Waking Up

 

            In this essay I define what I mean by “waking up,” so that the many references made to it in later essays will be more clearly understood. I begin by considering a variety of definitions of what “waking up” is and is not. Then I examine some of the components of “waking up,” as well as some of its features and conclude with some miscellaneous comments.

Definitions of “Waking Up”

            Most people would think a definition of “waking up” superfluous, since obviously it means “not asleep.” And that is, in fact, how dictionaries define “awake.”[1] But my usage is far more subtle, being rooted in the esoteric tradition. When we are “waking up” we are in the process of recognizing how we have been “asleep,” i.e. at a lower level of consciousness like sleepwalking.

            Charles Tart, a psychologist and university professor, devoted a lengthy book to the subject of waking up.[2] He describes it as a “state of consciousness” that involves a “major alteration in the way the mind functions.”[3] Continue in the process long enough and you reach “enlightenment,” the highest level of consciousness to which we can aspire. Whether high or low, each level is characterized by “state-specific knowledge.”[4]

            By “state-specific knowledge,” Tart and other researchers in the field of consciousness mean the information or perspectives that are available or to be found only in a particular state of consciousness. Experiments have shown, for example, that drunks (inebriated people) can learn things that they will have no recollection of later on, when they have sobered up. Drunkenness is a state of consciousness. Sleep is another. Ordinary waking consciousness is a third. This level of consciousness the Russian mystic G.I. Gurdjieff called the “consensus trance”[5] of our culture. He identified higher levels of consciousness as well: “genuine self-consciousness,” characterized by “self-remembering;” and “objective consciousness,” the level at which we realize our unity with all.[6] This “objective consciousness” we tap into in mystical moments, “peak experiences” and epiphanies. Intuition and flashes of inspiration can bring us to this level too, and provide us with types of knowledge unavailable to us at the ordinary level of consciousness.

            There are other definitions of “waking up,” and other ways I use the term in the essays in this collection. It is both a journey and a destination. By “journey” I refer to the extended length of time inherent in the process of “waking up.” Like any kind of trip, it takes time to get to where you want to go. And “waking up” can be thought of as the long-term journey to our ultimate destination, as we develop our human potential to realize Jesus’ words “ye are gods.”[7]

            There is also a technical or physiological definition of “waking up.” In this context, the 7 energy centers of the physical body (known as “chakras”) begin to operate more fully and clearly, as the kundalini force begins to ascend from its base at the seat of the spine up to the top of the head. In some people, this “kundalini rising” happens spontaneously, accompanied by experiences of heat, fatigue, discomfort, flashing lights before the eyes and curious sounds in the ears.[8] For most people, this form of “waking up” is the product of years of labor and self-denial in a diligent yoga practice under the direction of an enlightened yogi master. There have been cases where foolish Westerners, not aware of the dangers to the physical system that can befall in unsupervised tinkering with the kundalini, caused themselves great harm, and even death. This type of “waking up” must be done under careful direction by a qualified yogi. The end result is the same as with other methods, i.e. (in the words of Gopi Krishna, an Indian authority on kundalini) “unspeakable glory and bliss, beyond the sphere of opposites, free from the desire for life and fear of death.”[9]

What “Waking Up” is Not

            “Waking up” should not be confused (but often is) with awareness. Being aware is not the same as being awake. When I speak of “awareness,” I refer to mental, rational ego-based activity—the sort of thinking done by the left brain. A person who is “aware” is knowledgeable about some condition or situation, e.g. environmental awareness. If internalized, awareness can have an impact on one’s values, lifestyle etc. over time, leading to changes in diet, habits, activities, even friends. But the aware person is still enmeshed in Second Wave reality, with its superficialities and unconsciousness.

            People who are “awake” have experienced a very different thing. Non-rational, intuitive, right-brain-based processes mediate waking up. Many of these processes go on in the unconscious, and are largely psychological in nature. “Waking up” works at the deepest level of being. There is nothing superficial about it. While it can begin with an “upending moment,”[10] or an instantaneous flash of insight, it takes years to integrate, and people work at it for lifetimes, literally (e.g. many Buddhist tulkus and master teachers). It usually results in massive life changes on every level, such that the person shifts from Second into Third Wave, in terms of values, perceptions and assumptions about life. It also tends to incorporate awareness, that is, the person who is awake is also more aware or supportive of reform, fundamental changes in the outer system, and in working for a world that works for everyone.

