The Disconnection with Mass Consciousness begins within the power dynamics of Power-Over to maintain Blind Production.
Here’s a definition of Mass Consciousness:
Mass Consciousness uses inherent human as a tool of manipulation and coercion to invalidate personal truth.
Everything is energy. All energy is connected. Awareness, consciousness, and knowing are present and flowing through all energetic connection. Energetic connection is both universal and individual.
Everything is energy. All energy is connected. Awareness, consciousness, and knowing are present and flowing through all energetic connection. Energetic connection is both universal and individual.
Universal connection is the exchange of energy and awareness between and within all flows of energy both physical and non-physical. This connection is supportive and beneficial as the intention of the flow is to provide unlimited connection without exerting influence or judgment. Universal connection is non-local, connected locally.
Individual connection is awareness of the flow of energy within all levels of self, body, mind, heart, and soul. Individual connection is interconnected universally and has the capacity to perceive and connect with all other flows of energy. Individual connection is local flow connected non-locally.
In contrast, as an energetic alteration of universal connection, Mass Consciousness is the energetic aggregate of awareness and knowing gathered from every human experience on Earth over time. Serving multiple agendas, Mass Consciousness is intentionally, and sometimes unconsciously, employed to manipulate, coerce, and dominate individual connection.
The word “mass” is important here. There is not just one face or one direction. Mass Consciousness contains many utilization vectors which shift over time reflecting the many shifting intentions and multiple agendas of Power-Over within the social and cultural expressions of humanity.
Mass Consciousness also behaves as a persistent feedback loop which is primed and manipulated with selfish beliefs and detrimental mistruths, absorbing all reaction, all awareness, and all belief, whether real or true. Power-Over supports Mass Consciousness to establish the belief that the only real, dependable truth is that of external authority.
As a conduit of Power-Over, fear, anger, hysteria, hatred, and more flow through and are fed into the numerous channels of Mass Consciousness. For example, this coercive flow uses fear to dominate. Various actors foment fear through all the many channels of communication. As fear increases within individuals, fear increases within Mass Consciousness. The returning reverberation of fear within Mass Consciousness influences individual awareness, again increasing the intensity of fear within its energetic flow. Mass Consciousness continues this feedback system creating more fear, uncertainty, and divisive feelings which spiral and affect large numbers of people.
Leaning towards self-absence, this flow encourages agreement with whatever is being perpetuated within Mass Consciousness. Within self-presence, the continual flow pressures the individual to doubt personal truth in favor of the push by Mass Consciousness.
Within the worst damage, connection to personal truth is lost, and the individual relinquishes personal truth to the external beliefs propagated by Mass Consciousness as truth. Within successful exertion of influence, Mass Consciousness becomes the accepted source of truth.
Robbed of assurance that personal truth resides within, the purported truth of Mass Consciousness erodes belief in personal power and self-choice, diminishing the inner sense of self-belief.
Without the direction of an inner compass, there is no sense of personal agency or capacity. With personal presence in the shadows, personal absence is the norm. Human experience becomes riddled with depressed, angry automatons separated from self-truth and self-choice with no other awareness but to follow the dictums of Power-Over. Many are left to what feels like futile effort to feel confident and capable to live a meaningful life.
Contrary to the motion of Mass Consciousness, personal agency and connection to personal truth is inherent within all individuals. Because the effects of Mass Consciousness begin in early childhood, the process of maturity and the benefit of personal learning are required to dampen and exclude the effects of Mass Consciousness.
Within the balance of self-presence, truth is an internal, very real human experience. To move away from the impact of Mass Consciousness:
Listen to your heart to hear your truth.
Let’s dive into how this is possible.
My Story with Mass Consciousness
Here’s the beginning of my awareness of Mass Consciousness:
Haziness. Frustration. The very distressing feeling that I didn’t receive the memo which others obviously received. In other words, something in me is missing and that’s my fault, my failure, my responsibility.
Initially, Mass Consciousness is revealed on the edge of emerging personal awareness. Awareness is hazy because Mass Consciousness resists clear focus. Frustrating because as self-presence grows, nailing down a clear view of Mass Consciousness can be illusive. Because personal confidence is not fully formed, there is a question about the reality of the inner feelings which don’t seem personal. The roots of Mass Consciousness planted themselves very early in life and questioning them at first seems either unnecessary or wrong. Who are you to question authority?
My self-awareness, my ability to be present to myself fully emerged in my late twenties and into my thirties. As I look back on the progression of my life, one of the trails I can track is clarity of self-presence which also traces my growing awareness of the long-term presence and effect of Mass Consciousness in my life.
