Awakening – The Time When the True Nature of Consciousness Was Revealed

📖 What’s This Paper About?

This paper explores the phenomenon of expanded consciousness experienced by some survivors of the October 7 attacks in Israel. Amid the profound suffering, terror, and cruelty, many individuals reported moments of “awakening” – experiences where their consciousness expanded beyond normal boundaries, allowing them to respond with unexpected clarity, calm, and presence despite the traumatic circumstances.

Why This Matters

While much research exists on physical resilience during potentially traumatic events, far less attention has been paid to the expansion of consciousness that can occur during these same experiences. These states of expanded awareness may provide insights into untapped human potential and contribute significantly to post-traumatic growth.

• Expanded consciousness states during trauma might be key mechanisms for psychological survival
• These experiences are often overlooked, misunderstood, or difficult to articulate
• Understanding these states could transform our approach to trauma recovery

Top 5 Takeaways

2. Parallels with meditation practices

The necessary conditions for surviving in hiding places—remaining absolutely quiet, maintaining heightened awareness, and regulating one’s bodily and mental states—mirror the conditions found in deep meditation practice, potentially facilitating consciousness expansion.

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The Bigger Picture

This research suggests that consciousness expansion is a natural human capacity that can emerge during extreme circumstances. By drawing connections between ancient wisdom traditions like Buddhist meditation practices and modern traumatic experiences, we gain insights into human resilience that transcend cultural and historical boundaries. These expanded states of consciousness may represent glimpses into our deeper human potential that are typically inaccessible during ordinary life.

Final Thought

Perhaps the most profound question raised by this research is whether the temporary collective expansion of consciousness experienced in response to trauma could be intentionally cultivated, giving us sustainable access to these heightened states of awareness, compassion, and connection without requiring the catalyst of suffering.

AWAKENING – THE TIME WHEN THE TRUE NATURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS WAS REVEALED

Adi Manee

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Keywords: war and terror, Eastern philosophy, case studies, memory, post-trauma, mindfulness

Introduction

A Buddhist story tells of a man who committed a terrible crime and was sentenced to death by the king. The man’s family pleaded with the king, saying, “He is the sole provider for all of us, and by sentencing him to death, you are also condemning us.” After consideration, the king decided: “Today in the marketplace there is a grand carnival, and the most beautiful dancer in India will perform on the main stage. If this man can cross the entire marketplace with a cup of oil in his hand without spilling even a single drop, I will spare him. If not, a soldier will follow him with a drawn sword and behead him.”

That day, the man crossed the marketplace with the cup of oil without spilling a single drop, and the king pardoned him.

On October 7, our familiar reality changed. The exposure to extreme evil and suffering triggered intense turmoil. Whether we experienced the events directly or indirectly through stories and media, the collective experience was that the events were beyond the boundaries of what seemed possible to us as individuals and as a collective, beyond the human and collective capacity to contain and cope.

During this period, like many therapists, I was exposed to the stories of those who had death breathing down their necks. Survivors of the music festivals and communities that terrorists reached or where there was a real risk of infiltration. The rapid organization of various groups enabled quick and simple connectivity between thousands of people who needed a listening ear and those who volunteered to help them. This immediate connection allowed us, therapists, to hear the stories of a wide variety of people shortly after the acute event.

