What is Ascension?
In general terms, the goal of each person on this planet is to ascend. However, the meaning of this word is confusing to some people, so I would like to explain exactly what it means.
Ascension is a word that has two meanings:
- It is the process of raising one’s vibrations to a higher level. Within this process are stages called “initiations”.
- Ascension is the event of completing the 6th initiation, at which time a person has the option of leaving the physical world without the need to go through physical death. A notable example of this type of ascension is that of the prophet Elijah in the Old Testament of the Bible.
Note: every person on this planet is in the process of ascension, and everyone will eventually ascend. When the ascension occurs completely depends on each individual’s efforts and intentions.
Stages of Initiation
The ascension process has several defined stages and substages.
1st, 2nd, and 3rd initiations are about gaining a certain amount of mastery over the physical, emotional, and mental bodies. Mastery of these bodies is a prerequisite to starting one’s spiritual journey.
Reaching the 3rd initiation takes many lifetimes, but once it is reached, the rest of the initiations available in the physical world can be accomplished in 1-2 lifetimes if a person puts in the necessary effort. Otherwise, the process can take many more lifetimes to accomplish.
An initial “spiritual awakening” often happens at the beginning of the 4th initiation as a sign that the person is ready to start their spiritual training in earnest. This spiritual experience is often described as an “expansion of consciousness” that feels like pure bliss.
4th initiation
At this stage, usually one of two things occur. The first option is that the material things in life that used to provide satisfaction no longer do so. The second option is that the things in life that have brought a person satisfaction are stripped away (such as during a life crisis such as a divorce or loss of a career). In either case, the person is now confronted with the task of turning inward for finding things that bring one satisfaction in life. A big part of the 4th initiation involves the cultivation of self-worth as well as love for all others (which may involve difficult lessons in forgiveness).
5th initiation
The 5th initiation continues the raising of one’s vibration via the cultivation of love in order to establish a closer connection with one’s higher self. To reach the completion of this level, all karma from previous lives must be released and/or balanced.
At the end of the 5th initiation, there is a “changing of the guard” concerning one’s spiritual guides. The ascension masters who were guiding you are now replaced by your own higher self being your guide. However, the switch is not instantaneous. Once the old guides leave, there is an interim period of feeling alone. Once the 5th initiation is complete, it is no longer necessary to reincarnate.
6th initiation
At this level, there is a merge of consciousness with one’s higher self. It is now possible to ascend from the physical world without the necessity of physical death. However, a person can also remain on Earth to continue one’s work and service. The Earth plane provides lessons that make it possible to reach the 12th initiation while living in a physical body on Earth.
7th initiation
Even though a person has reached “ascended status” at the 6th initiation, there is still more progress to be made. Overall, there are 352 levels of initiation to complete(!). But once a person has ascended, it is no longer necessary to work through these levels while on Earth. That said, a person who reaches the 7th initiation has spiritually developed to the point that they are now considered a teacher (or master). These people are hence known as “ascended masters”.
After the 12 initiation, it is no longer possible to spiritually progress while incarnated on Earth. Yet some ascended masters who have reached the 12th initiation choose to incarnate anyway for the sole purpose of serving others. These masters are known as “avatars”, and from birth they have an awareness of who they are. An example of an avatar is Sai Baba, whose last lifetime (to date) was from 1926 until 2011.
Consciousness and Dimensions
For most of the history of humanity, we have been living in 3D (or 4D), which is linear. However, as of 2012 the planet (which is also on an ascension path of its own) has started to enter the 5th dimension. Every dimension starting with the 5th dimension is not linear, but instead “multi-dimensional”.
Multi-dimensionality is also called “Unity Consciousness” of “Christ Consciousness”. It is an awareness that we as human beings are interconnected, and that we are also connected to everything else in the universe. It is the awareness that when we do something to another person, we are doing that thing to ourselves.
The personal ascension process is about coming more and more into this awareness. This is done by increasing one’s balance of light. This might seem somewhat arbitrary, but it is not. Crossing into the 5th dimension means that one’s heart is open more often than it is closed. An open heart occurs by cultivating love, while a closed heart is a result of being in a psychological (AKA ego) defense, such as fear, hate, envy, shame etc. The more that our hearts are open, the higher our vibration. And our vibration is directly connected to the initiation stage that we are currently at.
Ascension in the New Age
It isn’t just individuals who are ascending: the planet is ascending as well. This is because the planet is actually a part of us, and it must ascend to stay in balance with humanity. The earth recently started to shift into 5D, which is unity consciousness. At the same time, there are individuals on this planet who have already transitioned to 5D, while many more are in the process of “catching up”.
As the planet transitions into the 5th dimension, the ascension process changes as well. Even those these changes are positive overall, they are still “change” and will take some getting used to. Below are some of the changes for ascension in the New Age.
No longer necessary to work through karma
When considering the entire karma of the planet as a whole, it has now been balanced. As a result, the experience of working through karma is no longer necessary (but will continue as long as people do not give intent to release it).
What do we do if we are not clearing karma? We continue to work on what we have always been doing: we are practicing how to create. The experiment of Earth is about learning to create love in the absence of love.
Old Age Energy is no longer comfortable here
People who currently sit in the old energy (of fear, negativity, etc.) are starting to feel less and less comfortable living on a planet that is moving into the new energy of love. In the past, old energy seemed to always “win out”, but from now on this is no longer going to be the case.
While on the surface it may not look like anything positive is happening in the world, it is simply because the transformation process itself is often “not pretty”. During this time period, those that are not able to switch to the new energy in this lifetime are “quitting early” and being reborn with an energetic upgrade. (Note that the choices to check out of this world are not done consciously, but instead are decisions that are being made by the higher selves of these individuals.) So even though we see a lot of chaos, violence, and death around us, it is actually part of the process of a “global upgrade” in the energy of humanity as a whole.
Lifespans are becoming longer again
In the Bible, there are accounts of people who lived to be hundreds of years old. In general, the physical body is capable of living to be nine hundred to one thousand years. However, the lifespan was shortened artificially as a way of helping people work with karma.
To explain: as humans, we tend to get stuck in certain karmic (i.e. negative) patterns of behavior. Sometimes we are eventually about to work through them, but habits “die hard”. To prevent humans from being stuck in the same patterns for centuries, lifespans were shortened. In this way, those individuals who were stuck would have greater opportunities to break out of these patterns. These negative patterns would still be there, but by viewing the patterns through the lens of a new personality, it would be easier to identify and break free of them.
Now that working with karma is no longer required, human lifespans will once again become longer and longer. In the transitive period, there will be two groups of people: the ones who die at the normal span of 60-90 years, and the ones who start to live a lot longer. To many people currently on the planet, it may seem frightening to live such a long time (considering how much struggle is currently involved in human life). But in the new age, there will be less struggle and more ability to create the life that one wishes to have.
Ascension is no Longer about Leaving
In the past, the ascension event would mean that a person’s physical body would disappear and be replaced by that person’s “lightbody”. This person would then be free to leave the Earth Plane and go on to work on higher spiritual planes.
But in the New Age, there is another opportunity, which is the one that is now preferred by our spiritual guides and master teachers. People who reach ascension status can opt to stay in their physical bodies and continue to live out their lives for an indeterminate amount of time. Once again, life on earth is about learning to successfully create, which in turn helps raise the vibration of the planet and ultimately the universe. And although it isn’t completely obvious why any of what we are doing on planet Earth is important, the benefits of our actions are stated as being completely beyond our wildest imaginations. That should give anyone pause to consider sticking around on the planet awhile longer.