Like all people, my ability to think and be self-aware shifted as I grew up. Cognition in a three-year-old is not the same as a six-year-old or or a 16-year-old or a 24-year-old.
By the time, I reached 29, how I thought and perceived the world, while different than my earlier selves, was certainly formed and informed by the entirety of my life’s progression. How I interpreted this progression at the time came from self-belief and the surrounding voices of family and society.
But as I entered my thirties, I also became acutely aware of a haziness in my awareness clouding my perception of myself. My growing self-presence brought the blocks of awareness into increased focus.
Enter my critical voice – that constant inner dialogue which derides and denigrates self. For me, the critical voice came with constant derision, “You’re stupid! You’re thoughtless! You’re too slow. That was too fast. You will never be good enough. You are too much! “
Over time came the awareness of all the beliefs and stories that I had been piling up about myself since birth. I began to understand the connection between what I thought was self-truth, what others said was true, and society’s unending reinforcement of interpreted truth through institutional and informal information sources. These weren’t just the stories created out of thin air by my critical voice because Mass Consciousness provided incessant pivotal inspiration. This is by no means an exhaustive list of the many messages pushed at me which at one time I believed were my truths:
Good girls don’t cry.
Success only comes from backbreaking work.
Something is wrong with you.
You are both not good enough and too much.
Be quiet and compliant to stay safe and well liked.
Go along to get along.
Don’t ruffle feathers and upset the grownups.
The world is not a safe place.
Those who don’t look like you are dangerous and should be feared and avoided.
Your pain comes from your stupid, thoughtless behavior.
Pain is your responsibility – if you are in pain, it’s your fault.
If you don’t let others take care of you, you are being selfish.
Men are more powerful and more intelligent than women.
As a woman, you can either be smart or beautiful – but not both.
Smart women are dangerous.
Beauty is a woman’s only asset.
The best a woman can hope for is marriage to a man who will take care of her.
Skin color or gender makes some people better than other people.
If you are not like me, you are less than me and I need to seek protection from you for myself by someone stronger, smarter, prettier than me.
As the haze lifted, the absurdity and the inherent conflict of these beliefs began to lift their head, daring me to challenge what was assumed to be truth for me.
Deeply rooted, thirty years later, I am still working on the remnants of these beliefs. I do what I can to release and reverse, creating new self-expression which resonates truth for me.
In hard-won clarity, I see that the source of these disruptive beliefs and derogatory stories came from Mass Consciousness through the culture and society I naturally connected with.
In presence to myself, clarity reveals what diminished my awareness, attempted to keep me disconnected, and reinforced a mistrust in my unique capacity. If I believe I am powerless, unworthy, and incapable, I am more susceptible to manipulation and control willing to be dominated under the misguided belief that I needed protection.
Believing that someone else knows better than I, keeps me quiet, docile, and accepting of the meager scraps occasionally thrown in my direction. Anger, disappointment, and judgment are turned inward because I am at fault and deserving of blame and condemnation.
In the first five years of my life there was a lot on my plate: infantile asthma resulting from the staph infection I contracted on the day of my birth and nearly died from; followed by bronchial pneumonia which brought hospitalization and new challenge to my already troubled breathing process; sexual assault which created nightmares and anxiety attacks into my thirties; feet which toed-in slowing me down and providing fodder for the unkind taunts of bullies.
The resulting trauma as well as the incessant inner and outer attacks undermined my sense of self-worth and my ability to feel safe in the world at a very early age.
With the emergence of self-presence, I began to see how many critical voices fueled the negative stories I told me about myself. These stories worked to undermine my ability to recover from challenges and dampened my self-belief. No wonder I felt hazy about myself and my life. No wonder anger seemed to bubble up from nowhere and explode.
As self-presence emerged, I used the challenges and the pain to build self-worth, self-trust, and self-love – the learned cornerstones of my self-presence. Within self-presence, I began to see how I had ignored, denied, and delayed protecting myself to jettison the pain and the confusion of the unexplainable.
Looking back, I can see the dilemmas at each step of my journey. How could I as a four-year-old explain sexual assault to a self under siege? How does a teenager reject the taunts of a bully when her inner core is absent and inaccessible? How will that child turned 22-year-old bride defend against daily verbal and emotional assault by a man who says he loves her?
In each case, the voice of external authority involved is clear. You are at fault. You are wrong. You are weak. You are too strong. You brought this on yourself. Don’t cry. Take care of yourself – but quietly. Don’t upset anyone.
