Chapter 5
Infinite Personal Expression
from the book Breakthrough Consciousness
by Sharon Janis
Why is it that, in spite of all the mirrors in the world,
no one really knows what he looks like?
-Schopenhauer
The phenomenon of personal expression is one of the most mind-boggling aspects of human existence. Not only do we have the kind of intentional artistic, musical and poetic expression that stirs the soul and transforms lives, but behind even the most seemingly insignificant personal expressions there are levels and layers of deep symbolic meaning, subconscious expressions reverberating throughout the infinite mesh of the one, whole universal expression. It is so damn big.
In the interest of preserving our comfortable egocentric cages, modern society has not taken full advantage of the implications of many revelations that have been discovered and documented regarding personal expression, nor do we fully comprehend the subconscious levels beneath our own expressions. Little by little, human consciousness is evolving to be able to accommodate increasingly complex concepts and worldviews. Nevertheless, we don't have to wait for this appreciation of infinite personal expression to hit us over the head. We can discern and contemplate how and why our subconscious expressions move through us, as they communicate our deepest thoughts and desires without our intention.
Throughout scientific history, prevalent theories about the nature of a human being have often been generated around the current templates of scientific or technological advances. As our mechanical inventions became more advanced, for example, philosophers began to describe the human being in terms of simple mechanics, as a grand sort of mechanical system. When the steam machine was invented, suddenly the prevalent idea held this machine of the body to be animated by a steam-like spirit that moved through it. Now with the advent of the computer age, we see our brains and minds being represented as organized, computer-like information storage units. One recent technological discovery that can be used as a template to reflect the nature of infinite personal expression, is the hologram.
A hologram is a three-dimensional image created by a laser beam that has been refracted in a specific way, and bounced off the object to be holographed. A laser gun generates an especially strong beam of light, because its waves are moving in synchronicity, unlike most light sources we are familiar with. This laser beam is split in two by a half-toned mirror positioned to allow half of the beam to fall onto a holographic plate. The other half-beam is bounced off the mirror toward a particular object. This half-beam of light then bounces off the object and falls upon the same holographic plate as the first half-beam, bringing with it information about the shape and contours of the object from which it is being reflected.
Since these two beams were completely synchronized to begin with, whatever changes have taken place in the second beam bring with them very specific information about where it has been, details about the physical structure of the object it has encountered in its travels. This altered light wave intersects on the photographic plate with the unaltered light wave of the first beam, to form a non-descript pattern that most resembles the intersecting ripples of many stones tossed into a still pond.
When a light source is projected through the holographic plate from the same angle as the original, unaltered beam, it deciphers and animates the information contained in these non-descript holographic ripples. We then find the appearance of a three-dimensional projection of the object that has been holographed, seemingly floating in space behind the plate -- a ghost-like, light-wave image of the object.
A person standing in front of the plate can see this three-dimensional object being recreated through the holographic plate. If the person moves their line of sight to the right or the left, higher or lower, they will see the same object from a different angle, just as if they were looking through a window at the original object. This is one of the elements that makes a hologram so different from a photograph. But there is more.
If you were to break off just a small piece of that photographic plate and shine the light through that small piece, you might expect to see the corresponding section of the object being portrayed. For example, if you have a hologram of a house and broke off a piece near the top, you might expect to see an image of just the roof of the house. But no, what you see is the entire object, top to bottom. With the smaller piece, however, you see the object from a more limited viewpoint, a smaller window. With the holographic process, information about the entire object is contained within every single particle of the holographic plate. Since its discovery, the technology and implications of holography has been used as a template for new paradigms in physics and neurophysiology. It can also be used to help expand our view of who we are and what we do.
In fact, we are holographic beings. Everything we are, everything we do, everything we say, every line on our bodies contains information about the whole of our being. Neurophysiologists have mapped out the relationship of our brain areas to specific sections of the body. Reflexologists use the microcosm of the human body represented on the soles of the feet to heal ailments through deep massage. Palm readers decipher our tendencies, based on the shapes and lines of our hands. Psychologists learn to interpret certain facial tendencies as reflecting the emotional state of their client. The way we stand, sit and walk reveal our personal nature and state of mind. The dogs we choose to own, the houses we live in, the cars we drive, the hobbies we pursue, even the ailments we suffer each tell their own little stories about us.
