The Stages of Spiritual Development, Levels 5-9
The map continues
This week we are continuing our exploration of the levels of spiritual development as outline in the book Putting on the Mind of Christ, by Jim Marion. These are levels of consciousness, which affect and parallel our spiritual levels of development. If you haven’t read last week’s post, check it out to give you background for this week. And next week we’ll lighten it up a bit as I share with you the story of one of my mystical experiences.
We now approach the more challenging levels of spiritual development. Challenging not because they are so outside the box, but because fewer people have reached these places, so there are fewer teachers to describe them and models to emulate. And while most of us can understand levels 1-4, because we have traveled them ourselves, grasping levels which are beyond our experience is difficult. We can usually at least vaguely understand a level beyond where we are currently located, at least somewhat, but the levels beyond that start to make no sense.
I myself am hardly at level 9, so my ability to describe upper levels is also suspect, which is why I rely on the wisdom of Marion. (I will also make an aside here that trying to figure out what level you are, compared to others, is not helpful. It can lead to an inflated ego about supposed consciousness achievements, which itself is a sign of a less-evolved consciousness. Just note the levels, figure out generally around what levels you mostly operate, and from that get a sense of where your growing edges are, and/or a recognition that what is happening to you is not weird.)
A Continuation of the Spiritual Levels in Humans
Level 5) Vision-Logic Consciousness
“Vision-Logic’s primary characteristics are the identification of the self with the abstract mind, and the ability to think from many different perspectives. Vision-logic consciousness is global in its interest in, and concern for, other persons. It is capable of grappling with global problems beyond the ability of any one nation or society to solve. Vision-Logic consciousness, however; can also have its downside in the form of considerable inner anguish.” “Not only capable of abstract reasoning, but are capable of taking many different perspectives, integrating them, and putting them together in new and surprisingly creative ways.” “At the rational level we can become so enamored of a particular ideology, for example, that we live our lives in our heads.” Not so with vision-logic. “It is the first level of consciousness at which it can be said that we have successfully integrated body, emotions, and mind.” Here “We appreciate that the scriptures can be read on many different levels.” Yet “many of us at this level have often lost God.” “We struggle to find meaning in our lives.” But as we approach the upper reaches of vision-logic, “We begin to transcend the mind itself… beginning to locate the self beyond the mind… the integrated human personality (body, emotions, mind) begins to be seen as a whole by [an] inner witness as we become more and more detached from the spacetime personality itself.”
Level 6) Psychic Consciousness
“At the psychic level of consciousness, we no longer identify the self with the rational mind. Instead, we identify the self with the inner witness that observes body, emotions, and mind. This inner witness is the permanent self, the part of self beyond spacetime. The permanent self has sense such as clairaudience and clairvoyance that roughly parallel the physical senses, and which are referred to in the New Testament. Persons with psychic consciousness may make use of abilities such as healing by the laying on of hands, prophecy, and speaking in tongues.” “We will gradually become more consciously aware of information coming from beyond the five physical senses… the Christian who is able to tune in to the ‘small still voice within’ (Ps 46:10)… is developing psychic consciousness.” “At this point on the path we awaken to the energies of the psychic or astral body. Later, at the subtle level, we will awaken directly to the energies of soul.” “Our astral bodies, therefore, transcend space. At the psychic level, we begin to be able to experience a knowingness that is not dependent on the five senses.”
Marion goes on for pages about this level describing clairsentience, clairaudience, clairvoyance. Also physical body vs. ethic body vs. astral body (psychic or emotional body) vs. thought body vs. the causal body. Also auras, energy meridians, chakras, laying on of hands, dreams, souls, and various planes of existence.
He speaks of three “spiritual arts” known to Jesus and others at this level.
a) Manifestation – eg: loaves and fish
b) Healing – understanding and using energy
c) Prophecy – Not just foretelling the future, but “opening our inner psychic faculties to hear the words, or see the images, sent down from the spiritual planes for our guidance.”
At the same time, it is not necessary at this level to develop psychic skills or have psychic experiences. In fact psychic or transcendent experiences can happen at any level.
“At the psychic level... we become sensitive to the messages of the soul or higher self.” “As we gain experience at the psychic level we realize that, as Jesus said, there is a vast and wondrous world within. But that does not mean we neglect spacetime and its obligations. It would be a terrible mistake to do so, because the psychic level of consciousness, like every level of consciousness, must be thoroughly grounded in the level below, including the physical.”
Once at this level we “actually become more effective and creative in spacetime. For the first time, our consciousness can see spacetime in context. For example, we can now see how everything that happens on the higher planes… has enormous consequences on the physical plane, for better or worse, and we can take this knowledge into account in everyday life.”
I personally would add that what happens in spacetime has an impact on the higher planes of existence as well. It’s a two-way street. Humans are at their best when we learn to operate in all levels simultaneously, like three-dimensional chess. Fortunately, this does not rely on our brains (which couldn’t handle it), but our intuition, souls, guides, the Holy Spirit, and other mechanisms which I don’t fully understand yet.