Plus, there were those who were threatened by me and took the opportunity to diminish me to secure their place from the challenge to their safety that they believed I represented. They sought to convince me of my weakness through the threat of their dominance. She made me do it. Her devilish ways – it’s her fault.
Many adults endure in childhood similar circumstances of threat, control, and manipulation. Oddly, their words can parrot and reinforce the domination of Mass Consciousness not because they don’t care but because they believe the best bet is to go along to get along.
I was fortunate to have parents and grandparents who didn’t ascribe to these messages. Though there was much that overwhelmed, I was also surrounded by much which supported a positive awareness of and interaction with the world and with myself. I wasn’t completely separated from self, though my experience was definitely moderated by outside sources.
When I was nine years old, I traveled with my family to Africa where we spent four weeks living in a small Congolese village. My playmates consisted mostly of local children. We had so much fun running, playing, laughing. They taught me to play Mancala and together we swam in the Congo River, played hide-and-go-seek and stickball. A time of joy, happiness, and connection.
Yet, when I got home and told the church ladies about my experience, I realized that they were worried for my health and safety in extended exposure to what they thought of as the unkempt, the uneducated, and the non-Christian. This was my first personal experience and awareness of the judgment held within difference in skin color or religion. I was embarrassed for the older folks because even at that young age I know my experience was not limited by superficial difference.
Building on a supportive family life, this hugely formative experience removed me from my local environment, allowing me unhindered connection with the truthful essence found within each person. The openness and generosity of my parents was reinforced as I learned connection was possible regardless of superficial, meaningless attributes which are not truthful barriers to universal connection. Upon my return, my awareness of the bias instilled within the response by friends, family, and the larger community was the beginning of my self-presence.
More importantly, in my awareness, my nine-year-old self had consciously acknowledged the truth of my personal experience and maintained the primacy of my inner truth over the external prejudice which wanted me to believe that somehow, I was better than the children I played with in Africa simply because of a difference in skin color or religion. Allowing my personal experience to govern my beliefs and perspectives, I claimed my inner sense of truth despite the strong drone of external authority.
The Fallacy of Mass Consciousness
Emerging from the Latin locus, local means place, location, a physical space designation. Thus, local is typically perceived to be a physical place or location.
In contrast non-local, at first glance, would seem to refer to that which is not connected to a particular physical place or location. A stranger, the unknown, the out-of-town are not physically local and, thus, not perceived to be connected locally. The non-local is the physically unknown.
Within human experience, peace is believed to be found in what is known and understood. Historically, the unknown raises fear and worry. Within the unknown is fear and mistrust. The unknown, and thus the non-local, must be defended against.
Within this perception of local and non-local, US versus THEM emerges. US are the people connected to my local. THEM are those who are non-local and thus not connected. THEM, as non-local and unconnected, needs to be watched and encouraged to move on to their local so that US is unbothered and protected from the threats of the non-local THEM. The Mass Consciousness fear is that THEM will claim connection where there is believed to be none and use that claim to over-power US.
This preference for all that is local also prefers the limits of linear time and physical space. Local is defined within the known aspects of past, present, and future and within the depth, length, and width of physical location. This location can be anything from a house to a neighborhood, a town, a state, or a country. The primary requirement is that US clearly define and designate what is local to their group.
When life is geographically constrained, fear of the unknown beyond the physical border of experience is the result. When experience is limited to a village or town or state, and when the habitual response is to question outsiders as possible dangers or threats to life, US versus THEM creates the pattern to maintain safety, and protect the weak, and encourage the polarity of Power-Over.
However, if connection is perceived as existing beyond physical location, the possibility of positive interaction with the unknown expands. No longer constrained by physical geography, human connection can be re-envisioned and experienced non-locally.
For example, within the view of quantum physics, non-locality perceives the effect of action and connection beyond physical place. This seems to be a paradox and extends connection beyond the local.
Universally, non-locality provides unlimited connection. Universal connection is energetic, creating a web-like interweaving of all existence on Earth. Thus, the limitation of physical space connection is merely limited perception of the nature of our world.
To see that connection exists beyond the borders of local experience, opens the door to the universal connection of WE. WE transcends fear, entertains the unknown as opportunity, and embraces connection beyond physical location.
Non-local connection is entangled. Think of a spiderweb. Each location of the web is connected with all other locations of the web. Yet opposite sides are at a distance and are not adjacent yet are connected by the nature of the web itself. Human existence is also a web of energetic connection which exists beyond the constraints of time and space.
