Part Two: Welcoming Expanded Consciousness/Spirit Into Into Your Life

The New Testament describes two of the first followers of Jesus entering expanded spirit-consciousness as "falling into a trance," an awakened subtle state of spirit/consciousness.

In a trance state, Peter heard a message that was to radically shape the emergence of early Christianity from Judaism. Paul received a message concerning his personal safety from harm by those who were persecuting him. We can learn from both these experiences of expanded awareness.

Peter's Trance in the New Testament

This was one of the pivotal events in the evolution of first-century Judaism into what became Christianity. This word, ἔκστασις (ékstasis), from which we get our word "ecstasy," is rendered here as "trance" in all major English translations.

Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while it was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven open and something like a large sheet coming down, being lowered to the ground by its four corners. In it were all kinds of four-footed creatures and reptiles and birds of the air. Then he heard a voice saying, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is profane or unclean.” The voice said to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean” (Acts 10:10-15 NRSV ).

This was repeated two more times as Peter argued with the voice. The freedom now to eat "unclean" meat for followers of Jesus began with this evolutionary transcending of many Old Testament practices.

Luke Timothy Johnson, prominent New Testament scholar and historian of early Christianity, writes that the implication here is that all things God created are declared clean by God, and are not affected by human discrimination.

The Jewish purity code, such as not eating “unclean” food, was a big deal for Jews for over a thousand years. Leviticus and Deuteronomy outline these dietary restrictions. But this was about an even bigger deal. Peter's vision was really not about food or what one can or cannot eat. The vision was about a radical change in the purity codes of the Old Testament and the way we view people. Peter, nor any of us, now should call anyone “unclean” or “profane” or “unworthy of our community” or “unwelcome” because God has made everyone clean already. Jesus had already made it clear that clean and unclean were no longer helpful labels. But Peter had yet applied that to the entrenched provisions of the Jewish purity code relating to diet and other categories. This resulted in the early church's first big controversy!

Actually, Jesus did more than point out these purity codes codes were not helpful. He demolished them! He acted aggressively against them! He made friends with the unclean and impure: unclean and untouchable lepers, menstruating women, tax collectors, Roman collaborators, immigrants, centurions, foreigners, prostitutes, prodigal sons, and notorious sinners.

This is very much an alive issue in today's traditional Christianity. Traditional Christianity, going beyond actual biblical practices, focuses on a "sexual purity" code. This is interpreted to mean that all sex of any kind but married heterosexual sex is "impure." This leads to such things from claiming that a joke about sex is a "dirty (unclean) joke" to accusing loving gay couples of living in sin.

The progressive ELCA's Journal of Luthern Ethics insightfully says,

“Quite frankly, we need to begin developing a new Christian sexual ethic wherein the quality of the sexual relationship itself is addressed as fulfilling and empowering or degrading and coerced. The journey towards sexual wholeness and community support for diverse sexual expressions is not an easy road for Christian churches to walk.”

Many Christians have yet to take seriously the revolutionary message that Peter received from God while in a trance. Nor do most theologians today access expanded states of consciousness to inform their views. The religious system has so far go.

Paul's Trance while Praying

The Apostle Paul describes the vision he had while in a trance.

“After I had returned to Jerusalem and while I was praying in the Temple, I fell into a trance and saw Jesus saying to me, 'Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly because they will not accept your testimony about me” (Acts 22:17).

This was a practical message meant to keep Paul from harm, received in an expanded state of consciousness.

We can learn from these events about our own practice of expanded consciousness. First, a "trance" is a normal experience for the followers of Jesus beginning at Pentecost. Another example is the Transfiguration of Jesus, which was called a "vision" (Matt 17:9) and therefore a trance state. Jesus, Peter, James, and John were recognizably in an expanded state of spirit consciousness, containing all the marks of a trance — a supercharged energy field amplified by Jesus' presence, the visionary state of consciousness-spirit of Jesus and his three friends, and the company of two ancient guides in spirit form.

