The 5 Stages Of Consciousness Evolution

The graph illustrates the stages with deeper descriptions below:

Level 0: Early Man

We have already moved beyond this stage. Hence the Zero.

We started out as hunter-gatherers as early man. Early man was not that different from an animal, it was simply an intelligent animal. We learned to dress ourselves, we learned to hunt, we learned to gather food, and we learned farming. But one of the things that helped early man evolve into modern man, islanguage.

While a regular ape could point at a tiger, early man learned to say,

“Hey Bob, don’t go by the river until noon because I saw a tiger there. You might get eaten.”

That same faculty of language allowed us to expand, to form societies, cities, guilds, tribes and religions…

Then it allowed us to go to war over these same societies, cities, guilds, tribes and religions…

But in any event, language allowed us to build the modern world. And this brought us from Level 0 to Level 1.

Level 1: Modern Man

Humanity today is largely in Level 1. And at Level 1, we live in two different worlds.

We have one foot in the physical world. In the physical world, we can all agree on what a “dog” is. Or a cup. Or how that rock is gray. The physical world is absolute truth.

But we also have one foot in the cognitive world. This is a cognitive world of ideas — a cognitive world of culture, of religion, of social practices — all man-made. And all constructed by the use of language patterns and models in our brain.

Much of the modern world is built on such ideas.

Passion, Career, God, Love, Self-Esteem, 9-to-5 jobs and millions of other words we use are nothing more than thought-constructs in our head. Yuval Hariri in his book Sapiens, calls this the Cognitive Revolution.

Think about the word “career”… can you point and see a career?

Think about the word, “entrepreneur”…

Think about the word “God” or “meditation”…

These things are nothing more than cognitive constructs in the human mind, yet they feel real to us.

You can’t see culture, or tradition, or social rules… but for many people, they are as real.

And this is the problem with the cognitive world. It’s a world full of constructs that may long have hit their expiration date. My friend Bill Jensen, author ofFuture Strong, puts it succinctly:

“Even as we enter one of the most disruptive eras in human history, one of the biggest challenges we face is that today’s systems and structures still live on, past their expiration dates: How we organize people in companies; How we create and manage budgets; How we train and develop and coach and mentor people; and more. We are locked into 20th century approaches that are holding back the next big fundamental shifts in human capacity.”

Many of the cognitive concepts that bind us to existing ways of living, are based on obsolete models of reality. I coined the term “Brules” to describe these. A Brule is a “Bullshit Rule” that we accept as true.

Ideas such as “success = hard work.”

Or that you need a college degree.

Or that the most productive use of people’s time is a 9-5 hour work week.

Or that fats are bad and carbs are good.

And so while Level 2 is a step above Level 1, it has a serious flaw.

At Level 1 we create judgments (this is “right” and that is “wrong”) and other belief models which are largely inherited but very rarely picked through rational choice. Human beings imitate for convenience. And so many such obsolete ideas get passed down from generation to generation.

The vast majority of human beings — I would estimate 95% — exist at Level 1.

But there is a Level Higher.  

Level 2: The Culture Hacker

At a certain stage, we start to question the world around us.

• Why do I need a college degree?
• Why was I raised in this particular religion?
• Is there more to life?
• What is God?

At this level, you question the dogma of the cognitive realm and start to make your own rules.

This state is about questioning everything. Most of our audience is questioning everything, which puts them on a path to learn, grow, and expand their abilities in every aspect of their life — parenting, health, meditation, consciousness, etc…

You start to see that you can hack this stuff, and live an extraordinary life by defying convention that doesn’t make sense for you.

This is where my model of Consciousness Engineering comes in.

It’s an elegant framework that gets you from the cognitive plane, to a reality hacker. To living up to your true potential, and becoming extraordinary in many areas of life.

By questioning conventions about work, love, sex, happiness, religion, and culture, you can make your own rules that empower and serve you.

But what happens when you’ve fully stepped outside of society’s rules… and off the path that others are following?

You forge your own path.

And this means you need to find your own mission, your own purpose, and your own vision for your future.

You need to get to the state of “limitless.”

