About the nature of the mind and states of trance

The mind is a mystery. Many philosophers have tried to discover the secrets of the mind throughout the centuries.  I want to put light on this topic from the universal point of view and my experiences as a psychotherapist, hypnotist and spiritual practitioner.

We start by using the fourfold key of wisdom. From the universal point of view, the mind is a “product” of the interaction of the four elements while its original nature is found in the fifth element. This means, the mind is active due to the interaction of will (fire), intellect (air) and feeling (water) in one individual “unit” (earth). The mind is also the space (Akasha) where thoughts and the perceptions of the senses are processed.  The mind has originated from the fifth element and unfolded in the four elements. The fifth element – Akasha – is pure spirit and will, intellect and feeling in form of an individual spirit are the tetra polar expression of the fifth element, the universal spirit.

The principle of will is active, determining, controlling, impulse giving and initiating.

The principle of intellect is active, communicating, processing, balancing, sharing, exchanging.

The principle of feeling is passive, receiving, perceiving, participating.

The principle of individuality is the self-sustaining, functioning, operating unit, the individual being.

Besides the tetra polar nature of the mind, we can see the polarity of the positive and negative principle at work.

The positive principle of the mind is constructive, creative, realizing what is good and beneficial for the individual.

The negative principle of the mind is destructive, blocking, sabotaging, realizing what is bad and not beneficial for the individual.

Then we have the male and female principle in their polarity.

The male (fire) principle is the conscious, active part of the mind which develops ideas and takes action.

The female (water) principle is the subconscious, passive part of the mind which receives impulses / ideas, becomes pregnant and gives birth to them.

In the case where the male and female principles are in a positive state, they cooperate and realize together the children of the mind.

In the case where the male and female principles are not in a cooperative mode, the individual blocks itself by the conflicting, opposing attitudes. Here is an imbalance in the natural order of the mind where the male pole is too weak, so that the female pole is open for negative influences, realizing them (instead of the own will).

Now we have further terms which need some explanations.

We often talk about conscious and subconscious behavior. This is a further polarity. For a better understanding let us take the example of a magnifying glass. Imagine you have a magnifying glass and sunlight is shining through it. In fact, we have the total of sunlight and in the center we have a focus or hot spot of it. This hot spot has maybe 10% concentrated light while the rest is 90% more or less diffuse light. The hot spot takes our attention and represents our focused awareness which we need for conscious behavior. The remaining 90% represent the subconscious information which we perceive but also the subconscious processes where we lack of awareness, understanding and control.

Indeed, we experience the world through the magnifying glass of our consciousness which filters the 10% of information which seems to be important while 90% seems to be irrelevant. But nevertheless, only the 100% of information offer a holistic understanding or perception of the world. The 10% are ruled by the intellect while the 90% are a matter of intuition, the intuitive perception and evaluation. Here we see also the roots for conflicts between the intellectual evaluation of a situation and the intuitive one which is based on all available information and not on the filtered 10%. This filter of perception works like seeing the world through colored glasses. The colored glasses correspond to the individual maturity and personal attitude.

Another aspect of conscious and subconscious polarity is the process of “mental digestion and integration”. Everything which we have to learn is processed consciously from the intellect, will and feeling. Only stepwise the new ideas and patterns of behavior are transferred into the subconsciousness which means that we have digested something new and now have integrated into our nature. Then the behavior is automatic and can be activated without any effort in a corresponding situation. Interestingly the conscious learning takes a lot of effort and produces many mistakes while the integrated automatic behavior later shows often perfection easily.

For example think about the time where you had to learn how to drive a car. First your intellect was very busy with getting into control of the car and now driving is automatic and easy for you. Or think about dancing. Learning the single steps and moves takes a lot of conscious effort while later dancing is easy as it has become an automatic movement on a subconscious level. There is simply no need any more to think about the single moves.

Again, we have here the comparison to the magnifying glass where the conscious part is 10% and the subconsciousness deals with 90%. Here the subconsciousness can be understood as the inner intelligence of the human being including the whole hierarchy of all centers and levels of intelligence (chakras/glands/organs). It is this inner intelligence which is controlling all vital functions of the body, of the soul and the spirit.

The subconsciousness is the realm where all automatic patterns of behavior are located, – patterns of thinking, emotional patterns of reaction and patterns of physical moves. And certainly the filter of perception, – defined by our personal attitude and experiences – is located here too.