Peter was a rugged fisherman, and Paul was highly educated in Jerusalem by one of the most noted teachers of Jewish law in history, Gamaliel. It is doubtful that either were trance state meditators before Pentecost. It is likely that only after Pentecost and other transforming experiences of expanded consciousness/spirit, that they were open to accessing this kind of visionary state.

Entering a trance state is an ancient and primal practice. For thousands of years, humanity has utilized various approaches, such as trances, to enter altered states of consciousness, opening a door into the spirit realm. From our shamanic ancestors and indigenous traditions found on every continent to contemporary meditative states, trances are bridges to the profoundly spiritual realms of our being.

These days, mainstream religions such as Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and some streams of Christianity such as ICN make use of these subtle trance states to assist their adherents in connecting with the spiritual realm, however conceived.

What is Awakened Subtle Spirit-Consciousness Trance State?

There are two levels of expanded consciousness in awakened trance states.

Light Trance

This stage is characterized by a dreamlike, subtle state of consciousness. A person experiencing a light trance may have impressions rather than full-blown visions of deep trance. It is common in a light trance to lose awareness of one's surroundings, time, and body for a few brief seconds or minutes. These fleeting states can provide spiritual knowing at the level of intuitive impressions, which can be helpful in Resonating Prayer for ourselves and others. Most guides, including Jesus, are sensed here. This is where I frequently see other people's spiritual guides in very vivid impressions, just short of a deep trance. One can also experience internal sensations and somatic experiences while here.

Some years ago I found myself occasionally shaking while doing WBMA. Most of the time it was my shouders, or arms, or upper body, that was shaking. Sometimes my whole body tremored.

This is presently a normal experience for me, occurring several times on most days. I now understand it as a clear somatic signal that I am inwardly sensing something significant in the spiritual realm — a thought, insight, or feeling. I see this as a light, fleeting trance that lasts anywhere from a second or two to several minutes. In our ICN meetings on Zoom I try to hold it down so I don't look weird or fall out of my chair. I guess I’m literally a contemporary Shaker.

I have found others, including Luke, in ICN that shake. That's comforting!

Deep Trance

This stage occurs when visionary phenomena emerge beyond impressions to actually sensing or seeing spiritual guides and hearing their messages. Or light in different colors and patterns, nature scenes, people, sounds, and audible voices. This level is often experienced under hypnosis. Deep trance was what Peter and Paul experienced. It is another level of awakened consciousness that is less subtle!

Some years ago I began to have deep trance open eye visions of people moving rapidly in cityscapes. I interpreted this as images of my oneness with all people everywhere.

Another current trance vision for me is, after tuning into my deeper consciousness-spirit for a few minutes, I often see a visionary cloud of deep backness emerging from my third eye. The third eye is a mystical invisible eye located in the forehead, which provides perception beyond ordinary sight.

Emerging from the blackness, I usually see a golden cloud of bright light filling the central part of my visual field. Sometimes this morphs into stunning colors that swirl around each other, engulfing me in remarkable, enchanting beauty.

A few weeks ago, while in deep trance meditative prayer with Luke, I saw this blackness emerging. A face appeared out of the deep blackness in my third-eye visual field. A plain oval face, just like the image here, was staring at me from the blackness.

When I shared this with Luke, he wondered if this might be Sophia. And, indeed, it was Sohpia — and not Jesus, which was very significant. I have never previously seen Jesus or any of my guides in visionary form. I wrote my first book, "Is It Okay to Call God Mother? Considering the feminine face of God back in 1994 about the feminine presence of God. However, it only took me 29 years to actually see the spiritual presence of the feminine face of God She as it was shaped for me!

FIVE PRACTICES THAT MAY HELP YOU TO ENTER AN AWAKENED SUBTLE TRANCE STATE

1. First, find concepts and images that are psychospiritually alive to you

At ICN we emphasize experience over thinking. However, we also do lots of thinking that comes with ordinary, every day, God-given, consciousness-spirit. That can provide a way to have spiritual experiences by lessening or removing intellectual barriers. Our writings and images and others can point the way to deeper experience and be worth pondering and talking about.

