What is Transformational Consciousness? It can be summed up in one word -- "Aha!"

  Think of Archimedes’s bathtub "Eureka!", Isaac Newton’s apple, and Einstein’s moving train.

  Whether the accounts are factual or not, the stories are true in that they personalize moments in time when    someone began to see something differently, and the world was never the same.

-- the Greek Titan god Prometheus stole fire from heaven and gave it to humans, marking a huge shift from animal consciousness to human consciousness and tool-making. It also improved dinner menus considerably, and led eventually to fondue, glass making, and mood lighting.

-- Polynesian myths of exploration illustrate a shift in consciousness about the patterns of the sea and the sky that afforded those ancient peoples incredible feats of navigation with nothing but canoes and an unerring sense of direction that puts modern Magellens to shame. This may be one reason most men don’t ask for directions.

-- stories about visiting Teacher Gods mark acquisitions in cultural skills, such as Quetzalcoatl, who brought agriculture and writing to meso- and south America. One of those who visited Egypt is said to have brought the art of cosmetology along with brewing and weaving.

-- the Jewish myth of Abraham and Isaac illustrates a shift from blood sacrifice and superstitious obedience to a more intellectualized religious covenant with personal responsibilities. Some skeptics of Christianity will point out that the Holy Sacraments and the transubstantiation of bread and wine is thinly disguised cannibalism, but the point is that it is symbolic these days.

-- Romeo and Juliet, Rama and Sita, Isis and Osiris, David and Jonathan, Sappho and her maidens, and other myths of romance elevate the love relationship above mere reproductive coupling, transforming it into something spiritually transcendent and reflective of the inherent duality and interpenetration of every aspect of the cosmos. If your lover’s kisses don’t transform your consciousness and your very state of being, you’re not with the right lover.

-- from the myth of Daedalus & Icarus flying out of the labyrinth with wax and feathers we have soared to landing on Mars and exploring the cosmos in bird weight crafts of wire and foil.

Okay for the Myths, but what about now?

We can see Transformational Consciousness in each individual. Just watch a baby learn anatomy by studying her own toes, or experiment with gravity and parental psychology by dropping the same toy off the table again and again and again.

Step into a good science class and watch a teacher open up young minds.

Give someone a musical instrument and a little bit of instruction and then observe the blossoming of creativity.

Sit in on a talented counselor’s sessions and watch them lead a troubled soul towards personal transformation.

Spiritual transformations inspire the soaring of cathedrals, the intricacies of Baroque music, the poetry of Rumi, and the theological complexity of Tibetan thangka paintings.

Societal transformations spawn dramatic stories of epic conflict, from the Clash of the Titans to the French Revolution, Athens’ budding democracy versus Sparta’s military autocracy, or the Jedi Knights versus Darth Vader and the Evil Empire.

Solitary scientists envision transformations that become worldwide medical gifts: radium, antiseptics, penicillin, vaccinations, transplants, stem-cell therapies.

Military inventions become commercial applications in a spin-off/spin-on cycle of conscious transformation: Tang, Mylar, GPS, digital cinema, the internet.

All these advances are examples of Transformational Consciousness. It isn’t just woo-woo New Age stuff. It is the stuff of our lives, now, here.

Can Transformational Consciousness be learned? Yes! Absolutely yes.

Learn it from children, learn it from myths, learn it from history, learn it from artists, learn it from educators, learn it from scientists.

It’s simply a different way of looking at reality. And hopefully, one that improves the conditions of reality for all.

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Suppose reincarnation is correct.
Doesn't helping people out of their difficulties interfere with their corrective karma?
Shouldn't you wait until someone specifically asks for specific help before you help them?
What do you think?

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If we accept the evolution of consciousness from Instinct, to Intuition, to Intellect, to Inspiration,
 how can we best promote the development of each level in support of the next higher one?

Come up with a mantra and an exercise for transitioning from each one up to the next one.
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Pamela Jaye Smith