realism and depth to your life。 You discover that your energy； love； insight；
and inner peace will fluctuate up and down when your consciousness is
involved in the lower three Centers。 As you learn to uplevel your
consciousness； you unlock enormous energy。 You enjoy being able to
unconditionally love and accept everyone。 By letting yourself grow toward
the higher Centers of Consciousness； you find the beautiful inner peace that
you have always sought in your life。
In Living Love we work to integrate all of the Centers。 Everything in your
life has aspects on all of the Centers。 You begin your growth toward higher
consciousness when you first escape from being preoccupied with the lower
three Centers of Security； Sensation； and Power and uplevel your
consciousness to include the unconditional Love Center and Cornucopia
Center。 Then you begin to watch your drama from the Conscious…awareness
Center。 By seeing your drama from this meta…center you impartially witness
all your thoughts and actions on the five lower Centers。 In the next phase of
consciousness growth； one goes behind this Conscious…awareness Center into
the Seventh Center Cosmic Consciousness that peaceful place where one
has eliminated personal boundaries and has unitively merged with the
surrounding world。
TWELFTH PATHWAY
I am perceiving everyone； including myself； as an awakening being who
is here to claim his or her birthright to the higher consciousness planes of
unconditional love and oneness。
Everyone you meet； including yourself； has the capacity for clear perception；
wisdom； effectiveness； peace； and love。 We are equal beings。 But unless one
has consciously worked toward higher consciousness； this hidden splendor
within may be smothered by the addictive games that keep one separated and
isolated。 It will help us in our journey to higher consciousness （as well as
being most helpful to others） if we regard everyone； including ourselves； as
fellow travellers on the road to awakening。
We begin to realize that everything we do is either a skillful or unskillful
attempt to find love and oneness。 Even if someone yells at you or hits you； he
is trying to manipulate you so that you can fit the pattern of his addictions
and thus permit him to love you in his conditional way。 When your ego
permits you to see the here…and…now actions of people with perspective； you
realize that there is practically nothing that anyone can do that you have not
either done or wanted to do at some time in your life。 We’re just not that
different from each other。 Our egos and our rational minds keep us
continually judging other people so as to put them in the wrong and thus give
us a supposed advantage。 A conscious being simply sees； with a passion
that is born of insight and perspective； that everyone is on the road to
awakening。 We learn to love others by accepting and loving ourselves and
vice versa。
You realize that in place of the judgmental terms （such as good and bad） that
we use to separate ourselves in our consciousness from each other； the
simplest and most helpful ethical standard is to see things as degrees of
separateness and oneness。 You view the thoughts and actions that separate
you on the lower part of the ethical scale。 The thoughts and actions which
unite you are on the upper part of the scale。 Instead of labeling things “good”
or “bad；” you simply use your insight to determine to what extent your
thoughts or actions separate or unite you in your feelings toward others。 That
which makes you feel separate tends to keep your life from working
effectively； and that which enables YOU to experience love and unity permits
you to harmonize your energy with the energies of the world around you。
Whenever you are in doubt about whether to do something or not； just ask
yourself whether it makes you feel more separate from people or more loving
toward people。
When you see how it all is when you see everything that happens in your
life as a moment…to…moment acting out of the great drama of your addictions
you will realize how you constantly smother the potential that you have
within you。 Higher consciousness means that you experience a flowing
harmony with all of the interacting people and things in the world around you。
This permits you to emotionally accept whatever is here and now in your life。
Higher consciousness is not a mystical； metaphysical； far…out state。 It is a
practical； beautiful state of mind which is your birthright as a human being。
Chapter 9
The Seven Centers of Consciousness
In the Living Love System； we use a seven…step scale that will enable you to
measure your pattern of growth toward higher consciousness。 This scale
consists of three lower Centers of Consciousness Security； Sensation； and
Power and four higher Centers of Consciousness Love； Cornucopia；
Conscious…awareness； and Cosmic Consciousness。
These Centers act as filters that generate your particular private experience of
the here and now in your life。 Information ing into your bioputer
from your eyes； ears； and other sensory receptors； plus the memory banks of
