10 Powerful Ways to Raise your Consciousness

Satsang is a spiritual gathering which is kind of like church, except that the person on stage isn’t a preacher, they’re an enlightened guru, and instead of preaching, they simply answer audience questions on enlightenment, meditation, spirituality etc.

If you don’t have the ability to attend a satsang near you, you can watch them online on YouTube.

Here are some of my favorite spiritual teachers:

Adyashanti

“Until the whole world is free to agree with you or disagree with you, until you have given the freedom to everyone to like you or not like you, to love you or hate you, to see things as you see them or to see things differently—until you have given the whole world its freedom—you’ll never have your freedom.” – Adyashanti

Gangaji

“The meaning of your life depends on which ideas you permit to use you. Who you think you are determines where you put your attention. Where you direct your attention creates your life experiences, and brings a new course of events into being. Where you habitually put your attention is what you worship. What do you worship in this mind stream called your life?” – Gangaji

Jed McKenna

“Life is but a dream. There is no such thing as objective reality. Two cannot be proven. Nothing can be shown to exist. Time and space, love and hate, good and evil, cause and effect, are all just ideas. Anyone who says they know anything is really saying they don’t know the only thing. Any assertion of truth other than I am is a confession of ignorance. The greatest religious and philosophical thoughts and ideas in the history of man contain no more truth than the bleating of sheep. The greatest books contain no more truth than the greatest luncheon meats.” – Jed McKenna

Mooji

“Never assume that you have attained truth. Don’t make any claim to knowledge. Form no conclusion or evaluation concerning truth. The minute you do, your downfall is assured. Whenever you imagine you know something, you cease being open to the living exploration. You have closed a door and cut off the oxygen to the breathing truth.” – Mooji

Sadhguru

“A human being, the more intelligent he becomes, the more confused he gets – every step is a confusion. Only an idiot is dead sure. The sign of intelligence is that you are constantly wondering. Idiots are always dead sure about every damn thing they are doing in their life.” – Sadhguru

You can watch these Satsangs on YouTube, or you can convert these talks to MP3 to listen to later.

If you do get a chance to attend a satsang with an enlightened being however, you should definitely do it, because you’ll often learn more from simply being in their presence than from anything they might say.

Pay extra attention to repeated teachings

Enlightened beings will often talk about something you don’t understand. They’ll keep on repeating the same things over and over again. You might have no idea why they keep talking about something, why they keep bringing it up, why it’s relevant etc. but look into it. Find out why they won’t shut up about it. Don’t just dismiss it and assume that it’s not important because you don’t understand it.

For example: I was at Satsang with Mooji in India in 2016 and he said repeatedly:

“Can the perceiver be perceived?” – Mooji

He’s said this on a number of occasions, so I know it’s important, and that I’ve got to look into it and find out for myself.

Psychedelics such as Ayahuasca, DMT, LSD, Magic Mushrooms etc. are incredible and life changing for many people. They were for me.

If you’ve never had a real, unmistakable, spiritual experience, they can provide it. Believe me it’s one thing to read about the spiritual experiences of Jesus or Krishna and another to have your own.

“The only experience which counts is your own experience. Everything else is irrelevant. If flying saucers were to land on the lawn of the White House tomorrow, it would not matter to you as much as if you smoked DMT tonight, because that’s your experience.” – Terrence McKenna

Benefits of Psychedelics

• Allows you to escape the prison of your perspective
• Allows you to see and perceive things you can’t ordinarily in ways you wouldn’t ordinarily
• Psychedelics are the fastest way I know of to open your mind (followed by travelling the world, meditation, and seeking out the best arguments and evidence against your beliefs) You will never see life, other people, yourself – anything – the same way again
• Psychedelics reveal your blind spots and make the unconscious, conscious. They reveal:
  • Things you might have noticed, but that you maybe hadn’t yet realized the full significance of (childhood traumas you haven’t healed from, or maybe a bad habit, or a personal, health, or relationship problem that is spiraling out of control)
  • Things that others can see about you, but that you can’t see, or don’t want to see. e.g. addictions, attachments, approval seeking behavior, bad habits, depression, defense mechanisms, mental/psychological problems
  • Things about yourself that you don’t know, and no one else does either
  • They show you where you’re currently going wrong in life and what you should do differently