This encounter was powerful and exceptional. Like many therapists who accompanied people during this period, I encountered amazing stories of heroism. Stories about the expansion of physical capability boundaries of people who suddenly found themselves in a prolonged event requiring physical abilities they didn’t think they had, such as the delicate Nova survivor who came to the party with high heels and found herself running barefoot for hours on thorny ground; the spoiled children who cannot delay gratification, who found themselves in a shelter, postponing feelings of hunger and thirst for hours; the young man with ADHD and hyperactivity who hid for hours without moving; or the teenager who hid in a concrete shelter and pretended to be dead with a rifle bullet in his leg. All these, and many other stories, demonstrate the remarkable human capacity where the need for survival in the face of mortal danger expanded the boundaries of physical and mental capability. A capability we are unaware of and have not recognized in ourselves in any other situation. This phenomenon is known and has been studied in research examining coping patterns with potentially traumatic events (van der Kolk, 2021; Bonanno, 2004). However, most of the literature deals with the expansion of physical capability boundaries during potentially traumatic events and not with the expansion of consciousness boundaries. One reason for this might be that this is the common response, or because it is easier to assess, measure, and quantify the expansion of physical capability. For example, how many hours were you in a shelter without eating or drinking? What distance did you run? This makes it easier for people to describe and report these phenomena, and also for us, as therapists, to explain and normalize them. For instance, attributing them to survival behavior patterns in extreme stress situations, and to the fight-freeze-flight response. In contrast, it is harder to talk about the expansion of boundaries in the spiritual-mental-emotional-consciousness domain. Limited research and discourse in the field make it difficult for patients to find words to describe the experience and for therapists to help understand and normalize these phenomena. Additionally, these experiences often receive negative interpretations afterward, such as denial, detachment, and avoidance. It seems that as a result, it is difficult to integrate these experiences into a coherent narrative of the event, and they become unspoken and incomprehensible.

What happens to us during a potentially traumatic event?

In regular functioning, sensory information about the external and internal world reaches the brain from the sensory organs. Each sensory organ is responsible for capturing a certain type of stimulus from the external world (the eye captures forms, colors, and light; the ear captures sounds, tones, and noises; the nose captures smells; the tongue captures tastes; the body captures sensations of touch, pressure, temperature, and pain; and consciousness, which is considered a sensory organ that communicates with internal mental objects, enables the sensing of thoughts, ideas, and memories).

Information from the sensory organs reaches the thalamus, which processes the information into a coherent experience and interprets “this is what’s happening to me.” From here, there are two possible pathways for continued information processing (LeDoux, 2000). In a potentially traumatic situation, the use of the “short route” is more common. The “short route” refers to a fast and primary process in which stimuli from the environment are transferred directly from the thalamus to the amygdala, without first going through the cortex. This is a survival mechanism designed to allow an immediate response to potential threats. The amygdala rapidly activates the hypothalamus, which causes the activation of the autonomic nervous system, the release of stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline and neural impulses, increased blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen consumption, and a significant reduction in brain activity in various areas in the left hemisphere responsible for speech and sequential and analytical thinking. The physical and mental system is primed for action, or for freezing in collapse, thus enabling a rapid response, though less precise, to potential threats. In contrast, the “long route” refers to a more complex process in which information from the sensory organs is transferred from the thalamus to the sensory cortex or to the prefrontal cortex (the anterior cortex), where it is processed in a more conscious manner before being transferred to the amygdala and hypothalamus. This allows for more precise processing, integrating rational thinking in decision-making and control of automatic responses and physical sensations. The two pathways work together to enable appropriate responses to different situations, with the first suited for immediate danger situations and the second suited for situations requiring evaluation and more precise judgment. When the potentially traumatic event is prolonged, the body and mind learn to adapt to various stimuli and situations, even to extreme situations (van der Kolk, 2021). For example, we can regulate our physiology, including some of the body and brain functions that are termed involuntary, through basic actions such as breathing, movement, and touch. An example of this, which might be familiar to many of us, is a situation where activities that initially cause us discomfort and emotional turmoil (such as fitness training, prolonged running, extreme sports, trekking) can become most enjoyable. People who push their bodies “to the edge” report experiencing mental well-being and spiritual uplift. Experiencing sensations and emotions at high intensity also allows the release of soothing morphine-like substances (such as serotonin) produced in the brain and enable gradual adaptation even to potentially traumatic situations. Van der Kolk (2021) notes that in addition to the stress response, which is common in threatening situations, there is another possible response that is harder to measure in brain scans. He described this response as denial: a state where the body registers the threat, the warning signals do not stop, stress hormones continue to send messages to the muscles, but the conscious mind continues as if nothing has happened and learns to ignore these messages. According to him, the neurological explanation for this experience is still lacking, and it’s important to provide an explanation from other fields of knowledge.

