One
Three Levels of Mind
by Lapis
The following is a discussion about the 3 Levels of the personal Self or Mind. Please take the time to study and fully understand this model of the three levels of the Self. Without the proper foundation of understanding about these levels, I am convinced that dream study, or any metaphysical study, can become destructive to your life/ego balance through the enhanced powers of imagination which are brought about by such study. Imagination with proper guidance is what allows all creation to take place. But imagination given free reign can be very destructive. So, proper understanding of these levels, and how they interact, can be a key to open your conscious awareness to the treasures of the Infinite and, I think, most definitely should be sought.
INTRODUCTION
It is my personal certainty that any attempt to understand dreams or what is really going on in your life and mind, as well as in the lives and minds of others, cannot fully succeed unless it takes into account the structure of the 3 levels of the mind…the personal Trinity of Self. Why trinity? In a 3-dimensional reality such as we have in the conscious waking state, with its direct interaction with the material universe, we would expect to be able to relate to the nature of this universe three different ways…or with three distinct receptors. At the current level of awareness in the psychological disciplines, the first two are pretty well understood but the third has yet to make it fully into the mainstream thought.
Actually it has been culturally “banned” from Western, mainstream thought by the development of rationality…a linear, masculine mode of reliance on the conscious mind’s inherent powers of deductive reasoning alone, to the exclusion of the more wholistic powers of the subconscious with it’s inductive reasoning ability. This point is beautifully made by Dr. Leonard Shlain in his recent book, The Alphabet Versus the Goddess : The Conflict Between Word and Image. In this excellent book he shows how the switch from matriarchial to patriarchial societies throughout history have always followed the development of alphabetic writing as it replaced pictorial writing. Thus he shows that the way we communicate is based on the portion of mind that we favor at any one time.
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And since the conscious mind is one step removed from the superconscious mind, with the subconscious in between them, it is difficult for the conscious mind to “directly” comprehend a part of mind which exists, of itself, extra-dimensionally and without the presence of an environment of matter. But it can be seen from the simplistic diagram that I’ve drawn below that in this model the subconscious mind occupies a relative position of mediator between the other two levels. Thus it has to serve as “translator” of outer to the inner layer and vice versa. I think that the evidence from dreams themselves show that the information flows from outer to inner and then the feedback reverses this direction and flows from inner to outer.
Diagram of the Relative
Layers and Scope of Mind’s Awareness
Another part of the resistance to the understanding a tripartite system of mind, I believe, is that the idea of this “other” part of mind impacts many people with semantic “weapons” right in the vulnerable underbelly of their religion. This has caused much resistance, especially when one has to attribute “God-like” creative powers to each individual entity.And the “religion” of materialist science, which has in many cases replaced the other more traditional religions, also has been a culprit to slow this understanding, not because there is anything wrong with the scientific method, but because non-creative practicioners in the field, which form the bulk of practicioners in any established field, tend towards dogmatic beliefs which limit their scope of awareness and stifle new knowledge. As such, they become the “front wall” of a current paradigm and will often defend it, even to the death.
Along this line, I intend to later show evidence that the much talked about “Beast” of Revelations is none other than materialism itself….which represents 2/3 of the whole truth…thus the number 666 given to it. This will be covered in a section of DreamWorks where I will write about the symbology of the Bible.
Karl Jung, Edgar Cayce and others have done a lot to illuminate this third level but the information given by them, one from a scientific framework and the other from a metaphysical framework, has simply not had the proper gestation period to become mainstream “scientific” knowledge. I am certain that it will be, and currently IS BECOMING so. (see the DreamWorks Links page) Slowly, a way is being prepared for a golden age of understanding on this earth, I think. This period of time has been predicted by prophets from cultures as diverse as the Jews and the native American Hopi . It has been called the Millennium, the Thousand Years of Peace, the Fifth World, the Enlightened Age, the New Age, the Aquarian Age (God’s spirit [water pitcher] being poured out on earth) and by many other names in different cultures.
