Is Reality Real

Introduction

The modern world is characterized by a high rate of change. Rules and laws change, possibilities change, reality changes as well. Today’s world is so unstable that it begs the question: is it as real as commonly thought? Ancient spiritual traditions claim that it is not. They claim that the world we perceive as real is largely a product of our perception. The invisibility of the real world is mentioned in Christianity, Buddhism (‘the visible world is an illusion’) and other traditions.

The question of whether the world is real and what it actually is could have been perceived as vague and disconnected from reality even a short time ago. Today, though, it has become part and parcel of our everyday, real-life problems.

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Our efficiency and the results of our actions largely depend on our belief in the reality of what we do and what we expect from our actions. The modern person has a magical ability to create ‘reality’ in accordance with his or her convictions and beliefs. This ability is based on higher levels (as compared to previous eras) of concentration, decision-taking speed and the scale of perception.

Within human relationships, we all live inside our own unique reality, which is significantly different from the reality of others. These differences manifest themselves, among other things, in convictions. Someone will say ‘You can’t trust anyone’; someone else ‘Everyone is worthy of being trusted.’ We clash with each other, vying for our own realities.

Let us imagine we live with the conviction that the world is hostile. In that case, we will behave according to this rule: unwittingly, we install verbal, energy, behavioral barriers between ourselves and others. We try to control and suppress them. Defending themselves from such pressure, people will react in kind. Soon, we will see that other people are actually unreliable and aggressive, just as we expected from the start. This is called a self-fulfilling prophecy.

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There is only one area where the perception of all people looks the same, and that is the material world. It is assumed that objective laws are at work here. There is a different view, however: the world of ‘things’ is a denser—materialized—state of human being and human relationships. If we confine ourselves to the material world, we will find ourselves in the realm of shared reality; this is called collective ‘habits of perception’, as though all people were taught to perceive things the same way. The laws of nature fall into this category.

Are they absolute, though? Is it possible to change shared reality? Will the laws of nature stay the same if we all change our way of perceiving the world? In spiritual traditions it is thought that the material world is just as conventional as the world of human relations in the previous example. The material world can seem conventional even within the scientific paradigm. Modern science is, indeed, based on spatial and temporal descriptions. Space and time are seen as objective and absolute categories, while the force of gravity is seen as the effect of the curving of space-time. But what is space and what is time, and how can we imagine them?

The traditional approach says that time does not exist: ‘an instant is equal to eternity’; ‘eternity is present in every instant’. This means being here and now in the present, simultaneously perceiving the past, present and future as a single multifaceted experience. It can be acknowledged as whole only in the especially subtle and remote levels of consciousness. Later we will call this ‘the shapeless world’.

Space and time are born as perception effects when we try to observe this world from our usual, everyday states of consciousness. The spatio-temporal development of this multidimensional experience appears when our consciousness descends into the gross plane (the three-dimensional world) from the sphere of the multidimensional shapeless world where it was originally and to where it should return.1 This is the human way of processing the multidimensional experience in the gross plane (the dense layer of consciousness) where we live. If space and time are effects of perception, the whole world inside them is just as conditional as those categories. It means that it is possible to influence the ‘world of things’ by changing the collective habits of perception.

Some traditions claim that we create the world around us with our intentions. They also speak of individual and collective intention. The laws of nature are supported by collective intention. An individual person cannot change them. But in the world of human relations, individual intention becomes a real force. Sometimes it can come across as magical power over the results of our own actions and interactions with others. In the same story, one leader is successful and the other is not. This says that the individual intention or personal strength of one is greater than that of the other.

To what extent can we develop our individual intention? In spiritual traditions it is considered that there are no limits. Everyone can be master of their own reality and destiny.

Some might say this is absurd; some would be troubled and frightened by such an idea, but others might be inspired and encouraged to take responsibility for the results of all their actions, victories and failures. Present-day psychology agrees with spiritual traditions about everyone being the author of their own problems. The question then arises: is it possible to avoid them? To what extent can we change our reality? Can we change it so as to shape the future in accordance with our dreams and ambitions? Stated this way, the question of the reality of being is no longer that abstract.