The Experience of Awakening

Experiences of expanding consciousness boundaries have been studied primarily as ecstasy experiences and ascension to higher levels of psychological and spiritual needs, such as love, belonging, recognition, and self-fulfillment. For example, Maslow (1964) studied “peak experiences” in which a person manages to be in the “here and now” fully, with full awareness and loss of sense of time, accompanied by a deep sense of meaning, wholeness, and unity with the universe. These experiences are felt in situations such as creative work, meditation, contemplation of nature, and physical activity.

Taylor and Egeto-Szabo (2017) found that experiences with similar characteristics can also be felt in extreme stress situations. They called this experience “Awakening experience.” Although this experience is temporary and can occur for just a few moments, it is a powerful and meaningful experience that contributes greatly to post-traumatic growth. In their research, they found several common characteristics of these experiences (not all appear together in the same event): sharpening of awareness of sensations, alertness, concentration, and attention; ability of emotional regulation and a sense of inner calm (as if the regular chatter of the mind slowed down or became silent); a feeling of clarification – a deeper understanding and awareness of reality that is usually hidden; changes in time perception; positive emotions (including a sense of spiritual elevation or calmness, absence of fear and anxiety); a sense of connection, love, and compassion towards other people, nature, or the universe.

In a study in which they interviewed 161 subjects who reported awakening experiences, they found that about a third of the interviewees experienced these experiences in extreme situations of stress and existential danger. These extreme situations contributed to the appearance of the “awakening” experience mainly among those who managed to accept reality as it was and were willing to let go. According to them, in extreme stress situations, deconstruction of normal psychological structures and processes may occur. While in most cases, this would increase the sense of distress, in certain cases, it will have a positive effect, causing de-automatization of perception and transcendence beyond familiar cognitive modes.

In this article, I will rely on the concept of “awakening experience” in the context of a potentially traumatic event. In this context, it is likely that the experience will not be characterized by feelings of spiritual elevation and positive emotions, and therefore I prefer to describe it as an experience of expanding consciousness boundaries: a temporary and transient state of discovering unfamiliar mental-conscious abilities during a potentially traumatic event. A state that significantly contributes to the process of post-traumatic growth. Since the existing research literature in the field is not sufficient, I want to suggest examining these experiences through knowledge that has been gathered and documented over hundreds of years, by hundreds of thousands of people who dedicated their lives to researching the question – what are the conditions that enable the expansion of consciousness?

Prolonged Stay in Hiding and Meditation

One of the unique characteristics of coping with the harsh events on October 7 was the necessity to stay for a prolonged time, in complete silence, in a state of alertness, full awareness, and attention to every stimulus, in a confined space (in a shelter or another hiding place) and with the full understanding that any moment could be the last. To succeed in remaining in this state for an extended period, it was necessary to regulate the body and the mind. That is, to calm the motor restlessness and the intensity of emotions and the pace of thoughts. One can see a parallel between the processes occurring in this state and the processes occurring during meditation, where a person sits quietly, alert, attentive, and aware of the changes and temporality of physical and mental processes. There is, of course, a fundamental difference between the two situations. In the practice of meditation, death is not breathing down your neck, and awareness of death is generally not as tangible and present as it happens during a potentially traumatic event. However, it is possible that precisely this difference may advance processes of expanding consciousness boundaries, which usually occur only in situations of deep meditation and among experienced meditators.