Mass consciousness would have you fear this web of connection to maintain the Power-Over dynamics of US versus THEM. Mass Consciousness benefits when human experience is limited to the linear, local perception.
However, as experience of universal connection, WE expands beyond the horizon of our physical space and open our eyes, our minds, and our hearts to the opportunity of non-local connection. In the embrace of that which seems to not be local, the nonlocal is no longer the scary unknown. Instead the nonlocal becomes the possibility of new learning, the foundation of interconnected human life.
I acknowledge for myself the truth and joy which is inherent in every human being. This experience of personal truth changed my life. Rising above the enforced separation of US and THEM, every day I experience the universal human connection of WE.
In my journey away from self-absence to self-presence, I learned that many personal misconceptions, erroneous beliefs, and hateful illusions are reinforced by the critical voice which is powered by Mass Consciousness. The most detrimental effect is eroding confidence in my personal truth – or more specifically, the erosion of my capacity to believe self-truth especially in the face of what feels like a huge opposing force.
In contrast to Mass Consciousness, there is the supportive aspect of Universal Connection. As an energetic channel of awareness from, to, and between all people, Universal Connection is beyond the control of Power-Over manipulation. Universal Connection is peaceful, nonlocal, and has no intentionally harmful agenda.
The motion of Universal Connection in this perspective supports self-awareness and self-trust. Rather than beat people down with negativity, Universal Connection has the inherent capacity to reinforce the best of humanity and the worth of each individual. Leaving the enforcement of Mass Consciousness behind gives space to hear self, to explore inward, to expand self-awareness, and connect in balance with all.
Without the push of outside agendas, personal truth is found within each individual. With a firm, trustworthy inner foundation, awareness of what is said outside of self is not replacement, rather an opportunity to realize the beauty and strength of personal truth found within. The outer dialogue of WE need not be feared. The habitual mistrust of the unknown can be released in favor of the excitement to learn and grow. By rejecting the Mass Consciousness falseness of US vs. THEM, the nonlocal connection of WE opens our hearts to the inherent beauty of everyone. Leaving fear behind, human life steps into a new existence ready to embrace a new non-local world.
Mass Consciousness in Daily Life
The voice of Mass Consciousness is everywhere, particularly in all the various forms of the media. Whether from television, social media, advertising, newspapers and more, there is a constant drone and hum which can overwhelm and drain.
In conjunction, other voices such as religion, government, medical organizations, social, cultural, or political groups, as well as educational institutions and more – all have a say about current events and topics. A primary aim of many is to create and control a narrative to the benefit of their system or group. All the organizational communication is directed into the conduits of Mass Consciousness with the intention of widespread influence, control, and authority.
Thus, Mass Consciousness is comprised of many competing agendas. Without personal critical awareness of this voice, mass consciousness and its very vicious beliefs take hold and direct towards ends not within the best interest of individual experience and choice.
In too many cases to count, many people I have worked with have unknowingly been overcome by the detrimental droning voice of Mass Consciousness.
The anxiety created within is real. The fear which reverberates within the feedback loop is traumatic. The self-doubt instilled can be crippling.
We become automatons focused on numbing the overwhelm, limiting the panic, and finding a strategy to win at all costs, taking down whoever may stand in the way.
Georgia, a young wife and mother, sought help with her children. Because both kids appeared to have possible attention-deficit issues, Georgia had a sick feeling something was not right and that the prescription medications being recommended were not the right choice for her children. She felt like she was getting ready to cause her children irreparable harm.
In our work together, Georgia realized she was perpetuating her own family feedback loop fueled by the detrimental energy of Mass Consciousness. She would watch several hours of national news every evening before and during dinner in an effort to stay informed and capable of responding to possible threat. But all she heard and all she saw created huge anxiety in her. Her children, exposed both to the loud, always present drone of television and to a mother constantly anxious and unsure, literally bounced around the house trying to release the upsetting energy of Mass Consciousness delivered by the TV and, inadvertently perpetuated by their mother.
“How can I find peace for myself and for my children?” she asked. This was Georgia’s deeply held desire – one she was petrified could not ever be given the horrible state of the world.
One week. Seven days. No TV. No news. No shows. No commercials.
Instead: take a walk, listen to music, read novels, play games, talk to one another, enjoy life without interference from the voice of Mass Consciousness.
Georgia did all of this with her family. The results were phenomenal. Not only did her children quit bouncing, but Georgia found peace. She found herself – a self which had been buried in the belief that to live and to protect she had to stay informed.
Instead, Georgia learned a powerful lesson.
