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Our development takes place through 7 major development periods,

each representing a specific aspect of life,

and each linked to its very own Life experience.

 

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The evolution of consciousness and superconsciousness occurs through specific development periods. In this chapter, I will describe these periods, and thereafter I will, in the next chapter, focus on the 2 evolutionary processes and how they work together to ensure that we continuously evolve.

 

Throughout the book, I will focus mostly on the development periods that are most relevant to you. However, in this section, I will also briefly describe the other periods.

 

The Physical Period, the ‘Root Period’ – The Physical manifestation

During the Root period, we begin to identify with our physical bodies and learn to exist in the physical plane. As our bodies, initially quite primitive, develop, we improve our ability to be present in the physical realm and interact with it.

 

This period also introduces us to the survival instinct, which ensures our continued existence in the physical world, a world that is significantly ‘heavier’ than the one we came from.

 

The ‘parental instinct’ is another instinct that aids in maintaining our physical existence. In the Root period, this instinct evolves, adjusting to our level of development. It initially manifests in a rudimentary form and expresses itself as a protective instinct towards our offspring.

 

Therefore, during this period, we learn to navigate in the physical element, develop a willingness to exist within it, and gradually become ready and capable of interacting physically with other beings.

 

Our consciousness evolves during this period, but it is important to note that it cannot be compared to our current Ego/Heart consciousness.

 

The periods of psyche and spirit – and the search for the meaning of life

There are 3 periods that take care of this part of our development. These are the Pre-Ego, Ego, and Heart periods. The Pre-Ego and, more significantly, the Ego period are characterized by the development of the Ego. In the Heart period, our contact with humanity develops, as well as the contact to higher dimensions of life.

 

Broadly speaking, the Pre-Ego period is centred around an awareness that transcends instincts and which will prepare the individual for the process of individualization, that will take place in the subsequent Ego period.

 

The quest for ‘the meaning of life’ continues in the Ego and Heart periods. This exploration initially concentrates on understanding one’s own life during the Ego period.

 

 

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​​​​Figure 1.  The different Development Periods

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​​Each of the development periods represents an aspect of life. In short, the development of the body and the primitive psyche occurs in the Root and Pre-Ego periods. The development of the psyche and higher consciousness occurs during the Ego/Heart periods. Finally, there are the periods that follows the Heart period, when one achieves states of consciousness, that are almost impossible for us to understand. These are states such as 'cosmic or universal consciousness' and a state where there is conscious contact to the Source itself.

 

You will see that for the Ego, the 'meaning of life' is to be affirmed, as well as to believe that it exists and is part of the world, while the meaning of life for the Heart will focus on being a contributing part of the world.

 

The Pre-Ego period

During the Pre-Ego period, the focus is on the group's collective consciousness, which, when compared to modern consciousness, might be more accurately described as 'unconsciousness.' The primary aim is to learn how to integrate into the group and develop a sense of identification with it.

 

Our bodies continue to evolve, and our ability to manifest ourselves in the physical world develops further. However, the focus increasingly shifts towards interacting with other physical beings. We begin to slowly realize that our identity extends beyond our physical body.

 

Later, we will undergo a similar realization when we discover that we are not identical to our Ego.

 

In a development period, we initially become one with the Life experience associated with that period. This is followed by a phase (in particularly in the second half of a development period) where we ‘detach’ ourselves from the identity born out of that Life experience, realizing that we are more than this identity, and that life is more than what is perceived through this particular Life experience.

 

In the Pre-Ego period, our experience is predominantly group-oriented, but towards the latter part of this period, we also catch the first glimpses of our individuality. Our emotions slowly evolve, but they mostly consist of a primitive form of joy and sorrow/pain. The Pre-Ego period is about developing these ‘primitive’ feelings and learning to be one with a group.

 

This connection with the group changes in the next period as we start to separate from the group to develop our individuality. To grow beyond the Pre-Ego Life experience and its group-based identity, we need to separate ourselves from it, which we do in the Ego period.

