Shakespeare once wrote, “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” Working to expand your consciousness gives you the ability to dream beyond your philosophy, and increase your experiences beyond your imagination. Emerging consciousness is a philosophy that explores increasing one’s awareness to be able to perceive more than just the common world we experience every day. But what is consciousness?

The brain is limited to what it can perceive. It can only process the information it receives from the five senses in the physical world. It then interprets that information based on past experiences in order to build perception. The mind, as a function separate from the brain, has no limitations of perception. In fact, the mind treats everything that it experiences as real, whether they are imagined or not. If this is consciousness, how do we go about expanding it? This has been a concern of metaphysicians for millennia.

The first forays into the expansion of consciousness began with tribal shamans. Through ritual and special plants these shamans sought to alter their consciousness enough to enter the world of spirits. Their mind expanding techniques allowed them to communicate with beings beyond the physical and bring healing to their people.

The Eastern traditions offer many consciousness expanding techniques. With various meditation and focus techniques, the practitioners are able to achieve various states of consciousness and hold them for long periods of time. Perhaps one of the most profound states of consciousness is the empty mind meditation found within Buddhism. This state allows one to connect to the oneness of all things.

Another form of emerging consciousness may come as a collective shift in consciousness for all of mankind. This may have begun to occur when we crossed the galactic equator in December of 2012. This shift may even be the result of reaching a critical mass as more and more minds come into agreement within the collective unconscious.

In the modern era, the pursuit of expanded consciousness takes on a whole new twist. Science and technology are constantly pushing the boundaries of what we know of the brain and the mind. Many of the ancient techniques of altering consciousness have been validated through nero-research. As scientists are exploring ways to connect the brain to computers we will truly experience an era of trans-humanism.

Improving intuition and the development of psychic abilities is a rather esoteric application of emerging consciousness. Yet, as the mind has the ability to perceive all things as real, the realm of the psychic is not to be discounted. There is much to learn about the nature of consciousness from the teachings of those gifted in extra sensory perception and communicating with spirits.

We can learn from the experts and gain insight from intrepid explorers who have ventured far beyond the confines of common conscious reality. From the dawn of time and into the unfathomable reaches of the future, there seems to be no limit to what the mind can do or perceive.