It is believed that we can only change destiny by changing ourselves. When we encounter an obstacle, it can be perceived in different ways—either as a consequence of objective reasons or as a ‘sign’ of insufficient levels of internal readiness. In the first case the external world is perceived as objective reality (the objective source of problems) which has to be changed—a difficult, sometimes impossible task. In the second case we have to change our own stereotypes (change ourselves) through internal actions—intentions, convictions (beliefs), ways of perception and attitudes to things. The challenges in this case should be perceived as signs—specific directions for internal change. Such internal change leads to changes in external plot lines and the removal (or modification) of obstacles. This can manifest itself as acquiring ‘magical powers’ over external reality.

This book attempts to discuss these issues of practical importance. It will link the appearance of external problems to insufficient power of intention and outdated habits of perception. By changing our perception habits we change ourselves and the reality we create. This book will discuss the principles and methods behind these changes.

Parts I and II discuss the nature and laws of internal space, as well as the tools for shaping perception habits and external strategies. What is crucial here is how to reveal these outdated habits and strategies.

Part III outlines techniques for changing (or canceling) outdated strategies and creating new ones. Here we suggest a set of energy practices (termed surveying, transformation and not-doing) performed in a specific sequence. These routines do not just help solve actual tasks or problems; they also help strategically store personal strength, which grows along with concentration and sensitivity. We discuss the basic ideas and structure of the practices, and describe various procedures for transforming energy, such as concentration techniques (based on principles of the redistribution of attention/concentration) and body-oriented techniques.2

Finally, Part IV discusses external reality as a projection of our internal (or inner) area. In this approach, time and space—along with the world that surrounds us—lose their objective quality and begin to be perceived as individual experiences, intuitively and sensorially. Based on those ideas, we discuss the possibility of gaining intuitive knowledge of the future and understanding how and to what extent we can influence it.

PART I

THE INTERNAL AREA

1. The notions of external and internal area

The whole world available to human perception can be conditionally divided into two: the external and the internal area. The external area comprises material items from the outside world and connections between them. Scientific descriptions, external rules, technologies, laws and other formalized processes also belong to the external area. Objects and rules of the external area are generally perceived as objective reality.

The internal area encompasses the individual sensory reactions and experiences that occur on contact with external objects. Besides sensations and emotional reactions, they include personal stories, convictions (beliefs), value preferences, expectations, dreams and so on. The objects of the internal area are various internal states (or conditions). They include not only those states we currently experience or have experienced in the past, but also potential states that we have not experienced before. Each internal state comprises a number of elements, usually sensations, emotions and thoughts. As a result, the main types of activity in the internal area are experiencing sensations (feelings), emotions and thoughts.

Sensory treatment of the objects of the internal area—sensations, emotions, mental constructs—is presented as a world view. The part of the world view perceived in the same way by the majority of people would be expressed as shared reality. Other aspects of the world view are based on certain internal, sometimes deeply personal, premises and principles shaping individual reality. To designate these we will use the term ‘internal axiomatics’. For example, notions like ‘a tree’, ‘an animal’, ‘a building’ are perceived equally by different people, and thus belong to shared reality. However, statements about the qualities of those objects belong to the internal area and depend on the type of internal axiomatics. Any tree can look beautiful to one person and ugly to another. A building can seem high to someone and low to someone else. Thus, notions of ‘beautiful’ tree, ‘dangerous’ animal, ‘high’ building belong to individual reality.

Every time we live through external events—aspects of human relationships, successes, failures, etc.—we find ourselves within the internal area. By observing ourselves when experiencing external difficulties, we can recognize (become aware of) these experiences as feelings located somewhere ‘deep inside’, shaping the space of the internal area. This space is limitless. To experience it more clearly, we can create visual images of familiar objects or close friends. Both evoke a strong sensory response, which belongs to the internal area. Thus, the internal space can be perceived as limitless and multidimensional: it includes sensory and mental objects of different scale; its center is in the depths of the physical body. This space is filled with sensations of different density.

