Lecture - Michael Withington
Sunday 2nd November 2025
Consciousness
I will start this afternoon’s presentation with a question. Is there anyone here who doesn’t believe in a Creator? No-One? We have been told that this Creator has an incredible plan in mind and when we start to look at the size of our universe, we are introduced to the possibility of multi-universes, and it leaves us wondering just what this plan could possibly be. And too, what our part in that plan could be.
The Creator has been descried as an infinite ocean of consciousness, and it lends itself to all the various dimensions of creation which are all manifestations of consciousness.
Without consciousness the mind does not function. For anybody who is rendered unconscious it is a case of the lights are on but nobody’s home.
Consciousness is instrumental in every single aspect of our world. It is present in everything that has ever been created.
If we were ever wondering about the nature of physical matter and about how consciousness manifests physical matter, it comes down to the atomic level where atoms are the manifestation of solidified lights so there is a great parallel between consciousness and light hence the term ‘enlightenment.’
If you were ever in doubt about the fact that physical matter is made of solidified light you only have to be present during the detonation of an atomic device. When that detonation occurs, there is a huge amount of energy released, and a light goes with it so that means that primarily all of us are clothed in a garment of solidified light.
Now Edgar Casey described ‘light’ as “experiments in consciousness” which is pretty much what we are all engaged in at this moment.
When we come back to the Creator, the Source of everything that has ever been manifested, it stands to reason that our abilities to think those thoughts that we regard as wise and those thoughts that are detrimental, must all have as their power source, consciousness. Of course, it is up to the individual how we use that power, how we direct it. That is where the concept of free will comes into its own.
Now personally I don’t think that free will is free at all. I find it quite expensive. Whenever I go off on a tangent there is usually a price to be paid. So, the idea appears to be one in which we are given this option but if we take a certain pathway using those powers carefully, we can avoid paying dearly for the choices we make.
We have all chosen to come here in this dimension and clothe ourselves in one of these physical garments; we come into a device which, in itself, is quite incredible.
Medical science is still discovering the amazing aspects which these physical bodies have. Each one of these body’s functions through the dimensions of life via, what we commonly refer to as, our five physical senses. That is to say, we navigate our way through this dimension of life by what we can hear, see, touch, taste etc. This information is gathered through this physical apparatus, our body, converted by electrical signals in the nervous system and then interpreted by the brain.
Now this process of interpreting is very much influenced by how the mind thinks which is predetermined by the experiences we have been through. Certain experiences precondition us to a certain way of thinking. Some people become quite afraid of many of life’s pathways. Others are quite inquisitive because they have discovered that the process of learning about life is intriguing. Some people find that their pathway through life has taken them through experiences where they have lost trust in their fellow travellers. Sometimes they have lost trust in themselves. They have difficulty in making decisions because they can’t trust the decision-making process.
This physical apparatus that we have been equipped with has considerable limitations. Our vision for instance is a very narrow spectrum of light going from the red, infa-red up to the violet, possibly ultra-violet. It is quite a narrow spectrum. It is like an octave on a keyboard. But there are many other octaves that go up to the different dimensions of life and down to the lower aspects of life as well.
We have for instance learned that elephants can communicate with each other on frequencies that are too low for us to hear. What is interesting is that, as we age, that spectrum of hearing literally comes down the scale. It is true that the young have the ability to hear at much higher frequencies than those in their senior years.
It serves to illustrate to us that, in many ways, we are travelling blind. There are so many aspects of life around us that we cannot perceive with our physical senses.
This can be quite challenging to most people particularly when it comes to making important decisions in life. What do we do when we have to make an important decision? We try to gather as much information as we can before making that decision.
Now, I am reminded that when my family moved to Melbourne, one of the first decisions my father made was to purchase a family car which unfortunately broke down and later caused a fire which burned down the garage. Now, if my dad had the additional information available to him, he might have made a different choice.
Some people find this when entering into relationships. They think “Wow this could be great” only to find that the person they thought was their soul mate was concealing their true nature. I think we all have probably experienced this. It can happen in the workplace in fact, anywhere there are groups of people. And each time we experience this lack of integrity, we all too often lose that sense of trust not only in the people concerned but, we can begin to doubt our decision-making abilities.
Now this is because we find ourselves limited to these five physical senses unless we have some aspect of our psychic nature playing a role in making decisions.
Some people might ask, “Where does this psychic nature come from? How does it function? How do I know I can rely on it?”
What we tend to forget is that, when we came here into the physical from the astral, we were quite happy in our astral body living in the higher vibrancy astral condition where things flow much more easily.
However, when we come into the physical where things are slow and heavy and difficult, we put on these physical garments over the top of the astral and, it is in this secondary level of our being, that there is a much higher level of perception available. We are not equipped with the physical ears in the astral, they are just here in this visage. Neither are we are equipped with a physical voice in the astral so we cannot produce words in the way that we can communicate here.