Notes about Psychedelics

• You cannot control the experience. For this reason, I do NOT recommend psychedelics to anyone that cannot, or is unwilling, to let go and give up control
• Once the trip starts you’re going for a ride and you cannot stop it. Don’t try to resist it or stop it because you are likely to trigger a terrifying experience (a “bad trip”)
• Don’t take psychedelics if you’re feel anxious, depressed, sad etc. or any other ‘negative’ state because they’re likely to amplify it and make it worse
• Don’t take psychedelics with someone you don’t trust or feel safe with, or anywhere you don’t feel comfortable or safe

You can read about my life changing experiences with Ayahuasca here: How Ayahuasca Changed My Life

Critical thinking

One of the biggest myths in the world of religion and spirituality, is that enlightened beings know everything. That they’re infallible and incapable of being wrong. But nothing could be further from the truth.

Enlightened beings not only can be wrong, but they’re wrong frequently, especially when they speak about subjects they know nothing about. Remember: Just because someone is enlightened, that doesn’t mean they’re infallible, or that they’re an expert on everything.

You need to think for yourself, and start to question everything you’re told, and everything you read, watch and listen to, instead of being gullible and blindly believing whatever your guru/holy book/religion says, because there is a lot of bullshit, lies and myths masquerading as truth in the world of new-age/religion/spirituality, and if you’re not careful you’ll believe it.

Critical thinking and an understanding of cognitive biases and logical fallacies, is an absolute must if you want to get smarter and raise your consciousness. It will give you the skills to sort fact from fiction, truth from lies, and reality from fantasy, and it will improve your bullshit detector and stop you from being gullible, naïve and stupid.

Unfortunately critical thinking is a skill that is sorely lacking amongst the general population, and definitely amongst most new-age/religious/spiritual seekers who are often gullible and stupid and quick to believe anything (no matter how far-fetched or ridiculous) and who often act as if ignorance were bliss and intellectual laziness was a virtue.

Meditation and mindfulness is not enough. Yes meditation quietens and stills the mind, and it allows you to see and perceive things clearer, but there are a lot of 30+ year meditators that believe a lot of bullshit and new-age and religious fairy tales, that do not have the most basic of critical thinking skills.

If you want to improve your critical thinking skills, get smarter, and raise your consciousness read this article: How to get Smarter: A guide to critical thinking, cognitive biases, and logical fallacies – Part 1

Become a Truth seeker

If you want to raise your awareness/consciousness you must be a truth seeker.

Unfortunately most people aren’t truth seekers. They’re approval seekers, comfort seekers, pleasure seekers – but they’re not truth seekers. Most people could care less about the truth. They just want to feel good. If the truth makes them feel good – they want it. But if it doesn’t – they don’t.

So what does it mean to become a truth seeker?

Follow the evidence wherever it leads

You must be willing to follow the evidence wherever it leads. Even if it’s inconvenient and uncomfortable.

You must also be willing to change your beliefs every single day without resistance or hesitation if the evidence demands it.

Don’t just believe whatever you want to believe like most people.

No Sacred cows

“If You Meet The Buddha On The Road, Kill Him” – Zen Kōan 

If you want the truth:

• No belief
• No guru
• No holy book
• No religion
• No subject
• No teacher
• No teaching

Should be off limits, or safe from criticism, questioning, and/or scrutiny.

You should have no sacred cows.

Travel the world

If you have the money and the time:

Travel the world to as many places as you can, as soon as you can.

Traveling the world will give you a real-life education and it will open your eyes and open your mind and teach you many lessons that simply cannot be learnt in your own backyard. It will also give you a reality check and show you the way the world really is, instead of how your mind or the media portrays it, and it will make you more intelligent, interesting, and knowledgeable.

You can read about my experiences traveling the world in this article

Audit your life

“The unexamined life is not worth living.” – Socrates

Auditing your life is not only one of the greatest productivity hacks I know of, it’s also one of the best and fastest ways to become conscious of how you’re spending your time – and therefore your life.

How to Audit your life

Write down everything you do from the time you wake up until the time you go to sleep. Yep, track every 30 minutes of your day from Monday – Sunday.