The issue of its real placement is rather difficult. Intuitively, it can seem as if it is both inside and outside the physical body, not coinciding with the physical three-dimensional space we are used to. Such perceptual effects are connected with the multidimensionality of the internal area and the features of its topology, and we will discuss those effects in more detail later.

External objects and the postulates of shared reality are also present in the internal area, but indirectly. They are represented by visual images and mental shapes, as well as sound and tactile sensations. Images, mental shapes and sounds can be seen as auxiliary objects of the internal area, closely connected to the internal states and supporting their stability.

The internal state can be perceived as certain sensations or feelings, for example powerful emotions (fear, conviction, joy, etc.) or as subtler emotions (alarm, apprehension, confidence, hope, etc.) The internal state can also be recognized (perceived) as a kind of distribution of sensations experienced in different areas of the body as well as outside the body. Experiencing emotional states and experiencing the distribution of sensations are different (but equivalent) ways of perceiving the same internal state. Emotional experiences, like the distribution of sensations, arise when we interact directly in various external contexts—that is, with objects of the external area, or when interacting with the rules and principles of internal axiomatics.

As mentioned, internal states can be experienced (felt) both inside and outside the physical body. For example, the sensations that accompany a powerful emotion are always experienced inside the body. However, subtler sensations that accompany thoughts or actions can be felt outside the body, despite remaining within the internal area. In everyday life they are perceived as ‘vague’, poorly acknowledged. This is usually described as a ‘creating an atmosphere’, as something that is ‘in the air’. For these, we will use the term ‘out-of-body sensations’. However, every out-of-body sensation has its own bodily (physical) projection. Seen superficially (or without training), an out-of-body sensation can be perceived as a bodily sensation. In that case, the main substance of the sensation eludes the consciousness, and we perceive only its spatial or bodily projection. Subtle meanings of an experience cannot be communicated through bodily sensations alone: the more subtle the level of sensations we are aware of (conscious of), the more of the internal area is in the field of attention, and the more its configuration escapes the limits of the physical body.

Anyone can perceive both bodily and out-of-body sensations after some training. Here we only begin to examine the task of recognizing (becoming aware of) the internal area, meditation techniques for which are provided in Chapter 7. The first step is the ability to change at will the scale of understanding of the internal area, felt as changes in its borders (boundaries), depth, number of dimensions and other aspects. To describe those qualities, we will use the term layers/levels of consciousness of the internal area, and modifications will be described as the movement (or distribution) of attention within those layers (for more detail, see Chapters 17 and 25).

This means that internal states can be available in varying measure; many are easily understood and accessible, while others are more challenging. In particular, some ‘desired’ states may become ‘unavailable’ (inaccessible) or difficult to achieve—for example, a state of confidence during tough negotiations or facing a difficult choice. Experiencing such states, we may lose the ability to act, be confused or uncertain; and we are either unaware or poorly aware of this process. The inaccessibility of some ‘desired’ states is seen in our approach as the source of problems we encounter. Therefore, to ensure access to such states, it is necessary to ‘rebuild’ the internal area in certain ways. In our approach this is done through special transformation practices that modify the stable energy settings (alter our state of consciousness).

Modifications to the internal area and access to desired states can be achieved through activity in the external area. For example, the state of being confident, happy, inspired can be a result of successful external actions. Such a strategy is usually used in modern society: desired internal states are created or modified through external activity. However, in our approach desired internal states are reached through meditation performed before external action. Each session of meditation is performed with the help of transformation techniques. As a result of this approach, external activity becomes much more successful, and participation in external processes becomes a continuation of meditation processes.

Such a strategy ensures maximum efficiency of external action: each action is performed from a special resource state (which we will call the state of force), prepared through meditation. This strategy is discussed in more detail in Part III.

