The Imaginal Within The Cosmos: Natural Jesus (3): Energetic Prayer & Extended Mind

Continuing with my probe about how the Historical Jesus might have communed with Ultimate Reality via the Imaginal Realm, I'll be drawing upon the work of Bruce A. Vance, a trained physicist and philosopher, who now lives as a Catholic hermit.

Bruce Vance begins his study talking about the possibilities of mental fields, about nonlocal mind. He has a chapter in his book entitled "The Private Mental Matrix." In this chapter he talks of our beliefs, of our private belief matrix:

"Whatever the reasons we adopt a belief or a set of beliefs, they implant an operational framework of mental energies within the mind. Every belief is stored as a guideline according to which you relate to all of reality." [Bruce A. Vance, MINDSCAPE: EXPLORING THE REALITY OF THOUGHT FORMS, Quest Books, 1990, p. 114.]

Vance talks of the emotional energy related to our set of beliefs, and he notes that we must recognize our priorities--becoming aware of the "foundation beliefs" upon which so many other beliefs stand. He stresses that our perception of Reality operates through the Belief Matrix.

Vance's above premises could surely relate to the energetic prayer strength of the Historical Jesus, who maybe employed a strong constellation of private beliefs that were singularly focused upon communing with Ultimate Reality.

Now our personal mental events are formed of mental energies. "Various patterns and structures are reproduced, interwoven, and developed...We draw upon the storehouse of our experiential memories with lightning speed..." and we are "able to unfurl the pageantry of worlds and civilizations, drawing from the ethereal energy of nonphysical realms to create new life and order." [Ibid, pp.137-138.]

Thus we posses our private, individual mental matrix. And this private mental matrix interplays on into the collective stage of mind. From our mental energies we build our lives, our communities, our civilizations. We are capable of manifesting, incarnating these mental energies we possess.

One such mental energy, of course, is prayer--a communing, perhaps a communication system! And I had wondered in my previous post as to how Jesus, how we, might commune at even Higher Levels of Reality beyond ourselves?

For Vance, our mental interplay involves a constant flow of energies between dimensions. And our mental energy, too, involves focus. Drawing back upon a discussion of quantum physics, about tiny packets of energy (photons) which can exhibit properties of either waves or particles, Vance leads into the well-known discussion of an observer-participant universe, about "choosing" where and how one can focus into a single event or phenomenon.

Vance also believes that "Every mental event ripples outward into nonphysical space, each ripple corresponding to a variation on the original theme." Also, "This tendency towards infinite variations threads its way through all aspects of reality." And in terms of a nonlocal system of reality, it could be "one in which neither time nor space limits the communications or influences between two or more events. In other words we are faced with a dimension of reality in which events can have effects upon each other across any distance in zero time." We have entered upon the Imaginal Realm. [Ibid, pp. 159, 165]

Vance proceeds, emphasizing the undivided wholeness of our universe, in which the "observing instrument is not separable from what is observed." He continues that "All parts are connected to all other parts; every part influences every other part." But, now Vance moves into that special subjective realm, when he says "If the mental energy of an individual is part of this field of energy, is it any wonder that telepathy can occur instantaneously across vast distances? [Ibid, p. 167.]

There is an "Extended Reach of Mind" according to Vance. Perhaps there is a multidimensional world of mind, tiers of Mind that is linked with our private, individual mind? Vance considers that our mind, our self, is associated with a "vast gestalt that divides itself into component selves." Also, "It relates to and perceives all the dimensions to which it has access." And "The mind with which we as individuals are familiar is but a part of this vast mind." [Ibid, p. 183.]

And, finally, Vance considers "That which we call God must be the first consciousness...[and] this first consciousness divides into an infinite number of vast gestalts [of mind]." [Ibid, p. 184.]

Thus, considering this imaginal scenario of MIND/Mind/mind, is it not possible to wonder that, in some extremely focused and energetic way, through prayer, that the Historical Jesus penetrated through to the First Consciousness?