What is being conscious? What does it mean
when we are not conscious? Why are we not conscious? And how can we remain conscious?
Being Conscious
Over the
millennia being conscious has been defined in many ways by many seekers,
masters, enlightened beings, philosophers and spiritual or mystical
organizations.
·
It
has been defined as: subjectivity, awareness, the ability to experience or to
feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood
·
John
Locke (1690) defined it as the perception
of what passes in a man’s own mind
·
Stuart
Sutherland (1989) wrote in the MacMillan
Dictionary of Psychology about being conscious: The having of perceptions, thoughts, and feelings; awareness. The term
is impossible to define except in terms that are unintelligible without a grasp
of what consciousness means. Many fall into the trap of equating consciousness
with self-consciousness—to be conscious it is only necessary to be aware of the
external world. Consciousness is a fascinating but elusive phenomenon: it is
impossible to specify what it is, what it does, or why it has evolved
·
Some
seek to define it in purely Newtonian and mechanistic terms, i.e. that it all
comes down to something physical
·
The
mystical psychiatrist Richard Maurice Bucke distinguished between three types
of consciousness: Simple Consciousness, awareness of the body, possessed
by many animals; Self Consciousness, awareness of being aware, possessed
only by humans; and Cosmic Consciousness, awareness of the life and order
of the universe, possessed only by humans who are enlightened
·
Ken
Wilber described consciousness as a spectrum with ordinary awareness at one
end, and more profound types of awareness at higher levels (Source)
So to simplify and for the purposes of this article, we could say that
being conscious implies being aware of the self at all times, or at the very
least, intending and attempting to be aware of the self, in such a way that no
matter what occurs, this awareness is never lost in the waves of events in a
lifetime. On another scale, being conscious also implies an acute
awareness of a self that goes beyond the physical body with which we are
clothed - an awareness of an eternal self that does not cease to exist when the
body does.
Not Being Conscious
So
evidently it follows that when you are not conscious you are not aware of
yourself. You might notice – be conscious of - getting sick, although something
like a back ache or a stiff neck might not make itself noticeable for a while
either, simply because you would have less awareness about your physical self
as well. You might not notice something like a gut feeling, an intuition, or
even if you did, your awareness of it might be so reduced, that you simply
would not pay attention to it.
On another
level, you would not notice your SELF in daily interaction with others. You
would notice the things they said or did to you, but you would not have
sufficient consciousness to be aware of your own inner reactions to that, in order to then be able to choose other,
perhaps less toxic reactions because that kind of choice is only possible when you are fully conscious.
You would
not notice your egoic self (we might
describe that as the part of you that sees everything first and foremost from
its own point of view) intruding in
everyday activities when, for example, you might be insisting on being right,
whether or not you were, and even if you were, despite the fact that going to
those lengths to show that you were right, might break a particular
relationship asunder, or at least, damage it, as in the kind of damage vested
upon relationships with our partners and children in such situations, your
egoic self would make you insist on
showing you were right…
You simply
might not hear something kind your
partner, parent or child just said, because closely attached (in verbal
distance) to the kind words, were other
words your mind has latched upon that you now interpret as being critical,
harsh or cruel, and even if they were,
the fact is, that due to a lack of full awareness or consciousness, you have
merely heard and reacted to the more negative words.
Not being
conscious has ramifications that spread themselves like grasping, strangling
tentacles into every sector of our lives, literally cutting off the oxygen that
allows us to live a healthy existence filled with inner freedom and well-being.
Being partially conscious is helpful but not nearly enough.
Why Are We Not Conscious?
This has a number
of quite logical answers:
·
We
may not be aware of another kind of existence other than our ‘sleeping’ one
·
We
may be aware, but have not yet taken any kind of decision to become more
conscious
·
We
may be aware, but do not desire to take any kind of decision to become more
conscious
·
We
may have taken the decision, but do not follow through on it with practice and
discipline and a continual reminding of ourselves
·
We
may have taken the decision, and are even following through on it, but only to
a degree, and hence, despite our best intentions – simply because we are still too weak in that arena – continually forget
to practice remaining conscious
How Can We Remain Conscious?
Remaining
conscious involves intent, choice and practice.
Intent
means that your intention is to
remain conscious. If you intend to lose weight, you will be paying attention to
a number of things such as the kind of food you have in your house, the amount
of food you have on your plate, and all the food choices you make throughout
your day every day.
Intending to remain conscious works in a similar fashion.
You pay attention to things such as
your body and how it reacts, your emotions and how they are reacting, your
inner energy and the level it is at.
Choice
means that you choose to remain
conscious. If you choose to lose weight, you will choose to purchase certain
foods and not others, you will choose to eat certain foods in public places and
not others, and you will choose to say no to bad food choices when someone
offers them to you.
Choosing to remain conscious works in a similar fashion.
You choose to do certain things that
will promote remaining conscious. You may do some mindfulness exercises, such
as a 15-minute mindfulness walk every day* that will promote the growth of new
neural pathways that will literally help you remain conscious.
Practice
means that you practice remaining
conscious. If you practice losing weight, you will attune your body to a new
way of eating, because you are using this new way over and over until it becomes
a habit.
Practicing to remain conscious works in a similar
fashion. You practice certain
activities and new thought patterns because you know full well that what is not
practiced does not become a habit, and if it does not become a habit, nothing
will change.
Remaining
conscious is truly a full-time activity, although it does not actually take
much time. It takes a habit of mindfulness, expressed in your daily intent,
your daily choices, and what you practice on a daily basis. Also see Consciousness is a Full-time Job
For more about becoming and remaining conscious and taking charge of your thoughts and emotions and about the self-transformational process - both in your outer life in the world, and in your inner life with your connection to your inner, divine self, have a look at my book Rewiring the Soul: Finding the Possible Self
To download the first chapter, click here
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