One day, I was invited to a friend’s house to experience the practice of mindfulness. To demonstrate the concept, the instructor used a simple exercise to guide us toward a mindful state. She asked us to close our eyes while she struck a bell once, emitting a brief chime. After a pause, she struck it again, and this time, I perceived a longer sound. On the third strike, I heard an even longer, resonant tone. When we opened our eyes, the instructor explained that each strike was actually identical. However, by closing our eyes and focusing solely on the sound, we tuned out background noise, allowing us to hear the ringing tail of each chime with increasing clarity.
This experience was an eye-opener. I understood why Buddhists meditate with closed eyes, why Christians pray with heartfelt focus, and why so many people believe that “sincere wish will come true." It also clarified why I often see patterns behind seemingly random coincidences, thanks to years of focus in collective unconscious. The secret lies in focus. When you fully immerse yourself in a phenomenon, external distractions fade away, allowing you to observe unconscious patterns that usually go unnoticed.
Behind this phenomenon is a principle from physics called resonance, a concept I studied in mechanical vibration. Resonance occurs when an external force stimulates an object at its natural frequency, producing an amplified response. We see resonance every day—in a radio amplifying specific frequencies to receive a signal, or in musical instruments resonating to enhance sound.
A subtler form of resonance exists in our perception of color. Our eyes’ three cone cells are attuned to specific wavelengths of light, each resonating with red, green, or blue light. This sensitivity to red, green, and blue allows us to perceive the visible spectrum as a narrow slice of the vast array of frequencies in the universe as "white light".
In this way, resonance offers a fascinating analogy for consciousness. The collective unconscious can be likened to “white light” or “white noise” made of infinite frequencies. To “turn the unconscious into the conscious” means that when personal awareness aligns or “tunes” into a specific frequency of this collective unconscious, it creates an extraordinary “resonance,” allowing us to perceive it.
In Chinese, there’s a common phrase today ”不同频“ that explains misunderstandings as “not being on the same wavelength.” We often talk about “frequency” and “resonance” when we refer to mental “signals” that bring about consensus or shared understanding, though we usually overlook this resonance in the realm of thoughts.
If we apply this idea practically, it becomes apparent why setting an intention，such as prayer, could be effective. When you focus on tuning your thoughts and desires to the collective will, you may stimulate an extraordinary resonance in the collective unconscious, leading to a perceivable “manifestation” of that intent. Similarly, praying in unison with others can heighten this effect, and continuous personal focus on a wish increases its potential.
This is also the spirit behind the Muslim pilgrimage of Hajj, one of the Five Pillars of Islam.
Each year, Muslims from around the world gather in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, to unite in prayer. A central part of this pilgrimage involves facing the Black Stone of the Kaaba and seeking blessings and forgiveness. Imagining this powerful collective scene fills me with awe.
In English, there’s a term, kindred spirits, meaning people connected by similar interests or focuses. The word “spirits” rather than “people” seems even more meaningful to me. I have a small group of kindred spirits on Wechat public platform where I publish my blogs regularly. Even though we may not know each other personally, our shared intent unites us in spirit. I hope that my long-held wish to “turn the collective unconscious into conscious” will find resonance in my group of kindred spirits. Thank you for joining me there if you speak Chinese. San the QR code below:
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