2. Spirit and matter

In accordance with Taoist tradition, we will connect the separation of everything into spirit and matter (Shen and Jing) with the polarizing effects of Pre-Heaven Qi energy—its division into yin and yang and their subsequent unification into Post-Heaven Qi. The Taoist world view holds that the polar energies yin and yang are preceded by a non-polar, unified (holistic) energy, qi, which comprises undivided spirit and matter. This energy is called the Pre-Heaven Qi, and held as primordial. It later disintegrated into yin and yang, which interacted to produce the Post-Heaven Qi (which is what is usually meant by qi energy); and then yin, yang and qi (the Three Pure Ones) produced ‘billions of things’.3

The important feature of Post-Heaven Qi is its polarity, expressed through the simultaneous presence of two polar states—yin and yang—in each of its ‘quanta’. This is what distinguishes it from the non-polarized Pre-Heaven Qi, which has no polar states (they are born through the act of creating Post-Heaven Qi).

Fig. 1. The energy structure of Post-Heaven Qi. It can be taken as a result of interaction between polar yin and yang energy. Together, they comprise a unified (holistic) system with a dual connection. This connection can be imagined as two energy flows: from yin to yang (from matter to spirit) and from yang to yin (spirit to matter).

It is essential that the poles, yin and yang, cannot be divided (yang is found inside yin, just as yin is found inside yang). The split into yin and yang should be taken as a polarizing effect (the appearance of a preferential direction) in the system comprised of indivisible quanta of Post-Heaven Qi. The result of such polarizing effects is the division into ‘spirit’ and ‘matter’. Spirit is connected with the yang direction (yang energy), while matter is connected to the yin direction (yin energy). In reality, this division should be presented as a spontaneous appearance of a given direction (spirit—matter/matter—spirit) in any accumulation of quanta of Post-Heaven Qi. This effect is reviewed in more detail later.

A physical metaphor of the indivisible quantum of Post-Heaven Qi could be a magnetic dipole whose two poles cannot be separated and isolated from one another. An example here could be a regular bar magnet, which has two poles (+ and -). If we try to separate and isolate one pole from the other by cutting the magnet in two, we will not get two separate poles—we will get two new magnetic dipoles. Thus, two antipoles cannot be separated. Using this metaphor, we can envisage the quantum of Post-Heaven Qi as an indivisible dipole whose poles are yin and yang.

Fig. 2. Spontaneous division into spirit and matter in a system of quanta of Post-Heaven Qi. Each quantum is an indivisible dipole (represented by an arrow) with two poles: + (yang) and - (yin).

Systems comprising such objects undergo spontaneous polarization—i.e., the appearance of a preferential direction—under certain conditions. All (or most) dipoles line up in the same direction. This condition is energetically preferential: the opposite poles of two neighboring dipoles are attracted to each other, creating order in the system. This phenomenon is called phase change. This means that the split into spirit and matter can be seen as a global polarizing effect which appears as a result of a spontaneous process similar to a phase change. This division creates in the internal area a preferential direction—from matter to spirit. Subjectively, the direction towards spirit is experienced as ‘bottom up’ (or from the surface into the depth); conversely, the direction towards matter is experienced as ‘top down’ (from the depth to the surface).4

It should be emphasized that this phenomenon does not occur in physical three-dimensional space; it occurs in the limitless multidimensional space of the holistic internal area filled with constantly moving energy. For our purpose, spirit and matter can be seen as independent actors that, while coexisting, continually exchange information and energy, as Fig. 1 shows.

3. Spiritual energy. Qi, yin, yang

Speaking of spiritual energy, we will again base our thoughts on the technical and conceptual framework of Taoist tradition, even though it is not strictly essential. Consequently, we will discuss three types of spiritual energy—the unified qi and the polar yin and yang. Introducing the spiritual energy category, our main interest is not so much its exact definition as how it can be observed. Whatever it is, it is perceived as various feelings (experiences/sensations). In other words, we can perceive and be aware of the movement, redistribution and transformation of energy (among other processes) as the movement, redistribution and transformation of various bodily (physical) sensations.

