want to expand the awareness; it requires the discipline of sustaining that desire; it requires openness to the source of all knowledge and higher power of the Universe. It requires knowing how to use the intellect intelligently.  When I say “intelligently” I mean to know when to stop the thinking, to surrender the mind and to allow the power within to bring information to you. In other words, allowing intuition to express itself.

This is my message to you today. It is really to make you aware of the multi-dimensional awareness and for you to begin to practice this in your daily lives and activities, and even in your meditation.