Too often, speaking of “infinite consciousness” might sound quite distant, as if we were discussing some faraway, hardly approachable phenomenon that we wish to come in contact with. But the infinite consciousness is ourselves.
The consciousness of the universe is our consciousness, only without the boundaries we have created within it: limits of subject and object, concepts and definitions, identity, attraction, repulsion, time, space and memory. We have given rise to great fragmentation and contraction. But in the same way, we are able to allow an expansion of consciousness.
The more we enable an expansion of our consciousness, the more it spreads in an ever-widening circular movement. Each broader “circle” quickly assimilates the narrower circle that preceded it. Our consciousness becomes all-inclusive. It does not need to negate or contradict even one single element. It simply increasingly contains the more condensed and limited elements – in this sense, nothing gets lost on the way; we only become broader in awareness.
Such a state is the healthiest and most natural to us. In fact, it is far more natural and healthy than being trapped as we are in a continuous state of limitation and contraction. The human consciousness knows this impulse towards expansion very well. As long as it does not realize how exactly it could bring to life this ancient memory, it looks for its fulfillment in imagination and fantasy, technological Godlike mastery, escape to virtual realities, revolutionary ideas of social or cultural liberation, and even uninhibited sexuality.
However, once this impulse becomes conscious, it can finally move intentionally and volitionally towards the nature of consciousness itself. As soon as this impulse begins to find its fulfillment, we experience a profound relief, then a form of happiness unreachable within the confines of the ordinary human experience, then wholeness, and from it, truthfulness. We, very simply, become ourselves.
Everything can expand
I developed the “Expansion Method” out of the intention to awaken this natural impulse of the expansion of consciousness and to direct it consciously towards fulfillment. Its set of meditations and techniques brings this impulse to life in the practitioners through highly accessible means: a simple line of instructions of focus, visualization and breathing that make intuitive use of the aspiration inherent in consciousness to break away from all limitation and contraction and turn towards its own infinitude. Our consciousness responds to this quite effortlessly, as this is its very nature. Indeed, it seems like it has only waited to hear the right instruction; the exact codes that operate its dormant qualities.
Unlike many other spiritual practices, expansion is very different from disassociation – detaching from some elements in us in order to attain a certain state, as one might attempt to do by neutrally observing one’s thoughts and emotions. While these practices make use of the principle of disidentification, expansion is based on the principle of inclusion and spreading. It is a movement of profound positivity, which validates the spiritual nature of each and every element in this universe. It never rejects any element claiming that it is too “narrow” or “condensed” and therefore “non-spiritual.”
For example, one could think that a traumatic memory or anger is not “spiritual” enough, and so if one ever wished to spiritually transcend, one should detach from it and go beyond it altogether. Yet expansion is not mere transcendence. On the contrary, it is based on the conviction that each and every limited component of the universe – including any horrible memory, any conditioned thought or any base emotion – is the infinite consciousness in disguise. There is not even one single thing that is devoid of limitless potential. Everything is spiritual by nature, since the cosmos itself is a spirit that condensed itself into matter and is now hidden within all material phenomena, only waiting to be unveiled. Since the universe is consciousness in a contracted state, all one needs to do is to reveal its essential and energetic reality.
The advantage of such an approach is that it brings all need for repression to an end. Often we feel compelled to repress, either for the psychological reason of feeling incapable of coping and thus containing something or for the spiritual reason of wishing to maintain our self-image as spiritually “pure.” Expansion is all-inclusive, and in this, it is also a unique form of inner alchemy – it picks any seemingly cheap metal and transforms it into shining gold – but with one significant difference from old-style alchemy. It does so by simply revealing that the cheap metal has always been, essentially, gold.
How Expansion works
For this alchemy to happen, all one needs to do is to identify the pattern of a particular element within oneself using the mind’s inner senses. When the pattern is fully realized, we easily see that it has defined borders. From this inner vision the way to expansion is very short, since the natural impulse to break through all barriers lies both in each thought, emotion and sensation, and in our consciousness as a whole. Because all and everything longs for this original unlimited state, the pattern, and our consciousness with it, quickly flows towards a breakthrough. This is what turns the expansion process into a desirable event: our growing trust that nothing in us truly wishes to remain confined. Each and every element within our being strives to be redeemed from all stifling limitation.
Each journey of expansion is a voyage within the vast expanses of our consciousness which knows no edge or ending. It is a delving into an unlimited process of self-discovery, as if our being were an infinite hallway with countless potential doors. This journey of consciousness is the subjective exploration of the universe, since the universe and consciousness are one and the same; consciousness is simply the universe’s interior.
A glimpse into mystical enlightenment
In this manner, we can easily penetrate into enlightened states of consciousness with our mind, directly learning how spiritually liberated beings perceive and experience and, at the same time, how far we can travel within our own consciousness. There is no justified reason to remain squeezed and suffocated within the tiny box of our accumulated memories which we mistakenly call “me.” We have been destined from the very beginning to be the cosmos as a whole.
With each such experience, in which our consciousness gets to expand towards its original measure, the force of Kundalini rises throughout the spine and the Chakras begin to operate optimally and align with each other into one continuum of awareness. Thus, expansion develops the body within our body – the subtle body of enlightenment.
Expansion as a daily practice
Expansion steadily transforms us and melts away the limits of our mind. In my understanding, a daily practice of expansion as one’s major spiritual practice could change us profoundly. With every passing day, it establishes a neurological and energetic alignment with the unlimited state of enlightenment and brings us to exchange our former, far more contracted identity for a new and wider one.
Expansion could replace traditional meditation. It enables an immediate and direct penetration into the world of enlightenment. It flows straight to the treasure chest of our consciousness. For this reason, I also call it the “highway” or the royal road to self-transcendence.
The purpose of expansion is two-fold: first, to reveal the infinite nature of our human consciousness, and second, to enable us to act from it on our limited reality. For the most part, we poorly attempt to influence our limited reality of human experience out of our narrow thoughts, emotions and perceptions. Yet, since it is the state of consciousness that shapes our perceived reality, we ought to seriously consider the possibility of action from the broadest consciousness. This could finally establish a bidirectional stream between the two worlds: just as the limited reality is elevated by flowing towards the unlimited, the unlimited too can steadily flow towards the limited reality of the material plane.
If you wish to study and practice the Expansion Method, read A Guide to Bliss