Level 3: The State Of Limitless

When you get to the state of limitless something feels different.

I noticed that many of the great leaders I brought together for Consciousness Engineering spoke about this.

Joe Vitale spoke of how “inspiration leads to intention.”

Michael Beckwith talks about how you can become a “servant to the universe.”

Emily Fletcher spoke of the importance of following the nudges that lead to your calling.

All had one thing in common:

The idea that at a certain stage, traditional goals no longer motivate you as much. Instead, you’re obsessed with a mission. And this mission gives you meaning and drives you.

At this level, you’ve hacked your reality, freed yourself from dogma, and taken steps to understand who you really are so that you can begin the next stage of your life.

In this state, you’re not driven by a conventional career or even money. Instead, you’re driven by…

Fulfilling Your Mission.

But it’s more than just that…

In the state of limitless, you have a clear vision pulling you forward… but you’re happy with where you are right now.

You’re tapped into a deep, intuitive sense of what you should be doing in life to really contribute and shake things up.

When you’re in this state, you have a mission, a clear vision, and you embody your purpose so fully that it seems as though the universe itself has your back.

There are 4 profound things I notice that people in this state seem to feel:

1. A Sense Of Connectedness: When you get to this state, you start to feel a deep sense of connectedness with the world. All life, cultures, nations, people seem to resonate with you as part of “one family.”
2. Tapped Into Intuition: When you get to this state, your Intuition seems incredibly strong. You have gut feelings guiding you. Not occasionally, but on a regular basis. Many people I interviewed at this stage spoke about how when they started to write a book or speak at an interview, words would just “flow” through them. And the words would be extraordinary.
3. Inspiration Drives Your Intention: At this state, you don’t get moved by regular goals. Instead, you’re motivated by bigger missions to serve the world.
4. Luck Is On Your Side: At this state, you seem to feel lucky. All manner of coincidences, synchronicities and luck seem to happen to push your forward. You thus tend to be positive, enthusiastic and optimistic about the world and life in general.

This is the state where the world’s most extraordinary people operate from.

But it’s not just for entrepreneurs, or even people doing things on a global scale.

With the right practices, anyone can get to this state, and be truly fulfilled serving their calling no matter what scale they do it at.

When you live life like this… you start to get glimpses of the God-mind.

Level 4: The God Mind

The God Mind is a mysterious state that I’ve only ever experienced for brief moments in my life.

It’s a pure merging of consciousness with all-that-is. Words can’t explain it well.

Ken Wilber talks about such a state and says that there is only a handful of people alive today who are able to consistently perform at this state. Most of us experience it through certain specific moments of awakenings. I experienced it in the Amazon rainforest with shamans of an indigenous tribe.

But for most of us, these glimpses are momentary and rare. But when we experience them – they leave us changed for the better.

It’s extremely difficult to describe using words… But it’s a feeling of pure connectedness with life and all parts of life. And it’s something that you can get closer to as you ascend through the levels of evolution.

How These States Correlate with Your Personal Growth

The interesting thing is that to ascend through these levels you need different tools depending on where you are.

You cannot jump a level. You can’t go from Level II to Level IV. But you can go from II to III.

Within each level, the tools you use for your personal growth are also different.

For example in Stage I: Modern Man, you may start to dabble with goal setting.

In Stage II: Culture Hacker, you start to understand that your thoughts shape your reality. And you might begin practicing basic meditation or Creative Visualization.

But at Stage III: The State of Limitless, you’re beyond normal goals. Your intention and goals stem from being tuned in to a higher source. Inspiration leads to Intention. At this stage (I moved here in 2014), the tools you use change dramatically. I no longer practice Creative Visualization. It’s kindergarten stuff compared to what I now know. Instead, I use a technique called “Merging” which involves disassociating my consciousness from the ego and ‘merging’ with the thought form of that which I want to bring into the world. (It’s very hard to describe with words.)

It’s more than I can explain in this post alone, but ascending through these stages is something I’m really passionate about, so what I’d like you to do, is join me in Consciousness Engineering, where I talk to extraordinary people from all wakes of life about these five levels, how to hack your life and upgrade your beliefs and habits.

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