From a higher perspective, there is no such thing as insignificant expression. We may think we are just sitting in class doodling in our book, or writing a quick note, or singing a song that popped into our heads, or suffering from a cold. Nevertheless, there are incredible, unfathomable worlds of meaning behind every expression that emanates from our being. As soon as we break our focus on the most mundane levels of surface interaction even a little, we can more easily perceive some of the profound layers of expression that dance around and through us every day.
Let us consider the expression of a dream, for example. Long ago, perhaps, it was thought that dreams were some strange kind of nighttime entertainment, some seeming to have prophetic tendencies. Perhaps in earlier stages of brain evolution, human beings were not even consciously aware of their own nighttime dreaming processes. They may not have been able to process and explain why the world seems to change so drastically after they close their eyes, and as we've discovered, when a mind doesn't have explanations for certain information, it often simply ignores the information.
Explorations by psychologists Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud revealed layers upon layers of personal meaning hidden within each dream. Every person, each event, each object in the dream, was found to represent a specific unconscious desire, interest, or even an ancient archetype being expressed through our personal internal imagery.
Perhaps if we could read deeply enough into dream symbolism, it would be possible to glimpse the entire psychological make-up of a dreamer based on the set of objects, events and people in his dream, just as with that small piece of a hologram.
Dreams seem to be one of the most intense or concentrated forms of unconscious symbolic expression, if only because they have free reign, and do not have to worry about slipping by the external limb of ego consciousness. They do not even have to try to make too much logical sense. Therefore, we can look at dreams to discover the levels of interpretation and meaning they offer, and to gain insight into the subtlety and depth of our unconscious expressions in general, even during the waking state.
Every dream has a basic storyline of events. To the informed interpreter, however, each main object and person in the dream also has symbolic significance, perhaps with several intersecting meanings. One's ability to interpret the meanings behind these images is dependent upon many factors, from psychoanalytic knowledge, to an understanding of the language of symbolism, to the person's stage of self-awareness.
The depths of this symbolic realm are limited only by our ability to remember and translate them. Below the surface plane of the dream, for example, there may be more detailed subliminal expressions such as graphology (if a letter is read in a dream), symbolic speech patterns, or body language -- all tucked away in nooks and crannies of our basic dream story.
During the hey-day of psychoanalysis, symbol-laden meanings behind even the most seemingly insignificant thought processes and actions might be interpreted to reveal a patient's hidden thoughts, desires and memories. A psychiatric patient would be shown a random splattering of ink on a page and would be asked to say quickly -- without reverting to normal, conscious interpretive thought -- whatever word is brought to mind by the splatter. From this one word, a knowledgeable therapist would endeavor to translate the symbolic significance behind why the patient may have chosen that particular word. The same kind of symbolic analysis is tapped during free-association and other therapies where the patient's spontaneous responses to a therapist's words are considered to arise from the deeper space of subconscious expression. Such methods attempt to give the knowledgeable therapist entry into whatever holographic patterns of experience the patient's responses reveal, just as a small piece of the hologram gives a view of the entire image.
Graphology, or handwriting analysis, is another way to see our subconscious expressions at play. At one time graphology was used solely as a parlor game. However, some psychologists realized that the same multi-leveled symbolic principle that Freud and Jung described can also be tapped through the expression of one's handwriting. Some of us even put little drawings or symbols into our writing unknowingly. An expert graphologist works to decipher these subconscious designs.
For example, the tendency to write small with the words pushed together is often translated as an indicator of a miserly type person, who is symbolically afraid there will not be enough. This tendency might reveal itself through a miserly approach to money, love, affection, attention, or in the case of graphology, paper. Thus, their handwriting would tend to be small and close together to use as little paper as possible, conceptually saving more for later.
