Levels of Consciousness"You speak of the world to come. Please tell me what are the qualities, or characteristics, of the world to come?" I asked. "I haven’t been there yet!" he laughed. I leaned forward, "Perhaps I should say that yogis, mystics, and most religious people speak of experiences of a higher world or a superconscious state. I’m particularly interested in knowing what are these levels or planes of consciousness that the Hasidic Jew experiences from his contemplation and prayer? For example, in the yogi’s state of samadhi, the meditator suddenly catches a glimpse of a transcendent reality and beholds what he is meditating upon in its full light. Other meditators are, through God’s grace, able to adore God so much that they become absorbed in that divine reality, forgetting ego, forgetting their personal past experience. Suddenly they experience this transformed state due to their absorption." He nodded. "There are certain stages you can rise to. However, there’s another important thing: your feet have to be on the floor. There is a critical place where you have to bring spirituality and godliness into the physical world," the Rabbi replied. "So, there are certain states that a person can rise to, states of closer bonding with God. We don’t so much give these states titles. There’s a status of bonding and cleaving, each person according to their level, according to their experience," he said. |
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