Is it Possible to Link to The Higher Self by Accessing the Subconscious?

Near Death Experiences (NDE) and Rapid Eye Movement (REM) Intrusions were mentioned in an earlier thread. This prompted questions regarding how accessing the subconscious mind has been instrumental in releasing traumatic memories. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a relatively new practice in the field of Psychology in which issues related to upsetting past events are released by accessing the Subconscious.

http://www.emdr.com/briefdes.htm

Since our bodies naturally create the state of REM during sleep, it would seem a necessary process to healthy brain function (especially since tests have shown that lack of REM Sleep produces interruption of "healthy" brain function).

That's just the brain...

How else do we benefit from REM Sleep? Why are dreams so symbolic?

EMDR claims to release painful interpretation of past traumatic experiences, resulting in the recipient experiencing a palpable sense of peace with self.

What if Mental Illness was no longer viewed as "illness", but rather a mere sliver of the Human path to True Self?

in scientology they call then emgrams, and they accsess them through autiting.

i'm not a scientologist, but i lived with one for 10 years

Not familiar with Scientology to make the comparison...

Interesting, though. As soon as Scientology is mentioned, I'm sure many doors to many minds slam shut.

Doesn't history show that a palpable sense of peace with one's self has been most highly sought.

Isn't this Human desire what inspires the pursuit of Religion, Spirituality, Philosophy, Psychology, etc...?

What if our ability to access this state of peacefulness somehow involved the subconscious mind as a link or unseen umbilical cord to our angel/higher self?

Umm...

I allways thought the subconcious mind was a link to the primitive brain.

My higher self is allways awake... I just ignore it sometimes.

Yes... Current Psychology focuses much on the Primative "Flight or Fight" aspects of the Subconscious Mind.

What if it served MUCH more?

Having experienced EMDR, I can attest to the process being one of the most remarkable experiences of my lifetime. The hole experience was as a "Spiritual Awakening". Since that time (14 years ago), I've been convinced that there is MUCH more to the subconscious mind that has yet to be revealed.

For example, why do we dream? There are any number of theories. How is it that REM (an access key to the subconscious) allows dreaming? Why all the symbolism in dreams? Why is it that, in controlled studies, days worth of "material" or scenes in a dream are measured in only seconds of actual time? Isn't it possible that these serve a greater purpose? Or is it all just random happenstance?

I personally believe that the subconscious holds the keys to a lot of things..........

A lot of why we do what we do is based in the subconscious........why we react a certain way to others......why the smell of a particular food brings a certain feeling but we can't quite figure out why. The "whys" are there.......we just have to uncover them.

I have learned that it isn't difficult to access the "subconscious" (or the part of the mind that is usually hidden). When I use the word, I don't necessarily mean it in any scientific way......simply the part of our brain that holds information that we aren't constantly aware of.

I am surprised at how many people never examine why they may feel a certain way about something. Why they may not get a long with certain people............

It's all there...........u just have to start by asking why??

I'm not sure what "EMDR" means?? I'll have to look.

Anyhoo.....

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing

It mimics a pattern of eye movement (can also utilize sound or touch) that occurs during REM Sleep, thereby accessing the same type of "place" in the mind that will allow freedom from previously perceived limitations of self based on traumatic experience. That's the Therapeutic aspect.

http://www.emdr.com/briefdes.htm

I believe there's MUCH more and that Psychology has merely scratched the surface.

As I was reading this thread I was beginning to wonder why we call it the 'sub'conscious? Why aren't we calling it the 'supra'conscious?

Then when I got to Plainome's post I began to realize that there maybe many different kinds of 'subconscious'.

See seems to be eluding to the 'subconscious' as parts of our regular brain that we simply ignore most of the time, but that we can access if we choose to do so. She then goes on to suggest that most people simply never examine these 'issues'.

This seems to suggest that are 'subconscious' is simply anything we refuse to think about or face.

I'm not sure if I would agree with that concept. I don't think of the things that we simply don't address as being our 'subconscious'. I think what she describes is just parts of our conscious mind that we simply refuse to think about or face.

Does not thinking about something make it become 'subconscious'.

I suppose in a specific technical way that definition could be valid. If you're not currently concious (or aware) of something that you actually have the ability to know or address, then does that information reside in your 'subconscious' mind?

Like I say, from a purely technical point of view I suppose that definition makes sense and would certainly be useful jargon for psychologists.

However, for me, this view of the 'subconscious' isn't what I would consider to be the 'subconscious'. For me, this would just be a part of our concious mind. Just because we aren't currently focusing on something doesn't necessarily push it into our 'subconcious' does it?

When we are at work on our job we probably focus on things that we don't even think about at all in normal casual social situations. We can never be fully conscious of everything we know at any one point in time. Our brains simply aren't geared to be used that way. We just can't access all our thoughts at once.

When I was younger I used to be able to think quite deeply on logical matters. By that I mean that I could follow many different trains of logic simultaneously. I have always been amazed at the ability of the brain to be able to do that.