All communication at that higher level of life is telepathic which lends itself to overcoming being misunderstood. Thoughts are communicated directly with great clarity, and you can respond to those thoughts instantaneously. You can hold conversations with such speed that it feels as if you and the person you have conversed with have merged together as one in that communication process. Those who have moved on ahead of us into the higher realms, have returned to that astral dimension of life.
We are functioning with the ability to see without using our eyes. It is all done through perception of consciousness. We are functioning with much higher level of consciousness in that dimension of life; not bound by the restrictions of the heaviness we experience here. It does not have the limitations that our physical apparatus imposes on us. You realise that, with your astral perception of vision, you could see through that wall. Literally, you could see beyond the horizon as you project consciousness out from yourself to whatever you are trying to ascertain. Your consciousness moves out like a fluid mist, and it embraces whatever it is that you want to know about, and it brings back the information it has gathered. This is what our psychic nature does.
It makes use of that higher faculty which is still deep within us, and it avails us of the opportunity to gather an additional level of information before making our decisions.
Now that sounds great, but it is not always an easy thing to do, and it doesn’t always work the way we would like it to. You can’t just sit down and pick the winner of the Melbourne Cup for instance. You can’t get the Tattslotto numbers. There are a lot of ways in which that faculty has built-in constraints and that is in order to teach us to use it appropriately. This is what we are all endeavouring to learn at this point in our journey; how to use the skills we have and what powers are at our disposal which are in harmony with the Divine will.
And this is brought through to us via the process referred to as the conscience. Our conscience is at that higher level of consciousness, and it conveys to us the appropriate nature of how to go about interacting with other people. It makes the difference between right and wrong very clear to us. It is just a shame that so many people have developed the manner of ignoring their conscience and proceeding governed purely by their physical desires.
It is this concept of being locked within the physical self that, without that additional ability where you are solely and totally dependent on your physical senses, creates a sense of vulnerability. There are so many ways in which we are vulnerable. Our interactions with other people for instance. There are a lot of those people who are trapped within that physical arena who have a need to feel comfortable and secure which means, being able to provide the basic fundamental needs for themselves.
That becomes such a predetermining factor in the decisions they make that unfortunately, things like greed can enter. You know that sense that we need just a little more than we actually do. We see in our world at this time, a lot of people who are living in fear; fear of being unsupported in the future. Fear of being looked down upon as if they have been diminished in their right to be an individual. They feel that they have been diminished in their abilities to have a voice, to speak out for what they feel is right.
People who find themselves relating so strongly with the physical garment they wear wind up having, what I call, an identity crisis. They are so susceptible to a discomfort that they have anxiety, fears and they are motivated by those who are driven to try and have power over others in order to feel safe themselves.
Behind the thoughts lies consciousness, the manifestation of the physical is operating within the laws of the universe. The law of attraction is one of the most prevalent laws that is in action constantly in each and every one of us. It is the things that we fear the most that we are most likely to attract to ourselves.
Entertaining those thoughts on a regular basis, driven by that sense of fear that comes from the ignorance of not knowing, will attract to that individual the very things that they are most afraid of because the consciousness itself, which is our Divine essence, wants to break free from those fears. It is only by looking fear in the face that we can do that. So, those people who have bound themselves in that prison of the mind, incarcerated as it were, within their limited perception of functioning, they are going to attract to themselves all the misery that they fear most.
This is where we are most fortunate. We have at our disposal the opportunity through the Spiritualist Movement to develop that psychic ability. It lies within each and every one of us regardless of whether we have had psychic experiences or not. If we choose to develop it, we are lending it a greater credibility. So often people will have a psychic perception of a situation, and they just write it off as an overactive imagination and ignore it. I must confess that in my early day that was exactly what I did. I would be given information from my friend’s upstairs, and I would ignore it. Then I would find out that I should have listened.
I am not talking about something unique here. I think that most of you have had these types of experiences already and you might be wondering “How can I enhance these experiences so that I might make different choices, take different pathways through my life.”
Some people choose to join a Development Circle where they are protected as they are encouraged to lift their consciousness to be in touch with those higher faculties of themselves and to facilitate a telepathic connection with our friends in that higher realm.
Undergoing those experiences, you are well protected, for each teacher will run a group in their own way which keeps out those who might want to take advantage of your vulnerability.
By doing exactly what you feel is right you will learn more about how to rely on your friends upstairs and then, as your journey in the Development Circle continues, it comes down to whether you will allow yourself to open to the influence of those higher ones. You must give permission first. And you must trust. There are no limitations except those you put on yourself.
If you choose to open yourself up to the greater grandeur of life, you will begin to see the astral vibration overlay on the physical. You will be able to see how things are greatly enhanced by consciousness which is embracing another dimension. This will heighten your abilities to make decisions about the things and situations that you encounter on this pathway.
Thank you very much for listening to me this afternoon. I am sure that each of you are on your own pathway and that you will succeed in your endeavours.