Moment by moment presence, death, and the transformation of consciousness
Moment by moment presence, death, and the transformation of consciousness
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Issue Date
2006
Authors
Stiles, Julie L.
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Abstract
Transformation of consciousness is a complex and individual process. With the word "transformation" commonly used to refer to all manner of change, there is growing awareness of it, yet without awareness of the extended and difficult process of death and rebirth that it most often entails. Nevertheless, transformation of consciousness is a common human experience; indeed, we all go through a number of transformations by the time we reach adulthood. As such, we find transformation discussed in the literature of many different disciplines. Mythology provides an archetypal pattern for transformation in the form of the hero's journey. In psychology we find both developmental perspectives, which show how consciousness develops through stages, and accounts of aspects of transformative experience. Education provides us with theories of how to encourage transformative learning. There is little work, however, that addresses the essential qualities of transformation of consciousness from a first-person perspective. These subjective accounts are crucial to fully understand transformation and to recognize and support a continuation of growth and development throughout our adult lives.
This research attempts to redress this lack of subjective accounts through a heuristic investigation into the question "how do we experience transformation of consciousness?" The core of this study involved data collected over nine months of participation in an Integral Transformative Practice: a series of practices designed to encourage transformation through engaging as many aspects of the Self as possible. In addition, three co-researchers participated by sharing in interviews their experience of transformation of consciousness in their adult lives.
From the combination of personal and co-researcher experience, transformation appeared as a process that occurs over time through the moment-by-moment awareness of our continual unfolding and the constant processes of death and rebirth. Twelve themes emerged: 1) Through inquiry and exploration, we question aspects of our experience and begin to discover new aspects of ourselves. 2) A change in environment can herald the beginning of transformation, occur as part of one, and as the result of one. We also might want our world to change and seek transformation through a changed environment. 3) Core aspects of who we are and how we relate to ourselves profoundly change through transformative process. 4) When we change, the world around us changes as well; we feel we live in a different world. 5) We are guided through the process by interplay between our intention and some other force, be it our higherself or Spirit. 6) Instead of one process - transformation - multiple processes happen simultaneously: together, they produce transformation. 7) Our meaning-making depends on where we are in the process, as we change we shift the meaning of our experience. 8) Ebbs and flows occur during transformative change. Short periods with much activity intersperse with long periods of little activity. 9) We find many ways to resist the process, yet support arrives from unexpected places or is created internally. 10) We experience the entire range of emotional experience in transformation. 11) Our experience can feel like a separation and descent - separating from the world and descending to dealing with past issues or into depths of emotional experience. 12) The process may include healing of different splits within oneself, such as body/mind, inner/outer, and masculine/feminine. Integration often occurs through dialogue between different parts of ourselves, or dialogue between different ways of knowing, such as intuitive and logical.
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Consciousness