2. Meditative prayer, especially Whole-Body-Mystical-Awakening

Notice that both Peter and Paul were praying when they entered a trance state — one was in the Temple, the other resting on a rooftop since houses in Judea had flat roofs on which people rested, conversed, meditated, and prayed.

At ICN, most of us find a regular practice of some form of Whole-Body-Mystical Awakening is amazingly transforming over time. This is rich soil in which to enter trance state consciousness/spirit.

3. Whole Body Mystical Presencing

Luke introduced this wonderful possibility in his most recent writings. He said,

“The practice of Whole-Body Mystical Presencing (and WBMA) is a movement toward, a movement into the marrow of life and the moment-by-moment permeation of divine spirit beautifully entangled with the "mess" of human life. This practice takes seriously the Christ reality, the interfusion of the divine and material in all things—and at all times. And that it is our spiritual calling—to bring this forth in our lives. To become Christ.”

Interestingly, like Luke, I, too, was enchanted in my twenties with Brother Lawrence, the 17th-century Carmelite friar who wrote about washing the dishes in the monastery while "practicing the presence of God." I also spent a week in a retreat with Frank Laubach, famous for his Game With Minutes. There he got the practice of continual awareness of God down to thinking of God at least one second of every minute.

I tried it and drove my Enneagram One self crazy trying to do it perfectly! I was an avid tennis player, and I remember the day I was getting ready to demolish my opponent with my ace serve. I thought, "How can I think of God and deliver this serve at the same time." I decided, "No way!" So I dropped God and delivered my game-winning demon serve. Such a renegade I am.

It was years later, rereading Brother Lawrence, that I came across the quote Luke used in his series:

“We ought to cease for one brief moment, as often as we can, to worship God in the depths of our being, to taste Him though it be in passing, to touch Him as it were by stealth” (Italics mine).

What? Only as often as we can? I can manage that! However, it wasn't until WBMA emerged in my life, and I really moved out of my head, that I eventually was able to move towards more often resting intentionally in God's presence. We all can only grow at the pace of our own evolution. So now I don't think about God all that often (aside from reading, writing, and in our WeSpace groups!). But, otherwise, I do feel and sense God in a growing way quite often with my body.

When we are ready for Whole Body Mystical Presencing, it is a more felt presence and usually not a trance. However, it can produce a more constant communion with God She and spiritual realities infused in earthly realities. It is presence that allows us a greater capacity to glow in deeper expanded spirit-consciousness more often.

4. Breathing

A simple breathwork technique is to breathe in and out slowly and deeply. You can even incorporate mindfulness into your breathwork practice by focusing your attention on your inhalations and exhalations, which can produce a light trance state.

5. Prayer Languages

The repetitive sounds of a prayer language that bypasses the rational mind is an easy way to almost immediately enter a light or even deep trance. Many Christians, especially in the Global South, regularly use prayer languages to enter trance consciousness-spirit.

For individuals who engage in a prayer language (glossolalia) as part of their spiritual practice, it may be seen as a form of prayer or devotion that facilitates a deeper connection with God She, He, They, or the spiritual realm in general.

For some, their prayer language can induce altered states of consciousness, creating a trance-like or ecstatic state. They can experience feelings of euphoria, transcendence, or spiritual enlightenment.

Glossolalia can also serve as a means of emotional expression and catharsis. The act of speaking in a prayer language that bypasses the mind can provide a way for individuals to release and channel intense emotions, such as joy, sorrow, or spiritual yearning. It can offer a form of release and purging, allowing individuals to connect with their innermost feelings and experiences.

Next week, we will explore five more ways to expand consciousness. In the meantime, you may want to try any of these that are new to you.

Reflection . . .

1. How do the trance experiences of Peter and Paul strike you?

2. Which of these five practices have you tried? Concepts and images that are psychospirtually alive to you

Meditative prayer, especially Whole Body Mystical Awakening
Whole Body Mystical Presencing
Breathing mindfully
Prayer language

3. Which was most helpful and why?

Trance State Consciousness in the Bible and Today