I look at the proliferation of superheroes in popular culture, beginning in my childhood with the classics of Superman, Spiderman, Batman and many more. Many people have their personal favorite superhero. Some may look upon this phenomenon as escape into fantasy. I will not argue with that position, but would add that it reflects, in my opinion, the soul's craving, a cri de coeur, for transcendence and evolution into a higher life form.








This picture depicts Wonder Woman, and is promotional art for the cover of Wonder Woman vol. 3, #5 (May, 2007). Art by Terry Dodson (penciler) and Rachel Dodson (inker) Copyrighted by DC Domics.

    We humans labor day and night, not just to keep body and soul together, but to push ourselves and each other to transcend our current existence of quiet desperation. We are driven to improve ourselves in ways that range from the criminal to the altruistic. The criminal believes that something outside of himself is needed in order for life to be improved. The mystic knows that nothing outside of himself can succeed at improving existence if the inner self is ignored. The criminal and the mystic and everyone in between, from cops to teachers to mothers to politicians, are all trying to transcend an existence perceived as limited.

    Do we not feel that the world should be a better place? Improving the world is at the bottom of the scale. As we move up, we want better individuals around us. Eventually, we realize that we must be the change we wish to see in the world and that the real work is within. We are not here to better the world. The world is here to better us.

Presupposition 8: Quantum consciousness is absolutely transcendent. It works to bring about the evolution of ordinary consciousness to its fullness in the infinite. Once tapped into, it supercharges this drive.

    You have never lost quantum consciousness, nor do you have to attain it. It is already within you. Ultimately, what needs to be transcended are one’s own limiting beliefs, ignorance, victim consciousness and anger.

    Once you accept that you are the wave on top of the ocean that lives a relative existence in space/time and that you are also the water that composes the wave but exists before there was a wave and will exist after the wave dies -- and that you are both of these things at the same time -- you will begin a conscious journey toward quantum consciousness and go within yourself to seek the improvements you desire.

Corollary A: The final work of transcendence is within.

    The real enemy is within -- your own fear and rage. Every change you want to see in the world you must bring about in yourself. The world is merely a mirror. The path to transcendence lies within. No one can save you but yourself. A teacher, no matter how wise or brilliant, can only point the way. You must walk the path yourself. You must do the work within.

       This is a difficult journey. Doing this work is hard, but it is the way out for most of us. The bad news is that you must do the work yourself. And it can be very difficult to face your own shit -- the lies you tell yourself, the ways you avoid taking responsibility for your life and how you justify harming others.

    The good news is that the work is very rewarding -- albeit humbling. You will feel a growing sense of serenity as you continue the work.

Corollary B: You do not transcend everyone else, you transcend your own self. Once your consciousness transcends into quantum realms, you will not be above others or better than others. But you will be much more present in the here and now, channeling into space/time the grace of your higher consciousness.

    Buddhism teaches about big mind and small mind. Small mind is ego-driven everyday mind, the mind obsessed with competition, status, appearance and Lindsay Lohan’s latest tribulations. This mind has limited attention, both how long and how much. It is the mind of bureaucracy and most human institutions. It is the prevailing mind on Planet Earth and consists of the first two realms of space/time and ideas/emotions; and it confuses those two realms causing much misery. (See, “The Four Most Toxic Thought Patterns” for more on this confusion of the two realms.)

    Big mind is quantum mind. It encompasses all of the realms, including the bottom two (see the next essay in this series). Ego does not drive this mind. Rather, ego facilitates interaction and action, rather like your web browser brings intelligible order to the chaos of the internet, helping you to find your way. In big mind, ego is the servant -- not the master.

    When you are in big mind, you become unconditional, free of judgment and fear. You also are unconditioned, living in the moment and accepting each circumstance in a new unit of time, unfettered by the traumas of the past and by habitual thinking and behavior.

    Being in big mind is a blissful experience. As you pull your big mind more and more into your daily life, you bring peace and serenity into your environment. This affects those around you; serenity is contagious.

    Rudyard Kipling’s poem below explores this quality of courage, as well as other elements describing big mind.

IF .....

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,

Or being hated, don't give way to hating,

And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;

If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,

if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

    Our civilization no longer extols the virtues described above. They have been replaced with the frantic grasping of crazed egos, fellow citizens, many of whom are in horrible spiritual pain. This cancerous way of life can be escaped with a little work, and you can have an impact on those around you with your calm and courageous presence.