Only when we tap into our spiritual consciousness, do we experience all-consciousness, love, peace, unity, bliss and freedom from fear, writes SANT Rajinder Singh

There is another ocean, far greater than the physical waters of this earth. An ocean that is far more permanent than the seas. It is an ocean that offers not only refreshing waters to bathe the body, but also refreshing waters to nourish the soul. It is the ocean of spiritual consciousness, of God, waiting to be tapped within each of us. It lies within, waiting to be discovered. It is there for everyone who seeks it.

What is Spiritual Consciousness?

Spiritual consciousness is to be conscious of the soul and God within us. Most of us are aware of our body, of the thoughts passing through our mind, and the world around us. This is called body consciousness or physical consciousness. But we are much more than our body and mind. We are actually a soul, a conscious entity which inhabits the body.

The soul is part of God and is the power that enlivens the body. This consciousness at the level of soul, independent of our body and mind, is what is termed spiritual consciousness. When we tap into our spiritual consciousness, we experience the qualities of spiritual consciousness — all-consciousness, love, peace, unity, bliss and freedom from fear. Let us look at each of these.

Qualities of Spiritual Consciousness

Love: Anyone who has experienced spiritual consciousness has spoken of divine love. The love we think of as love is but a reflection of a much higher love. It is an all-embracing, fulfilling, satisfying love that pulls close to its heart all that exists. It embraces each of us equally, and is an unconditional love — one that does not see our outer differences. We may lose the love of everyone in the world, but we are sustained by a much higher and more permanent love-the divine love of God embracing us from within.

When we tap into our spiritual consciousness, we not only experience love ourselves, but we expand in our own capacity to love others.

All-Consciousness: Another aspect of spiritual consciousness is that of all-consciousness or wisdom. God is all-knowing, all-aware. If we want to get a small glimpse of how this is possible, we need only look to our technology as it exists today. If we look at the Internet, we find that all information is available to us by logging onto different sites. The server that hosts all the sites is a storehouse of all the information on all the sites. By logging on we access all the information we want. God is like a giant server that hosts all our individual souls or websites. Thus, all knowledge about us is known to God. God is also able to simultaneously know what is happening to each of us at every second at the same time. When we tap into that spiritual consciousness, we too attain access to all-consciousness.

Freedom from Fear: What is it that most of us fear the most? Most people fear death. They think of death as the end of their existence. Little do people realise that death is just a transition from this physical world to another realm of existence. It is only by raising our consciousness to a spiritual level that we discover that we exist at the level of the soul even without the physical body. This body is but a covering over the soul. If we can raise our consciousness, we can discover our true identity. By attaining spiritual consciousness, we can become fearless.

Peace: In this world, we are faced with much turmoil, conflict, pain, disease, and suffering. Few live out life without passing through moments of stress and pain. But in the spiritual realms within, all is peace.

The reason we lack peace in this world is due to our ego and desires. The world offers countless temptations, distractions, and attractions. Our soul is overshadowed by our mind, which is attracted to the outer world. When it begins to desire things of this world that are temporary, it is headed for disappointment. Nothing material in this world is lasting. It is all transitory. Only the soul and God are eternal. The moment we pin our hopes on something perishable, we have set ourselves up for disappointment and pain when we lose it.

The only true peace is available when we rise to a level of spiritual consciousness. Then we enter a realm that knows no death, no suffering, and no pain. We find an eternal region of all joy and bliss. If we wish to experience true peace in our life, we need to look within. Peace begins within us.

Unity: At physical level, all we see is physical differences. When we develop a spiritual consciousness, we experience that the same Light of God is within each person. We are all united at the level of soul. When we reach that level of awareness, we start to see all living beings as one big family of the Creator. We no longer differentiate between people based on form and custom. We recognise that there is beauty in diversity. We start treating all people with love and respect, because we know at their very core is the same essence of which we are made.

Bliss: Bliss is a state of pure ecstasy and joy. Any happiness we experience in this world is only a fraction of the joy we experience when we merge in the ocean of spiritual consciousness. There are no adequate words to describe the bliss. We can only imagine at our level what it is like to multiply our greatest bliss by a million-fold.

Total bliss is ours when we enter into a state of spiritual consciousness. We also bring that bliss when our attention returns to physical consciousness. Thus, it is possible to pass through times of trials and tribulations at the physical level, while the soul is experiencing bliss within. It is like a potter who shapes clay. From the outside, the clay pot may be beaten and shaped by the potter, but the potter supports the pot with his or her hand from within. Similarly, the bliss we experience from merging with the ocean of spiritual consciousness stays with us to withstand the stormy seas of life.

How to Attain Spiritual Consciousness?

We can attain spiritual consciousness by focusing our attention within through a process called meditation. We contact our true nature, our soul, and discover that it is one with God, the source of divine love. Only then can we find all the treasures of divinity available to us. We gain all-consciousness and find ourselves free from fear. Through meditation, we can attain a sense of unity and with all the love, we can experience peace and bliss.

Just as the ocean has been there for people of all ages, so is the spiritual ocean of love within us. Meditation is the first step. This technique is available to all those who wish to learn it. It is a free gift of God like air and sunlight. It can be practiced as a science — in which we can experiment in the laboratory of our own body.

The writer is a spiritual leader