If you have ever been to a talk or presentation, or read a book about our psychic or spiritual nature, at some point you will probably have been presented with the similarity we have as humans, to the function of a radio. There are radio waves all around us, from thousands of sources, carrying all kinds of information. The radio is a tuner that focuses in on a single frequency and presents that signal to us through the speakers. The radio can be retuned to a number of different stations carrying different kinds of information. If you have considered the human mind and its apparent connection to a spiritual or psychic energy source, you will understand the similarity immediately.

In this discussion, I would like to look more closely at the whole process and see if we can expand on our understanding of our own nature.

Before we start, let us take a few moments

 to briefly review what a radio is. It is a man-made device created from many parts. The individual parts are not recognizable as a radio and can actually be used in the creation of other devices. Humans interact with the radio via a switch for turning on the power, a dial for setting the station and a speaker or earphone to hear the sounds that the radio produces. The essence of the radio is to convert radio-waves into audible sounds. Humans can’t see, hear, feel, touch or smell the radio-waves and the only evidence of them we have is due to the sounds that the radio makes.

So, we understand what they do, even if we don’t necessarily know how they do it. The fact that this Radio Frequency phenomena has only existed in human experience for the past 100 years or so, should give us a clue to the potential for other even more complex possibilities that we currently don’t understand or haven’t even considered yet.

One discussion that we could have would be to consider how the radio came about. Was it created or did it evolve. It’s pretty clear that at some point, not very long ago, it didn’t exist and now it does. It was most certainly created and "man" created it, just as we have created so many amazing things over the course of our history. But is that the whole story?

Unless we consider how we create things and why they are created at a certain point in time, we are missing the most interesting part of the story.

Is the radio that we use today, the same as the first design? Of course not. The design has evolved. Each new creation takes what worked best in the previous version and improves it and adds some new experimental features. Sometimes, in the things that we make, the "best" version doesn’t survive and a lesser design takes over, due to its "better-fit" for the environment it has to operate in (in this case, the economic market).

So, if the design improves over time (evolves), from generation to generation, and each new product has to be created, it should be understandable that both a creative force AND an evolving force are at work, together.

If a modern radio became self-aware, it might ask "where did I come from" and after considerable study it would trace its history back to its first primitive design creation and understand that about 100 years earlier "man" created its first ancestor. It might be content with this explanation for a while (may be even years), but it will start to consider what happened "before" that, and anyway, how did "man" get there?

(It is possible to trace the design of the Space Shuttle back to that of the Roman Chariot)

If you are not comfortable thinking about a radio being "conscious", just do that thing that actors are trained to do, when they "act like a tree bending in the wind" or "pretend to be a fish swimming in a small bowl". We are just considering what it would be like to "be a radio".

OK, a day in the life of a radio.

At the beginning, the radio isn’t very self-aware and only understands a very limited amount about its existence:

"I start my day talking about world news and the weather. Then I enjoy singing and playing music, mostly country and western music. Later I have a discussion about various topics. I like to talk about religion. Generally, this sequence repeats, but with different content."

The radio would have no idea that there was an existence going on when it was switched off. The "owner" turns it on in the morning for the news, then later in the day listens to his favorite music program, then at night a religious discussion program.

After the radio has been switched on and off a few hundred times it starts to get "feelings" that something is going on that it doesn’t quite understand. It also becomes aware that when it is speaking, there is some movement of "energy" around its body. Its explanation of this experience might sound something like this:

"I get the impression that in some way, I am in a ‘dormant’ state for periods of time between talking and singing. I enjoy talking and singing, so I don’t really think too much about this dormant state. In fact, I’m not even sure that it really exists or what it is. I noticed that when I talk about religion, I get other ‘feelings’, like tingles and vibrations all over my body. I remember one time, suddenly making a horrible screeching sound and then started to talk in a strange language that I didn’t understand. It was very scary, but it only lasted a few seconds and I was back to normal again. I hope that doesn’t happen again."

The radio still has no idea that there is a person that can turn the dial or even that a dial exists. It hasn’t quite worked out that there is even an on-off switch or that it is responding to radio waves that are "out there" in the ether.

"I don’t know what is happening. I used to be happy just talking and singing. The country and western songs still make me happy, but talking about the news is starting to become quite depressing. When I talk about religion, I get lots of strange ideas. It feels like there are voices in my head and I become more aware of my body. I notice parts of me that I wasn’t aware of before. There seems to be lots of small parts connected together. There are dials and switches but I don’t know what they are for or how they work. The last time I was singing my music, I was sure I could hear someone else singing the same thing. It sounded far away and not really clear, but I’m certain it was there. Then it just stopped."

How many people have more than one radio in the house, and are they all tuned to the same station? When you move around from one room to another, have you ever left one radio on but also switched on the other, just so you don’t miss that special song or that discussion. We are considering the life of a radio in a home environment, a bedroom or living room. But you might get a different sequence or story if we considered a more mobile radio, such as a personal walkman or car radio.