Some people are prone to visualizing their experiences, and they can observe energy flows as flows of some substance colored in some way. This way of perceiving energy is possible but not essential; rather, it should be viewed as an auxiliary technique that makes it easier to feel the flow.

The sensory perception of spiritual energy as a substance is similar to the sensory perception of thermal energy (heat), which is perceived as a substance that can be accumulated within a system or transferred to another system. The amount of this substance (thermal energy) can not only be felt subjectively; it can also be objectively measured while observing its accumulation or decrease. In reality, however, thermal energy is not a substance. In modern physics, thermal energy is understood as the average kinetic energy of the molecules of a substance, which can increase or decrease depending on their average velocity, which increases when the substance is heated. To change the amount of heat within a system means to change the average kinetic energy (i.e., average velocity) of its elements.

Similarly, when we present spiritual energy as an independent substance, it is just a convenient way to describe the collective interactions of an integral system. As already mentioned, we are interested in the possibility of observing (‘measuring’) or feeling that energy, not in what it ‘really’ is (this belongs to the domain of the unknowable).

All objects of the internal area can be expressed using the language of energy. Any emotional experience, action or thought is accompanied by a movement of energy understood as a complex of various feelings distributed within the internal area. Internal states can also be understood as redistributions of delicate (subtle) feelings. The density of feelings can be seen as the density of energy, while the distribution of feelings can be seen as the distribution of energy. Thus, an internal state is a distribution of energy, while the evolution of an internal state is connected to the redistribution of energy within the internal area.

When an integral system (a person, an organization, etc.) is in a state of internal harmony—when all processes and projects develop without stress (tension) or impasse—we can say that there is qi energy in the system. This is expressed as a state of equilibrium, where the system’s ability to actively change (in response to external input) is balanced by processes that lead to internal stability. Such a system is able to adequately react to any external changes, and at the same time remains stable when there are none.

Any problem—disturbance of spiritual or physical balance, a mental or event-related impasse—is a ‘breakdown’ of a unified internal state (qi energy) into the polar constituents yin and yang, the return to chaos as shown in Fig. 2.

4. «Breakdown» of qi energy and resulting problems

We have already mentioned that any problem in the spirit–matter system or the soul–body system is connected to blockage of one of the energy flows (see Figs. 6, 7).5 As a result of such blockage, the energy and information exchange between the yin and yang parts (tentatively speaking between spirit and matter) is disrupted, and two stable (polar) realities arise. One is in the yang energy and the other in the yin energy. Without cooperation, these two realities start to oppose each other, resulting in internal conflict. As a rule, one of the conflicting parts is present in the consciousness, while the other is suppressed in the unconscious. This is how a problem is born.

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First, under external stress, certain energy forms (uncomfortable sensations) appear. Their scope can be limited. In the physical body, they are expressed through muscle tension. If the stress recurs or lasts for long enough, the tension in the body becomes chronic, turning into muscular block (chronic muscle spasms). The energy form ‘grows’ through all levels of consciousness (in both directions), turning into a stable entity as well. This process can be accompanied by additional polarizing effects. This stable formation can have unlimited ‘vertical’ volume in the body–spirit direction (see Figs. 6, 7). This stable formation is experienced as a typical (recurring) problem and, in special cases, as a disease. Sometimes it is possible to connect a subpersonality with such a formation.

Bodily tension localized in different areas lowers our sensitivity to the feelings that accompany this type of problem, and distort our semantic perception of external events. Oppressed by tension, the body becomes a poor conductor of qi; the space of the internal area loses homogeneity, also becoming an ‘opaque environment’ for qi. Rigid structures appear within it that distort and interrupt the natural flow of qi in certain directions; vertical energy flows that unite spirit and body are blocked. These stable constructions are experienced as accumulations (clusters) of yin or yang energy, each of which is responsible for a certain (problematic) type of behavior.

