What Do We Mean By Consciousness?

As I approached this work I became more and more certain that physicists, neuroscientists, psychologists and spiritual practitioners did not share a common understanding when defining awareness, consciousness and the mind. The so called “Hard Problem” came up time and again. But it was mostly those involved in the physical sciences who saw it as a hard problem. Those of a spiritual inclination did not see it as a hard problem at all. Rather they understood the fundamental, interconnected and universal nature of consciousness. At the risk of disregarding Nisagadatta’s advice to Mauro Bergonzi:

“Don’t waste your time with the many useless questions of faith. Go directly to the Absolute.”

I am going to spend a little time on some definitions that have been randomly sourced and quoted directly. Then I’ll provide some of my own thoughts.

A MODEL OF CONSCIOUSNESS

There are many models for defining the different levels of consciousness. All of them start at the most basic levels of physical consciousness. These levels are the province of various branches of science. Spiritual practitioners go further and recognise states of non-physical consciousness. These states transcend the physical body. So, let’s break it down into four levels, the first two of which are physical and the second two are non-physical:

Physical Consciousness

Basic Consciousness: at the most basic level waking, sleeping and dreaming form the states of physical consciousness. They subsume transitional states such as the liminal space between waking and sleeping, sleeping and waking, lucid dreaming, non-lucid dreaming, and deep dreamless sleep. These states are the province of neuroscientists who study their function in the brain through the neural correlates of consciousness (NCC).

Physical Consciousness: basic consciousness is conditioned by inputs from our sense organs of sight, smell, hearing, taste, touch and mentality (cognition and emotions). The interaction of our sense organs and external phenomena is mediated by the quantum emissions from there objects and our neural capacity to absorb these emissions. This level of conditioned consciousness is the light that we shine on the physical world which we perceive as external to the self. Mentality subsumes cognitive and emotional states, empathy, intuition and other levels of brain consciousness. It too is conditioned by our personal history, language and biology.

Non-Physical Consciousness

Substrate Consciousness: is the ground upon which the ordinary mind exists. It is the non-physical rhizome from which it springs. The essence of our being that carries the karmic imprint of all that has gone before for us right back to the time when our essence first emerged from universal consciousness. We can visit this source in deep mediation and experience its luminosity. Part II of this book is dedicated to exploring substrate consciousness.

Primordial Consciousness: is finding our own buddha nature; Sugatagarbha. Part V sets out the Dzogchen instructions of Düdjom Lingpa, on how to attain Enlightenment in a single lifetime: “Tögal”, the “Direct Crossing Over”. This is our fundamental nature where we understand that all phenomena are appearances to the mind and our own consciousness is part of universal consciousness.

This model is a simplification, and others propose up to nine levels of consciousness. However, I wanted to give some shape to enable us to interpret the various definitions of consciousness that follow on this page. The materialist perspective of the physical sciences co-exists with the spiritual perspective of Advaita Vedanta, the Vajrayana and Dzogchen.

Physics

“Imagine your ‘now’, that is, your consciousness, is the dark slice in the block, and that it moves from past to future, and imagine the Moon is your brain winding through space and time (space-time). As the slice moves forward through your brain, you experience a reproduction of reality that exists only in your brain, and once the slice passes where your brain ends, you die, leaving everything else that is ‘you’ imprinted in reality forever. It is as though the universe will never forget everything that is you, and you are essentially eternal.”

Quantum Consciousness

“It could be said that consciousness is consciousness of something other than consciousness.  Consciousness and knowledge of an object, such as a chair are also distinct.  Consciousness is not the chair.  The chair is not consciousness.  The chair is an object of consciousness, and thus becomes discontinuous from the quantum state.  Consciousness is consciousness of something and is conscious of not being that object that it is conscious of.  By knowing what it isn’t, consciousness may know what it is not.  This consciousness of not being the object can be considered the ‘collapse function’ which results in discontinuity within the continuum.”

Joseph R.  Quantum Physics and the Multiplicity of Mind: Split Brains, Fragmented Minds Dissociation, Quantum Consciousness in Quantum Physics of Consciousness.  Kak S. Penrose R. and Hameroff, S (Eds).  Cosmology Science Publishers, 2017p 298-299.

Neuroscience – The Brain As the Home of Consciousness

“Consciousness can be considered as the appearance of a world during both waking or dreaming states (Edelman, 2004; Revonsuo, 2006, 2010, Metzinger, 2009).  It is often divided into primary (anoetic) consciousness mainly related to perception, affect, and action related representations; and in higher order consciousness linked to interpretation of the primary consciousness contents (noetic) including self-related notions (autonoetic) of past and future (Edelman, 1989; Seth et al., 2005; Kahneman, 2011).

Franco Fabbro, Salvatore M.Aglioti, Massimo Bergamasco, Andrea Clarici and Jaak Panksepp Evolutionary Aspects of Self – and World Consciousness in Vertebrates.  Frontiers in Neuroscience, March 2015.

Jungian Analytical Psychology – The Outer Layer

“(Consciousness is) The function or activity which maintains the relation of psychic contents to the ego; distinguished conceptually from the psyche, which encompasses both consciousness and the unconscious.  There is no consciousness without discrimination of opposites.

 There are two distinct ways in which consciousness arises. The one is a moment of high emotional tension, comparable to the scene in Parsifal where the hero, at the very moment of greatest temptation, suddenly realizes the meaning of Amfortas’ wound.  The other is a state of contemplation, in which ideas pass before the mind like dream-images.  Suddenly there is a flash of association between two apparently disconnected and widely separated ideas, and this has the effect of releasing a latent tension. Such a moment often works like a revelation. In every case it seems to be the discharge of energy-tension, whether external or internal, which produces consciousness.”

Jung C.G.“Analytical Psychology and Education,” CW 17, par. 207.

Advaita Vedanta – All That I Am

“Consciousness is the very basis of existence. It is in and through all.  Without consciousness there would be nothing.  Everything that is here is by its very nature consciousness. And:  If there was nothing here consciousness would still be here.  As I am part of everything there is, I too, by my real nature, am consciousness – which answers the question regarding my true nature. But, as I know very well, I still cannot tick the question off. Just because I read this in the scriptures of Vedanta or hear it from a Satsang teacher, I have not yet recognised it as true.”

Advaita Vision Website:  Consciousness

Dzogchen – The Ground of Consciousness

“Within the essence of ultimate truth, [yang dag don gyi ngo bo la] there is no buddha or ordinary being. [sangs rgyas dang ni sems can med]

Since awareness cannot be reified, it is empty. [rig pa 'dzin pa med pas stong]

Given that it does not dwell in emptiness, [stong pa nyid la me gnas na] it abides in its own state of supreme bliss. [rang gi bde chen sa la gnas]

The majestic ruler of all buddhas [sangs rgyas kun gyi rje btsan pa] is understood to be one's own awareness. [rang gi rig pa shes par bya]

This monarch, naturally manifest awareness, [rang snang rig pa'i rgyal po nyid] is present in everyone, but no one realizes it. [kun la yod de kun gyis rtog pa med]”

Longchenpa.  A Treasure Trove of Scriptural Transmission.  Padma, 2001.

My Understanding

Awareness underpins consciousness. It (consciousness) is the field of vision through which the world appears to us and by which our own individual experience is mediated. A world that seems to be outside of our consciousness but is, in fact, part of consciousness itself. All we need to do is be open to its connectedness. But because we spend most of our waking state in samsara the direct experience of connection eludes us