Understanding Levels of Consciousness: The Closed Window Analogy

Have you ever wondered why two people can experience exactly the same situation but see it completely differently?

One person may see danger where another sees opportunity.

One may feel rejected while another simply accepts that someone has a different opinion.

One may constantly worry about what could go wrong, while another feels calm and trusts that they will deal with whatever happens.

The situation can be the same.

The way it is being experienced can be completely different.

This is one simple way to begin understanding levels of consciousness.

What Does Consciousness Actually Mean?

Consciousness can be a difficult subject because the word itself sounds complicated.

In very basic terms, consciousness is your awareness and your experience of being alive.

It affects how you experience yourself, other people and the world around you.

When our consciousness is heavily influenced by fear, emotional pain, old beliefs, expectations and conditioning, we may not see situations very clearly.

We don't just experience what is happening.

We experience what is happening through everything we already carry inside us.

As those inner layers begin to clear, our perception can change.

We may become less reactive, less fearful and less controlled by our thoughts and emotions. We can begin to experience more clarity, acceptance, love, presence and connection.

Eventually, spiritual teachings describe much higher states where our normal sense of being a separate individual begins to fall away and consciousness itself becomes the experience.

That can sound very abstract.

So I've simplified it using something almost everyone can understand:

a dirty window.

#

Imagine Your Consciousness as a Closed Window

Imagine you are standing inside a house looking through a closed window.

Outside the window is reality.

But the glass represents your mind and your perception of that reality.

Now imagine the window is absolutely covered in grime.

It is so dirty that you can barely see outside.

You might see a shadow move but have no idea what caused it.

You might see a shape and believe it is something dangerous.

You might hear a noise and immediately imagine the worst because you cannot actually see what is happening.

The less you can see, the more your mind has to guess.

And those guesses will naturally be influenced by your fears, previous experiences and beliefs.

That is what the bottom of the diagram represents.

The Bottom of the Window: Very Little Can Be Seen

At Below 2D - Destruction, the window is almost completely covered.

Very little light gets through.

In the window analogy, this represents an extremely dense state where almost everything is being experienced through darkness, pain, hopelessness or destruction.

Move up to Below 3D - Anxiety, and tiny areas of the window begin to appear.

You can see something outside, but nowhere near enough to understand the whole picture.

When you cannot see clearly, uncertainty can easily become fear.

"What if something bad happens?"

"What if I'm not safe?"

"What if I lose this?"

"What if I can't cope?"

The mind tries to protect itself by constantly looking for possible danger.

The window isn't completely black anymore, but the view is still heavily distorted.

3D - Physical: Need

At 3D Physical, represented by Need, more of the window becomes visible.

But there is still a lot you cannot see.

At this level, life can become heavily focused on the physical world and what we believe we need from it.

We may look outside the window and think:

"I need that to be happy."

"I need that person to love me."

"I need more money."

"I need people to approve of me."

"I need life to go my way."

Because we can only see part of the picture, fulfilment can appear to exist somewhere outside ourselves.

So we keep looking through the window for the next person, possession, achievement or experience that we hope will finally make us feel complete.

4D - Astral: Trust and Positivity

At 4D Astral, associated here with Trust and Positivity, more grime has been removed.

More light enters.

For the first time, you may begin to realise that some of the things you were frightened of were not quite what you thought they were.

You begin questioning old beliefs.

You may recognise patterns in yourself.

You start becoming more open to the possibility that life isn't simply happening to you.

There is still dirt on the window, so perception isn't completely clear.

But there is enough light coming through to begin seeing life differently.

5D - Consciousness Begins: Inner Light and Inner Love

At 5D, represented in the diagram by Inner Light and Inner Love, the window is becoming much clearer.

This is where the analogy becomes particularly interesting.

You start noticing that the light was never created by cleaning the window.

The light was already outside.

The dirt was simply preventing you from experiencing it.

In the same way, qualities such as love, peace and inner connection may begin to feel less like something you have to obtain from the outside world.

You begin discovering them within yourself.

Instead of constantly asking, "What can I get from life?", there can be a growing awareness of what already exists within.

6D–8D: I AM Presence and Beingness

At 6D–8D, represented by Presence, most of the window is clear.

There is much less between you and what is actually happening.

Instead of constantly living in yesterday or worrying about tomorrow, there is greater awareness of now.

You are here.

You are present.

Thoughts may still arise. Emotions may still arise. Life still happens.

But you don't necessarily become lost inside every thought or emotion.

You can observe what is happening without immediately becoming consumed by it.

There is a growing experience of simply being.

9D–10D: Awareness

At 9D–10D, described in this model as the first step of enlightenment, the window is almost completely clear.

There is very little distortion left.

Rather than being completely identified with your thoughts, emotions, personality and personal story, awareness itself becomes much more obvious.

You begin to recognise the difference between the things you are aware of and the awareness that is aware of them.

That is a very different way of experiencing yourself.

11D: Divine Love

At 11D, described here as where Divine Eternity begins, the window is virtually transparent.

The separation between yourself and everything outside the window becomes less important.

Love is no longer simply an emotion directed towards certain people or things.

It becomes more like a state of being.

There is a deeper experience of connection, timelessness and unity.

12D: Full Consciousness

Finally, at 12D – Infinitely Beyond, the window is completely clear.

Nothing is obstructing the view.

And this is where the window analogy reaches its deepest point.

You spent the whole journey cleaning the glass so that you could see the light.

But eventually there can be the recognition that the light was never missing.

It was there when the window was dirty.

It was there when you were afraid.

It was there when you were searching outside yourself.

It was there through every level.

You simply couldn't experience it clearly because something was blocking the view.

Look at the Diagram Again

Now look at The Closed Window of Consciousness diagram from the bottom upwards.

Notice something important.

The window never opens.

And the world outside doesn't need to change.

What changes is the amount of grime between you and what is already there.

At the bottom, almost everything is hidden.

As you move upwards, more becomes visible.

More light enters.

More detail appears.

Eventually, the glass becomes so clear that it almost seems as though there is nothing between you and what you are seeing.

That is the simplest way I can explain the movement through levels of consciousness.

It is not necessarily about adding more to yourself.

It can be about removing what prevents you from seeing clearly.

Fear.

Conditioning.

Old beliefs.

Emotional wounds.

Expectations.

Attachments.

Judgements.

The stories we have built about ourselves and the world.

Layer by layer, the window becomes clearer.

So Where Is Your Window?

The purpose of looking at levels of consciousness isn't to judge yourself or decide that one person is "better" than another.

It is an opportunity to become more aware.

You may also recognise yourself in different levels at different times. You might feel peaceful and present in one area of life while still experiencing fear or need in another.

So rather than simply asking:

"What level am I?"

Try asking:

"What is currently clouding my window?"

What am I afraid of?

What am I trying to control?

What do I believe I need from other people?

What expectations am I holding onto?

What old beliefs am I still looking through?

What am I unable to accept?

Because perhaps the journey isn't about desperately trying to reach the top of a chart.

Perhaps it starts much closer to home.

Notice what is covering your window - and begin there.

Note: The dimensional labels in this diagram are used as part of a spiritual/metaphysical model for exploring consciousness. They should not be confused with dimensions as defined and studied in physics.