In the second state, waking sleep, we are ruled by the ego, and we see ourselves subjectively. In the third state, self-consciousness, we engage the soul and see ourselves objectively. This is typically a huge “wake-up call” for many because once you begin to observe yourself, you realize that you really do live most of your life in a state of sleep, ruled by the ego. The ego thrives in the second state of consciousness where it is king. However, it is constantly threatened of you becoming conscious of it. Consequently, the ego will put up an incredible fight to keep you from entering the third state. Selfconsciousness is the death of the ego because at this level, you awaken to your true existence and see the ego for what it truly isnothing but an illusion and the source of all your desire, pain and suffering.
It may sound odd, but observing yourself is not natural. It requires effort. Remember all the things I mentioned earlier that we do automatically? Now try observing yourself doing those activities. Become consciously aware of all the things that are occurring simultaneously that allow you to make it safely to your destination.
You can observe yourself doing anything. You must observe yourself always.
The third level of consciousness has multitudes of levels within it. If you are just starting to make the effort to be in the Present, you will probably find your moments of presence are short-lived and infrequent. However, in time, they will increase in duration, frequency, and intensity, but not without practice. Observe, observe, observe
The Fourth State of Consciousness
The fourth state, and highest level of consciousness, is objective-consciousness. In this state, you become objective to the world. You see the Absolute Truth to All and Everything just as our Creator intended. You see everything in its true form, as distinct frequencies of vibrations of energy. There are multitudes of layers within this level, too. While this state of consciousness is within reach to everyone, achieving it and remaining there is quite rare. Typically, for one to enter into this realm, you have spent years of accumulated, hard work in the third state becoming conscious of yourself, living in a state of Presence.
While self-consciousness, or Awakening, is a lower form of Enlightenment, objective consciousness is true Enlightenment. Throughout history, individuals have spiritually awakened, but fewer have actually reached true Enlightenment. Jesus, Buddha, Mohammad, Moses, Lao Tsu are some of the individuals who did.
It is important to know about the levels of consciousness, primarily levels two and three. By experiencing level three (self consciousness), you verify that level two is nothing more than the ego identified with itself. All problems, both personal and global, are the result of people (including world leaders) living in a state of consciousness dominated by the ego. The ego is the cause of all suffering, conflict, war, fear, greed, prejudice, anxiety, worry, even self-hatred. To rise above the ego, one must make the effort to be present, because in Presence the ego disappears. This is why awakening is often referred to as a “re-birth”. When you awaken, you live in a higher level of consciousness, awareness, and being. You realize you are not the body or ego, but a soul. If you can live with the soul piloting your life, you have been truly re-born and are well on your way towards Enlightenment. And, if enough individuals can collectively awaken, a global, Spiritual Renaissance can occur, one that can truly change the course of mankind.
2. Aim:
After reaching stage 2 or 1, the client now being in a more resourceful, aware and self acceptance stage now needs to aim for what he wants to achieve. The areas identified in the present state shall be very deep level changes which shall transform him. The aware state shall automatically help him on indentifying what he should be aiming for, that the power of the state. The coach needs to help in constructing the objectives deriving the insights from his earlier state. This needs to be objectives around self management like increasing resilience , satisfaction, intuition/insights and self fulfillments. What he wants to achieve to be in harmony with self and others?
I relate this to the Mahabharata( Hindu mythology) episode of Arjuna being asked by his archery guru Drona about what is he seeing when practicing , he says only the eye of the bird and the others were describing everything else than the target. This can only happen if the focus of the objective is crystal clear. Many time clients comes to coaching with no clear goal in mind or would have goal layering where the actual goal is lying deep inside layers of other said goals. The coach needs to guide the client to discover his deep rooted goal/objective/concern. This is very important and here lies the coach skill from being transformational and not transactional. I have encountered a situation a person says the lack of role clarity for him to not do well but when the issue is probed deeper, it’s the unwillingness to push the boundaries to make change happen, is to go beyond the comfort zone and collaborate with people and be the owner of his own role components are the actual issues
What does client has to do now? Has he reached the final Spiritual Realization? Has he achieved spiritual awakening? No, the real work begins now. Concentration power, that is the power to hold the attention on one single object or subject, is needed. If it is strong that is fine. If not, it can certainly be improved by appropriate exercises,
When the concentration ability is well developed, it is much easier to silence the mind. When the mind is silent, thoughts do not distract, and worries do not trouble. When there are no clouds, the bright beautiful sun is seen. When there are no thoughts, the everpresent sweetness of the Self is experienced.
Coaching application:
This can be done by a coach 10 min quick relaxation exercise and cleansing exercise which I have termed as “divine light”. This states that the client to a higher resourceful state drops guards and defenses and makes him open to the transformation process. In corporate environment there is often tendency to intellectualize things and this exercise helps to avoid those traps.
Act:
This is where the actual intent comes into play. If the client has the true intent to change, commitment is has been generated already, else the coach needs to help in doing so by creating some timelines indicators. If the earlier steps have been done well, this stage gets automatically integrated and action steps emerge automatically. The better the insights the better are the decisions and better are the outcomes.
Coaching application:
Action is derived from the intent and commitment to change and the relevance of the action. The cleansing process helps the client realise the most effective action for him and creates the inner desire to do it also. The coach needs to understand when the client actions are because of this state and use the opportunity to leap forward that awakening to action. Like What can you do now about it? The priority of goals would have been sorted, The coach also needs to reaffirm here that whether this was something the client has always want to achieve. What does he think can create maximum impact or what are the top 3 things he can do are powerful questions to elicit the best action step
Arise:
The client having gone through this transformation cycle would have arisen to more “enlightened, energized and enthusiastic being and shall have arisen to a higher state of being and living that from where he started. This is the true power of coaching and goes beyond the realms of just behavioral change. He would be a more cooperative, collaborative person. He would be able to take better decisions and shall get increased intuition and insights. This would also help in attaining self fulfillment/actualization. In an executive coaching scenario he would be a more effective leader/manager. This shall help in increasing efficiency and hence make better profits for the Organization. This is the way a company sponsoring for Coaching can get the ROI from the arise state of the employee after the coaching process.