The way one formulates the letter "I" more specifically reveals a person's identity conception. One woman who was in graphotherapy was instructed to change the style of her "I", from one made of loops to a straight line, symbolizing independence. The graphotherapist had noticed an extra, third loop strangely woven within her handwritten "I", and inquired about its purpose. The woman explained she had no idea why it was there, but that she had added the extra loop in her teens. Using a common method of gestalt analysis, the therapist directed her to "Be your I -- be that figure and describe yourself."
After a few moments of discomfort the woman replied, "Well, I have . . . I feel . . . I am . . . there's a hump . . . " She grimaced, "Oh, so that's it. Of course." She then explained that she had a small hump on her back, which she had rarely thought about since it had made her self-conscious as a teenager. Through her writing, she has carried the hump doubly -- on her back and in her head. The anxiety or energy caused by this repressed memory was expressing itself symbolically through her handwriting.
As in the holographic process, once the right laser beam of understanding was shined through just this one small piece of the puzzle -- the way this woman wrote the word "I" -- a great deal of information about the whole nature of the woman, in this case about a physical defect she's had, could be illumined. And merely releasing the memory energies trapped in our symbolic expressions can bring them out of the shadows and into the healing light of introspection.
In graphotherapy, handwriting is first analyzed for its weaknesses, and then deciphered and explained to the patient. The patient then attempts to correct the negative expressions in his handwriting by altering his writing style. The implication of this method of personality transformation is of a feedback loop between our symbolic, subliminal expressions and the character traits that are being expressed through them. Through this loop, it appears that one can actually treat the symptom to cure the cause. This means that if we can perceive and then alter our subconscious expressions -- if we can stand a bit straighter, walk a bit happier, use our smile muscles a bit more -- we are actually re-programming our mental and emotional systems to reflect these changes in the rest of our life.
This also can explain, in part, the phenomenon of what spiritual scriptures call the power of company. As we spend a lot of time with someone, we begin to resonate with them and take on some of their subliminal mannerisms. It is human nature to imitate and absorb expressions. We have done this since we were babies, waving and smiling back, perhaps even reflecting the stress of others in our crying. If we are with someone who is more generous than we are, for example, we may begin to model or take on some of their hand gestures, the openness of their palms that reflects their giving nature, the hunching of their chest and heart as they see someone who needs help. And without knowing why, we may find ourselves opening more to people in need. Of course, we may also be learning from watching the person's example. However, even if we do not know the details about a person's nature, it is possible to absorb some of their qualities just by subconsciously mirroring their mannerisms.
Much of these ideas about finding symbolism in graphology make logical sense to us, such as the idea that a handwritten sentence that angles upward on the page can indicate an optimistic outlook, or that large, decorative loops can indicate a grandiose kind of personality. Then you have some of the stranger patterns that can be found in writing.
Some graphologists have found, for example, patterns of looped letters forming specific designs across an entire page, such as a diagonal line of loops that runs from the left top corner to the bottom right. Or if two sides of a page are used, they might find interesting designs being formed by the intersection of words from the two pages when holding the paper up to the light -- loops within loops, lines crossing lines, strange pictures. This kind of organization within written expression has been documented by graphologists, yet it makes no sense if we believe a piece of handwriting is simply there to express the thoughts of our conscious mind.
What are the implications for a discovery that patterns of letters can be uncovered within entire pages of a piece of writing, as if designed intentionally? If we are just writing down words as we randomly think them, why do we find at times that these words create obvious patterns across a page? How can this happen? More importantly, what can this information do to expand our egocentric cages? Who is doing the writing, orchestrating such hidden artistry? And who is the communication of these other layers of expression being directed towards?
The same question can be asked of our body language gestures. Who is communicating our deepest thoughts by having us sit or stand a certain way, and who is the information for? Is there an audience for this deeply hidden expression? When I look at a page you have written, are my deeper layers of consciousness receiving an entirely different communication than my conscious mind is getting from the meaning of the words? Are there different levels of consciousness within us that can read one another like an open book?