            “Waking up” is not some short-term change done through a weekend course. New age groups and gurus would have us believe otherwise—that we can achieve “instant enlightenment.” This is bogus. While “satori,” the moment of insight, is instantaneous, the process of waking up is slow and incremental (a good thing, because of all the deep changes it involves—changes that would wreck our physical and mental systems if they occurred all at once). Once a person starts on the path, “waking up” becomes an on-going mode of living. Temporal duration really doesn’t figure in it: It is not so much an activity one does as a way of life one lives. I remember so vividly when I began (as a result of a dream life that wouldn’t let me be). Initially, I figured that I would get the whole thing sorted out in two years. Two years came and went, and by that point, I could see it would be five years at least. When five years had come, I was beginning to suspect that the end would not come any time soon, if ever. And by the time I hit the ten-year mark, I knew that this was an endeavor of multiple lifetimes.

            Finally, as Gurdjieff’s definitions mentioned above suggest, “waking up” is not some simple, single state. “Awakeness” has many levels to it. The ultimate level is complete enlightenment. Those who reach this level don’t need to incarnate again. Some, the bodhisattvas, choose to remain on the physical plane out of their infinite compassion and desire to help those of us still sweating the small stuff. It is rare to encounter a bodhisattva. We are more likely to encounter and deal with people who are at lower (much lower) levels.

Components of “Waking Up”

            Each of us undertakes the journey to enlightenment in a way uniquely suited to his or her gifts, talents, life mission and purposes. But there are some common elements or components. For the sake of simplicity, I am classifying them in five categories: the physical, mental or cognitive, emotional, psychological, and spiritual.

            For some people, especially those into hatha yoga, the physical component takes the form of the “kundalini rising,” with the opening of the chakras mentioned above. For others, “waking up” impacts the body, but in less dramatic fashion. As we give up repression, we come to have more energy (because less psychic energy is going into repressing our “stuff”). Life also tends to be less stressful, so our endocrine, lymphatic and nervous systems function more optimally, making us less likely to get sick. We generally enjoy a higher level of physical well-being, because we respect our bodies and regard them as “temples of Spirit,” and we live consciously listening to the body’s wisdom. We also change our attitude toward dis-ease, recognizing that pain holds important messages for us, and illness is a telling metaphor for inner work we need to do.

            The mental component includes using both left and right hemispheres of the brain: We consciously develop and use our intuition and imagination, to the point of being able to dialog with the Self (our Divine core). We experience a “metanoia” (Greek for “transformation of mind”), with new ways of thinking, new understandings, new standards. We begin consciously to watch our thoughts, reactions and attitudes, as we come to appreciate the truth in Edgar Cayce’s key phrase “Mind is the builder.”[11] With heightened mind power, we come to understand the deeper meaning in life events. We get wise to the lessons we are here on earth to learn, and we begin to apply our mental powers to doing so. We develop an appreciation for paradox, and an eagerness to understand the Universal laws, in both how they work and how to apply them. We have more mental clarity as we work on “mindfulness” through disciplines like meditation.[12] And we become much more creative, as we take up our role as conscious co-creators with The Force.

            In emotional terms, “waking up” appears as feeling safe in a friendly Universe. Even while we suffer (as we get into our “stuff”), we experience levels of peace and joy we did not know when we were asleep. We get wise to repression—how we have been stuffing our pain, grief, and rage inside—and give it up in favor of confessing what we feel. We use suffering to regenerate, and to become more compassionate to those in need. And as we work on ourselves at deep levels, we develop higher levels of self-esteem and come to love self, Self and others.[13]

            A major aspect of “waking up” is psychological, no matter how the process is approached. Jungian depth work, Buddhist meditation practice, and Indian hatha yoga will all take the practitioner to the same point of confronting his/her inner demons, shadow elements, neuroses, wounds, fears, and archetypes.[14] “Waking up” means, in large measure, getting wise to what is going on inside us. We each have an “inner city,” peopled by a host of characters and energies, some of whom sabotage us constantly until we take them in hand and deal consciously with them. By working with our dreams, we can become fluent in the language of our personal unconscious, as well as cognizant of the archetypes activated at the moment.