The Dark Night of the Senses
This is not exactly its own level of consciousness, but rather a transition period between the psychic level of consciousness and the subtle level. “This is the name given to this passage four hundred years ago by St. John of the Cross (1542-91).”
This is an experience both Marion and John call “Infused contemplation,” what Eastern religions would call “kundalini.” It is a form of purification. It can cause a “great disturbance,” or a great release of energies and emotions, a burning fire up the spine, which can be problematic or even dangerous, but for others it is just a joy. Marion writes, “Regarding infused contemplation, the vibrations coming into the psyche from the subtle level are higher than anything we have felt before… the subtle energies are so delightful that we may be high on God for hours or days on end, easily praying all night, as John said.” “To move into the subtle level of consciousness, to live there, is the goal… This cannot be done without healing and transmuting a sizable part of our deeply (and most often unconsciously) held negative emotional and mental vibrations. That is because these negative vibrations literally weigh us down, making us spiritually unable to advance into their higher subtle realm.” “Each level of consciousness has a distinct vibratory frequency.” Our “negative emotional vibrations are most often locked away by denial… This negativity will burn up like fire when the subtle energies, at first so wondrously pleasant, finally hit those dark corners of the psyche.”
“When the subtle energies come in, and the Dark Night of the Sense begins in earnest, the person… will often experience psychic pain, especially if her emotional woundedness is deep, and if there is unconscious resistance.” This event will ultimately bring about healing, but first the pain. Marion says “Nothing the person does, including any kind of prayer or spiritual exercise, gives emotional satisfaction. There is only a deep inner anguish that is with the person twenty-four hours a day for months on end.” Sometimes it can even go on for years. One will encounter our shadow side including low vibration dark forces. “The terrible psychic pain of this transition is caused by resistance to unlocking these repressed parts of self, letting go of fears, and owning truths.” To get beyond it, “The meditator should stop all the judgements, and look upon these damaged parts of the soul (and any negative spirits that may be attached to them) with compassion.” Our deepest shadows become entirely exposed and ultimately accepted. “As John of the Cross indicates, what is learned from this encounter with the shadow side of oneself is (1) humility, and (2) the beginnings of some real compassion for oneself and others.”
“The Night is a rude awakening.” “The goal of the Dark Night of the Senses is none other than the emergence in a person of the spiritual capacity for universal love.”
“Our power to affect the outer world by thought and speech grows exponentially as we ascend the levels of consciousness (James 5:16)… Jesus, emphasizing this point, said, ‘I tell you this: on the Judgement Day everyone will have to give account of every useless word he has ever spoken’ (Matt. 12:36)… Great psychic power, thank God, comes to us exactly proportionate to our growth in awareness, responsibleness, and love, and is not available to those of lesser spiritual growth.”
Level 7) Subtle Consciousness
“The subtle level is the last level at which our self will be identified with our human personality. At the subtle level, our consciousness becomes capable of receiving direct communications from the causal level, the level of the soul. We gain immediate contact with our guardian angel (the angel of the true self), our own spiritual master, and Jesus himself. All three of these serve as messengers (angels) of the true self and guide us towards our final individuation as a human being.” “If we are especially psychic, like Teresa of Avila, we may begin to hear voices and/or heavenly music, experience visions, have raptures and spiritual revelations, or experience the other subtle inner phenomena of this level. Gradually, as we become more individuated, and as we grow closer in consciousness to the level of the soul, our worldview and psychic structure will begin to unravel. We move simultaneously upward into the causal level and downward into the Dark Night of the Soul.”
“The subtle senses can detect much more rarefied energy vibrations than the prior senses, and their use brings in much finer, more delicate, and subtler shifts in awareness.” We could not fully access our spiritual guides before, “because our vibrations were too low to see or hear these spiritual guides regularly.” “It is at the subtle level that we begin our final individuation, the process by which a person become spiritually and psychologically whole, unique, and full of inner beauty.” We become “integrated and complete human beings who unite all the male and female parts of ourselves into one divine Christed whole (Eph. 2:14, Gal. 3:26). All the guides and messengers are sent to help us accomplish this task (Col. 1:16).”
This level is peaceful for a few years, but soon becomes less so. The soul energies from the causal level “start breaking up our psychic structure and belief system,” and a new transition starts. This has two parts. One is a negative side, which causes phenomena which become “de-centering and upsetting. On the positive side, our spiritual guides will step up their efforts on our behalf. The result is that, as our consciousness gradually ascends to the next level of consciousness (the causal level, Christ consciousness), we also begin a simultaneous descent into a spiritual crisis the likes of which we have never before experienced, into what John of the Cross calls the “Dark Night of the Soul.” “This simultaneous ascent and descent can take several years… With it, the transition beyond identification with the human personality has begun in earnest.”
Dark Night of the Soul
Also, not a level of consciousness, but a transition period between one level and another which can last for years. “We enter the Dark Night understanding ourselves to be mere human beings, sinful and mortal, but we come out of this profound spiritual passage with the realization of our sinless, immortal divinity.” “Emergence in rebirth from the Dark Night of the Soul, therefore, conquers both death and sin, as St. Paul testified (1 Cor. 15:55-56).” The sufferings of the Dark Night are intense.” It causes our consciousness to move “beyond the boundaries of the personality.” “When all humans realize their own divinity a new phase of life will begin on earth.”
