Neusner's Stages of Experience

Stages of Experience-Growing Towards the Physical Adapted From "The Incarnation of God by Jacob Neusner" Pr fill Becoming aware of alternate realities. The mind wakes up. Knowing about spirituality in a philosophical, curious, detached, cognitive-structuring way. Learning this way gives the possibility of approaching subjects that emotionality might be considered taboo, too frightening, etc. Key Bible Phrase: Listen (and understand), 0 Israel, how your God is One. Moving from Premise to Presence is the Burning Bush experience stage 1: You encounter an undeniably new alternative reality and experience an initiation. Presence Moving from 'thinking about' to feeling, sensing, experiencing. The heart, perceptive faculties wake up. Valuing experience of the senses over 'head-trips' because much that cannot be verbally understood can be experienced and, conversely, much that can be verbally said can act as a distraction, filter, avoidances. Sometimes we talk about rather than feel as a defensemechanism, to avoid feeling because, experiencing realities perceived as dangerous, flooding, scary, etc. Key Bible Phrase: I will turn from here and see what is there. Moving from Presence to Person, is the Burning Bush Stage 2,: the presence begins to talk to you. In a flow state, you listen, you answer, you doubt yourself, you complain honestly, and perhaps with great reluctance accept the new reality of a talking with an invisible presence, a new locus of consciousness, responsiveness, sentiment, wisdom, directional will, analysis of the human condition and a sense of evolution, all, not in your normal centers. Engaging response. the presence in communication as if to a person, and attending to its possible Key Bible Phrase: You are One and your name is one. Moving from Person to personality is like confidence building, getting to assess, know, the polarities of the being which is communicating with you, learning to know and suspect and guess what it will say .... P r n lity Learning to know the presence's qualities and becoming familiar with its nature and whatever level of predictability. Key Bible Phrase: Know the God of your parents. Incarnation Learning to know the Presence-Person-Personality as it 1) acts on your world, 2) intervenes and guides, 3) the body attributes that are in consequence with it and ultimately, 4) its being in body. Key Bible Phrases: I will dwell amongst the people. Corne my friend to meet the bride, greet the Shabbat with hearts open wide..