            All the foregoing—the physical, mental, emotional and psychological—components meld into the final element: the spiritual. “Waking up” is primarily a spiritual process that connects us to our cosmic roots, and allows us to overcome the alienation and estrangement endemic in Second Wave reality. Seeing the world as living spirit, we are able to recognize all the blessings that surround us, as we “read the book of the world.”[15] We experience transcendence—higher perspectives that provide us with insights into the meaning and purpose of the travails of life. We come to know just how loving and supportive The Force is, and we open ourselves to receiving its gifts and guidance. As we become more conscious, more awake, we operate more and more from our Divine core, rather than from ego.[16] Those who make the conscious choice to join the “spiritual army” become agents of The Force, working to create a world that works for everyone.

Some Features of “Waking Up”

            There are many features, but, for the sake of space, I consider only three: perception, values and the role of the feeling function.

Perception. As Charles Tart’s definition indicated, “awake” people perceive differently from those who are still asleep. Some describe this difference as “seeing the world with new eyes,” i.e. at a higher level of perception. More specifically, the person who is awake can:

_focus his or her awareness as desired.[17] That is, awake people can pay attention, to a degree impossible for those asleep.

_focus his or her awareness as needed.[18] Perception is much more flexible and adaptable to the exigencies of particular situations for those who are awake.

_perceive without distortion from neuroses, complexes or other psychic wounds.[19] Most people go through life “seeing through the glass darkly.” Those awake can see life “face to face.”[20]

_recognize which state of consciousness he or she is in.[21] People who are asleep are clueless about states of consciousness, and give little or no thought to the reality of state-specific knowledge. Their waking life is not much more acute, in terms of perceptual keenness, than their daily hours of sleep.

_change his or her state of consciousness, as the situation warrants.[22] People who are awake know which state is optimal at the moment, and can shift between states at will.

_modify his or her current state of conscious knowledge with information or knowledge from an altered state.[23] Higher consciousness, with its psychic awareness and information, can be brought to bear to deal with events in ordinary reality. People awake can access modes of knowing that are unavailable to those asleep.

_recognize the difference between basic human nature and our acquired nature. People asleep rarely are able to distinguish between what Edgar Cayce called the “personality” (acquired nature, influenced by family expectations and life experience) and the “individuality” (basic identity unique to themselves)[24]. A big part of “waking up” is coming to discover who we really are, before all the familial and early-life stuff took hold.

_recognize the benefits in what seem to others to be liabilities. Awake people know that there are no accidents, and nothing happens by chance. There are always causes or reasons for experiences in life. The Force has its purposes, and once we know this, we can re-perceive negatives as positives, and problems as opportunities or goads to growth.

_become aware of the full range of his or her resources. When awake people think of “resources” they don’t just think of money, or material things. They know that Spirit is primary, and so the most essential and valuable resources are intangible: love, commitment, drive, determination, faith, hope, creativity, insight, etc. Awake people are quite literally “resourceful,” i.e. full of a myriad of resources.

_get guidance all the time, from many sources. Because they can “read the book of the world,” awake people are quick to spot the synchronicities in daily life that are offering them guidance and direction. Using their intuition, they can see the meaning in these signs.

_recognize the bigger picture in reality. Awake people realize that we live on many levels, and Second Wave society is clueless about the most important of these levels. People who are waking up see what is really going on now, in these early years of the new millennium, and where the world is heading. Thanks to this more transcendent view, awake people let go of the illusions of the Second Wave world.

_recognize his or her mission in life and how to live it out. Awake people know that each person alive has a purpose for being, some unique way he or she is meant to serve and live. Those waking up discover their mission, and figure out how to live it out.

            The person who is awake lives with vision, as a visionary, allowing vision to pull him or her into the future via the Laws of Manifestation. Awake people understand these and the other laws of the Universe (some of which are included in Appendix I), and they use them in practical ways in daily life.

            Awake people have an enlarged sense of self and reality. This is not inflated (“waking up” implies humility), but reflects the realization that Second Wave reality is very truncated and inadequate. Moving into a larger, more spacious psychic “space” is an inextricable part of the wake-up process, as I note in the essay “Time, Space and Patience” in this collection.

            Awake people are pioneers. They see the new and they undertake it. They are comfortable living at the borders of unknowing, as independent thinkers prepared to challenge the “group think” around them. They follow their inner guidance, even when this will clash with the norms of society.

            Values. The values of those awake differ markedly from the values of Second Wave. Mainstream society puts a premium on power, wealth, status, influence, control, work, performance, productivity, growth (in the material sense). People who are waking up, by contrast, come to question these assumed “goods,” and take up new values, like integrity, doubt (the ability to question and be unsure), and openness. They let go in trust, without the need to be or feel in control, because they realize human beings are not in control. The Force is in control, and thanks to their on-going dialogue with The Force, they are comfortable in letting go.