In order to enable, in a situation of a potentially traumatic event, an “awakening” experience and expansion of consciousness boundaries, I suggest examining three basic conditions for “discovering the true nature of consciousness,” which have been described in detail in Buddhist philosophy:

1. Awareness and Balance

Expansion of consciousness boundaries and the experience of “awakening” includes the sharpening of sensory perception, attention, and a sense of inner balance and calm. Many studies in the last three decades show the contribution of the ability to observe and be aware of body sensations and thoughts to calming the sympathetic nervous system and a sense of balance. Awareness of sensations and mental balance are two central components in Vipassana practice and mindfulness and in Buddhist philosophy. Awareness of sensations refers to deep attentiveness to any sensation that arises due to the contact of the senses with the external world (sights, sounds, smells, tastes, body sensations) and the internal world (thoughts, ideas, and memories). Mental balance is strengthened following observation of these sensations in a neutral way, without judgment, identification, or attachment, which allows an understanding of the temporary nature of sensations. A deep understanding that every sensation arises, exists for a short time, and disappears. This understanding strengthens the sense of balance and inner calm and the ability to accept reality as it is and awareness of experiencing the present.

An example of an experience of non-identification and non-attachment to thought is described by Anat (pseudonym) who stayed in a shelter with her family when around them there were unceasing sounds of gunfire. She tells about her exit from the shelter and walking to the kitchen to bring food and water. She remembers looking at the kitchen window, which was all red, and a thought passed through her mind – what’s happening there? Consciously, she didn’t give space to this thought and focused on the action of bringing water and food to the shelter. Anat actually describes an experience of “thought without a thinker,” when wandering attention is actively returned to a specific object (for example, to breathing, to action, or to scanning body sensations). This allows the thought to appear and disappear, without attaching to it and continuing to develop it.

It’s important to emphasize that heightened awareness of sensations and a sense of balance during a potentially traumatic event is not reserved only for people with good attention and concentration abilities or for meditation practitioners. Daniel’s story (pseudonym) who was at the Nova music festival demonstrates this. He reports that he was diagnosed at a young age as having attention and concentration disorders with hyperactivity: “I’ve had attention and concentration problems for as long as I can remember. I can’t sit still for a second. Teachers were always going crazy because of me. I couldn’t sit in class.” During his escape from the terrorists, he shares, “I found a crack in the ground and simply squeezed myself in there. I didn’t move for a long time. I don’t know how. I just lay quietly, curled up and very tense and focused. I heard every leaf that moved.” Shai (pseudonym), who was also diagnosed with severe attention and concentration disorders and even dropped out of school due to these difficulties, describes a similar experience when he sat, quiet, aware, and alert, and held the shelter door for many hours.

2. Acceptance of Suffering

The first noble truth is the acceptance of suffering. Awareness of death, impermanence, and acceptance and deep understanding of the existence of suffering as an inevitable part of existence. Understanding that death is an inseparable part of life. During meditation, the ability to observe the different types of suffering develops: physical and mental suffering, suffering arising from changes, and suffering arising from the knowledge that everything is temporary and ephemeral. Accepting the inherent imperfection in existence itself – the fact that all things tend to change and disintegrate, and no lasting satisfaction can be found in them. This understanding is not a philosophical understanding but an understanding based on personal experience. Thus, for example, the need to sit for a long time while observing body sensations elicits a powerful experience of suffering – body and soul pains. The ability to observe them and understand experientially the imperfection of the body and soul forms part of the deep understanding and acceptance of suffering.

Although in all the descriptions of October 7 survivors, the experience of clear awareness of the fact of death and the approaching end appears, this experience alone is not sufficient to experience a sense of balance, as awareness of death often leads to an attempt to cling to life. For example, Tal (pseudonym) says, “I thought to myself, what, this is it? This can’t be. I want there to be more. I have a purpose in life. There are still many things I want to do. I can’t let my father bury me.” In contrast to this, a state of expanding consciousness boundaries is a state where awareness of suffering and death leads to acceptance and completion. As Tami (pseudonym) tells, when she understood that the terrorists were in the kibbutz, “I just sat on the bed in the shelter and understood that this is it. It’s over. I’m going to die. It wasn’t fear. It was just such a certainty and acceptance. There was such a quiet in me. That this is it. This is the end.”