However, my brain isn't as sharp as it used to be. I've definitely noticed a decline in my ability to keep track of many different lines of logical simultaneously. This shows up most when thinking about mathematics and physics problems. I just can't keep as many simultaneous trains of logic going at one time anymore. I now need to reduce my focus to as few as two or three ideas at a time. When before I could keep track of maybe 20 or more different simultaneous logical pathways. I've found this to be so crippling that it's no longer fun to delve into the complex mathematics of things like quantum physics. I've burnt out some of the CPUs in my brain evidently.

Moving on,...

I often wonder why they never coined the term 'supraconscious'. I think what many people mean when they refer to a 'subconscious' is not the idea of parts of our ordinary brain that we don't normally access, but rather they think of it more in a mystical sense of a higher-self. More like our 'true spiritual mind'.

So I guess the very term 'subconscious' can mean different things to different people.

Abra



Yup...

Knowing Psychology's definitions of the subconscious, I believe it may serve far more, much like Abra's "true spiritual mind".

Give a monkey a brain and he'll swear he's the center of the universe.

To me, when I say the "subconscious" it is what drives us to do what we do....... It is what we are unaware of. If you know you are hungry and you get something to eat.....hunger is not in ur subconscious. But, if you are intimidated by men with beards........and have no idea why, the answer is in ur subconscious. Once it has become accessed.....and you can continue to access it when you so choose, it is now a part of your conscious mind, you just simply choose not to think on it.

Answers that simply come out of "no where" come from the subconscious. Art and poetry, imo, come from the subconscious. You feel something.....but do not know how to express it, so you put it into paintings, or art..........the subconscious is speaking.......and it is usually your subconscious mind that such paintings and words speak to......

The conscious mind is the world of explanations........the subconscious mind is the world of feelings and intuition....it is what you can not explain. Once you can explain it.....it becomes the conscious.

I know, it may not be how everyone views it, it is simply how I view it.

Well, I certainly would never argue with semantics.

I think everyone is entitled to use words to mean whatever they want. I would also agree with you that many pscyhologists probably do use this definition for the 'subconscous'. It's a valid concept, and the word fits this concept quite well.

This is why I'm kind of amazed that the term 'supraconscious' never became popular. A word that could mean something different from the technical psychological view of the subconcious.

I guess what I'm trying to get at is the fundamental idea of whether we are just our brains (all of consciousness stems solely from our physical brains), or whether we are indeed linked to some 'higher' spiritual or collective consciouness.

When I meditate and watch the river of thoughts flow by I wonder there they all come from. They aren't 'mine'. I don't feel like I'm generating them. All I can do is reach into the river and pluck one out to ponder.

But where do they come from? And where do they go?

If I don't grab onto them they just flow away. In fact that vast majority of them do flow away. There are far too many thoughts to possibly focus on them all. They are endless! I must pick and choose.

And like Jeanniebean often suggests, whatever thoughts we grab onto similar thoughts are sure to follow. It is true that like thoughts attract like thoughts.

This is even evident between people. People who think alike are much more apt to be attracted to each other than people who think totally differently. (unless sex is involved, then all thinking goes in the trash can )

LOL....unless ur me.....

I see what you're saying, and I suppose I could see part of the "subconscious" being ur "supraconscious"....as in the thoughts/feelings did not/do not originate from u.

BUT, who is to say that there isn't more than just "you" in there?? I mean, if you believe in reincarnation...maybe those thoughts come from "others" you have been, but are no longer consciously aware of?? (just a thought)

Or maybe....there are many different "aspects" to you. I read a book called "When Rabbit Howls" about a woman who had many different split personalities....but it was a mirror of some of my own thoughts. The difference was/is that I am consciously aware of what the "other" parts of my mind are thinking....but not always. I have access, but am not always using that access. When I am in "scientific" mode I'm not thinking so in "philisophical" mode. And "mommy" mode isn't the same as "sex slave" mode, lol. They are all aspects....and sometimes I'm aware of it, and these different "aspects" even "argue" and I try to find common ground between them.

Maybe I'm just weird, lol. Sometimes I feel like my mind is having a tug of war.....but anyhoo.

It could very well be that there is a higher consciousness that we all can plug into, or that is constantly flowing..... I can see it, and somewhat attest to it.

(P.S. My last point was to clarify what I feel the difference between the subconscious and conscious mind is.....that once it becomes "conscious" it is no longer "subconscious".....but u got that, lol)

History shows humankind's hunger for reconnecting to an essence, a hint, a memory of something....I suspect it is remembering BEFORE this coming back into human form.
Humankind's historical grapple with creating what they think it may be... and all the fractured differences (religion), of what we have in common...

Yes Splendid, I feel all of those avenues, religion, philosophy, psychology, etc...are humankind's way of getting back to what they left behind, to be a human experience.

Why does the subconscious mind have to be separated from the conscious mind, the psyche, the ego, all of it?