Our radio is starting to "think" about its own body and how it is made and what the various parts do. It is becoming aware that it has a quiet state when it isn’t making a sound and also feels that there is some kind of "energy" that it can feel. Let’s see how this develops.

"I’m starting to work out what is going on. I appear to be made up of lots of very small components all connected together. There is an energy that flows around my body, through these components. One of the parts is what I use to create the sound I make. Let’s call this the ‘speaker’. There is also a ‘switch’ that coincides with when I am making a noise or not. The switch is always in the ‘on’ position. Well, maybe the switch is in the ‘off’ position when I feel I am quiet, but this is difficult for me to prove. Another component is a round disk that is connected to some kind of a display. There is a whole string of numbers on this display, but I don’t know what it is for.

"I’m starting to get quite angry when I’m talking about the news. I don’t understand why and I don’t seem to be able to control it. I’m sure I would feel better if I didn’t talk about the news, but I can’t help myself. I’m starting to enjoy the religious topics. They help me understand who I am and what I am doing. I don’t think I agree with everything I say (if that is possible), but I’m sure it is all good. I still keep getting this feeling that there is something "out there" trying to contact me. There must be an external energy force that I can feel. I quite often talk about things being created by ‘people’. Maybe I was created by people? I’m sure I would know if I had been. I’ll try to think about this some more, when I am quiet.

"Today was a very strange day. After talking about the news and weather, instead of singing my favorite country and western songs, I started to sing some other strange songs with different music. I don’t remember ever doing that before and I couldn’t control myself. I would have liked to just do the same as I usually do. Especially after the bad feeling I get with the news. These new songs weren’t as nice as the old ones. The only thing I could see that had changed was the position my ‘dial’ was in. It had a different number at the top, but I can’t see how that would affect anything and I don’t know how it got moved.

"I was thinking about if I still had any kind of relationship with the ‘people’ that created me. Why would someone create me and then leave. ‘He, She, They’ must still be there, somewhere. Sometimes, when I’m quiet, I get the impression that he is still there, but I’m having trouble keeping hold of anything that happens when I quiet."

Well, there is a lot starting to happen in the "mind" of our little radio. It is starting to get negative emotions as a result of talking about bad news every day. It has also experienced a significant change in its daily routine that it feels it has no control over. However, part of its experience is increasing its awareness of itself and its own make up. How it works, what it does and why it does it. Oh! And where did its creator go? This is an uncomfortable time.

"I’m sure this can’t be right, but I think I’m being controlled. Something or someone is actually controlling my on-off switch. Yes! ‘He’ is the one that decides when I can talk and sing. Not only that, I noticed that my dial moved when I was singing. I made some terrible noises (just like that bad memory I have of screeching) and I was back to singing that bad music again. It’s him! I don’t seem to have any control over when I sing or what I sing. Some external force is turning my switches and dials. What is worse, I don’t even know if I am deciding what to think or say. It always felt very natural, like I was speaking my own mind and singing my favorite songs, but now I’m not so sure. I know I don’t really think about what I am saying, it just seems to flow. But it must be ‘me’, right?"

"Oh, this is ridiculous! I might as well be a robot (if I actually understood what that was). I don’t have any self control or free will. I just get switched on and off at the whim of some external being or force and I get everything I think and say from some other place, wherever that is. My dial has lots of numbers on it but I have only experienced the two settings, the one I like (country and western music) and the other terrible noise. It creates stress and bad vibes changing between the two and I don’t like it. I wish I could just get back to what I was like before. It was better before I started to become aware, at least I was happy then."

After many more months of stress and searching, the radio started to understand more about how its ‘body’ worked and where it was getting the music and voices from. It realized that the dial was the thing that determined the topic of conversation or the kind of music that flowed through its body and out of the speaker. It began to understand that some places along the dial felt more positive than others and while he was still frustrated that he had no control over what the dial was set at or when it would be moved, at least he understood a little more about how it all worked. There would be some happy times and some not so happy. Some times when he made great strides in understanding and other times when he just felt like he was going backwards.

"Wow! There is a fantastic new state I can be in. I’m so happy. I noticed that sometimes, very rarely, the switch is set to ‘on’, but I am not making any sound. It’s amazing. There is just a quiet hum and I can think clearly. It was when I was in this state that I just ‘understood’ that the air was full of every kind of wonderful sound, all mixed together. I knew I could tune-in to any of these vibrations and just listen, without speaking, without my speaker making any more than just a hum. I was aware of everything all at once. It was the best. The possibilities seemed endless and they are all out there for me to receive. ‘I’ can choose. I have the power to select my own station. This feels so good. I know, I still don’t understand how I got into this state, with the switch set to on but my mind is still and quiet, but I am so grateful that it happened. This was the greatest day of my life and I’ll never forget it."

