Opening to
Oneness - Part II
by Maurie D. Pressman, M.D.
Rising
above resistance leads to the opening of our higher consciousness.
Knowledge is power, and courageous release of resistances brings
us closer to our divine heritage.
Last month we talked about opening to the higher realms, the Super-abode, closer to God's realm. In reaching that near-ultimate place, we find ourselves in an area of mind which I call "Knowing Beyond Knowing."
"Knowing Beyond Knowing" is a wonderful experience. When we approach its realm we enter into a bigger mind, or really access our own bigger mind, and we begin to see what is up there. In a sense, we prepare ourselves for recognizing our own immortality.
What is Knowing Beyond Knowing? When we become sufficiently quiet in mind, we are entering a room which is pitch black; yet we know something is there. When we are in a state of a really quiet mind, we know there is more. Thus, it is a state of knowing beyond ordinary knowing. The quiet mind, the open mind is a state in which we are on the edge, looking into a province bigger than anything we have known.. And in this state of mind, inspirations will come through. The biblical prophets called these messages "voices" from the divine. In my experience, all thoughts are voices, and these messages are voices. But these are not voices which we hear with our ears; we hear them inside the mind. This is the formula; this is the opening.
What Are the Resistances to Opening?
We all have our own resistances to entering into the new, the subtle, the paranormal, the closer-to-God mind. This happens when we engage in "roof chatter" which crowds the mind and prevents an openness which comes with the quiet mind. As always, the quiet mind acknowledges the greater mind above us, and brings us closer to God.
"Intellectualization":
In our society, resistances to opening are abundantly present. What
is in the way of opening? Always, moving through resistances and transcending
them. My own chief resistance was (is) doubt -- and I think this occurs
frequently in many, even most, people. Look around and see those who
cling in thought to what is material, demonstrable to the senses, and
generally accepted. Take, for example, an inveterate businessman [perhaps
one for whom numbers represent security], and not an entrepreneur who
is an intuitive person. Such a businessman will cling to the literal.
As he does that, he pays attention only to what is accepted and conventionally
"logical," and dismisses new ideas. Talking about non-conformist
new ideas evokes resistance in him. He will reply, "You're silly;
you're a flake."
This type of resistance is called "intellectualization." It is, of course, useful to be intellectual and smart -- but it can be overdone. Then intellect hypertrophies into a kind of stiffness and coldness of character. Again, we want to be balanced. Balance is the magical word. Balance between thought and emotion. Balance between receiving creativity from above and alloying it with the logical mind, making a nice and beautiful joining.
Removing
Attention:
Another resistance is pinning attention on physical complaints creates
yet another resistance. Attention is the great vivifying force. For
example, I saw as a patient a beautiful seventeen-year-old young woman,
a ballet dancer. For the past four months she had been unable to dance
or to go to school because of so much pain in her back and abdomen.
She had been studied and over-studied medically, and nothing had been
found. During hypnosis, her pain disappeared. Notwithstanding relief
and the demonstration of the power of her mind, she continued to look
forward to more studies, and proof of physical origin for her pain.
By doing so, she closed her mind to other possibilities. Insofar as
she did this with her body, she remained in an all-too-material world,
closed off from the possibility of seeing into her worries and the power
of her subtle mind.
My patient vivified her back pain in order to remove attention from other things that were worrying her. This is a resistance to being open to discovery of self and of higher mind.
Fear
of Feeling:
Yet another resistance is fear of feeling what we feel. The cure for
emotions that are distressing is to tolerate the feeling we fear, to
be willing to face anything from inside. When we do that, whatever is
interfering dissipates, and we become more open in general. As a very
simple example, if in meditation I have an itch and I resist it (because
it is a call of the body away from the quiet realms) -- it will go away,
disappear. Then quietude follows. If this is practiced in meditation
and then in life, we can more and more easily enter into the quiet and
inspired Supermind/Superrealm.
Forgetting:
If we try not to think about something troublesome, after a while such
"not thinking" becomes automatic. Nevertheless, it will live
on, repressed, and what we feel will lie hidden inside. Knowledge is
power, and courageous release brings us closer to our divine heritage.
And so -- let us become aware of our human resistances, of our unique ways of being ourselves, of our style that hinders entrance to the higher mind. Distraction, forcible forgetting, running away from feared thoughts are all a hindrance and inhibition. They stand in the way of spiritual and personal growth. When we become open and aware, we become stronger, more nearly authentic, closer to the higher self which lives in a higher place. Let us continually open though quiet strength to that which is higher and finer within -- and by this example lead our society and the world, forward and upward.
Maurie D. Pressman, M.D. is the author of Enter the
Supermind and co-author (with Patricia Joudry) of Twin Souls: A Guide
to Finding Your True Spiritual Partner.
Dr. Pressman will be among the guests at the celebration of the new joint publishing imprint, Hazeldon/Transitions, at Transitions Bookplace on June 2. Thanks to negotiations by Transitions, Pressman's Twin Souls will once again be available.
Dr. Pressman is Emeritus Chairman of Psychiatry at the Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Temple University Health Sciences Center. He is Medical Director at the Center for Psychiatric Wellness, clinics that operate in Philadelphia and Haddonfield, N.J. These clinics bridge traditional and spiritual psychotherapy. Dr. Pressman can be reached at 200 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106; telephone 215-922-0204; fax 215-922-3008.
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