That sense of peace, of coming Home, is all encompassing... it is the Who of us... all the separating is trying to define the What of us..

That sense of peace requires nothing.

Nothing.

Perhaps people could try it sometime, it is quite peaceful....Being Nothing.

LOL, simplified...... I love simplicity. And it is true.....it all boils down to "nothing". (a concept not easily grasped, and I still have a bit of trouble with it)

I've been going through some unique experiences lately. I bought some relaxation CDs. Just sounds of running brooks, thunderstorms and rain, birds singing. Some of have music, others are just the sounds of pure nature.

I've found some interesting things whilst listening to these. First off, I can put them into three distinct categories.

1. Sounds of pure nature (no living creatures). Like bubbling brooks for example.
2. Sounds of non-human living creatures (like birds singing or whale songs)
3. Sounds created by the human mind (background music - no vocals).

Ironically I get the deepest meditation from listening to the CDs with background music. I think there is some innate connection there with the human manipulation of sounds. Whether driven by emotion or intellect, the human-produced music is something that my brain can clearly identify with as being innate unto itself. Innately human I suppose.

The other thing that I've started to do very recently is allow my emotions to be projected outward. I think in the past I have always tried to 'absorb' the emotions of the universe. In other words, I've always tried to turn myself in the patterns of the universe.

Recently however, it has been brought to my attention that putting my feelings out into the universe is actually the more desirable thing to do. My output will resonate back to me as karma. I never really thought about this much before (on a conscious level).

So now I've been letting my emotions emanate away from my body. These are very good emotions. Euphoric emotions albeit calm and non-anxious. This has been like a floodgate of unbelievable magnitude. I can actually feel my emotions flowing away from me in all directions. Even more than the three dimensions that we commonly think of. It's hard to explain logically. I can only say that I can feel it, I can't describe it.

These sensations have been so powerful that sometimes I feel like a star. Literally, like a star shining brightly emanating emotions like bright white light. These are good emotions. Absolutely uninhibited childlike innocence flowing out into the universe. Emotions that I have guarded for years feeling emanating away from me.

You might think that this would be draining, but on the contrary it is extremely fulfilling and results in more energy and feelings of well-being. It's also a totally effortless. I'm not forcing these emotions out, I'm allowing them to radiate. It was actually a drain to hold them in for all these years. I just never realized it. It requires more energy to restrain them than to set them free. They are also endless, or at least it certainly feels that way. I could burn these emotions off like the sun for billions of years, I'm sure of it. It's an inexhaustible supply of true inner self.

This might seem strange being in the thread on the subconscious, but the point is that this whole process is beyond logic. It's not even about 'thinking' its about 'being'.

What do we do when we begin to talk about the act of being without thought? Perhaps we should ask Jess Lee this question since she is always taking about just 'being'.

Here we enter a state of being that has nothing to do with thought. It is neither conscious, nor subconscious. It's totally outside of the realm of thought altogether. It's a state of pure being without having anything to do with thinking at all. It's a state of pure emotion without any analytical process of thought required.

Is that 'subconscious', or something beyond consciousness altogether?

There's Jess Lee.

Speak of the devil.

I just mentioned you in my last post.

The idea of being 'nothing' is what I was trying to get at I suppose. Although I would quite call it 'nothing' as it most certainly is 'something'.

It just isn't a state of thinking. It's a state of 'being' without thought.

Although I must confess that I did initially enter that state with the 'thought' that I was going to dwell (or focus) on feeling GOOD.

So it was a guided state of being I suppose.

I mean I could have laid down thinking about how much I hate paying taxes and dwelled on that ideal.

So I do believe there is some idea or 'thought' (or mood, or focus) that is required as an initial 'guide' to send a person off in the correct direction.

We are what we dwell on.

Or we dwell in our thoughts.

How's that?

In other words, we are a thought-wallowing species.

What do we do when we begin to talk about the act of being without thought? Perhaps we should ask Jess Lee this question since she is always taking about just 'being'.

Here we enter a state of being that has nothing to do with thought. It is neither conscious, nor subconscious. It's totally outside of the realm of thought altogether. It's a state of pure being without having anything to do with thinking at all. It's a state of pure emotion without any analytical process of thought required.

Is that 'subconscious', or something beyond consciousness altogether?
*********************************************

James why are you asking me?

You just answered yourself in the next paragraph!

I suspect it is the sense, the sensation, the essence, the perfume, of Home.
It has neither conscious, nor unconscious, nor subconscious attachment... it is completely 'tapped' into the pure energy of the universe.

No thing required.

"Here we enter a state of being that has nothing to do with thought. It is neither conscious, nor subconscious. It's totally outside of the realm of thought altogether. It's a state of pure being without having anything to do with thinking at all. It's a state of pure emotion without any analytical process of thought required."

That is what I call the "nothing"..........not sure if Jess would agree.....but that is what it is for/to me. It is as you said, simply being.

(I haven't figured out how to quote only parts of a post, and advice??)