            Awake people live in the Now moment, rather than in the past (full of guilt and recriminations) or in the future (full of plans and anxieties about what might happen). They slow down, consciously opting out of the “rat race,” and avoiding the “hurry sickness” that is pandemic in the Second Wave world.

            People waking up are patient. They not only are able to endure waiting, they value it, knowing that “good things come to those who wait.” And one of these “good things” is change. The Second Wave world does not like change (being built on a knowledge base rooted in stasis). But those who are waking up realize that change is the norm in all living systems, and they appreciate it. They are able to give up the old and take up the new with grace and courage. They live consciously in transition, in the “between” times that hold such promise for the soul.

            Allowing themselves time and space, being patient and waiting on The Force, people awake are playful, creative and very productive, but in an unforced, natural way. The “yoke” they take up is easy and their “burden” is light,[25] because they live out their vocation, and so their work is a form of play.

            Finally, awake people are authentic. They live out their values. The computer term WYSIWYG comes to mind to describe these folks: what you see is what you get. Because they are conscious of their depths, and work in their deepest levels, their surface reflects their genuineness. No posturing, artificiality or persona stuff here! Which brings us to the last feature: how the awake person relates to self and others.

            The Role of the Feeling Function. Relationships, for awake people, begin with a solid, positive relationship to self. Awake people have given up the “victim” stance—the “blame game” that accuses others and puts responsibility elsewhere. Awake people take responsibility for their lives, realizing that, on some level, they chose everything that happens to them.

            Having worked consciously to discover and deal with neuroses and wounds, awake people esteem themselves and respect their inner divinity. This translates into an appreciation of their personal boundaries. They refuse to allow others to “dump” on them, i.e. they refuse to take on responsibilities that rightfully belong to others.

            Having overcome their alienation from the Self (their Divine core), awake people act from the center of their being. As a result they have no need to envy or copy others, or to fall into “group think.” If they take up a particular fad or fashion, they do so consciously, rather than from mindless emulation of the crowd.

            While awake people are passionate in their commitments and engagement with life, they live without attachments. This is hard for Second Wave people to understand, because so much of Second Wave life and identity is defined by attachments: to job, title, roles, relationships, possessions. We think of ourselves as the “bank manager,” or “Timmy’s mother,” or “president of the company” or the “owner of the BMW.” All these things are still present in the lives of people who are awake, but they don’t clutch them or identify themselves through these external means. Most of all, they have no attachment to outcomes. They have no sense that they have to “make life happen.” They accept in their depths the truth of the old adage that “Man proposes, God disposes.” They don’t hold their “propositions” so tightly that they become devastated if something else turns up instead. This means that they engage with life with much less ego investment than do those asleep. And consequently their relationships with others are quite different.

            People awake bring to their relationships a lot less “baggage,” in terms of complexes, unfinished inner business, and unconscious agendas. They are thus able to be more fully “present,” and are better listeners, able to hear with their hearts, as well as with their ears.

Awake people are able to engage with another person knowing where the other is and what his or her needs are. They have a capacity for psychic identification and emotional resonance.

            Their humility induces them to give as much or more than they take from others: they are more concerned to serve than to be served. But they understand “service” in the sense of “empowerment.” That is, they recognize the big difference between “helping” and “supporting” (which is described in the essay “Why Helping is Not Appropriate” in this collection). Awake people want to support others, rather than help them.

            Finally, those awake, being compassionate, choose to identify with the marginalized, those who suffer, those who have been excluded from the mainstream, those who have been discriminated against by Second Wave society. And so they work in and among the poor, the sick, the elderly and the young, with the handicapped and the vulnerable, in the form or way consonant with their personal mission in life. 

Some Miscellaneous Comments

            By this point, it is obvious that I have expended a lot of words to talk about “waking up” and what it means and looks like. But, typical of the paradox at the heart of any spiritual truth, the most essential aspects of “waking up” are ineffable, i.e. they cannot be put into words. They must be experienced by the individual person, and are not readily shared with others (because words don’t do the process justice). We can, for example, talk about having epiphanies or mystical moments or feelings of unity with all beings, but these are completely inadequate to convey the actual experience. Partly this is due to the fact that “waking up” involves those “state-specific forms of knowing” that Charles Tart speaks of: Until or unless we get into that higher state of consciousness, we do not have access to that higher level of knowledge or understanding.[26] And much of “waking up” is on higher levels than the level on which the Second Wave world operates. This is a very important limitation that must be borne in mind. Some things simply cannot be fully known by those who are still asleep.

