Beyond Reactivity

A Practical Guide for the 4 Phases of Consciousness Development *

Introduction

At the time of writing this book, we are living in a time where more and more global conditions are drawing attention. The climate crisis is no longer a possibility in the future, it is already observable in floods, heat waves, droughts and other climate changes. The corona pandemic has been around for quite some time now and is causing unrest in society, and the political and economic situation is not very rosy given the struggle between different power blocs.

While there is (still) enough land, food and prosperity, we just don’t seem to be able to distribute it fairly, the global system has been favoring the rich and disadvanting the poor for centuries. On top of that the liberal capitalist ideology wants you to believe that succes or failure is your own merit or fault — a belief that turns chronic systemic mistakes into individual problems.

You are probably wondering what a book on Consciousness Development and the dismantling of reactivity has to do with these developments. Well, in my perspective everything. Although we believe that our influence on global conditions does not exist (is almost true) we do have influence on ourselves, our immediate environment, indirectly on our wider environment and minimally on global conditions.

Taking responsibility for the quality of our own Consciousness has been going on for some time. For a long time, the slogan ‘change the world, start with yourself’ was popular, later followed by the slogan ‘if you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem’ with which MTV (MusicTeleVision) pointed out that our influence and responsibility are inevitable.

‘Change the world, start with yourself’
The slogan is meant differently, but we can read it as an important insight and incentive for our own Consciousness Development. Inwardly, this is the most essential thing we can do to be able to influence the world ethically and effectively outwardly. And that is badly needed, we have no time to lose. Despite the popularity of the New Age movement, which relies heavily on Magical Thinking, more reliable and effective modes of Consciousness Development can be found in Wisdom traditions such as Tibetan Buddhism, Zen Buddhism, Taoism, Sufism, and Advaita Vedanta.

If we look at the entire field of Consciousness Development, then for many the accessible New Age offer is the first start of working on themselves. The point, from a Consciousness Development perspective, is not to linger there and move on to the more in-depth study and practice in an authentic Wisdom tradition. Although the curriculum of these traditions has been tested for validity and efficacy by generations of educators, teachers, students and practitioners, walking their spiritual paths is not a walk in the park. We will find that there are elements in philosophy, practice and/or teacher that do not appeal to, inspire or fit us. Although this is often referred to as resistance or ignorance, we have to question that.

There is no standard Spiritual Path
All roads have developed their idiosyncrasies. Most of these are specific skillful tools for our Consciousness Development, while others hinder it. I myself had the opportunity to experience the three spiritual teachers Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, Babaji (Herakhan Baba) and Sogyal Rinpoche, intensively in direct teaching, study and practice in the form of years of training and retreats. In my experience, the development in the relationships with these Teachers was not much different from the one I outline later in the book in the first Phase of our Consciousness Development in life, the Autonomous Phase.

Here too, as in other important relationships, symbiosis and differentiation play an important role. First we believe everything, he/she (father/mother) is the recognized authority, and has knowledge and experience that we need to be able to develop on the Path of Consciousness Development. It is a natural and functional learning process. But there comes a time when, as in our adulthood, we have to stand on our own two feet.

This means that after the necessary symbiosis with the teacher and his or her teaching, we have to consciously differentiate what works and what does not work for us in our own insight and experience. We must make this Path our own, otherwise it will remain a path with a too great a hearsay content, in which believing rather than knowing is the common thread.

Reference
In my experience differentiation is not one of the most enjoyable periods in the relationship with the Teacher and the sangha (group of practitioners). An important aspect was the fact that I had no reference outside the movement itself. A reference that could provide me with more and independent information about the content and efficacy of those specific insights and instructions on the Path. It is difficult that the various Wisdom traditions have similar insights and practices — think, for example, of non-dualism and Buddhism using meditation for transcending the self– but that they differ too much from each other to easily compare meaningfully. There is no standard Spiritual Path of Consciousness Development.

