In spiritual circles we may hear of different states of consciousness, of raising the level of consciousness, and progressing to higher levels of consciousness. Is this something to aim for? Is it something we can achieve?

Let's first explain what we mean by consciousness. There are different states of being conscious or unconscious, when the body is physically awake or asleep. That's not what I mean here. We are talking about the spiritual state of awareness a being has. How spiritual a being is, we could say.

But in Non-Duality we don't consider there to really be multiple beings or multiple states of consciousness. Consciousness is all there is. It is One Infinite Awareness. It has no form. It doesn't move and it doesn't change. There is nothing to achieve. Though Consciousness seems to be stretched out like a beam of light dispersed into a rainbow of variety, it is only an appearance of many different levels. Truly there is no divide between the levels, just as there is no clear divide between the colours of the rainbow. The colours flow through the change.

The rainbow is a good way to understand how One Consciousness can seem to cover many different states, whilst remaining one. The apparent colours of the rainbow can't really be numbered. We can single some out and call them yellow, red, blue etc. But they aren't really defined. There aren't even multiple shades of yellow, for instance; there is spectrum of yellow, just as there is a spectrum of each colour we choose to single out from the flowing spectrum of colour that is a rainbow. Note also that what we see as a rainbow is really colourless 'white light', seemingly dispersed as a spectrum of colour. The total sum of this dispersion of colour is the colourless 'white light'.

Similarly, Consciousness does not disperse into multiple consciousnesses or a range of states of consciousness. It only seems to do that. Consciousness remains One throughout the seeming dispersion. What this means is that this world of many aware beings is really One Aware Being playing at dispersing itself as many. This apparent separation doesn't really happen.

The One Aware Being, or Consciousness, does not move or change. It doesn't need to become something else. There is nothing else. It cannot raise its level. It is no level, yet it encompasses all seemingly separated levels. Progression is a play within Perfect Consciousness. All progression through states of consciousness aims to reach a culmination in Infinite Consciousness. The aim of spiritual progression is to transcend progression and realise the timeless, ever-present Consciousness. Aware beings seem to develop, or fall from high states of consciousness to low states, then work towards returning to the highest state of consciousness. But it is all a play of separation. None are separate from the Perfect Clarity of Consciousness that is the Infinite One Aware Being.

Within planet Earth lifeforms have developed and continue to develop. They rise up from the low levels and take to the air. They rise up from hardened limited forms to become freer. Their highest achievement is Self Awareness. It is the dropping of the error of individuality that brings the freedom of the recognition that there is only this One Aware Being, in which this seeming spiritual progression plays out.

This spiritual progression towards the highest state of consciousness cannot be achieved. There really is no end to the progression. Well, the end is in the recognition that there is no end. You see, reality is infinite, not finite. Reality is not divided into states or levels. It only seems to be. So there comes a leap of recognition, from developing states of consciousness, recognising that there is only Infinite Consciousness. This is Self Awareness, Enlightenment, or Liberation. It is the dropping of ignorance. The dropping of the knowledge of finite things as being correct, and an opening up to the natural freedom of the Infinite.

We are not bound by spiritual progression. At heart we are complete. We are not that which progresses. We witness progression and change within the permanent perfect clarity of Infinite Consciousness.