3. Release of Craving and Aversion

The second noble truth concerns the source of suffering: craving and attachment cause suffering. Releasing craving and attachment allows liberation from suffering. Craving arises when we experience pleasant sensations following internal or external stimulation. For example, material stimuli, a sense of power, thoughts, and fantasies. Craving creates an endless cycle of addiction because when we achieve what we desire, we immediately crave something else and fear losing what we have. Therefore, according to Buddhist philosophy, only when we release craving and attachment do we reach a state of inner peace and freedom from suffering.

Observation of sensations during meditation practice allows developing awareness and deep understanding of the mental actions of aversion and craving that arise following the experience of pleasant and unpleasant sensations. When we experience an unpleasant sensation, a sense of aversion and rejection arises. We want to distance ourselves from anything perceived as unpleasant and feel a range of emotions of anger, fear, frustration, and hatred when the negative sensations persist. For example, anger and frustration during meditation might arise following the requirement to sit for a long time and due to unpleasant sensations of physical pain and boredom. In contrast, when we experience pleasant sensations, desire and greed arise following the wish to preserve what is perceived as pleasant and to get more and more of it. Since everything is temporary, when this wish is not fulfilled, feelings of pain, sadness, despair, and loss arise. Thus, for example, during meditation, we experience pleasant physical sensations and an experience of calmness and tranquility. The craving to continue experiencing the pleasant sensations more and more causes suffering since these sensations are temporary. The gradually developing ability to observe these sensations and mental processes allows gradually releasing attachment and identification with sensations and understanding their temporary nature.

The prolonged sitting in a shelter or hiding place invited extremely unpleasant sensations, on a physical and mental level, as a result of aversive stimuli. Such as lack of food and water, unpleasant smells, suffocation and crowding, threatening thoughts and imaginations. Despite this, in many descriptions of people who stayed for many hours in a shelter or hiding place, it emerges that precisely in this difficult hour, different reactions were revealed than the regular pattern in which we respond to unpleasant sensations. For example, parents who report, “Usually our children are constantly fighting. They can’t be next to each other in the car without hitting, bothering, and insulting each other. In the shelter, I hid them in the closet and they stayed there hugging and quiet.” This behavior can be interpreted as reflecting an expansion of consciousness boundaries. The ability to calm and weaken the intensity of the mental action of craving and aversion. The children had to inhibit the effect of the sense of aversion arising following unpleasant and aversive sensations and the storm of negative emotions arising in their wake. They also had to inhibit the effect of the sense of craving for pleasant sensations (I want to be somewhere else, today is Saturday and I want to go to the playground like we do every time, I want to eat and drink. I want to live). Regulating the mental actions of craving and aversion for hours without letting these powerful voices and sensations manage the responses requires mental strengths that the parents and children did not know existed before, and therefore this experience can be described as an expansion of consciousness boundaries.

The Battle for Memory

After the potentially traumatic event ends, the important battle over the memory of the event begins.

This is not a simple battle because the experience of expanding consciousness boundaries is always a temporary experience, appearing alongside other difficult and traumatic experiences from the event. Previous research shows that a traumatic experience can significantly change self-perception and lead to psychological distress, developing feelings of detachment from oneself and the environment, loss of control, and overwhelming post-traumatic reactions. These sensations may lead to feelings of worthlessness, guilt, and shame, which may cause social withdrawal and difficulties in building interpersonal relationships. On the other hand, peak experiences and “awakening” have also been described as powerful experiences that can be a lever for post-traumatic growth, for significant change in worldview, in self-perception, in values, and in strengthening the sense of meaning. In cases where both these powerful experiences appear together, the question arises of how people remember the event?

We know that in cases of trauma or extreme stress, information related to the event may not be processed normally. Instead of being integrated into the overall memory, the information is stored in its original form, and sometimes in a disconnected manner from its emotional and cognitive contexts. The unprocessed information is stored in the brain in a rigid and non-integrative form, which may cause “frozen memories.” These memories can be activated by various triggers in the environment, causing the person to re-experience the trauma in a way that is disproportionate to the current reality and leading to the appearance of post-traumatic symptoms, such as flashbacks, nightmares, anxiety, and physical sensations related to the event. From the cases I have treated, it appears that a similar difficulty in the processing process also appears regarding the experience of expanding consciousness boundaries.