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The breakdown of connections in the original unified system (see Fig. 1), internal conflict, and the appearance and suppression of polar states can all be seen as the breakdown of qi energy into its yin and yang parts, with subsequent displacement of one of them from the consciousness (suppression). We will call this phenomenon breakdown of energy or breakdown of qi energy. As mentioned before, there is no real breakdown of qi here. The metaphor of energy breakdown should be viewed as a convenient way of describing the partial (local) polarization of energy and its redistribution within the internal area (as illustrated in Fig. 3).

Fig. 3. Variants of the breakdown of qi energy: in the first case the yin energy is suppressed into the subconscious and in the second the yang energy is suppressed.

We might experience breakdown of energy as, for example, a contradiction between duty and desire (feeling), between consciousness and body. It is usually perceived as spiritual anxiety, dissent, the inability to choose between strategically important projects. If this breakdown (decay) lasts long enough it can manifest as a physical ailment since a large amount of ‘decayed’ energy accumulates in certain parts of the body (its yin or yang elements), felt as sluggish or acute malaise. Most physical diseases are of this nature.

We can be completely or partially aware of the products of decay. In the latter case, one ‘fragment’ is acknowledged, while the other passes into the unconscious and seems irrelevant, is suppressed or hidden (as illustrated in Fig. 3). This can be exemplified by enhanced activity or freedom from suppressed fear. It should be noted that those two components are polar, but always equal in size—that is, equally charged: the active one (yang) is heroism, anger, acute pain, fever; the passive one (yin) is fear, offense, weakness, dull pain, etc. This equilibrium is explained by the neutrality of qi energy.

Sometimes the breakdown of qi is accompanied by peculiar dynamics, which happens in any situation of prolonged stress, such as internal conflict or conflict-ridden negotiations. The yin and yang energies alternate in consciousness, creating changes in state. Formally, this seems like a split in qi energy; that is, the yin–yang pair of states goes through a series of changes. Fig. 4 shows an example of this in a thought (or behavior) process.

Fig. 4. Breakdown of qi energy and sequential change of states in the course of conflict development

Various phases of this process are accompanied by various emotional states: worry, protest, offense, anger etc. Mental constructs and arguments closely follow these states: the person arguing will attack, defend or complain, depending on the type of energy exhibited.

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Let us review the mechanisms for ‘restoring’ the unified condition (holistic state), or restoring qi. In the proposed model, the solution to the problem, and thus the restoration of qi, is a process which ‘annihilates’ polar states (energies). The products of qi energy breakdown that cause the problem are set in motion; a special interaction then results in their annihilation, which creates the next-generation qi energy (shown graphically in Fig. 5).

Fig. 5. Annihilation of polar states

The process of annihilation can be realized through a specially organized internal (spiritual) effort, which in this approach takes the form of transforming the energy of negative states. The solution to the problem can conditionally be seen as alternation of two stages:

These two stages are consistently repeated until the problem is completely solved. In this approach, thinking is indivisible from external action; one flows smoothly into the other. This process is associated with the concept of the ‘circle of practices’ (see Section 15.6).

5. Levels of consciousness

Consciousness is hierarchical. In spiritual traditions, the spirit–matter system is usually presented as a sequence of levels of being or levels (layers) of consciousness. Defining and choosing the levels, as well as their number, is condition, which is why hierarchical models of levels of consciousness are different in different spiritual traditions.

5.1. The eight-level model of the internal area

One such hierarchical model has eight levels (moving upwards): the physical body (the material plane), sensation (feeling), emotions, ordinary thinking, intellect (the mental level), events, motives/values and mission/transpersonal (Fig. 6).6 We will classify the four lower levels as the body, the next four as the soul and any further ‘transpersonal’ levels as the spirit (see Section 5.5).

Fig. 6. The eight-level model of the spirit–body system

Fig. 7. The unified spirit–body model

Each level is matched to a certain type of consciousness. For example:

In different contexts it makes sense to use different levels of consciousness; usually, however, not all of them are available (accessible). The vast majority of people today can master the lower four or five levels relatively easily, but the states of the sixth and more subtle levels remain difficult to achieve. These states require high levels of concentration and special skills, which are developed slowly, if at all. In particular, almost everyone can carry out instructions accurately, and even make sense of the basis of those instructions (levels four and five). But certainly not everyone can create instructions or make accurate, strategic-level decisions in situations without definite rules—for example, when choosing a large-scale project, evaluating prospects or managing several projects simultaneously (levels six and seven).