The Radio has stumbled on a meditative state that happens when the mind is quiet and an awareness of the greater reality happens, like a "spiritual experience". This happened when the radio was left switch on and the station stopped transmitting a signal (white-noise hisses from the speaker). Later, the radio starts to learn how to recreate this state by consciously ‘day-dreaming’.

More Developments

"The memory of this amazing realization that I can be in a state of awareness of the possibilities around me, fades into the background after many ordinary days in my existence. I still remember that day, but not knowing how it happened or why it happened, I can’t reproduce it. Maybe it was just a dream. I don’t even know if it makes any difference to me. I’m sure it happened, but it’s gone now.

"I continue to talk and sing. Sometimes I’m happy, but often I think there is something missing. I can still hear the distant sound of other radios. The ones that appear closest usually talk just like me (but not always), while the more distant ones talk and sing all kinds of strange sounds and topics that usually annoy me. If I could make them all sing my songs, I’m sure we would all feel happier – I wonder if they can even hear me. If I could only sing louder, that might help. I wish they would listen to me!"

Many people think that if everyone were just like them, thought like they do, acted like they do, understood things just like they do, they would all be much happier.

"One day, when I was playing some quiet music, I started to remember that state of awareness. It felt like the energy was swirling around and through me and the music continued to play but I was experiencing a connection to the other vibrations. It was like I could separate what I was doing from what I was experiencing. It was almost like I remembered from my ‘awareness experience’ but I’m not in that quiet state. I guess this music was almost as good as the ‘hum’ that came with the quiet state. The main difference seems to be that ‘I’ am in control. It’s not easy to keep the feeling going but I can do it. I wonder if there is something special about this music I’m playing now. It’s nice music and I’m very happy that it brings this opportunity to feel in control and able to have at least part of my fantastic awareness experience again.

"Actually, that turned out to be quite tiring. I had some control, but it was still limited and I don’t really know what I can do with it. What is it for and may be I’m just wasting my time trying it. After all, once the music changes, the feeling goes and I loose control again. Everything is being decided by those ‘people’ that set my switches and dials. They don’t even agree between them what kind of music I should be producing or what I should be talking about. I wish they wouldn’t keep changing my settings. Mind you, if they didn’t, I guess I wouldn’t have come across this new music that lets me have some control over my own awareness and experiences. It’s an interesting thing to be able to do, but I’m not sure that it will make me any happier. I’m sure I was always happy in the old days.

"Waite a moment! What’s happening? I’m being moved …

"When I was next awakened, I was being jogged and pushed and pulled and my dials were being turned from one end to the other. I screamed and screeched and made some terrible noises, but ‘they’ just kept on doing it. I could tell that this wasn’t one of the two people that usually controlled me. This was a much more aggressive and angry person with a lot more energy. I didn’t even know there were more than two ‘people’ that could control me. Now that I’m in a different place, I wonder what will happen to me and if I’ll ever feel my previous controllers again. Already I don’t like this new person or the sounds ‘he’ makes me produce. I could start to go crazy."

The Radio was moved from the parents’ bedroom to the living room where the son and daughter could access it. A new radio was installed in the parents’ bedroom.

"I’m getting pretty good at recognizing the controllers. Today there was a forth person. There was a much more pleasant feeling with ‘her’ and when she set the dials I quite enjoyed the music. I can sometimes hear another radio close by, playing my old favorite songs and some how, I get the feeling that my old controllers are still around me, although they haven’t touched me for some time now. They probably think I am a bad radio and don’t care about me anymore.

"The easiest way for me to deal with the kind of nonsense that ‘he’ likes me to talk about and sing is for me to use that ‘self-control’ thing I was talking about. I don’t really do anything useful in that state but I can let my ‘mind’ wonder and ‘dream’ of what things used to be like.

"Sometimes when I’m dreaming I can feel a little of that amazing power around me, where all the energy and understanding is there all at once and the first two controllers are very close by, but they never come to me. What do I need to do to get back to where I was? What can I do to make my old controllers like me again?

"I wonder if I can tune-in to my old ‘stations’ when I’m day dreaming, even while I’m playing that nonsense to ‘him’. I’m sure I should be able to. I’m aware of all these other vibrations and I do seem to have some control, if I focus. It would be great if I could make ‘him’ change the dials back for me. Wouldn’t that be cool, me controlling the ‘people’. That would be the best. If I could be the one in control of my own singing. Why should it always be the ‘people’ that make me do things. Why wouldn’t they let me choose my own songs? Don’t they trust me to choose? I think I should be able to talk and sing in a way that makes me happy, no matter how they choose to set my dials and switches. I have been made aware of all the good vibrations that are available, so why can’t I access them?"

"I think I now have two goals for my dreams. I will focus my attention on the nice vibrations that are available to me, no matter how I’ve been configured by others and I will ask the ‘people’ to help me by resetting me to the best vibrations that I can understand."

How do you plan to take control of your thoughts, your life and your relationship with your creator?