In meetings I had with October 7 survivors, I examined the question – how did you succeed? What happened in the soul and body during those long hours of fighting the internal demons? Interestingly, most people don’t know how to explain. The more time passes from the event, the “sparkling moments” or the “unique outcomes,” (White & Epstone, 1990) of expanding consciousness boundaries, became less clear. It’s possible that the reason for this is related to the nature of the experience of expanding consciousness boundaries – focused on experiences in the “here and now” without thoughts creating a story about the experience being experienced. What remains engraved in memory are fragments of experiences without sequence (for example, I’m holding the door and it’s quiet in my head) alongside the traumatic memories from the event – powerful negative emotions, like fear, loneliness, abandonment, concern; difficult physical sensations like hunger, pressure, pain; and the negative patterns through which we tend to think about ourselves, for example, “I am alone,” “I am helpless,” “I am in danger,” “I am not okay.” This phenomenon was also described by White and Epstein (1990) who found that the more the dominant narrative through which people perceive the event is problem-saturated, the stronger the tendency to ignore unexpected events that do not match this narrative.

I found three central strategies leading to loss in the battle for memory. The first is based on the tendency to interpret experiences through existing cognitive schemas and narratives. Thus, experiences of expanding consciousness boundaries may receive interpretation in retrospect through dominant schemas and narratives. For example, the experience of awareness of sensations and self-regulation might be interpreted through the schema “I am not okay” as egocentric behavior (I was focused on myself and didn’t help/act): “Why didn’t I look at the phone and didn’t see the last messages of my friend?”, “Why didn’t I pay more attention to the children?”, “Why didn’t I fight?” Following the use of this strategy, the experience of expanding consciousness boundaries becomes a point of light and strength, for an event that intensifies the negative and ineffective narrative.

The second strategy enables the narrowing of the gap between the unexpected event of expanding consciousness boundaries and the dominant narrative, by diminishing the importance of the experience of expanding consciousness boundaries. For example, statements like “It annoys me that people call me a hero. Anyone else would have done the same thing in this situation,” “I responded that way because I was in survival mode.” This strategy essentially leads to ignoring the experience of expanding consciousness boundaries and “erasing” it from the narrative through which the event is described. However, attempts at erasure and ignoring are not effective since the memories of the experience of expanding consciousness boundaries remain clear and intrusive.

An additional strategy is precisely attachment to the experience of expanding consciousness boundaries and craving to return and experience the sense of calm, focus, and absence of fear that were experienced during the event. However, this strategy is also not effective because the painful understanding that this experience was temporary and has not returned since intensifies the anxiety about the future. For example, “I am afraid that now we no longer have the strengths we had then,” “If this were happening now I wouldn’t be able to cope like that.”

The Experience of Expanding Consciousness Boundaries as a Lever for Post-Traumatic Growth

Tedeschi and Moore (2021) give a central place to the difficulty of grasping and understanding what happened during the potentially traumatic event, in the process of post-traumatic growth. In the chronological model they proposed, the first stage in the growth process is a change in cognitive schemas and in the perception of the person regarding themselves and the world, and undermining the sense of understanding, control, and sense of security in the randomness of life and future outcomes. The more the undermining is greater and the person is required to examine anew their core belief system and basic assumptions, the greater the chance of creating a significant change. This undermining evokes an experience of psychological disorientation, which necessitates the formulation and reconstruction of cognitive schemas and belief systems.

