About the first thing a baby learns is that the object that appears before its eyes, to disappear and reappear at unexpected random intervals is...its own hand. Until that time, the baby just IS, its consciousness is the I AM presence, and it is at one with Source, God.

This momentous event, the awareness of one's own hand as a separate "thing", is the beginning of man's consciousness as a "separate" being, an identity as a physical self. As time progresses, the baby's awareness of that "self", and its control of that "self" becomes more and more "real".

Thus begins Stage One of man's awareness of "self" as animal man, only partially separated from Source, but not completely "at one", either. This "animal" being then begins to learn of its physical needs, for food and physical comfort.

As time progresses, the baby begins to develop "feelings", of attachment to the ones who provide its physical needs, of happiness when it is fed and made comfortable, and of desire for more of the same. This is the beginning of a second "self", an emotional self.

Thus Stage Two begins, man's awareness of a two-dimensional "self", with both a "body" and "feelings" that he identifies as "his", distinct and separate from Source, God.

As the child grows, the knowledge of both physical and emotional "selves" continues to grow, increasing the sense of separation, making more "real" his separate "identity". He learns to use the physical body to express perceived physical and emotional "needs" and "desires", and learns he has "will".

As growth continues, the child "learns", becomes aware of things repeating, and "remembers". This is the dawn of another, supposedly "higher" consciousness. This is the beginning of yet a third "self", a mental self.

Stage Three has begun, the "thinking" view of self as three-dimensional, and a further hardening of the concept of a separate identity that is apart from Source, God. Now, this "thinking" man is aware of his thoughts of separation as well. When early man had the thought of other, "higher" beings, they took the form of "unknowable gods".

The child "grows up", and is further "educated" in the ways of the physical world. He "learns" to deal with the world as a three-dimensional being, and builds his life from his learning. He sees how others live their lives, and learns to emulate their choices. As he becomes more "knowledgeable", he develops "wants" and "desires" for physical things to "enhance" his life, based primarily on the awareness of others desires for those things.

This is the stage where mankind has lived for centuries. In the beginning, the physical needs were predominant, beginning with the basic needs for food and shelter, for survival. Once these basic needs were met, and became less burdensome, he began to develop tastes for more comforts. When he became more comfortable, his thoughts began to turn to more enjoyment of life, and entertainment for his mind. As his mind grew, he began to develop "finer" ideas, of culture, of art, of music, of philosophy. All continued to expand and solidify the consciousness of this three-dimensional "self" as separate from Source, God.

As mankind's knowledge grew, with it came the expansion of the idea of "something else", something "more" out there. The explanation of "gods" was no longer sufficient, for he now had to "understand" these gods. Through the ages, the wisest philosophers began to find the answers, looking beyond the physical world, and eventually looking inward, where we had been told to look centuries ago.

Through this introspection, mankind reached another stage of learning, the awareness of a fourth "self", a spiritual self.

Stage Four is now born, a concept of self larger than the physical senses can show us. This is the beginning of the return from separation from our Source, God.

When first "discovered", the old, three-dimensional self rejects the idea of a spiritual self. Though it likes the idea of a "higher" self, it is "very comfortable with the way things are, thank you," and refuses to consider giving up its "control" to something it doesn't know. This is the reason that many, on the path to spiritual enlightenment, experience trying times, mentally, emotionally and physically. No matter how "bad" things are, the three-dimensional self "knows" itself, and "fears" the unknown spiritual self more than the agony it knows.

With continued introspection, and the further exploring of this new-found self (after getting past the "border guards" of the three-dimensional self), comes a much fuller comprehension of life, and of God. At first, these concepts are merely philosophical, but with continued practice lead to the experiential "knowing" of Love, and the "peace that passeth all understanding". We thus "know" what the world is for, the "healing of God's Son" through overcoming the sense of separation.

This, in turn, leads to the next phase of consciousness, the understanding that all other human beings are "JUST LIKE ME!!!!" We begin to understand that we are all on the same path, and that each has his own perfect way of doing it. We can then learn to suspend judgment of others, and accept them unconditionally. Thus dawns the "realization" of Love, unconditional acceptance. Once this occurs, others feel it, and allow us the same access to their selves.