 

The group identification in the Pre-Ego period starts by anchoring us mentally in life (just as the Root period anchored us physically), and only when we are well anchored mentally in life are we ready to ask the question – who am I, and what is my role in this physical world?

 

This question is central to the next two periods, the Ego and Heart periods, which collectively could be called the periods that in particularly focus on the "meaning of life" and your own role in it.

 

Ego period – "Who am I?"

Upon entering the Ego period, we are already grounded in life and prepared to seek answers to questions about our identity and purpose. We possess a form of group ‘consciousness’ (which differs from the consciousness you currently possess), but we lack self-awareness.

 

The Ego is only beginning to develop, but the conditions for it are present, and so is the desire for it.

 

During the Ego period, you will develop your individuality and your identity. When you enter this period, you are not yet subjected to complexes, repressions, traumas, etc., at least not as we understand them today. One of the reasons is that the creation of complexes and traumas requires a specific psychic structure, which you do not yet possess. For instance, it requires a subconscious, which you don’t have at this point, as well as an Ego-consciousness.

 

However, this is what you will develop during the Ego period.

 

Upon entering this stage of your development, you will withdraw from the group and gradually cease to identify with it. This is necessary for you to identify with yourself. A boundary is established between you and the group.

 

Within yourself, another boundary is also formed. It is a boundary to a certain part of your psyche, which will eventually evolve into your subconscious. In this way, a new development structure is formed, one through which the new Ego Life experience can develop and manifest itself. A development structure enables you to experience life, and it changes as you evolve. It is tailored to you and provide you with the Life experiences that is required for your growth. At the present time it includes your subconsciousness, your personal consciousness and superconsciousness and the content in these parts of you. All this combined is your development structure. I will describe this in detail in chapter 10.

 

This also establishes an interesting new relationship with your surroundings, as the environment from which you have been separated will start to serve as the recipient of projections from your developing new subconsciousness.

In the first half of the Ego period, where the Ego is created, you will identify with this Ego, and thus with what you experience through the Ego Life experience.

You become your Ego identity

You are 'unconsciously one' with your Ego, in the sense that you are unable to differentiate your experience of yourself, and life around you, from your Ego – and that is how it should be!

 

This is true for most individuals, although many mistake being aware of the concept of an Ego with being aware of the Ego itself.

 

As long as this identification is present, the Ego is allowed to shape and define your Life experience.

 

In the first half of the Ego period, you seek to understand who you are through affirmations of your Ego from the world. In this way, you develop and strengthen your Ego, as well as your ability to handle your growing (and evolving) subconscious.

 

However, in the second half of the Ego period, Heart energies begin to emerge, as shown in figure 4. This has significant consequences. One of them is that you start to realize that there is another way to experience life, one that does not separate you from the community, but instead brings you closer to it.

 

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​​​​​​​Figure 2. The evolution of humankind through 2 evolutions

Our development can be divided into two processes of evolution, the conscious and superconscious evolution. Each of these, in turn, can be divided into specific development periods. The superconscious evolution is always half a development period further ahead compared to the conscious evolution.

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It also brings about a new question that will soon be the most important question in your life, the question “why am I?”.

 

You will read more about the Ego later in Part 2. There, you will see that the Ego is not a separate entity within you, with its own life and will. You are your Ego, and rather than viewing the Ego as a separate part of you, you should see it as an identity that is created within you when your basic attitude towards life is a dualistic one, as it is in the Ego period.

 

To distinguish yourself from the outside world you had to withdraw from it, but a side effect is that you have become lonely. Consequently (especially in the last half of the Ego period) you will feel a growing need to reconnect with the world, and this is what prepares you for the Heart period, where you will reconnect with the world, but now as an individual being.

 

The Heart period - "why am I here?"