Potentially, as has been said, we are strong enough to solve any task we might encounter, but sometimes this requires high levels of consciousness (awareness). If we have not yet mastered the appropriate state (necessary for the level of the task), problems will arise, making the task unsolvable. We should note that, in the present approach, the appearance of a problem is considered a sign of the need for internal change(s). In the hierarchical model of internal states reviewed here, any problem can be seen as pointing to the need to master the states of higher levels.

This can be presented as follows. Initially we try to solve complex tasks on the highest level of consciousness accessible at the time. If we cannot reach the required level, a problem arises. Furthermore, whichever level the problem initially arose on, it shifts (spreads) to increasingly lower levels of consciousness, where it is formulated in stricter terms. This movement occurs unconsciously.

Let us consider a sample list of states of ‘strength’ (power/force) and problem states that may arise when strength is unavailable and which are experienced during such movement.

The states of levels eight and seven are experienced as:

If there is no unity with ourselves, we go down one level of consciousness. The states of the sixth level are experienced as:

If the feeling of flow or accuracy of actions is lost, we descend to the fifth level. Inaccurate (imprecise) actions make it necessary to think things over (deliberate). Internal dialogue appears, and we lack the strength for action. The fifth level features the presence (and high value) of choice:

If the choice is not exact or difficult, we descend to the fourth level of consciousness:

If the instructions and opinions of the authority do not solve the problem, we descend to the third level:

Such states never offer exact and final solutions to a problem, and inevitably lead to descent to the second and first levels of consciousness. This is experienced as physically difficult situations, symptoms of disease and bodily disorder (ailment); but again internal gain and illusion of power are possible. A person in this case can say: ‘That’s what it was worth to me’—thus ‘effectively’ putting everyone around them in a hopeless situation.7

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All levels of consciousness are connected by the two energy flows outlined above: the first expresses the action of lower levels on upper ones, and the second the action of upper levels on lower ones. Thus, each pair of levels can be seen as a closed system with a circular movement of energy. The system has no cause-and-effect links (causality): the lower level (of the two) influences the upper one, and vice versa—and this happens at the same time.

In each of the two directions there is continuous movement of qi. As a result, any energy structure arising for some reason within the internal area will spontaneously spread (‘grow’) in both directions—upward in the spiritual realm and downward in the bodily (physical) realm. Growth is ensured by the same mechanism as spontaneous polarization discussed in Chapter 2.

In this model, any problem, manifested and constantly present on one level gradually moves through the whole system—to its upper levels (relevant to the problem one) and its lower levels—via two reciprocal flows of energy. Thus, every real problem is represented on all levels: it is perceived as an unsuccessful or undesirable event, which conceals ‘conflicting’ value motives (levels six and seven); it is formulated mentally (levels four and five); and it is felt emotionally and accompanied by physical sensations and reactions (levels one through three). Solving a problem thus means creating changes on all levels of consciousness.

5.2. The continuous spectrum of levels of consciousness as an energy scale

The Taoist tradition considers a continuous spectrum of qi energy. The same is true of its products of decay, yin and yang energy. By identifying energy with sensations, we can speak of a spectrum of sensations of different density. The subtlety of energy increases as we move ‘upwards’—from matter toward spirit.

Here it would be useful to review the whole range of energies within the hierarchical models of the spirit–matter system, matching each level of consciousness to a separate part of the spectrum. To do this, let us return to the standard, seven-level model, combining the fourth and fifth levels of consciousness in the eight-level model into a single ‘mental level’ (see Fig. 6). In the seven-level model, the energy spectrum is divided into seven parts, just as the spectrum of visual light can be divided into seven colors.8 In this model, it is possible to