            You might be tempted to ask, “Why bother waking up?” The reason is very simple: the more awake we are, the less we suffer. And we do suffer when we are not the master of our own house. That is, when we are not conscious of the unconscious, our inner characters and complexes constantly trip us up, distort our perception, and give grief to us and to those we have to deal with in life. Jung developed a very refined psychology around the core knowledge that, when our complexes are “autonomous,” they bring us a host of problems. These problems form the core of much of the  suffering in the world today. Solutions from the Second Wave world—pills, potions, power trips—are palliatives, not true cures. The real “cure” occurs when individuals come out of the “consensus trance” of our culture, begin to wake up and get wise to their “stuff.”

            So waking up is a necessity both for individuals and for society at large. But it is not for everyone. It is not possible for everyone. Why not? Because it requires a certain level of ego development and strength. Egotists, narcissists, and some oral types lack sufficient ego development to do the work. (What seems like excessive ego in narcissists is really a compensatory defense mechanism that masks a deep core ego wound.) We cannot sacrifice what we don’t have. To “crucify” the ego, a person must first have an ego sufficiently developed to be given up.

            Other groups are also excluded from wake-up work. Those who are very rigid, unable to change, are not able to undertake the process. People who are very much “contained” in religion will find it too threatening to their worldview. Likewise, people who are strong extraverts, very other-directed and dependent on the approval of others, are not well-suited to it. People who live based on the reactions of others, or wedded to the convictions of the Second Wave world, will not have the independence of mind and spirit that this work requires. Many people, especially in the United States (with its bias toward the ESTJ type[27]), are in this camp, living inauthentic lives built almost entirely on a concern to be “with it,” in the mode of the current fashion or group sensibility.

            People who are awake are moving beyond such sensibilities. They recognize the limits and weaknesses of Second Wave reality and abrogate its assumptions. They refuse to believe, for example, that matter is all there is. They deny that the Universe is a machine, or that human beings are separate, and competition is the norm (as Darwinism would have us believe). They perceive reality in very different terms, as I noted above. In so doing, they are forming the nucleus of the emerging reality, the Third Wave reality that will come to the fore after the global mind change in 2012.[28]

            This nucleus of awake people is growing now, and as it does, it is becoming easier for others to wake up. This is because of the concept known as the “hundredth monkey phenomenon.” As more and more people around the world are waking up, we are coming closer to the point of “critical mass,” that moment in time when the sheer number of people at a higher level of consciousness will impact the morphogenetic field within which we humans live.

            At this point, you might be saying, “Whoa!??? Morphogenetic field? Hello?” Yes. It needs explaining.

            Twenty years ago, Rupert Sheldrake, an English student of consciousness research, articulated this concept.[29] He drew upon sources both modern and ancient, like Aristotle’s notion of how change seemed to occur mysteriously in nature. How, for example, does an acorn “know” to form itself into an oak tree? Aristotle ventured the hypothesis of a gestalt or field that was part of acorn-ness that worked to form its shape (Greek morfos). He took it beyond acorns, to suggest that all of life operates under the influence of these morphogenetic fields.

            Ancient thinking was only one of Sheldrake’s sources. The other came from contemporary studies by ethnographers, students of animal behavior. A group of Japanese researchers studying monkeys on some of the isolated islands off the coast of Japan discovered that when a certain number of animals learned a new behavior, other animals of the same species, on far distant islands (i.e. without any possibility of physical contact or direct influence), began to perform the behavior too. Lyall Watson reported this discovery in the Western media,[30] and then other Western scientists undertook experiments in laboratories, with rats, mice, birds, etc. They replicated the Japanese results. Animals seem able to influence each other in some mysterious, as-yet-unclear way. Sheldrake hypothesized, like Aristotle, that it is through the morphogenetic field.

            The key seems to be the formation of a “critical mass” of individuals doing the new thing. The impact on the field seems to require a certain number of individuals, which Watson called the “hundredth monkey” phenomenon. Once that hundredth monkey learned the new behavior, then it seemed to spread automatically to others.

            Humans are not immune to this morphogenetic phenomenon. We too live immersed in many types of fields, as energy healers realize and ancient wisdom has taught for millennia. Those who teach esoteric techniques, like energy healing, have noticed how, in the last 20 years, students are becoming adept much faster than was true years ago. This reflects the rising level of consciousness. As the general level of consciousness rises, it becomes easier for others to learn and evolve.

