8. The Hearth
Welcome to the Hearth, where another discussion is taking place right now. Toni here, to help set the tone and to introduce you to this group.
This is a place to imagine sitting around a warm fire, with interesting people, and talking about Higher Consciousness and Enlightenment.
In this discussion, you can learn about different levels of consciousness and how they affect your life.
You might be talking about where this knowledge came from, or in what forms it is described.
You will learn how to recognize the various levels of consciousness, in yourself and in others. This is valuable information when you are trying to communicate with someone. It is even more helpful as you anticipate your own lessons.
Overall, you begin to see how knowing as much as possible about all of the levels of consciousness will allow you to undertake your own growth more deliberately.
Remember that Enlightenment is envisioned differently by people from different cultures.
It certainly is understood differently, according to each person’s level of consciousness.
There is a Sanskrit story of three blind men holding on to different parts of the elephant, each one describing the elephant only from his perspective, one the tail, one a leg and the third, the trunk. This is a metaphor for how we each think we know Enlightenment, when in reality we are only describing the part we have in our grasp.
It is helpful in this discussion, to remember that each of us has probably discovered only part of the whole, and that our presumption of knowing how to describe Enlightenment may be somewhat limited.
Still, we can share what we think we have discovered thus far. And we should. Sharing is how we test what we think we know. At the same time, it allows others to consider different perspectives.
Imagine yourself as a forward scout who is reporting back to the tribe. Others might be able to use the information in your report, just as you might be able to use what others report.
Perhaps by learning from each other, we can broaden our vision and identify what we need to work on next. So, do not be shy about offering your perspective. You may help someone else. More importantly, you may help yourself.