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..:: Akasha ::..
By
Alan Schneider
One of the most interesting elements of
the Astral state of consciousness, at least to this author, is the
Akashic Record. The term Akasha refers to a similar state of
consciousness to the elusive non-dual awareness so often mentioned in
these essays. The Akasha is the perception of the state beyond
perception – a totally free state of consciousness that is not affected
by any prior conditioning of any kind. The Akashic Record can be thought
of as the memory of the Logos beyond time and space as we know them. All
possibilities are present in this memory – past, present, future, real,
fictional, tragic, comic, symbolic. The key to conceptualizing this
condition lies in understanding that what we believe we know in most
cases is the result of a perspective that we may very well not have been
aware of having. In life, this “perspective” is the body, senses,
central nervous system, and that focal portion of the central nervous
system called the ego, all collectively referred to as the manifest
Physical Plane. In meditation, which takes us beyond life as we
experience it through the ego, this perspective becomes the Astral
Plane. As we enter the next level of experience, frequently referred in
the Mystery Studies to as the Mental Plane, we begin to enter the
perspective-free condition of the Akashic Record. Here, we have left
the personal portion of the Astral experience – with its burden of
trauma and repression – behind, and entered the Jungian collective
unconscious, the region of the Archetypal symbols and symbol complexes
that define consciousness itself on the previous planes of experience.
Jung postulated that the
Archetypes could not be directly experienced in any state of conscious
experience – they were non-perceptible “instinctual” processes that were
endemic to human brain neurology and generated archetypal symbols
in response to cultural cues and patterns. In this way, we are all born
with an extensive set of perceptual templates that enable social
behavior to emerge from essential biological instinct. Jung suspected
that social behavior, and hence society itself, was only possible
through the influence of the archetypes.
The boundary of the Mental
and Astral Planes is anything but distinct. Most people experience a
preponderance of ego-driven personal images in the Astral State that
only gradually transmute into the Archetypal images of the Mental Plane
after years of mental “exercise” – e.g. therapy, meditation, yoga,
austerity, etc. Along the way, a complex admixture of personal and
collective symbolic images is the rule of experience. The more personal,
the less collective, and the less archetypal and Akashic in
particular, seems to be the principle of manifestation at work, but this
can be countermanded by numerous examples of highly specific images
displayed in the Akasha. Again, the boundary is anything but distinct!
As soon as we leave the apparently concrete world of the physical
senses, we also leave the comforting manifestation of logical
consistency, proportion, and linear temporal expression, and enter the
infinitely pliable expression of the Psyche and psychic manifestation.
In this “new world”, we are confronted with a logic based upon
associative symbolic meaning – a logic of subtlety and concealed
expression that has no literal correlates, and must be excavated from
the deep sediment of the archetypal symbols to be understood at all
in the terms that the ego is familiar with. It goes without saying that
this type of ego-interpreted understanding is frequently not
forthcoming, and we must accept totally new conditions of awareness that
force us to learn equally new systems of understanding as we go along.
The Akashic Record
essentially contains an infinite number of discrete “entries” that take
the form of symbolic events that simply emerge into conscious perception
from the aforementioned non-perceptual instinctual matrix that
presupposes the “knowable” in the Psyche. This pre-expressed condition
is the layer of chaos that extends beyond perception to infinity and the
Logos. These symbolic events can be of any form or context whatsoever –
psychic images of past or future events, personal repressed memories,
collective memories of an entire race or people (Jung called this
racial memory), fantastic or horrific symbolic vignettes, emotional
manifestations occurring with or without apparent causal links,
Ascension experiences of Angels and the Logos, Decension experiences of
Demons and the Underworld in Hell continuums (frequently referred to as
frightening near-death experiences, or FNDEs in near-death
literature – the FNDE is another type of altered state of consciousness,
analogous to the Astral state, accessed by nearly dying), and any other
expression of any kind imaginable. I once had an experience of some
kind of apparently Native American images of dancing Kachina figures
that went on for some time that I have never understood to this day,
although I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that an individual familiar
with that cultural context would understand what these figures
and their “dance” meant. I am not even remotely Native American –
I’m German/European in extraction – so where did these images come from?
They came from the deep collective unconscious beyond the realm of
racial boundaries, where this symbol system was somehow the best one to
express what I was receiving from the Akasha. It is quite possible that
we are not even unitary beings at all, but represent many
consciousnesses coexisting in a single physical organism. It is quite
possible that we are the Akasha, and the Logos, hidden behind a
thin screen of individual ego and culture, and waiting for the least
opportunity to emerge into universal expression. The perceptual and
spiritual implications of the Astral experience are absolutely
staggering.
Many psychics are aware of
the principle of the Akasha, and have come to understand its importance
in their work. The accurate forecasting of future events, the divining
of past events and hidden information, the communication with the
essence of the departed, or as yet unborn spirits, remote
viewing, and the intuitive understanding of clients’ needs and
motivations all hinge upon effective Akashic perception. And most
legitimate psychic mediums will also acknowledge that they do not
control what comes to them in trance of any kind past a very limited set
of initial cues on the Physical Plane – personal effects of the
departed, items of evidence, symbolic suggestions. These may or may not
bear fruit at all, or may bear much fruit – the case depends on how
open the psychic can be (i.e. free of ego involvement), and how well
Karmically endowed for the practice the psychic is – some people are
just natural intuitives of amazing power and perception, able to
Astrally link to the Akasha as easily as others might walk down the
street! I personally feel that the well-known television psychic John
Edwards (of the program Crossing Over) is such a person. This man
has learned two of life’s most valuable lessons – trust your intuition
completely, and don’t fear other’s judgments of you. I can only guess
what this must have cost him...