I believe the answer is yes. Since we all seem to "speak" these symbolic, subconscious languages, logic dictates that we can also, at some level, decipher them.
There are countless levels of communication going on within each creative expression, within every expression of any kind. If only we had the mental capability to consciously see all the patterns, the hidden meanings, the plays on words hidden beneath what we think is a written communication of some thoughts -- we would find many meaningful worlds hidden outside the boundaries of our view, just as surely as the electrons in the molecules on this page are spinning right now.
The nature of this universe is infinity. Whatever we perceive is only a face or aspect of reality. We think we know ourselves. We think we know what we are doing, but our conscious minds have no idea of what is really going on here. If we can at least remain open-minded to the possibility of this infinite nature of reality expressing through us even without our conscious participation, then we are automatically opening up to potential growth, deeper perception, and a discovery of greater meaning in life. This is the path of conscious evolution.
Other examples of symbolic language systems might include that space which is touched upon during times of relaxation, or during deep meditation. Those who have experienced such deep, meditative states, describe the experience as a time of understanding that cannot be translated into words. Concepts in this level of consciousness are felt intuitively and through a different form of thought organization than the one we use for external communication. The complexity of many of the ideas received during these states of mind, however, repudiates any concept of a lack of language. These insights seem to use a different context of thought than normal language, a more symbolic, quantum like medium, through which information is perceived and stored.
With the evolutionary expansion of consciousness that is continuously taking place within the human brain system, more people are finding themselves able to perceive and to some extent interpret some of these alternate language forms. The conscious use of such symbolic languages can be seen even in our television shows and films, in the design of angles, lighting, sound effects, music, color scheme, and composition. Certainly, advertisers have made much use of these subconscious communication systems as they gear their ad campaigns for maximum impact.
Symbolic information is also communicated through the condition of our physical bodies. A child keeps getting ear infections. His parents keep fighting, yelling and screaming at each other all the time. Symbolically the child does not like what he is hearing, does not want to be hearing all this discord around him. His ear infections are a symbolic cry for help.
A man feels confined by his job. He feels burdened and unappreciated. He wants to get another job, but he feels trapped -- stuck in this suffocating job. He finds himself developing asthma, and begins to have trouble breathing. The suffocation of his job has been symbolically translated into his lungs.
The ties between emotion and illness indicate that the release mechanism of disease uses a language quite similar to that used in dreams and other subliminal expressions. Psychologist Erik Erikson classified the act of vomiting, for example, as an "oral-expulsive process", thus implying emotional roots to this action of the physical body. This particular expression might be used symbolically to express an inability to swallow or digest a particular situation.
The deeper levels of symbolic meaning behind our illnesses do not necessarily negate the physical circumstances that created the disease or injury. It doesn't make the pain any less real, just as the patterns of looping letters running across a page do not detract from the intended meaning being expressed through those words. In this contemplation, we are uncovering a different layer; something else being expressed simultaneously through that which is familiar to us. Perhaps it is possible, once we really understand the mechanisms at work in the process of symbolic disease expression, to shift our expressive releasing valve from physical body illness manifestation to another medium such as art, music, writing, speech, or dreaming. Wouldn't that be a useful benefit of understanding how such things work?
It does appear possible that one form of subconscious expression can sometimes be substituted with other forms that are somehow comparable to the original form. For example, the fact that schizophrenics do not seem to dream normally, but do experience excess hallucinations, may indicate a possible transfer of symbolic internal imagery from one state of consciousness to another -- in this case from the dream state to the waking state. The energy created by our desires, fears, thoughts, and emotions, must be expressed in some manner according to the conservation of energy law, which states that energy cannot be destroyed. It must therefore be released into the field of consciousness all around us, through our infinite personal expressions -- with or without our conscious participation.
This world exists as a manifestation of a great intelligence, made of the same profound, infinitely complex substance that organizes and manifests as our symbol-laden dreams. Beneath the surface of our awareness, powerful languages of symbolism are the main modes of expression and interpretation. Beneath our day-to-day thoughts and experiences, the other 90% of our brains and perhaps areas of our consciousness that are not even dependent on the physical brain for their functions, are talking to one another, expressing information without our knowledge or approval, sharing our secrets like a trusted friend gone bad.