What I am referring to has been the knowledge of initiates, priests, shamans, holy men, prophets and enlightened ones throughout the ages but they did not then possess the necessary technical terms (language) to explain their concepts to a mostly illiterate public except through symbolic narratives, myths, and parables. But these teachers knew that they could bypass the conscious language problem and talk directly to the subconscious minds. They knew that this “symbolic language” would find a natural resonance with the universal dream symbols which are imprinted in the superconscious minds, and made available to the subconscious minds, of everyone. And they knew by this that the message would be delivered to the subconscious even if the conscious mind did not fully understand it, UNTIL it learned to translate the symbology properly.
Humanity has been bickering and killing each other for thousands of years over these semantics — all because the language had not yet been invented suitable to describe to the conscious, rational mind what’s really going on. We now have enough of that language to at least get a pretty good idea. We have the language of science, computer technology and psychology to constrast and compare with the language of myth and religion. And, as literacy has increased in the world, many of us have been able to cross reference some of the knowledge contained in these disciplines and relate them to patterns of conscious awareness which cut across all lines.
I know that it all makes sense to me after my years of searching for understanding in these unusual areas. It has taken me over 25 years of study, the reading of countless books, the somewhat destructive experience of my life during that period, the study of my own dreams and the unending search for “process patterns” in all of this. I hope to be able to make it easier on you.
All you need do is to grasp the basic knowledge of the 3 part integrated structure of mind, if you aren’t already aware of it, and to apply it in the study of your own personal lives and dreams. If you do this you will see, as I have, that our “teacher” inside has been trying to show us these things since the beginning of time. It is, and always has been, a natural function of human consciousness. I sincerely hope that you will at least peruse this information and test drive it in your life. Knock your own holes in it, patch them with whatever you have and see if that works. Test, test, test. It is only through this personal process (no one can just “give” you understanding) that you will “own” the knowledge and make it a part of your being. Unless you own it, as the Moody Blues tell it, you are only a “survivor”. Yet I think that everyone knows, on some level, that they are more than that.
What follows is a brief synopsis of what I’ve learned and I sincerely hope that it is understandable and usable to everyone. I could make dozens of analogies, draw different diagrams and say it in totally different ways but then we’re right back into the parables and symbols again. If anyone has a real problem with understanding the structure of any of this model, or exactly what I meant to say, PLEASE ask me about it. It would be greatly appreciated since my purpose is to express clearly and not to confuse. Perhaps you could help me do better next time.
Good luck to everyone in learning your second language — the “native language of the Soul”.
The Conscious Mind
The conscious mind relates to the masculine, analytical, yang of the orient, animus of Karl Jung, positive of electromagnetism or active principle of the Self. It could be called the “thinking mind”. It thinks in a linear fashion… sort of like lining ducks up all in a row. The conscious mind uses “deductive reasoning” — starting with “factual” input from the “real” world of the five senses. It then makes theories & judgements based on these facts which it inputs to the subconscious for permanent storage and for later use whenever the subject comes up. It also has to contend with the IDEAS with which we have previously input to the Subconscious mind and information relating to IDEALS which come from the deeper [or higher] levels of the mind, the Superconscious. Much research has associated the conscious mind with left brain functioning and often it will appear as a dream symbol in relation to something to the left…or something male. Its power is the power of judgement and “will”. It is your only point of power in the waking world. Choice! The conscious mind is right here and now in the present. Time and space are its prison. It exists nowhere else. All of us are pretty familiar with its operation since it is “out in the open” most of the time. So, it probably does not need any more explanation than this.
The Subconscious Mind
The subconscious mind is associated with the feminine, emotional, yin of the orient, anima of Jung, negative of electromagnetism or passive principle of the Self. It could be called the “feeling mind.” This part of our mind seems like nothing more than a non-thinking, insensitive, machine-like brute but is really an incredibly capable computer which never forgets. It does not seem to care how much you hurt, if you do. In fact, the subconscious mind seems to view all emotion simply as its operating “facts” – just associated items in its database of information. It is only doing its job…constantly serving up what has been programmed into it. It doesn’t care about grey areas. Everything to the subconscious is cut and dried, black and white, and it will always give the same emotionally charged (plus or minus) answer to the same association until its programming or input is changed. That’s because it uses “inductive reasoning” — giving you a picture of reality based on what has been programmed into it. It is not locked in time but has one window open to the present time and place and another window open to the infinity of all time and all space. In other words, it is the filter between the conscious mind and the superconscious mind or between the finite and the infinite. It’s position of being between the Conscious and Superconscious levels also give it the unique capability to function as translator between the two. As such it seems to live in a sort of “spatial” time as opposed to the “linear” time of the conscious mind. This means that time, to the subconcious, seems to be irrelevant and therefore expandable or shrinkable according to its needs.