            What this means, in terms of “waking up,” is that for us it is easier to “wake up” now than it was for our parents, and much easier than it was for our grandparents. And our children will find it easier still. And every person matters. As Jung noted, none of us can be sure that we aren’t the crucial individual that could bring the world to the “critical mass.”[31]

            This is very important to keep in mind: Any one of us might be that individual. In this context, “waking up” becomes more than just an individual choice, with personal implications: It becomes something of global consequence.[32]

            This is especially true given the approach of the time of the global mind change in 2012. As we have seen already (e.g. on September 11^th, 2001) there will be years of turmoil and tragedy before 2012, during which many people will be fearful. Some will experience devastating events that will open them to the possibility of waking up, or of succumbing to fear. Those who are already awake will need to be on the scene to support the people who are “on the fence,” to explain to them what is really going and support them through the transition.

Conclusion

            “Waking up” is one of the most positive features of our time, as well as an age-old experience of humanity. Many adepts have left records of their experience. All the major religions of the world are built on it (their founders being men who were awake). It is the natural birthright of all human beings, and will eventually be experienced by everyone.

            “Waking up” is essential for all of us in Westernized countries who want to work with the marginalized to create a better world. It is essential because the Second Wave Western mind-set is imperialistic and egotistical, and it will not, indeed cannot, give us a better world. And the process of working to change the world—what I call “leap-frogging”—cannot be ego-driven. We are not in control and cannot try to “make it happen.” A metanoia is needed, and this is what “waking up” is all about. In the essays that follow, I provide insights into the nature and form of leap-frogging, and then consider in depth various aspects of both “waking up” and leap-frogging.

Questions for Further Reflection

Do you consider yourself aware? awake? Do you distinguish between these? If so, how? What is your reaction to my definitions and distinctions between these terms?

Have you ever done something, only to discover afterwards that it had serious impact or effects on others far away (which could not be explained via rational, material causation)?

Do you think your actions could impact others far from you, or the world as a whole? Do you have an appreciation of just how important you are to the evolution of the world?

 

For Further Reading

Briggs, Isabel, with Peter Myers (1980), Gifts Differing. Palo Alto: Consulting Psychologists’ Press.

Ebert, John David (1999), Twilight of the Clockwork God. Tulsa/San Francisco: Council Oak Books.

Harman, Willis (1984), Higher Creativity: Liberating the Unconscious for Breakthrough Insights. Sausalito CA: Institute of Noetic Sciences.

Hitchcock, John (1991), The Web of the Universe: Jung, the “New Physics” and Human Spirituality. New York: Paulist Press.

Jung, Carl (1958), The Undiscovered Self. New York: New American Library.

________ (1992), “Zur Psychologie östlicher Meditation,” Self and Liberation: The Jung-Buddhist Dialogue, eds. Meckel & Moore. New York: Paulist Press.

Kabat-Zinn, Jon (1994), Wherever You Go There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life. New York: Hyperion.

Keirsey, David & Marilyn Bates (1984), Please Understand Me: Character & Temperament Types. Del Mar CA: Prometheus Nemesis Books.

Keyes, Ken Jr. (n.d.), The Hundredth Monkey. Coos Bay OR: Vision Books.

Krishna, Gopi (1993), Living with Kundalini: The Autobiography of Gopi Krishna. Boston: Shambhala.

Meckel, Daniel & Robert Moore (1992), Self and Liberation: The Jung-Buddhist Dialogue. New York: Paulist Press.

Miyuki, Mokesen (1992), ”Self-Realization in the Ten Oxherding Pictures,” Self and Liberation: The Jung-Buddhist Dialogue. New York: Paulist Press.

Ouspensky, P.D. (1971), A New Model of the Universe. New York: Vintage Books.

Sheldrake, Rupert (1981), A New Science of Life: The Hypothesis of Formative Causation. Los Angeles: J.P. Tarcher.

Tart, Charles (1987), Waking Up: Overcoming the Obstacles to Human Potential. Boston: Shambhala.

Thurston, Mark (1984), Discovering Your Soul’s Purpose. Virginia Beach VA: A.R.E. Press.

________(1996), The Great Teachings of Edgar Cayce. Virginia Beach VA: A.R.E. Press.

Watson, Lyall (1975), “Introduction,” in Blair, Lawrence, Rhythms of Vision. New York: Schocken Books.