The phenomenon of body language has also been documented to some extent. If a person touches their nose this way it means such and such, if they stand with their foot pointed towards you it indicates this, if they fold their arms, that. Imagine that all this body language is going on minute by minute, day after day, throughout our lives. Though this level of subconscious communication has been going on for a very long time, only recently has human consciousness expanded enough to perceive even a tiny bit of the complex body language systems at work.
In truth, we have been not only expressing but also reading body language for centuries, albeit unconsciously. Body language, facial structure, voice patterns and tone are all being read and understood by something within us, all the time. Deep inside, we can read someone's traits just by viewing them in action. We know if they are confident, if they're being honest, and what recurring issues they may deal with in their lives. We have our own little psychic hotline inside ourselves. This has been going on without our awareness throughout our lives, just as surely as the white blood cells in your body have been working very hard to fight off infiltrators to your body system -- even while you read this chapter.
This deep, symbolic communication from subconscious to subconscious, is the source of much of our intuition. We feel a person is not quite being honest with us, although they seem to be so sincere. Little do we realize his eyes were moving upward to the right instead of the left, indicating that he is making up the story as he goes along. We feel that someone is attracted to us as they stand on the other side of the room. We feel a pull of attraction, and it turns out that -- lo and behold -- the person was actually noticing you with interest at that very moment. Perhaps we were subconsciously reading his body language, and the information was being communicated to us through our intuition, although we were not consciously aware of the specific body language indicators of his interest. This is where we begin to understand the power of the inner guidance, those intuitive promptings that cannot be logically explained. Psychic information may not necessarily have to come from the great ether of magical knowledge. It may just be a way for us to tap into our own wealth of subconscious information.
We think we are just walking through this world, a self-contained, private person. Yet here we are -- each movement we make, each line on our face, each sound we emit, betraying our true thoughts and subconscious feelings in every moment for the whole world to see. So much for privacy.
Many psychics are able to read some of the symbols of life, either consciously or subconsciously. Either they are actually familiar with some of these symbolic gestures and subtle language cues, in which case they decipher these deeper layers and share the meanings through speech; or else they have built a bridge of communication to those layers within themselves that have access to this information -- receiving the interpretations in the form of internal or external images, through which their own subconscious reveals its knowledge to them. Either they know why they are interpreting a certain quality or fate, or the information is being slipped to them without explanation.
Symbolism is organized much like the holographic storage of information. In a dream, for example, one symbol can have many meanings, all intersecting in the person, event or object. An object may have an obvious meaning, it may also be a play on words, and it may be representing a great deal of other multi-layered symbolic information. Like mathematics or computer programming, the language of symbolism is much more compact and efficient than that of verbal language. It is ancient. It has developed, evolved, and deepened throughout the centuries of human existence. Symbolism is the language of consciousness.
Learning to open up to perceiving different layers of communication at the same time is like developing a new computer capable of running several programs at once. Using the analogy of computer science, our brains are developing abilities to multi-task, to perceive more layers of what is really going on here. The hardware is already in place. The brain is ready. However, in order to use these new functions, we have to have the right software. We have to stop trying to keep the world small for our own comfort and convenience. We have to stop thinking we know what is happening around us. We have to stop putting so much of our energy into the most mundane concerns. We have to be humble students of life, ready to give up even our most deeply ingrained worldviews as they are shown incorrect or incomplete. This is the path of conscious evolution.
There is another way to look at the idea of coexisting layers of personal expression. We will take a piece of writing for example. Haven't you found yourself, while in a higher space of awareness, reading the same book or writing you have perhaps read many times before -- but this time receiving a profound understanding from the writing? Poetry, spiritual books, scriptures, and the writings of sages are some of the most fertile ground for this kind of experience. Perhaps at other times you read the words, gleaning a certain basic understanding of what was being communicated. But in a higher state of awareness, suddenly you are hit with the awe-inspiring profundity of the meaning and implications. For example, some readers may be saying what the hell is this woman talking about, while others are beginning to open up to seeing the multi-facet, symbolic quality of life in a new way.