Personal truth is found within.
Not in the cacophony of the incessant voice of Mass Consciousness, truth is an inner experience. Georgia realized that when she listens to external sources, their truth was not a replacement of hers, simply a path to help her find her truth within personal awareness and knowing.
By trusting herself, Georgia also learned that the push to watch the news was fueled by the fear of missing out. In the calmness of personal truth, Georgia transcended this fear to know everything. Instead she trusts herself to know what she needs to know when she needs to know. She replaced frenzy with self-trust, releasing a taught-mistrust of the unknown. Childhood stories from her parents about potential harm from strangers outside their religious group no longer limit Georgia. She learned to trust herself and rely on her own sense of truth. Georgia told me, “Life used to be fearful drudgery which had me jumping at every shadow. Now I feel restored, light, and excited by the possibilities of my life.”
Releasing the Disconnection within Mass Consciousness
The constant drone of Mass Consciousness influences perception of self and shows up within personal awareness as the Critical Voice. The Critical Voice continually repeats all the false stories and misperceptions about self gained over a lifetime of experience within the world. As a conduit of Mass Consciousness, the Critical Voice wants to control and to convince that self is incapable of perceiving personal truth. Instead. the Critical Voice wants dependency on its words, on its perspective of self as inept, unworthy, unlovable.
The Critical Voice gains fuel in a lack of self-confidence and feeds on the inflexible sense of self maintained by ego. All of the effort of the Critical Voice and the ego is to deter from claiming self-confidence, self-worth, and self-truth. As long as the Critical Voice maintains the power to direct behavior and choices, then life is reaction driven by desires and beliefs not your own.
Trusting self is scary. Fear pushes towards safety at all costs. Blame colors past experience, separating self from trust. Shame extinguishes self-belief. Embarrassment colors future possibility with the dismal hue of failure. All of which pushes attention outside of self to whatever authority wants to serve up their truth for you.
The Critical Voice and the drone of Mass Consciousness offer a semblance of truth to replace and control, maintaining Power-Over.
The first step to trusting self to receive personal truth begins by questioning the content of the drone within your head and then within the environment. In other words, question the premise of your thoughts and feelings. Question what feels fearful, impossible, improbable, or unbearable. Question the outside voice as a foolproof, rock-solid, truthful authority.
Authority of personal truth resides within you. Through discernment, through personal learning and experience, the heart and mind open to new possibility and new understanding found within self.
Initially, the Critical Voice will try to increase volume to distract and delude you. With every jabbing statement, with every loud pronouncement question the validity of every idea which rambles in your head. Turn self-doubt away from self. Instead, aim doubt at the outside voices which want to usurp your truth and your self-trust.
Are you really stupid?
Are you really not good enough?
Are you truly a failure?
Initially, you will feel hints of truth both negative and positive because self is not flat or devoid of nuance. Certainly, there are moments of which you are not proud or satisfied. Looking back, there are always moments where a different choice then is highly desirable now.
To move forward, don’t let the past freeze steps forward. The past does not determine your future. You determine your next step through your personal choice. Each choice you make creates your future.
Remember, you are an inherently worthy human being. You are always at choice. In this moment, turn to the quiet spot in your heart. Feel your worth. Feel the comfort of truth there for you. Feelings may be slight and, perhaps, distant. But to begin to live from truth found within the depth and center of you, turn your awareness away from the oppression of the Critical Voice and Mass Consciousness.
Listen to you. Listen to the quiet. Welcome this peace into your awareness. Believe in you and believe in your ability to hear and trust your personal truth.
By allowing this inner opening, you will, over time, learn how to manage and respond to all you find within. The opening is scary at first because you need experience to deal with the raw and the hurt. Denial is a choice which does not ease pain. Willingness to find inner truth opens paths of release so that pain slowly eases away.
When fear no longer dominates, self has the space to reject outside coercion and seek within. Truth is always found within all aspects of being, body, mind, heart, and soul. Truth is an experience of center, always within. Truth is not static and flows within life as dynamic fueling of awareness, lifting experience into new horizons.
Walk your path to release habitual barriers, connecting with personal truth. Integrating spiritual with physical, empowers the intimate connection yearned for with truth –always found lovingly within.
To release the effects of Mass Consciousness, listen to your heart to confidently hear your truth.
Disconnection within Mass Consciousness is an excerpt from my book, To Do Your Work. To read other excerpts from this work-in-progress, start here.
To learn more about the concepts within To Do Your Work, begin with this article: The Spiritual Practice of Personal Power.
