In previous posts, we learned about trinity and spiritual teachings that became religions and about the masters and teachers who have come to remind us who we really are. In this post, we’ll explore: What is meant by Cosmic consciousness vs. Christ consciousness?

What is cosmic consciousness?

In general, cosmic consciousness refers to a person who has reached a higher level of development, a state also known as Higher consciousness, God consciousness, Christ consciousness, Buddhic consciousness, Superconsciousness, or Objective consciousness.

Some people distinguish the consciousness immanent in different parts of the Triune God. For example, Paramahansa Yogananda used the terms in this way:

1. God the Father is Cosmic Consciousness (beyond creation).
2. God the Son is Christ Consciousness (within creation).
3. God the Holy Ghost is Cosmic Energy (all vibratory creation).

Note: This is not a “Club for Men” – it includes ALL sentient entities within our multiverse (see Where Do Human and Other Souls Come From? – Big Picture Questions.com).

In 1901, Richard M. Bucke (“Cosmic Consciousness”) studied 36 cases, including Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed, and many other famous and lay people, who had evolved from self-consciousness to cosmic consciousness during their lifetime. He noted that not all cases were on the same plane.

Are there degrees of higher consciousness?

Guy Needler (“The History of God”) said Jesus, Buddha and Mohammed each had a different role to play, and each had a varying level of connectivity with their higher self. They were not born in a fully Christened (“purified”) state, but had to develop themselves to the point where the Christ state was personified within them.

In “The Second Coming of Christ,” Yogananda described how omnipresent Spirit becomes buried in matter and vibration. He said the gem expresses a part of Spirit, the plant expresses a little more, and the animal expresses more than the plant. Man comprehends the thoughts of other men and can project his mind into space and the stars by his self-consciousness.

“God is using Life to experience Itself. Each individuated form was designed uniquely to reflect a particular aspect of Divinity Itself.” – Neale Donald Walsch

Everything we do, experience and learn moves us along the inevitable path of evolution toward God/Source. As Deepak Chopra observed: “Saints and sinners are on the same road.” 😉

According to Walsch, the level of your consciousness depends on this simple formula:

• Experience + Awareness = Consciousness.
• Your consciousness depends on how much experience you’ve had in your physical and metaphysical life, and how much attention your mind pays to your soul’s awareness in this lifetime. (You may choose to be more aware in some lives than in others.)
• When your mind and soul carry the same data, and you know yourself as part of the Whole, you might be said to be “fully conscious.”

How do you develop higher consciousness or find God?

“There is no “right path” to God. Our choices are unrestricted, our opportunities are unlimited, our paths are unending.” – Neale Donald Walsch

In “How To Know God?” Deepak Chopra described seven different versions or stages of God that each of us evolve through. We choose which God is part of our individual and collective reality. The seven stages are briefly summarized in the Table below:

Chopra noted that our reality changes at different stages of growth, and that no two people see God in the same way, because no two people are at the exact same stage of waking up. Everyone is doing the best they can from their own level of consciousness. But at some level, everyone knows the highest truth.

Yogananda said everyone is a potential Christ, and that purification of the body should precede the purification of the mind. Some people purify themselves through a less dense diet, fasting, breath, meditation, yoga and other spiritual practices.

Needler shared what Source told him: “Your entire life would change if you would all take just 2% of your lives to dedicate to purification and insight into what the Christ consciousness is.”

Walsch suggested: “Do whatever it takes – meditate, exercise, pray, read, write, listen to music, whatever you find that works – to ignite your awareness daily.”

What are some signs of cosmic consciousness?

Richard Bucke listed a number of experiences shared by the cases he studied that suddenly awakened to cosmic consciousness, including:

1. Subjective light (being immersed in a flame, inner light or rose-colored cloud, or the mind being filled with such a cloud).
2. Moral elevation (being bathed in an emotion of joy, assurance, triumph, “salvation” or ecstasy, far beyond that in self-conscious life).
3. Instant intellectual illumination (like a flash presented to his consciousness, a vision or knowing that the cosmos is a living presence, an infinite ocean of life; the universe is so built and ordered that all things work together for the good of each and all).
4. Sense of immortality (all life is eternal; the soul of man is as immortal as God is).
5. Loss of the fear of death (“it falls off like an old cloak”).
6. Loss of the sense of sin (it is not that the person escapes from sin, but he no longer sees that there is any sin in the world from which to escape).
7. Knowing that the foundation principle of the world is love (the happiness of every individual is in the long run absolutely certain).
8. Learning in a few minutes or moments more than any study can teach (a conception of THE WHOLE that makes the old attempts to mentally grasp the universe and its meaning petty or even ridiculous; the person sees into the being of God).
9. Age of illumination is usually at middle age (about 30-40 years).
10. Added magnetic charm to the personality is always a feature (others are strongly attracted to the person).
11. A change in the appearance of the person (“transfiguration” similar to great joy, but it is more marked and seen by others when the cosmic sense is present).

BUT Bucke noted that just because a man has reached a new phase of cosmic consciousness, it doesn’t mean that he is omniscient or infallible. It takes time to master this added faculty, although they all see the new world for what it is whatever era or culture they live in.

What is the modern definition of Christ vs. Cosmic consciousness?

Guy Needler defined these terms further by stating:

• Self-realization means one is aware that the human body is not all we are. This leads to Christ consciousness, which is when one is accessing and experiencing the information that is one’s True Energetic Self (TES/Oversoul) within manifest creation.
• God-realization means one is in communion with one’s creator. This leads to Cosmic consciousness, which is when one is accessing and experiencing the information that is beyond the TES, which is the Source/God and even the Origin/The All beyond creation.

What is it like to be in Christ consciousness?

Guy Needler explained when you’re in full Christ consciousness within creation, you are at one with the universe and all that exists within it. It is what we are all born to experience in the physical (within creation). Here are some amazing things you can do at this level of consciousness:

• Be in contact with all the animals, share their experiences, lives and joys with them.
• Control your body, so that you don’t age, but rather rejuvenate and heal yourself and others of any disease or condition.
• Work with metals and minerals on the planet, simply asking them to move from one location to another, and to transmute them into the form you want.
• Change the weather by controlling the elements (earth, wind, water and fire) as needed for cultivating crops etc.
• Create your food out of basic elements without the need to cook or bake things.
• Transport yourself anywhere on Earth without the need for cars, trains, planes, etc.

Final Thoughts

Chopra said that saints are “the Einsteins of consciousness,” who began their lives the same as the rest of us. But each saint or master developed a higher sense of love, forgiveness and compassion, or spiritual achievements that lay out a map for the rest of us to follow. They have proven that the resources exist within us.

It is interesting to note how our view of God/Source Entity has changed over the centuries. It’s as if we’ve gone full circle from dismissing the “primitive” cultures that saw Spirit in every blade of grass, tree and animal to evolving through the seven versions of God described by Deepak Chopra.

Now we’re back to embracing the understanding that God exists in absolutely everyone and everything, including you, the computer, chair and desk you’re sitting at right now. We’ve come a long way! 🙂

“Souls who walk in awareness choose a different path. They seek to experience all the peace, joy, wisdom and love that Oneness brings.” – Neale Donald Walsch 

Note: All emphasis mine.