Levels of consciousness
The idea of raising consciousness permeates all religions and philosophies. A kind of maturation of the personality, spiritual growth. It’s the movement from “Everything — for me” to “Everything — for everyone.” From a child who wants all the toys for himself, to an adult who values the well-being of others, and beyond. To solve a problem, you need to rise one level higher. The level of consciousness is the degree of understanding of the world, yourself, and others.
Thus egocentrism is the base level of consciousness, when a person focuses on their personal needs, desires, and interests. One hallmark of this level is intolerance. My view is the only correct one. We often live in the world of our own thoughts, emotions, and desires, without considering others’ perspectives.
The next step is group-centrism and its variations. A person takes other viewpoints into account, but still considers their own community superior to all others. “We are the only ones who know what’s right.”
Those who manage to grow into, let’s say, world-centrism — seeing the world as a unified whole — realize that everything in the world is interconnected, and your perspective is just one of many. Insight begins with the understanding that there are other ways of perceiving and acting.
I like how Dave Logan presents levels of consciousness in his book Tribal Leadership. The book is about companies and corporate culture, but its ideas extend to family, friendship, everyone you’re close to, your “tribe.”
To determine what level your tribe is at, just listen to how people in it talk and structure their relationships:
Level one. “Life sucks.” People, if they open their mouths at all, do so to say how unfairly life treated them.
Level two. “My life sucks.” No effort or hard work will change the situation. These levels are the sources of dissatisfaction, irritation, disappointment, and suppressed anger.
Level three — “I’m okay. You’re not!” This is where the majority sits. You achieved something, and others didn’t. People here don’t share information and pride themselves on being better informed. What matters to them is winning, personal winning — their own. And they mainly talk about themselves, trying to seem better and smarter. This trap might never let go.
Level four, “We’re okay, they’re not” — this is a variant of a group-centric worldview. Teams united by common goals. We’re awesome, and they’re not. Gotta beat them!
Level five — “Life is good.” Such people can find common ground with practically anyone who resonates with their values. The topic of conversation becomes limitless possibilities, constrained only by imagination and others’ interest. There’s no fear, stress, or conflict here. They communicate as if the whole world is watching them, and it often is, because they achieve historic results.
David Hawkins proposed a model of consciousness levels, starting from the lowest states, such as despair and guilt, up to the highest levels of joy and harmony. Each level is characterized by specific emotional states and personal qualities. The highest stage is enlightenment, which corresponds to awakening from the illusion of reality in Buddhism.
Ego Development Theory describes the transition from simple, symbiotic forms of consciousness, where instincts and basic emotional reactions reign, to more complex, integrated levels, where a person reconsiders social norms and concepts of morality.
This is a topic you could write about endlessly. Most people get stuck somewhere in the middle, because transitions to higher levels require work on yourself, self-reflection, readiness for change, revision and abandonment of old concepts.
Start by analyzing your beliefs and ideas about the world. Determine which ones are true and which are false. Become aware of your emotions and work through them. Focus on the positive ones — loving-kindness and gratitude. This will help raise your emotional state and align with higher levels of consciousness.
You are the author of your reality, not a victim of circumstances.