So, the question is how are all these different levels of meaning and our various states of consciousness organized, and how do they interact and correspond to one another? Clearly, when we find ourselves receiving more meaning and information from something we have already read before, it is because this deeper information is already there within the piece of writing, and always has been. It is -- and was there, even before our conscious awareness of it. On some level, it may have already been communicated from being to being, writer to reader, energy to energy on another, previously subconscious level. It's not that the information was necessarily sitting dormant, unperceived, just because our limited minds were unable to access them. It is possible that somewhere deep inside of ourselves, we understood, and the only difference this time around is that we also understand with our conscious minds what was previously received subconsciously.
Even when we write our own letters or books, there are many levels of communication going on within our expressions -- just as one symbol in a dream can have many meanings enfolded within it. Each of these levels of communication is being expressed and received by the proper level of consciousness for that particular level of communication, just as each enzyme in the body has its own specific receptor sites into which it can fit and perform its service. This dance of communication is multi-dimensional, with layers upon layers of consciousness and meaning all intersecting throughout one another. I am just trying to convey here the vision of how significant, meaningful, rich and full everything can be the more we open ourselves to seeing into the depths of life.
We can liken these simultaneous levels of meaning to a children's television program with some adult level humor in it. The children watch one show, while the parents watch another. The children enjoy the basic, simple storyline, while the parents chuckle at the plays on words and sophisticated innuendoes incorporated in the show for their benefit. Both children and parents are watching the same show, but they are having very different experiences and interpretations of this one show, depending on the level of complexity of their perceptive channels. Such is life. We are each watching our own show here. This is why the spiritual scriptures of India insist that it is impossible to separate the subject from the object, the perceiver from the perceived.
This concept can also be used to shed light on the phenomenon of channeled information. The channeler steps back and allows one of the deeper meaning levels to move through his expressive mechanisms --via speech, writing, music, dance or art. The debate of whether channeled information is coming from within or outside us becomes less significant once the myth of egocentricity is dissolved. As the sages have told us, it is all ONE anyway!
The channeler expresses the information that comes through him, but is not consciously participating in the expression. As if in a hypnotic trance, the channeler steps aside and allows his brain and body to be used, hopefully for good service. In channeling, the subconscious mind bypasses the surface consciousness as though the channeler were asleep.
In the case of a genius, this deeper level of expression is allowed to move through and be processed by the brain of the expresser more or less with his awareness. In contrast with the case of a channeler, where this deeper expression completely bypasses his conscious mind to express itself without additional translation; the genius is aware and participating in the revelation of this deeper flow of meaning through his particular system. His mental software -- including experiences, memory resources and stylistic tendencies -- is animated with new, brilliant inspiration. He gets to be a team player in the expressive dance.
Both of these experiences are natural. They are dramatic instances of processes that go on within all of us day after day. These experiences allow new paradigms of information and thought to bloom in our field of conscious awareness. They uplift us and create new neuronal connections within our brain system. They keep us growing and expanding, both individually and as a species.
Then, even without knowing or consciously perceiving each subliminal, subconscious expression that is compacted into our activities, movements, and creative endeavors, we can just enjoy the awareness that is moving through us in every moment. The purpose of opening up to new vistas of awareness is not to get stuck in them, using all our mental energies to try and decipher the symbols of this world with an eye toward materialistic or even spiritual gain. The true wealth to be gained from all this information is simply this: we are far more than we think we are. We are more, we are greater than we ever thought, or ever could possibly think, as is everyone and everything else. So much brilliance exists within and all around us, just below the threshold of our self-consciousness.
This life we are moving through is worthy of our highest respect and awe. Every day is another expression of the supreme life force. Each expression is the power of life spirit animating our being. There is no such thing as ordinary. Our wings spread wide as we revel in the infinite expression of that one life force in every particle we see, in every thought we have, and in this entire dance of creative universal expression.
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