As part of this process, a sense of anxiety and emotional distress arises, leading to repetitive negative thoughts (ruminations) of two types: The first type is characterized by automatic, involuntary, and repetitive return to the event. These intrusive ruminations are a natural response to a stress event, they intensify emotional distress, but in most cases, they fade and pass with time. The second type is characterized by deliberate and voluntary reflection on the event, with gradually developing emotional regulation and ability for self-observation, for infusing meaning into the event and its implications, and for the rebuilding of the belief system and expectations. The transition from the first type of repetitive thoughts to the second is a condition for the continued development of post-traumatic growth. Although this transition can occur without professional help, this process can be accelerated in therapy that allows returning to the experience, giving it words and meaning, and connecting it to other memories.

Initial Principles for Treatment

The goal of treatment is defined as promoting processes of post-traumatic growth, a sense of inner strength, and an appreciation of coping ability and self-confidence, as a result of discovering the strengths and abilities that were revealed during the event and which the person did not know existed (Tedeschi & Moore, 2021). With that, it is important to understand and emphasize to the patient that validating the experience of expanding consciousness boundaries does not eliminate or cancel the difficult memories of the event and the sense of distress and psychological undermining, but rather assists in the process of building a complex, coherent, and integrative narrative. The distress is the high price that is paid for new discoveries and growth, or as Alon (pseudonym) defined it, “A slap is both painful and awakening.”

The approach to experiences of expanding consciousness boundaries within the framework of treatment requires several stages: a. Identification of the experience of expanding consciousness boundaries. In many cases, these experiences are not described as success stories and must be located through curious questions about situations in which the psychological response was different from what the person would expect it to be (for example, how did you manage to stay balanced? How do you explain that you didn’t feel fear? How do you explain the response of your children?) b. Identification of ineffective strategies in the battle for the memory of the event – interpretation that turns the abilities that were revealed in the event into negatives, cancels them, or relates to them as abilities that have disappeared. c. Process of working through the memories and experiences of expanding consciousness boundaries through reframing, normalization, and giving meaning and significance as experiences of expanding consciousness boundaries. This process allows a transition from the first type of negative and intrusive repetitive thoughts regarding the experience, to the second type of reflection and understanding the experience in a different way. An understanding that the emotional response was correct, precise, and lifesaving, because in this event the true nature of consciousness was revealed, meaning, these abilities exist in you, and an understanding that although consciousness has returned to being turbulent, the experience of discovering the true nature of consciousness may happen again.

Conclusion

It seems that following the events of October 7, we all experienced, for a brief period, a different reality. A reality where alongside the difficult and extreme events, the true nature of the collective consciousness of Israeli society was also revealed. A powerful time of mobilization, unity, and giving, where the “I” made room for “we” and abilities that we didn’t know existed were revealed on a personal and societal level. The curtain fell and the transition between this reality and the difficult and conflicted reality of the current period is a transition that is hard to bridge. It’s difficult to build a coherent and integrative narrative that answers the question – who are we? That combines who we are today with the experience of “together we will win” that was temporary and powerful. This difficulty may evoke a sense of craving – longing for a reality that was and disappeared, a longing accompanied by feelings of despair, pain, and grief for what was lost – and aversion and rejection – difficulty accepting the current reality, and feelings of anger and aggression towards anyone and anything perceived as causing the current situation and sabotaging the ability to return to the previous reality.

And perhaps the understanding that we witnessed, even if only temporarily, the true nature of our collective and personal consciousness, might awaken in us curiosity and courage to embark on a long journey of searching for and discovering these abilities hidden within us?

During this period, I am preparing to begin quantitative and qualitative research on the subject of experiences of expanding consciousness boundaries. If you have encountered this phenomenon as therapists/treatment providers or have experienced this experience and would like to share (of course, with strict adherence to ethical rules), please contact me. Additionally, if this subject interests you and you would like to join the research team, I would be happy if you contact me at ma*******@***il.com

Notes

1. In this article, I will use the term “potentially traumatic event” and not the term “traumatic event,” from the understanding that most people who experience such events demonstrate resilience and do not develop disorders (Bonanno, 2004)

This is informational, not medical advice.

Sources

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