Stages of Mastery 3 - Recovery

06/01/19 • 32 min

The ancient masters, one after another, have spoken of a state of peace and happiness that is available to each and every one of us. But how do we reach such a state? It turns out this process is typically not a sudden flash of Satori or sudden enlightenment. In most cases it is a process and this process can be marked by a series of stations along the way. In this episode we examine the transition from the second stage to the third stage. The tricks to moving past the dysfunction of Stage 2 are elucidated as well as the features of what Stage 3 or Recovery looks like. In Summary, the 8 stages are as follows:

LOWER SELF -- DYSFUNCTIONAL

Stage 1: Physical (aka Gross)

Stage 2: Dysfunction (aka Emotional or Astral)

Stage 3: Recovery (aka Rational or Mental)

PIVOT/BRIDGE

Stage 4: Healthy (aka Transpersonal)

HIGHER SELF -- MASTERY

Stage 5: Cosmic (aka Holy Spirit)

Stage 6: Universal (aka Buddha/Illumination/Subtle)

Stage 7: Divine (aka Transcendental/Enlightened/Causal)

Stage 8: Fully Liberated (non-describable/non-doing/Wu Wu Wei)

I am forever indebted to my late teacher George Falcon for much of the ideation behind this model and my thinking on the nature of the self and levels of consciousness more generally. Much of what you will hear in this series was shared with me by him years ago. In the years since those conversations, I have discovered that he didn't invent this model. Rather he synthesized it from very similar ones used by Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, Christians, Ancient Polynesians, Ancient Egyptians, Indigenous Americans, and many more. It is a universal experience of spiritual advancement to pass stages of some number and these stages, regardless of the tradition, tend to strongly resemble one another. The differences are more with how many stages the tradition breaks them up into. Sometimes there are four, sometimes 10 or 16 or more. Regardless of the number, the ideas and features of the process are more or less the same. Having now studied models from approximately 10 traditions, and investigated my own journey along this path of self-mastery, I am sharing my perspective on these so-called stages of Self-Mastery. In this episode the focus is on what is called the "Recovery" stage.

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LOWER SELF -- DYSFUNCTIONAL

Stage 1: Physical (aka Gross)

Stage 2: Dysfunction (aka Emotional or Astral)

Stage 3: Recovery (aka Rational or Mental)

PIVOT/BRIDGE

Stage 4: Healthy (aka Transpersonal)

HIGHER SELF -- MASTERY

Stage 5: Cosmic (aka Holy Spirit)

Stage 6: Universal (aka Buddha/Illumination/Subtle)

Stage 7: Divine (aka Transcendental/Enlightened/Causal)

Stage 8: Fully Liberated (non-describable/non-doing/Wu Wu Wei)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

Stages of Mastery 2 - Dysfunction

There are eight stages to the process of self-mastery. Sadly, most of us are stuck at Stage 2, which we call Dysfunction. We call it that because we all want to be happy but very few of us are, really. Yet even though we can see they don't work, we keep trying the same strategies over and over anyway. In this episode, we unpack that the hallmarks of a dysfunctional person are so that we can recognize whether we're at that level or not and begin to see how to advance beyond it.

I should say that I am indebted to my late teacher George Falcon for much of the ideation behind this model and my thinking on levels of consciousness more generally. Those familiar with his teachings will note many similarities so full credit to George here. In summary, the 8 stages in total are:

LOWER SELF -- DYSFUNCTIONAL

Stage 1: Physical (aka Gross)

Stage 2: Dysfunction (aka Emotional or Astral)

Stage 3: Recovery (aka Rational or Mental)

PIVOT/BRIDGE

Stage 4: Healthy (aka Transpersonal)

HIGHER SELF -- MASTERY

Stage 5: Cosmic (aka Holy Spirit)

Stage 6: Universal (aka Buddha/Illumination/Subtle)

Stage 7: Divine (aka Transcendental/Enlightened/Causal)

Stage 8: Fully Liberated (non-describable/non-doing/Wu Wu Wei)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

Stages of Mastery 4 - Healthy

Mastery is about realizing our full potential in life. It is about acquiring authentic power. It is about remembering that this power belongs to us already. And it is about experience a life free from suffering. Such is the promise offered by masters from Lao Tzu and Buddha through to Jesus and Krishna. The way in which it is acquired varies in the details but, whether it is an Islamic mystic from the Middle Ages, or Cherokee Shaman, a Christian saint or a Jewish luminary, the message is essentially the same. In this episode we unpack what this so-called fourth stage of mastery looks like. It is a particularly interesting stage because it is the pivot point between the bottom three (all of which are forms of dysfunction) and the next three (all of which are forms of mastery). Some traditions call this intuition. Others the heart chakra or Beatrice. But is all more or less the same.

Though the rendition is my own and I draw from many other sources, I should say that I am indebted to my late teacher George Falcon for the original the ideation behind this model and my thinking on levels of consciousness more generally. Those familiar with his teachings will note many similarities so full credit to George here.

LOWER SELF -- DYSFUNCTIONAL

Stage 1: Physical (aka Gross or Four Elements)

Stage 2: Dysfunction (aka Emotional or Astral)

Stage 3: Recovery (aka Rational or Mental)

PIVOT/BRIDGE

Stage 4: Healthy (aka Transpersonal)

HIGHER SELF -- MASTERY

Stage 5: Cosmic (aka Holy Spirit)

Stage 6: Universal (aka Buddha/Illumination/Subtle)

Stage 7: Divine (aka Transcendental/Enlightened/Causal)

Stage 8: Fully Liberated (non-describable/non-doing/Wu Wu Wei)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.