Experiencing the Doorway to a Greater Awareness of Wholeness

Stage 8 is the portal between our usual state of consciousness and the later stages of awareness. It opens the doorway between the defended self and the experience of being free, still and connected. From this space we can sense the rhythms we were previously unaware of and observe the energy that connects us to others. This leads into the experience of our wholeness and oneness with the universe.

As in the other stages, the three phases of Stage 8 are: Recognition, Communication and Completion.

In the recognition phase there is a sense of newness to the feeling of detachment from what we were previously attached to. There is both a physical and emotional experience to this detachment and we may feel somewhat lonely or raw. More attractive, however is the feeling of freedom and the openness to new possibilities and realities.

Dr. Epstein likens the space of emptiness to the experience of a trapeze artist suspended in mid air between trapezes. If she does not let go, she cannot grab the next trapeze which represents a whole new possibility. In the mid air space, she is in the void, poised and waiting for the new realities to present themselves. Because she is in the space of possibility without attachment to anything, she is free to grab onto new opportunities as they reveal themselves. Each trapeze represents a new reality, perspective and/or rhythm to grasp and connect to. And with a safety net that includes her courage, strength, flexibility and adaptability (the same skills that we developed in Transform), she feels free and able to take such leaps of faith.

In Stage 8’s recognition phase, we experience beingthe void that is waiting to be filled with something new. Before Stage 7, we were too distracted by our fullness to observe the space of new realities. We did not even notice them. But now, since we are empty, not only do we begin to perceive the abundance of opportunities around and within us, but we experience gratitude for anything that fills us.

When we enter the communication phase of Stage 8 we become intimately aware of our internal rhythms and their connection to the world around us. We recognize that we are open to attract any possibility we wish and that we will be filled with anything we need.

The emptiness is in fact “everything-ness”. Every single possibility exists in it. It is not until we choose a possibility that we become able to see it and all that we need to manifest it. All radio stations are present in the airwaves at all times, however we can only perceive the one we are tuned into. All the possibilities are there, but they remain invisible until we set ourselves up to tune in.

As we connect more deeply to our inner rhythms, we realize that the serendipity that we experienced in Stage 6 did not happen by chance. We now know that this is how the world works and that our own rhythms connect both to the rhythms of other people and to the rhythms in the world around us. Because we are in the space between realities, in Stage 8 we often make huge life changes by simply grabbing another reality (or trapeze). In the space of Stage 8, everything we need just seems to be handed to us on a silver platter.

Moving into the completion phase of Stage 8, we begin to feel gratitude for the supportive nature of the universe. We are grateful for the connections within us and the way they show up in the world around us. We become more aware of the subtleties and realize that there is energy both behind these connections and everywhere in the world around us. With this awareness, the doorway of Stage 8 leads us into Stage 9 – Light Behind the Form, where we experience our wholeness even more deeply.