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...Our general world view is not the only factor that is important in this context. Attention must, indeed, be given to many other factors, such as emotions, physical activities, human relationships, social organisations, etc., but perhaps because we have at present no coherent world view, there is a tendency to ignore the psychological and social importance of such questions altogether. My suggestion is that a proper world view, appropriate for its time, is generally one of the basic factors that is essential for harmony in the individual and in society as a whole.

- David Bohme, "Wholeness and the Implicate Order"

The Domain of Realm 2

More at Realm-2.com

The term “Realm 2” was introduced in a paper in 2006¹ to describe a whole realm of experience. We can represent the human psyche - the whole of human experience by a circle:

In practice, however, the human psyche is not really a whole circle, but a divided one:

The human psyche lives in two worlds. Realm 1 is the logical world of the scientific world-view. This is simply the “material” or “physical” world. The realm of ordinary consciousness. Most of the human race lives in this 99% of the time. It is the world of scientific theories, of economics, of politics. The concerns of realm 1 are the daily concerns of life: material success; career; emotional gratification; needs fulfilment; relationship success - the list goes on and on. Basically it is a “want-driven” consciousness. A “rudimentary” sense of “I” pursues pleasure and flees from pain. This rudimentary identity, we christen the “ego”.

Realm 2 is what our teacher, Rev Mario Schoenmaker, termed the 'spiritual worlds'. For most of us, this part of the human psyche has no “I”. The most common experience of spirit still available occurs within our dream life - how often are we conscious, decision-making beings in our dreams? Dreams are the lowest expression of spirit however. We encounter the spiritual worlds through great art - the writing of a Tolstoy or a Shakespeare which pulls us beyond our Realm 1 identity to participate in the experiences and sufferings of other beings; perhaps through the flood of experience of a piece of music, or the awe and wonder of a magical painting. Life itself provides us with so many opportunities to encounter spirit. The love that wells up, unexpectedly, through certain relationships; sometimes the miracle of a gift - the beauty of a sunset … I am sure you have your own list … Such experiences seem to some how take us 'beyond' ourselves - if this is the case, then firstly there is a 'self' (the “ego”) which we can be taken “beyond”; secondly there must be another 'experiencer' which is not the ego, but which is capable of existing - even if just for short periods of time.

Realm 2 and the Soul

¹John Rawson. “Harmonising the Spheres.” Paper presented to Alternative Expressions of the Numinous, University of Queensland, August 2006