The polarity of conscious and subconscious aspects is often compared with an iceberg where only the top is over the surface of the ocean while the bigger part of it is hidden under the surface. And like this hidden part is connected to the ocean, also our subconsciousness is directly connected to creation on all planes. Only when you see the top of the iceberg, you could become entrapped in believing that the iceberg is separated from the ocean, that you are separated from creation. Indeed all beings experience themselves as individuals but all individuals are connected and interdependent with the total of creation.

In conclusion, consciousness and subconsciousness have a function and follow a higher sense as we simply cannot deal with life if everything is conscious and we cannot experience us as individuals if everything is unconscious.

Now we also have the impersonal consciousness or super or cosmic or divine consciousness. The normal consciousness is limited to the individual, to the own personality, to the perception of yourself as a specific human being. But in fact the consciousness is not limited to this experience. By spiritual training the highest center in the human microcosm can be activated and then we can take part in the impersonal cosmic or divine consciousness, – the mind of the primordial spirit which is called the “Father” by Jesus Christ. Certainly it is known in most religions and spiritual traditions under various names. This impersonal or “beyond the human ego” state of mind let us take part in eternity, in our original unlimited nature. It is indeed the unfolding, the flourishing of the crown chakra which opens the human mind to the cosmic spirit. The physical crown of kings and queens is a symbol for initiation and enlightenment as in former times the activated crown chakra was an important quality of a ruler.

As a last and also interesting topic we have the trance states or simply different states of consciousness. Today people love to discuss all kinds of different states of the mind. But in fact also this topic is quite simple in its nature.

The mind experiences a certain reality through his senses, through his personal filter of perception, his present mental and emotional setting. Let´s imagine that we have one objective situation like a specific location in a city. Person A just passes through as there is nothing of interest. Person B enjoys the situation as it connects to mental and emotional anchors from former experiences. In this place the person had a wonderful event in the past. Person C feels fears rising as it has bad memories connected to this place. Person D is fascinated of the place as he is able to see the beauty of architecture due to his profession as an architect. In conclusion, we have one objective reality which is perceived in different ways corresponding to the personal setting of the subject. In fact each person experiences a different, individual reality.

Further on, we can also experience the reality of the different planes of existence. The physical world offers one reality. But there are also the astral realms and the mental realms which offer further realities. So in one location where a normal person only perceives a temple made of stone, a second person maybe sees a deity on the astral plane or is busy with a communication on the mental plane.

In conclusion, what we call “trance” is a matter of the reality which we face in a certain situation. When you are not consciously aware of the objective reality of the world you are incarnated, then you are in a trance state, – experiencing your personal or a higher reality. All so-called sleepers are entrapped in their dreamy reality. An enlightened person is awakened to experience a higher, holistic reality which is all-including and with this objective.

In fact most people are nearly permanently in a trance state as they are not aware of the objective reality they live in.

In hypnosis and meditation and NLP, you get into a different reality by yourself or you are guided into it. It is in main an inner reality which you experience while you withdraw yourself from the outer reality. It is a mental-emotional reality, the reality on the higher planes where you can make new experiences respectively where you can transform or replace old unwished or unhealthy experiences. So in fact, we simply shift from one reality to a different reality for a specific purpose like coaching, therapy or spiritual training.

During such processes our consciousness can be focused, highly focused, expanded or limited or changed.

Then we have also special states of the mind. The mind itself in its original Akasha nature can easily be transferred into other people, animals, all kinds of beings, gods, spirits, objects, spaces, etc. The mind is completely independent from time and space. It can connect and permeate everything in creation. This means that we can take part in the nature of everything mentally and emotionally. We can receive all kinds of information about other beings, places and objects. There are no limits for the mind.

Maybe as a last topic – as the mind has the quality of space, it can be filled with all kinds of thoughts but also with a diversity of different energies. This can lead to different states of the mind, forms of ecstasy, forms of enlightenment where the normal perception is “switched off” and only a single quality or power is perceived.

The mind itself can also be switched off by manipulating the four elements of the mind. If one element is exhausted or overpowered, then a mental breakdown can happen, – a blackout.

For the spiritual training it is important to understand that all five elements of the mind have to be trained and developed in quality and quantity equally to achieve a perfect mind. And then that “trance” is just a matter of changing consciously your reality.

In the end, we all focus on enlightenment, on the experience of the ultimate reality, the divine, cosmic consciousness.

The mind is our original nature and here we are without limits, eternal beings and creators of reality.