Higher and higher

Modern spiritual teaching seems to be preoccupied with “higher”.

Connecting to higher frequencies
Achieving a higher vibration
Ascending / ascension to “higher realms”
Gaining higher activations
Perfecting the higher chakras (#5, 6, 7)

We seem to be inclined to focus upward or higher in our personal and spiritual growth. Perhaps this is a legacy of the depiction of “heaven” as being above the sky, or a carry over from the sixties and “getting high”.

As our awareness of the cosmos grows we naturally look to the sky, especially at night, and marvel and are inspired by the expanse, beauty, and mystery.

There is great benefit in greater awareness and increased consciousness, but it is curious that in our language we refer to “higher awareness” or “higher consciousness”. Likewise we often describe our personal development as moving upward, rather than forward. Is the goal to “lift off” and leave mother earth behind?

It seems this preoccupation with higher has some interesting possible consequences.

We focus less on working with our “lower” chakras and their related frequencies
We focus less on our connection to the earth and the natural world around us
We subconsciously orient our awareness “up” and thus are potentially less aware of what is going on around and down
We subconsciously relate to the element of air (including wind and sky) rather than to earth, water or fire

Another interesting aspect of higher frequencies is their faster vibration and we can often become addicted to the “buzz” of faster and faster, as demonstrated by the development of a “nanosecond mentality,” and the perception (and perhaps reality) that time itself is speeding up.

It may be that all this is a semantic tempest in a teapot. However our use of language often reflects deeper aspects of our subconscious inclinations that are worth exploring, and language is a potent tool in cultural programming. It begs the question of whether this focus on up and higher has shifted the focus of personal and spiritual work away from the sustaining energies (frequencies) of mother earth and the natural world.

It seems that a more resourceful approach would be to describe our personal and spiritual work in terms of expansion and transformation, or even transcendence. Thus we would eliminate the potential bias toward higher and relate to what is above, below and all around us with equal attention; expanding our consciousness to work with the widest range of frequencies possible, including very low frequencies.

Our energy system can be likened to an orchestra. Each chakra resonates with sets of frequencies, and we need the whole orchestra in tune and playing together, not just the highs.