Where the Ego period focuses on you and your own identity, the Heart period stands for what in psychology is called the self, or the higher self, and esoteric psychology describes the Heart as an opening into the 'spiritual' dimension. I describe the Heart as a higher aspect of your being compared to your Ego, and it represent a Life experience that stands for unity with the world.

When the Heart Life experience becomes the predominant Life experience, it will mark one of the most significant shifts in history of humanity.

 

The Heart period is situated between the first three periods and the last three periods. The first three periods are centred on mastering the physical aspect of life and on developing our Ego individuality, our ability to differentiate ourselves from the world. The final three periods represent the Divine periods, during which we learn to establish direct contact with the Source. In this way, the entire development cycle can be viewed as comprising two phases, each consisting of three periods, separated by the Heart period. The Heart period, therefore, plays a unique role. It concludes something and it initiates something.

 

Upon entering the Heart period, your body has developed to a point where it can master an existence in the physical world, and the structures of the psyche have evolved to a point where there is a strong boundary between your consciousness and the subconscious. You have a developed Ego at the core of your being, which provides you with a clear sense of who you are, and who you are not. You have attained self-awareness and have started to feel a need to understand not only who you are, but also why you are.

 

In general, it can be said that through Heart awareness, you become aware of new higher dimensions of yourself and life, including the ‘spiritual’ dimensions.

 

While the Ego period represents an ‘Ego-psychology’, defined by Ego-Life themes and your complexes/traumas, the Heart period represents a ‘Heart-psychology’.

This ‘Heart-psychology’ is defined not only by Heart Life themes but also by a more direct contact with your superconscious, as well as a reduction of the personal subconscious and the Ego. It is therefore a 'psychology' on a higher level, a psychology that will start a 'psycho-spiritual' process that will lead to new growth, and to the manifestation of what I call the Heart Life experience.

 

Where the Ego period gives rise to an 'Ego-psychology',

the Heart period gives rise to a 'Heart psychology'.

Ego-psychology supports the development of an Ego consciousness,

while Heart psychology develops a Heart consciousness.

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Heart consciousness introduces you to a world that alters your Life experience, revealing that all the pain you believed in during the Ego period is an illusion that can no longer influence you. The pain of the Ego is real for the Ego identity, but not for the Heart identity.

 

Heart consciousness allows you to rise above the Ego, enabling you to see beyond the Ego Life experience.

 

Heart awareness fosters a profound trust and faith in life—a belief that life supports you. This is a trust that is unfamiliar to the Ego.

 

Heart awareness helps you to understand that you are not an isolated being, but rather a unique being with strong connections to other beings. Moreover, Heart awareness opens up to non-physical dimensions, which will eventually become as real to you as the physical dimension.

 

The intensified contact with your personal superconscious naturally develops over the course of the development period. This contact will transform your self-awareness, your perception of who you are.

 

The interaction with Heart energies will give you the experience that you are much more than your Ego, as this interaction enables you to objectify your Ego (just as you started to objectify the pre-Ego at the beginning of the Ego period). As a result, you will be able to become fully aware of your Ego.

 

You have thereby transcended the Ego Life experience for the first time in your development!

 

You now experience more than what the Ego is capable of, and you see more of the world than the Ego Life experience reveals to you. You see the foundation of the Ego. You see not only the 'Ego shadows on the wall', but what creates these shadows.

 

The gradual objectification of the Ego will occur in small steps during the first half of the Heart period, culminating in a significant leap of consciousness (an ‘initiation’) in the middle of the Heart period.

 

The Heart period is a time when your quest for the ‘meaning of life’ ascends to a new level. During this phase, you will discover the essence of the Heart, an essence that is not rooted in self-affirmation, but in being an active, contributing member of a broader community.

 

You will find a new purpose in life through your interactions with others and in exploring new dimensions. You will come to realize that you have never been alone and that you are part of humanity, sharing a common life purpose.

