Development of consciousness - what works?

I have often argued that the main business of our mortal lives is to learn from our experiences; often a particular 'lesson' tailored to our personal needs.

This is theosis, the moving towards greater divinity - while still on earth; and this is a matter of consciousness (rather than, for example, the things we do) - we aim at developing our consciousness in the direction of the divine....

Anyway, this can all sounds, and may actually be, a bit vague; and it can be very unclear what to do about it. There are many suggestions around and about - including meditation training, rituals, types of prayer etc. But all systems of attempted theosis are a problem, for one reason or another - so what then?

Firstly, what I suggest must be within the Christian 'context' - one needs to be a Christian; and therefore to discover - for yourself, by experience - what Christian actually means: then choose that.

Then (or simultaneously) my best idea is to reawaken myself to the aliveness and consciousness - and therefore meaningfulness and purposiveness - of The World.

As when a child; you need to be able to look around yourself (wherever you are - even in a crowd in a city, even in a meeting!) and know that you are part of a world of Beings - not a world of things.

You don't need to know what the exact Beings are, nor their awareness, nor their intentions, nor their relationships - but you do need to be aware that this is how the world is structured and organised - and to 'sense' this as a fact.

It is, I find, quite easy to gain, but very hard to hold-onto, this knowledge (so much at odds with our modern habits of thinking); but I have not discovered anything more effective.

The reason 'it works' is surely that it is how we all began our lives; we all have experience of living in an 'animistic' world, a world seen 'anthropomorphically' - as entirely consisting of living, aware, purposeful beings. We all retain deep memories, and indeed habits, of regarding the world in this fashion.

But notice that we are not trying to replicate the experience of childhood consciousness - because the child simply takes all this for granted, and is therefore passively, unconsciously, swept-along by it. As adults, we know-that-we-know - and in this is our freedom.

So - the child's world, consciously adopted (because it is true); and in-which we dwell in freedom.

That works - for me.