Stage Five has begun, when we can accept an "other" into our consciousness, and are no longer "separate". Our identity of "self" has expanded to include another. There are no words to describe this experience of "oneness", when there is no sense of having a separate identity, and a knowing of total equality and something beyond anything ever experienced before, a "holy instant".

Once one has had this "at-one-ment" experience, it becomes the greatest gift one can offer another, and the greatest joy and happiness one can seek. There is no question whether the "other" is experiencing the same thing, for there is no other. Then comes the knowing of the philosophy of "giving and receiving" being the same, for the One to whom Love is given is the same One receiving it. There is also the knowing that the one-ness is eternal, that no matter what the "other" body could ever do, even if there is no further contact with that body, the Love would never change.

With practice, the "holy instant" is repeated, and the depth of one-ness continually increases with each of the parties involved. The exchange of worldly ideas and experiences becomes more complete, and communication becomes ever clearer. This further removes barriers, making the Mind connection easier, to the point that it can be made even without physical or telephonic contact. The process becomes more and more natural, and it becomes natural to extend that Love to others, for the knowing of it also entails the knowing that it cannot be otherwise.

With the addition of the second or third "outsider" comes a further enlightenment, the thought that one who has further expanded his consciousness could include a hundred "others" in his identity of Self, and one could include a thousand, a hundred thousand, a million. Further, the understanding that a great higher consciousness could include all matter, not just conscious beings, but all matter AND all beings on this earth. This would be the Christ consciousness, the knowing of Self as One with God, with total dominion over the material world.

Stage Six, the Christ consciousness, has now become an understandable concept to the four-dimensional self. Though not yet achieved, the mental imagination has been stretched enough to comprehend the concept, and the spiritual knowing confirms that attainment of this state is part of our path and within our capabilities.

As this concept takes hold, the magnitude of unlimitedness begins to take root. Though the philosophical idea of self being part of God is the foundation of the spiritual growth process, this is the stage of actually becoming aware of the reality of that idea, the experience of it. (NOTE - though we speak in sequential terms, the concept of time is our limited view, and all of the steps of growth take place simultaneously, are intertwined with each other.) Thus, the process of life IS the experience of God, but our awareness of that fact gradually emerges as we live it in sequential time.

Once our consciousness has been expanded to this point, the concept that we create our own reality becomes a certainty, and we begin to realize the extent of it. We then understand that ALL OF US, collectively, create ALL reality.

Stage Seven, the true acceptance of the I AM presence of God as ALL, and that ALL are One, has begun. We begin to accept every individual's complete and absolute right to create his individual reality in this world, totally free from our judgment. And we understand that the "reality" we see in this world is only part of the wholeness that is God, and that our only purpose here is to learn that wholeness.

Our goal has now become clear, AT-ONE-MENT, the complete knowing of Self as One with God. We can now appreciate that all Creation is One, that all is for that One purpose, that our life is the process of that learning, and that ALL OTHERS SHARE THAT PROCESS.

Aware that, by this definition, we have a part of Self at every level of awareness from the dense physical being to God, Source, we begin to seek understanding and help from our higher levels. We learn to listen to the "still, small voice" within, and spend more time in meditation, communion with our Soul level, Holy Spirit, and begin to trust our "intuition".

We acknowledge that the separated ego self can only see its own small version of reality, which, by definition, cannot be completely shared, and begin to ask our higher Self for guidance in every aspect of our lives.

Further, aware that every other human being is an equal part of Self, we seek guidance from others, and look for the messages they convey to us through their "separate" creations, and begin to appreciate their value. More, we acknowledge and appreciate the equality of their creation as part of our own, that they are here to help our process as we are here to help theirs, for there is only One.

And finally, we begin to accept them without judgment, unconditionally, for who they are rather than what they do, with UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.

And through that acceptance, we begin to accept ourselves, with that same Love, that just..... IS.