For example:

Monday

6.30am – Wake up and shower

7am – Breakfast

7.30am – Get dressed for work

8.00am – Drive to work

8.30am – 12pm Work

12pm – 1pm Lunch

Etc.

As soon as you do this you’ll immediately see in black and white terms where you’re spending your time, where you’re wasting time, where your free time is, and what you’re doing with your life.

Auditing your life will only take 30 minutes – one hour, but it will allow you to make the unconscious, conscious, and it will give you the chance to consciously create space in your life for the things that matter. So go through the process. Even if you don’t want to. Spend an hour and save thousands in return.

If you don’t audit your life and become conscious of exactly how/where you’re spending your time, you’ll continue to waste it on unimportant crap that doesn’t matter, and whatever random distraction comes up in the moment.

Most people complain that they “don’t have time”, but that’s not true.

Auditing your life will prove not only that you DO have time, but a lot of it.

Audit your diet

You also need to audit your diet in order to become conscious of exactly what kinds of foods you’re eating, and what percentage of your diet is healthy vs unhealthy, proteins vs fats vs carbs etc.

How to Audit your diet

Write down everything you eat during the day from the time you wake up in the morning until the time you go to bed. Record every meal, snack, candy bar, drink, everything. Do it for a few days.

This will instantly allow you to see what is lacking from your diet and what needs to be added/removed/changed.

How to raise your consciousness: Bonus Tips

• Change your diet. I’m not telling you to become a vegetarian or a vegan, but if you eat healthy and cut down on the alcohol, coffee, fast foods, sugar etc. you’ll not only look good and feel good, but your body and mind will work better and you’ll have more energy, which will make thinking, decision making, and problem solving easier
• Change your mental diet. Be careful about what you read, watch, and listen to. Don’t just watch whatever is on TV or trending on YouTube, and allow the world to program your mind with drama, fear, negativity, and violence. Instead consciously seek out audiobooks, podcasts, and satsangs that will enlighten you (like the ones I’ve recommended)
• Change your social circle. The people you spend time with affect the way you think, feel, speak, and act. Therefore the more time you spend with people who are smarter and more conscious than you, the more it will accelerate your awakening. And if you don’t know a lot of people who are conscious and aware, go out of your way to find them, and join a meditation group
• Change your environment. Your environment is everything. It affects the way you think, feel, speak, and act, and it shapes your beliefs, desires, and values. If you can move to a quiet and peaceful neighbourhood do so. It’s hard to focus on awakening and enlightenment if you’re constantly surrounded by noise, crime, and violence, and always fearing for your safety
• Pay attention to how things affect you energetically. Most people are completely ignorant of how they’re affected energetically by different colors, foods, music, movies, TV shows, people, weather patterns etc. I know I was prior to Ayahuasca. What gives you energy? What drains your energy? Start to pay attention to it. For example, if you’re introverted like me you probably recharge your batteries away from other people, whereas if you’re extroverted you probably need to be around other people to recharge your batteries
• Simplify your life. Don’t be too busy or have too much on. It’s hard to wake up if you’re constantly tired, stressed, and overworked. You need time for contemplation, meditation, reflection etc.
• Keep an open mind. Most people today are closed-minded and far too sure of themselves. You can’t tell them anything because they already know everything. It’s important to keep an open mind however, because it’s the only way you’ll learn anything new
• Listen more than you talk. You’ll learn a lot more by listening to people and watching them, than you ever will by talking and telling them what you know. PS: If you really want to know what someone really thinks, listen with your eyes and watch what they do, because people lie with their words all the time, but they never lie with their actions
• Learn from your mistakes. Mistakes can be awesome learning opportunities if you’ll take the time to learn from them. So the next time you make a mistake instead of getting angry or defensive or trying to blame someone else…
• Ask yourself:
  • What can I learn from this?
  • What should I do differently next time?
  • Who else could provide some insight into where I might have gone wrong?
• That last question is a good one because other people – especially those more experienced than you – are often able to see a lot of things you can’t, and they’ll often point out things you never would’ve thought of
• Learn from the mistakes of others. Although it’s important to learn from your mistakes, let’s face it: If you have to make every mistake yourself in order to learn from it, you’re going to waste a lot of time, energy, and money. Instead of only learning from your mistakes, learn from the mistakes of others too.
  Ask yourself:
  • What can I learn from this?
  • What was their mistake?
  • Where did they go wrong?
  • What should they do differently next time?
• Videotape yourself. One of the best ways to build self-awareness and to become aware of your body language, facial expressions, mannerisms, speech patterns, tonality etc. is to record yourself on video. You’ll learn a lot by watching yourself even if you cringe at first and don’t like what you see. Either way it’s the truth and it’s how you come across to others, so you might as well know. It’s also a good idea to start recording yourself on video whenever you’re practicing for a presentation or speech
• Stop reacting to everything. Most people today are far too reactive. You don’t need to respond to every stupid comment intended to annoy you. Nor do you need to answer every stupid question. Just because someone offers up the bait that doesn’t mean that you need to bite. Most people deserve to be trolled because they’re far too reactive. It’s just too easy to push their buttons and provoke them. They’re angered, annoyed, and triggered by everything. If you want to escape the endless cycle of drama and reactivity however, you need to practice detachment and non-reactivity, and the way you do that is through a combination of meditation, mindfulness, and practice. The more you practice detachment, non-reactivity, non-resistance etc. the easier it gets, until finally one day it’ll become an automatic habit. So the next time you see/hear/read a comment designed to anger or annoy you, just let it go. Don’t think about it. Don’t analyze it. Don’t dwell on it. Just let it go
• Seek awakening as if your hair was on fire. Most people are unconscious and asleep for a reason: They don’t want to wake up. They like being asleep. I’ve found this all across the world: There are millions of people that will go to ashrams/churches/mosques, listen to gurus, meditate, pray, read scriptures etc. but they have no real intention of changing their behavior or waking up. Their subconscious intention is to remain a student, and never to become a master. If you want to wake up however, you must fight for it because everything in the world: Alcohol, Drugs, Music, Movies, TV, Internet/Social Media etc. is designed to put you to sleep, and if you just go with the flow you’ll definitely stay asleep

