Further Clarification

Perhaps at this stage I should offer further clarification on the nature of Band 5 on the spectrum, which I have referred to as the “Spiritual Descent".

In truth the dynamics are a little more complex that I had previously suggested.

Now in terms of my own classification system, I associate Band 2 with the specialisation of linear type understanding. So this represents the ground level of the personal stages, in the conscious understanding of the world of everyday dual phenomena.

Then I characterised Band 3 as an ascent through transpersonal stages representing increasingly more refined intuitive understanding towards an ultimate spiritual reality of a nondual ineffable nature.

However because of the inherent complementarity, in a dynamic interactive manner, of transpersonal and prepersonal stages, this equally requires an underground journey back into the deep recesses of earlier development as one comes to encounter ever more starkly the primitive instinctive regions of personality (which normally get repressed and bypassed in many ways through the earlier journey towards the differentiation of conscious development).

So the ascent through the transpersonal stages of Band 3 necessarily requires a corresponding descent through the - earlier - traversed prepersonal stages of Band 1.

Thus the balanced drive towards vertical spiritual integration of the psyche encompassing affective, cognitive and volitional aspects structures, requires both top-down integration from the perspective of the unfolding of new “higher” transpersonal stages and bottom–up integration from the perspective of revisited “lower” prepersonal stages (where they can only now be properly disentangled with respect to their instinctive unconscious nature).

And this bi-directional manner in turn is how both the transcendent and immanent directions of spirit properly unfold.

However typically, as I characterise it in my account, this two-way development in the psyche is likely to remain somewhat unbalanced during Band 3.

So in vertical terms the personality can become increasingly stretched leading to acute psychological stress with the completion of Band 3 (Level 3). So from one perspective one has travelled up a high mountain into the thin air of spiritual contemplative understanding (requiring a considerable refinement in all conscious activity).

From another perspective one has journeyed in an opposite direction into the unconscious primitive depths of the personality, where one is subject to all sorts of instinctive promptings (again requiring the considerable surrender of conscious control).

So unfortunately when there is a pronounced vertical dimension to the spiritual journey (which certainly characterised my own experience), the middle level grounding in the everyday world of Band 2 can thereby become considerably eroded.

Though I characterise Band 4 as the specialisation of these holistic unconscious stages (which indirectly can be given a refined paradoxical conscious expression), in truth they are likely to largely overlap in development with the unfolding of the new stages of Band 5.

From the perspective of the “higher” transpersonal development attained, these require a descent as one slowly attempts to ground them once more in the everyday levels of Band 2.

However from the perspective of “lower” prepersonal, in the continual revisiting of these stages, this is likely to entail an even deeper descent into the primitive unconscious as one finally tries to fully unravel the repressions and hurts from early childhood still preventing complete bottom-up integration of the psyche.

So the culmination of Band 5 with the completion of Level 3, is consistent with a situation where one is now ready to properly ground the “higher” transpersonal in the middle levels (associated with personal development).

This is equally consistent with the full unravelling of the “lower” prepersonal - that have not yet however been properly integrated in a bottom-up fashion - with the middle levels.

Thus the complete vertical integration of the psyche, requiring the bi-directional interaction of both “higher” and “lower” with the middle levels would therefore not fully occur before the unfolding of Band 6 (representing the radial stages).

And so Band 6 would then likewise entail the incorporation of ever more extensive horizontal integration within each level with the vertical integration of every level (already attained).