The subconscious is also the seat of “habit” and it is as trainable as any puppy. It protects itself from change, though, with emotional responses – not analytical ones. This is why whenever a person suddenly gets angry or emotional, like you’ve hit a nerve or pulled their chain, you can then know where their “religion” lies. The “religion” I’m talking about can be anything from a scientific theory of evolution, to God’s “true” name, or even something as simple as the best way to peel an apple. It is deeply ingrained, and any force applied to it simply meets an equally forceful emotional response. The lack of understanding on this point causes “wars” in marriage, the office, the neighborhood, families and countries. It is not often logical but it is very, very powerful. Associated by research with the right brain half, it often shows up in dream symbols associated with something to the right…or something female.
The subconscious has no ability to reprogram itself. It must rely on the “will” of the analytical conscious mind. This is why you can never change another person or make them “see the light”, as you do –except through certain drastic techniques commonly called “brainwashing”. They must do the reprogramming, in their own way, of their own free will. They can only be shown alternatives by anyone else and will change only when they deem it necessary or advantageous. It is usually much less destructive if the “advantageous” route is taken than if it goes the “necessary” route. But this is the pattern of how we “grow”. This is why studying your Self is so important.
You might learn that it would be “advantageous” to change and make the necessary changes with relative ease. But if you don’t study the Self your life can become destructive to itself and make it necessary to implement change. This is Nature’s way and the “why” of all pain of any nature. Pain is Nature’s spotlight on the deficiency of your understanding your own Self. And it is all because we haven’t been taught to seek in ourselves but have been taught to accept a cultural view of the way things work. Consequently, we tend to seek someone or something outside of our Self to blame for any lack of harmony in our world. This lack of harmony equates to dis-ease…which can eventually become disease on first, a superconscious level, then a subconscious (emotional) level and finally a conscious, or physical, level.
The subconscious mind is always receiving a variety of inputs to sort out and it must come up with a response to any situation. It gets advice on ideals and universal or “spiritual” laws from the superconscious window on one side and from the conscious evaluations and judgements on the other. In addition, we have to get a bit esoteric here and say that it has to contend with telepathic intrusion by other minds attuning to it. It is also broadcasting telepathically to any minds that it is “attuned” to. It is the nozzle of ESP and psychic phenomena. Clairvoyant information flows through it from the superconscious mind, or spiritual Self, which does not exist in “time/space” as we know it. It gets personal “vibes” and impressions from other subconscious minds. It is the mechanism which, like a spigot, allows “life force” to be controlled and directed.
Healing energy and killing energy broadcast equally as well through the “mechanism” of this amazing machine called the subconscious. It is analogous to a telephone modem which can connect two or more computers across the world and let them exchange information. This is why “prayer”, or “intention”, in whatever form, often works better than reason or argument when attempting to aid another person who is resistant to change. But even this method of attempted aid will still meet the same subconscious resistance if the subject of the prayer is simply a personal desire of the sender and not a universal one following spiritual laws. The spiritual ideals find natural resonance in all people’s subconscious minds through the window-like connection to the superconscious layer. We all have the same pattern of truths imprinted on our superconscious levels waiting to be awakened by the action of “will”, say the Cayce readings. The subconscious does not resist the superconscious input but, rather, listens to it patiently before saying “that does or does not agree with my individual ego’s programming”. When they do not agree, it then has the complex problem of reconciling the “opposites” that have been input to its “memory banks” from the conscious mind, on the one hand, and the superconscious mind, on the other. These objectify in the life as problems which start as “emotional disharmony” and end up, through our ignorance and neglect, getting “pushed” into objective “disharmonies” in the outer, conscious, life.