Psychic tests and darkness, resulting in psychic shattering and pain. You feel like you are dying. Contents of the unconscious and psychic explosion and reconfiguration of your identity. St. Teresa says, regarding the pain’s intensity, “With the presence of this spiritual pain, I don’t believe that physical pain would be felt, little or much, even if the body were cut in pieces.”
When resurrecting out of the Dark Night, one receives “spiritual revelations and realizations.” “There is a realization of one’s on Christhood and one’s consequent immortality and sinlessness.” Marion writes, “Often, in writing in my journal, I found myself explosively angry. I spent hours releasing that anger by writing. Underneath depression there is always anger; under the anger, there is always fear; and under the fear there is always hurt. All along the spiritual path, these feelings, layer after layer of the, must be encountered, felt, and released.” This is the only way out of the Dark Night.
“After the Dark Night, radical trust becomes second nature. We understand experientially not only what faith means, but that the only sensible way to operate in this world is by means of such radical faith and trust. The universe we formally saw as full of threats of every sort is now seen as a non-threatening place, one full of gifts, abundance, and blessings.”
The final blessing of the Dark Night is that we come to see “that our own selves and all humans are made of ‘God-stuff,’ that we are, like Jesus, God Incarnate, begotten of God and made of the same substance and essence as God.” “We are indeed God.
Level 8) Christ Consciousness – The Causal Level
“At this level the Christian is identified with his or her true Christ Self, which is seen as in a spiritual union with God the Creator. At this level one can truthfully say, “I live, now not I, but Christ lives in me,’ (Gal 2:20). The person with Christ consciousness sees all other human beings as the Christ and treats them accordingly. This is the level of true Christian love, which is spiritual love identical to what the Buddhist masters call true compassion. The person with Christ consciousness is free from neurotic projections and emotional addictions, and is able to live solely in the present, curiously detached from everyday struggles and anxieties. One is able to commune silently with God, now seen as the Great Void or Mother Creator within, from which all creation and creativity arises.” We live in the present.
There is a certain detachment because we no longer have expectations. “At this point on my path I realized that all these familiar negative feelings had been addictions… I realized that, once our own magnetic inner emotional negativity is substantially gone, i.e., we have grown beyond attachments, outside negative vibrations cease to have any effect because there is no longer a negative magnet inside us that they can attract.” There is also an increased desire for silence.
Level 9) Nondual Consciousness – Ascension into the Kingdom of Heaven
“The initiatory tests for the [nondual] level, will often be about learning to see that, though other people are indeed the Christ, they are also often deceitful, jealous, angry, fearful, and even treacherous. We must learn to see these negative energy forms clearly and cope with them appropriately. There is no room for a pollyannaish ‘everything is rosy’ approach to life. As Trungpa says, you have to learn that, despite your wonderful vision of the world, things are indeed as bad as they seem.”
“Non-dual consciousness marks the end of all division between ‘creature’ and ‘creator.’ It was the level from which Jesus spoke when he said that ‘The Father and I are one.’” “With the nondual consciousness of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, the person comes into what past Christian mystics have referred to as the ‘beatific vision.’” “If the causal level of consciousness was characterized by peace, the nondual level is characterized by joy or bliss… the human as fully realized divinity.” It cannot be expressed in language, “it can only be experienced.”
To get to this stage Meister Eckhart advises, “Empty yourself of everything. That is to say, empty yourself of your ego and empty yourself of all things and of all that you are in yourself and consider yourself as what you are in God. God is a being beyond being and a nothingness beyond being. Therefore, be still and do not flinch from this emptiness.”
Marion writes, “In making the transition to nondual consciousness, Bernadette and Petra [two mystics] say they lost all conventional sense of beauty. To them a pile of trash became as beautiful as a painting by a master artist. Why? It is all just God.”
Heaven is on earth is found in the body, and is most fully realized in the nondual level.
“To any readers discouraged by all the theology, take heart, it is not necessary to know spiritual jargon to get into heaven. All that is essential is to surrender to the action of God’s grace within the self.”
“The Church, unless it is content to lose its reason to exist, must be the principal means that Christians can use to accelerate their growth in consciousness to Jesus’ inner Kingdom.”
So concludes this whirlwind trip through the levels of consciousness and spiritual development. Some of the levels will sound and feel familiar to you, some will sound crazy. That’s normal. We are all where we need to be for now. Just be open to what may come next. You cannot force it. We can only create opportunities for openness, space to welcome God in – eg: meditation, nature, art, flow, relationships, prayer, etc. Then God’s grace will help us with next steps. Our role is to be open and willing to die to our old self.
“Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain, but if it dies it bears much fruit.” [John 12:24].
Marion, J. W. (2000). Putting on the Mind of Christ: The Inner Work of Christian Spirituality. Hampton Roads Publishing Company.
Yes, yes, yes! Thank you, Stephanie, for your incredible sharings!!!