This brings me to the advent
of a most important question. If we are all potentially psychically
linked to the Akasha, what happened to our awareness of this connection?
Why do we still act as isolates in culturally defined packets of
experience? Why? Because we live in a world of fear-enforced social
fictions that favor and benefit a tiny group of privileged
isolates, that’s why. Because those social fictions reward those social
manipulators, and restrain the unaware, that’s why. Because, after all
of the eons of evolution, and cultural achievement throughout history,
the law of the jungle still is the basis of civilization, and might
still makes right. I frankly stand aghast at this condition and its
naked persistence in human affairs. How can we still be so blind?
Because insight is sight, and most of us simply are so distracted
by the apparent outer world that we rarely look at the inner world where
the real answers can be found. We are ultimately the victims of our own
destiny, it’s as simple as that. Know that this is the human background
against which the psychic drama is enacted, and act accordingly.
The question can further be
asked, must be asked “If all that awaits us at the end of life is
oblivion, why strive for inner Enlightenment at all?” Because we are all
a part of a much larger condition that eclipses mortality itself. The
Psyche that Freud felt, was convinced that, only existed within
the boundary of the brain, is in truth only temporarily suspended in
association with that brain for the sake of the Soul and Karma. This
Psyche extends beyond the boundaries of infinity, as I have personally
experienced in meditation, and constitutes a Cosmic Mind of unlimited
power and presence. We are all capable to a much greater extent than is
generally imagined of tapping into that Cosmic Mind and its capacities
with one important limitation. I am going to address this limitation
now.
In order to access the Cosmic
Mind, we have to surrender the illusion of the personal mind, an
illusion that has been instilled in us all through acculturation.
Although “society” gives us many constructive reasons for this process,
its all boils down to control for the convenience of the privileged. I
was fortunate in a way, my socialization was imperfect in many ways, or
I am sure that I would not have had many of the experiences I have
written about in these articles. In all likelihood, I would have become
a “happy idiot” burdened with a
huge debt, crappy job, and dreary family life. The father of Gestalt
Therapy, Fredrick Perls, once expressed his appreciation of Adolph
Hitler as follows “If Hitler had not come to power in Germany (causing
Perls, who was Jewish, to flee for his life – eventually to America), I
would probably be ‘dead’ right now as a good Jewish psychiatrist living
off of twenty patients for the rest of his life!” Although Perls
appeared to be functioning from his ego, it is implicitly evident from
his writings that he was clearly functioning from the Akasha. The
observation does need to be made in connection with this man that he
still had some Karma, however, and never learned the value of
maintaining a humble aspect before his fellow creatures. If it’s "inkarnate",
it still has Karma!
The process of removing
conditioning is truly horrible for most of us who make the attempt, not
to mention the fact that some social conditioning is appropriate,
and really does benefit the individual. One must evaluate the
circumstances carefully before initiating the extraction process –
there’s no point in throwing out the baby with the bath water! We will
have the body and its Karmic residue for life, no matter how well we do
in terms of attaining Enlightenment – we must eat, drink, eliminate, and
participate in consciousness for the duration. This author has,
however, discovered a fairly workable method of functioning with Karma,
and will now attempt to describe this technique.
First, it is necessary to
forge a relationship with the Logos on some level, and in some manner,
even if one does not really believe that such a Being or condition
exists. If necessary, one must be willing to pretend that
such a relationship is possible, and then proceed accordingly. As bazaar
as this arrangement sounds, it creates access to a higher state of
consciousness than mere impulse gratification, and this higher
consciousness is where spiritual liberation begins.
As this relationship develops
over the years, a prolonged process of testing and trusting ensues.
There will undoubtedly be many hardships, failures, misunderstandings,
and disappointments along the way in this relationship with higher
consciousness. Expect backward steps and frustration. This is the way it
goes for a consciousness living in limitation attempting to understand
and reach out to an infinite Consciousness beyond limitation.
As this relationship
develops, a series of crucial impasses will be met and surpassed,
usually with appreciable difficulty and outright suffering. Be prepared
to sacrifice anything and everything as required to sustain the
relationship. Nothing in life is as important as this bond, which
surpasses life itself. Stay the course. As long as you have the Logos
in your life, you are not alone, and never will be.
Eventually, persistence will
benefit the determined practitioner, and access to the Akasha and the
Logos will become a normal part of consciousness. I have ongoing
conversations with the Logos as I would, and do, with physical persons.
I have ongoing visions from the Akasha as I have physical sight on the
Physical Plane. I have learned to listen to the Voice of the Logos, and
understand the visions of the Akasha, and employ both faithfully in my
daily life. I have learned to trust absolutely in the Power of the Logos
to guide my life, and have surrendered utterly to that Presence. This
did not happen overnight, and required great sacrifices, but it did
happen, and I am unquestionably better off in every way because
it did. When I finally achieved full Samadhi, I lost myself, but gained
a bond with the Logos that is worth more than any words can describe.
Now, I am that bond.
The intimate nature of my bond with the Light of
Consciousness enables me to provide wise council to those others who
have chosen to seek the Truth, and to those whom I have simply met along
the Way – as the Logos deems appropriate – as does my access to the
Akasha. It is necessary to observe here that I do not have unlimited
access to the Akashic Record, as a very few others seem to have,
although I do have such access to the Logos. I believe that my
residual ego structure interferes with Akashic access to a considerable
extent. Karma is still Karma, and we must all accept the limitations
that it imposes as gracefully as possible, however frustrating this may
be. I have learned to honor my bond with the Light, and live in this way
as my priority consciousness!
- With Love, Alan -
(CR2008, Alan Schneider)
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