Only by using the conscious will to make the subconscious fit the superconscious pattern of ideals and universal laws will harmony, peace and joy come into the outer life. These 3 levels of the Self must agree or it is an eternal “food fight” between them.
Healing techniques such as hypnosis, self hypnosis, affirmation, positive thinking, psycho-cybernetics, prayer for the self from the self and others, subliminal programming, suggestion and a host of others on the market are all valid ways of inputting new programming into the subconscious. From what I’ve seen, though, your programming had better be based on ideals from the superconscious pattern and not on ideas already programmed by your experiences and judgements into the subconscious. If it isn’t, only more, and possibly greater, disharmony will result in the emotional life and then “crystallize” in the outer life.
How can we do this reprogramming simply? By never attempting to lie to ourselves, I think. By following this path we are being true to the God within. To thine own self be true. Each of us “knows” when we are violating our own ideals. Ideals are the highest forms that we each can imagine…even if everyone’s ideals are slightly different based on their mode of understanding and developmental level of awareness. But to each individual they represent the God-like quality within the self and are the most sacred things that exist. And the subconscious mind of a person who is growing in awareness is one that is becoming programmed to a new reality that is closer and closer to its own higher ideals.
The Superconscious Mind
Also called the Unconscious Mind or the Personal Spirit
This part of the Self does not reason inductively or deductively. In fact, I don’t believe that it reasons at all. I think it just IS. By that statement I infer that the Superconscious mind represents “direct perception” of infinite truth/knowledge/awareness. It is not associated with any section of the brain or body at all, [at least not any recognized by the current level of scienctific knowledge] but it is associated, by metaphysics, with the Kundalini (coiled serpent) force or energy lying at the base of the spine. When awakened by an act of will (imagination) it rises and activates 7 energy centers associated with the endocrine glands. These are called chakras, an Eastern term. I know of no known Western terms for them since they have not been officially “discovered” by Western science yet. When activated they are said to put an individual in personal contact with the Infinite.
I feel certain that the electromagnetic signature of this will be understood as more and more people in the Western world experience the phenomena associated with this energy. But I believe that it’s effects have already been described by Reichenbach, Mesmer, Wilhelm Reich, Pat Flanagan and many other scientists over the past two hundred years. It has been called biocosmic energy, orgone energy, Odic force, animal magnetism, pyramid energy, chi and Prana to name a few. I can tell you that it is more real than anything else you’ve ever experienced, since I had an personal experience of direct contact with it, in the classic way, long before I had any book knowledge of it. And much of my subsequent work has come about as a direct result of that experience.
The superconscious seems to exercise no power to effect the conscious or subconscious except as a beacon of light or example, normally. (However, the use of conscious, free will choices which “allow” the connection to be made and the information to flow between them seems to be the real subject and teaching of most religions.) It constantly mirrors the infinite reality, and what we call spiritual “Truth”, to the subconscious and the subconscious shows this to us in dream visions as symbols.
The subconscious is always trying to reconcile what it got from conscious, real world input with what it gets from the beacon of the superconscious mind and it presents the internal harmony or disharmony to us in little symbolic movies or parables many times as we sleep. These can be thought of as barometers of the whole past, present and future self. They show us what IS, inside of us. And, as such, dreams can be seen as “real time” readouts on the internal state of either harmony or disharmony between the 3 levels of the individual Self. I suppose that dreams could also be called the truly “local”, up-to-the-minute news of the internal state of the individual.
The superconscious mind has been called many, things in history but mostly it is associated with the Light. Light is a universal symbol for awareness. It is usually symbolized by the cave, the cavern, the hole in the ground or the underground dark place and the sky. The underground associations relate to “hidden” aspects of its reality and the above the ground [sky] associations relate to aspects of its reality which have been “freed” from the “hidden”. Its shape is the circle or sphere. Its color is usually white, denoting full spectrum of awareness. In Christianity the superconscious is aptly symbolized as the Father of our reality. And it is aware of all that you ever were, all that you are, and all that you ever will be, because it “lives” in an omni-dimensional reality which we can only conceive of as notime/nospace, or alltime/allspace.