While the tendency of our left hemisphere — storytelling and comparison — must be overcome at later stages on the Path, it is an important skill at the beginning of our Path to check if we are still going in the right direction. And for that we need a reliable reference outside the tradition or movement we are part of. It is, especially in the beginning, difficult to judge whether you’re actually applying wisdom instructions or that you have entered a limiting tunnel vision. It requires trust and surrender, but we should not do that blindly.

Model of Consciousness Development
In my own Consciousness Development in the last four decades, with the mentioned teachers, studies and experience as a Gestalt therapist and trainer, a reference has arisen over time. An insight into the logical and chronological sequence of Phases of Consciousness Development. In my first book The Power of Attention — Essential Guide to Training Your Mind (2013) the contours of the current model are already visible. In Simplicity of Perfection — Essential Guide to the Spiritual Path (2020) I have further elaborated the model of the 4 Phases of Consciousness Development per Phase and Subphase.

The function of the model is to provide a reference by giving insight into what you should in any case do per Phase in order to actually make progress (necessary condition). It can only function as a reference if it focuses on the underlying structure, the specific development question and associated techniques. This process-oriented approach, which partly originates from Gestalt psychology and therapy, makes it possible to examine your own substantive practices with this reference.

Dismanteling Reactivity
I first encountered the term reactivity in Buddhism, while it was barely represented in mainstream psychology. Reactivity is a reflex that occurs in interaction, but also in ourselves, and arises from our limiting self-image. In essence, it is a self-protection reflex characterized by the fact that your reaction is disproportionate to the trigger. The outcome in the interaction with others and yourself is counterproductive, you experience exactly what you were trying to prevent.

If you look at the whole path of Consciousness Development from inception to final realization, one way of naming its essence is ‘the structural dismantling of increasingly subtle forms of reactivity.’ It is this thread that I, often confrontationally, encountered on my own Path. In hindsight, I have applied these insights and experiences, according to good Tibetan Buddhist practice, as steps in my own development. The Path arises as we walk it, before that there is no personal Path.

The practical advantage of dismantling Reactivity as a Path is that all reactivity concerns behavior, however subtle, and therefore can be perceived by the senses. The spectrum runs from the somewhat grosser emotional reactivity, through the mental reactivity, to the subtlest reactivity of reification (making things into objects, including ourselves).

38 Episodes
This book, which is based on ‘Simplicity of Perfection’ and the Instagram course ‘The Spiritual Path’ that I made from there, illustrates the 4 Phases of Consciousness Development with the focus on dismantling reactivity per Phase. The original course form is still recognizable and the book lends itself well to not only reading but also doing it. Each episode ends with one or more reflection questions or exercises. The aim is to reflect on what you have read, to clarify it and generate your own answer or experience. Ultimately, you are your own reference, and the questions and exercises help activate that. In that sense, the book is an aspect of your Path.

Intention
The importance of intention did not become clear to me until later in life. Intention determines your attitude, the attitude with which you do something. It focuses on the quality of the process and not the content. The content must have an inherent quality. The process is how you approach, absorb and process that information — insights and practice experiences. Your intention largely determines the result.

My advice is to read and apply this book with the right intention. The right intention is to read carefully, reflect on the meaning and take your answers to the reflection questions seriously. You approach this process as important and valuable to yourself, and use the time you put into it as optimally as possible.

While reading, take a notebook and take notes, write down your questions, and see where your understanding or experience differs from me, if any. Ask yourself what exactly that difference is and reflect on its meaning. Use the book as a practice to map your own Consciousness Development and as a reference to test your own experiences and views. And thereby to clearly see and shape your insight and development.

This is how you can accelerate your Consciousness Development. The growing quality of your Alert Presence will directly and indirectly affect the quality of your immediate and indirect environment. And that is exactly what we can contribute to the greater whole of which we are an inseparable part — Alert Presence so that we and others feel, think and act more consciously.

And thus be able to deal more consciously and responsibly with ourselves, others and the earth.

(*) introduction of the book Voorbij Reactiviteit — Praktische Gids voor de 4 Fasen van Bewustzijn Ontwikkeling published Jan 2022.