“Do not seek illumination unless you seek it as a man whose hair is on fire seeks a pond.” – Sri Ramakrishna

• Take all restrictions off your awakening. Adyashanti the enlightened American Zen teacher, wanted enlightenment so much that he prayed before his awakening: “I now take all restrictions off my awakening” – Adyashanti
  What an incredibly wise and courageous prayer. Adyashanti said he was willing to become homeless and live under a bridge to find enlightenment. He said he was willing to die or to do anything to discover the truth. And that’s what it comes down to. You must be willing to do whatever it takes. You cannot have enlightenment on your terms. Yet almost everyone I’ve ever met who is seeking enlightenment has lots of restrictions upon their awakening. They only want to do things the Buddhist way, or the Christian way, or the Muslim way, or only to follow this guru, or this teaching etc. But every restriction you place upon what you will or won’t do, where you will or won’t go, who you will or won’t listen to, is only going to slow you down. What limits and restrictions have you placed on your awakening?
• Be completely honest with yourself about everything. Stop lying to yourself. Awakening/enlightenment is about perceiving clearly and seeing things as they are, it isn’t about believing whatever you want to believe or lying to yourself in order to feel better. For example: If there was no Christianity or religion, and a guy called Jesus came up to you today and told you to leave your family, friends, job, life etc. and to follow him because he was the “son of God”, would you do it? I’m sure that most Christians would say “yes”, but the reality is that 99.99% wouldn’t. The same goes for every other religion. Too many new-age/religious/spiritual people are completely delusional and they lie to themselves in order to feel better, however this is not the way to wake up. You don’t correct your perception by lying to yourself
• Don’t expect the world to make it easy for you. Don’t expect the world to make it easy for you either. No one cares whether you wake up or not. Other people won’t speak to you the way they would like to be spoken to, and they won’t treat you the way they would like to be treated

“No one wants you to be free. No one is invested in your freedom. Even your family, your parents, they don’t want you to be free. What good are you if you’re free? No one wants you to be free, because when you’re free, no one can control you.” – Mooji

What wakes you up? What puts you to sleep?