the brain and the thoughts generated by the rational mind are processed
through these programmings。 These programmings determine your own
unique experience of the here and now。 The emotional areas of the brain
trigger various feelings as called for by your addictive programming。 This in
turn feeds back and intensifies your particular flow of energy and thought
patterns。
The lower three Centers of Consciousness were developed for survival in the
jungle phase of the evolution of our species。 In general； the automated
priority of awareness in an animal is to first check ining information for
its security aspects； then its sensation （food or sex） possibilities； then its
threats to the power boundaries with which the animal identifies。 For
example； a cat may be operating on the sensation level enjoying a meal when
an unexpected noise may instantly activate a security consciousness that
prepares the animal for fight or flight。 All this is done on an automated basis
without conscious thought。
In spite of the fact that the potential for higher consciousness is available to
us as we leave childhood； we often remain trapped in these automated
responses of security； sensation； and power consciousness。 For example；
when we use our security programming； we automatically trigger the
experience of fear。 If we don’t get the sensations we desire； we automatically
trigger a frustrating disappointed feeling。 And if our power； pride； or prestige
boundaries are violated like automatons we instantly trigger the
experience of anger； hostility； irritation； hate； etc。 We often bine two or
more of these filters simultaneously to create our individual picture of the
now moment。
One of the benefits of the seven…step consciousness scale is to enable you to
see your drama from a perspective so that you can choose the filters you wish
to use in generating your experience。 This conscious choice of programs is
not available to a young child or an animal。 Young children and animals are
trapped in their automatic programming。 To see your drama clearly is to be
liberated from it； so that you do not have to pulsively act out the subjectobject
scripts of your jungle ancestors。
A beautiful aspect of the consciousness scale is that each time you go up a
step in the scale； your life gives you：
1。 More energy。
2。 More contact with people。
3。 More enjoyment。
An important characteristic of the three lower Centers is that you can never
get enough to enjoy your life continuously when you are using the security；
sensation； and power filters to interpret the here and now in your life。 You
can use these filters to make limited improvements in your life。 But out of the
billions of people who have lived on earth； no one has experienced enough
security； enough delightful sensations； and enough power to be continuously
happy and fulfilled。 The experience of enoughness only starts as you begin to
generate your consciousness more and more from the Fourth Center the
Love Center。
The reason why the lower Centers cannot bring you enough is that they cause
constant distortions in perceiving people and life situations。 These Centers
keep you from loving unconditionally and make you relate to people as
objects instead of as beings just like you。 They make you waste energy
pulsively running toward or away from situations。 These lower Centers
subject you to simultaneous； multiple addictions that conflict with each other
and require the bioputer to do something about the heavy emotional
overload。 When overloaded with conflicting addictive demands that are not
being satisfied； the experience of the here and now is grayed over with
repression； anxiety； depression； and dullness。 These emotions are used by
your bioputer to slow you down and keep you from tearing yourself apart
with conflicting demands； desires； and expectations generated by your
security； sensation； and power consciousness。
It should be remembered that life in a jungle frequently poses the threat of
instant death to its animal inhabitants。 We have a beautiful white cat that
purrs and is most loving to the people in our house。 When this cat goes out
into the yard； however； it will crouch down； stalk； and kill birds if it can。 The
automated response patterns of any nearby birds must be able to handle the
life or death aggressiveness of the cat when it plays out its jungle
programming。
We have nervous systems that were evolved over millions of years to cope
with this immediate threat to life。 It has probably been quite a long time since
you or I were actually threatened with immediate death。 But these
mechanisms of fight or flight that were so protective in the jungle are still
operating in our bioputers。 They may be helpful if you were in a boat
that overturned and you had to swim one mile to a nearby island。 This threat
to your life； when processed by your lower three Centers of Consciousness；
would bring about autonomic nervous system responses that would enable
you to swim in a way that you’ve never been able to swim before。 But in
over 99％ of your normal daily interactions with people and life si