 

Upon reaching the conclusion of the Heart period, you will be prepared to explore an even deeper life purpose, one that focus on how development of humanity fits into a broader context.

 

Once you arrive at this point, you are ready for the 'Divine’ Periods.

 

The Divine Periods

I have named the next 3 periods "the Divine Periods I-III". They are development periods that are far from where we are now. Most people find it challenging to familiarize themselves with the concept of Heart consciousness. They use the Ego's imagination to understand what Heart consciousness is, which is as if a deaf person tries to imagine what it's like to hear a symphony by Mozart. When we imagine even higher development periods it becomes increasingly difficult to understand them.

 

D-1. The Divine Period of Development 1 - "why is humanity?".

When you first encounter conscious Divine energies, you have already been under the influence of superconscious Divine energies for quite some time. These energies have instilled a deep desire within you to experience the Divine.

 

You perceive yourself as an individual, with a need to not only understand your own place within the broader context of humanity, but also to comprehend how humanity fits into an even larger framework. You intuitively feel that it is through this understanding that you must discover a deeper facet of life and a more profound comprehension of your role in it.

 

Only through gaining this new insight can you assist others in achieving the same. Aiding humanity in its journey represents a desire which is now at the core of your being, a desire that has been kindled by the intensified D-1 energies.

 

Your focus now shifts towards the evolution of humanity. For the first time, you will establish direct contact with the forces in the collective superconscious, the forces that influence all of humanity. Humanity becomes the focal point of your development. By connecting with your collective superconscious, you begin to consciously merge with the innermost will behind our existence, a will that resides in the collective superconscious.

 

D-2. The Divine Period of development 2 —"Why is the World?

During this stage of evolution, we are so far from our current level of development that it is beyond our comprehension. In this period, a being is aware of its role in the evolution of humankind, recognizing that humanity constitutes a larger entity that is also undergoing development. The focus now is on acknowledging this entire development process and viewing it from an even broader perspective.

 

At this point (as well as in the latter half of the preceding period), we no longer possess a physical body. We have transcended the need for it, and a need for what the physical plane can provide. The human body and the physical plane have fulfilled their roles in our evolution, and we are now transitioning to a higher dimension. From this point, we will increasingly manifest our insights for the benefit of all mankind.

 

In this manner, we will attain a consciousness that encompasses the purpose of humanity’s existence. Moreover, this consciousness also involves an experience of the even larger ‘organism’ of which humanity is a part.

 

D-3. The Divine Period of development 3 - "why is the universe?".

During this period of evolution, we will learn to connect with the source/cosmos and realize it’s very essence. We have reached the end of a long journey that constituted 7 major development periods. You have gained an insight into yourself, into humanity, into the Cosmos, and into "God", and you are ready for a new cycle of evolution.

 

Final words

In the remainder of the book, you will read much more about the development periods and how it is ensured that we always move forward, and continuously develop.

 

Progress and evolution require two things: the prerequisite for it, and the will to it. We’ve seen that there are seven periods. The Root period assists you in grounding yourself in the physical realm. The Pre-Ego, Ego, and Post-Ego (Heart) periods guide you in becoming a self-aware entity, cognizant of its place within a broader community. Lastly, the three Divine periods occur in dimensions beyond the physical, bringing you closer to the very origin of your existence.

 

Our entire evolutionary cycle, designed to facilitate development through all these periods, comprises not just seven development periods, but also two evolutionary cycles. One is the “conscious evolution,” and the other is the “superconscious evolution.”

 

This structure, composed of two evolutionary cycles, guarantees continuous progress, and is mirrored in our personal structure. We, too, are made up of a conscious part and a superconscious part. Our conscious self directly interacts with the conscious evolution, and our superconscious self directly engages with the superconscious evolution. This interaction ensures our development and allows us to move forward.

 

The division of our development into two evolutionary processes ensures that both the will and the conditions for development are present within us, regardless of where we are in our journey.