Spirituality and Consciousness

I've just been listening to a tape of a lecture on this topic, which takes care to distinguish between "awareness" and even "self-awareness" on one hand, and "consciousness" on the other. The speaker states clearly that consciousness is *everywhere*, it is a medium in which we move. But--we are not generally conscious, ourselves, which is a different quality from mere awareness. If we were conscious, I take it, we would be "aware" of this field of consciousness in which we move. I will be so bold as to venture that I've had more or less clear visions of what moving in that field might be like. Put crudely, everyone has had the experience of feeling the "vibe" at a meeting, performance, or other event, where the meeting was accompanied by an energy from which the members seemed to draw, becoming more alert, attentive, sensitive, and *aware*. Later all would agree that there was a "palpable" energy in the room. It may be, and I submit this in all seriousness as a practical term, that this particular energy IS consciousness, or rather a manifestation of it in a small, circumscribed field.

I do not agree with others, strictly materialist, who call consciousness an "emergent" property of the chemical/neural/somatic interactions of bodies and their environments. (The name I'm trying to recall here is Dennett, I think). What they call "consciousness" I would call "sensitivity" or "awareness". These are neuro-cognitive functions, at bottom, which, along with the "thinking" we're all so proud of, are very rarely anything more than the outcome of mechanical processes. For the materialists, this thinking/feeling/moving unit, this automaton that has concocted an illusion of free will, is the pinnacle of evolution. While I imagine for many in this group, this "pinnacle" has been the stepping off point toward more powerful states of consciousness, through whatever means and through the matrix of whatever religion or ideology, be it Tantric meditation, trancing out with "the E" at a dance party, or participating in a Pentecostal revival. Or even something a simple as a drive through the mountains.... Which is to say, that I don't believe Consciousness is the property of any particular school or method. There may be methods that allow practitioners to do particular things with it that they find desirable, but those things may not necessarily be the be all and end all of it.

Ehhh, another 5:30 a.m. post. Hope there;s something y'all can work with here!

Hi DonPablo and welcome to Lirio,

DP: I loved this: "But--we are not generally conscious, ourselves, which is a different quality from mere awareness. If we were conscious, I take it, we would be "aware" of this field of consciousness in which we move." May I ask which teacher said this? It is so perfectly spot on.

We are generally conscious of 'my' thoughts, 'my' emotions, 'my' fears, 'my' desires, 'my' past,'my' future and so on. This is because of conditioning. Together, this collective which comprises the 'personal' can be called the ego-mind (as distinct from the Freudian Ego). The practice of meditation takes us beyond all of these 'my's' to the context in which they all arise, that my friend, is pure awareness, pure consciousness.

Materialist will always deny the fact that consciousness is the context, primarily because they are unaware that the ego-mind is sustaining this denial in them. You see, materialists correctly intuit their separation with Oneness, but their identity with ego-mind is too strong and/or too unconscious to allow them to do anything about that, other than, of course, to deny it. A sad state of affairs of course. The way of the cross is the way of million of materialists.

my best to you,

The speaker on said tape was one of Gurdjieff's people. Name rhymes with "Dennett"....

There are two lines of thought here. One seems to pertain to a condition within physical consciousness correct? And there is the non-physical consciousness which is more of a conceptual debate.

My question is, "are they separate?" A conscious person versus a person in a coma for example may have similar awarenesses. Or not. An insect certainly has consciousness.

If the term is held to the area of spiritualism or even psychology we have a different and more conceptual topic. Humans are able to observe their own consciousness as in eastern thought where through meditation, you become the observer of your mind. The third eye if you will.

In Jung's work there is the collective unconscious, a realm that connects all consciousness and where we can tap into a well of all knowledge and inspiration.

If we talk about after death consciousness (as in Mick's comment) then we clearly have an unconscious mind. So then what might be conscious within the mind that might not need a body? Does consciousness remain. Possibly. I know most religions love to think so.

What is that? A soul? How about when we meditate and we observe the mind? Is that true consciousness, and the same that may live on? Maybe the terms "mind" and "brain" should be separated more than just semantically?

I usually finish comments with a lot of question marks on topics like this. I think it is appropriate when no one will definitively know the answers.

Hi Jackson and welcome to the group! You talk about the third eye as being the observer of the mind. Could you tell us more about that...

The third eye is a pretty well known spiritual concept. Found in Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity. Here's something on it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_eye

I am very interested in hearing all about the 'third eye' and how the development of it affects consciousness...Perhaps this is worthy of its own topic for discussion!