• Home
  • About
  • Book
  • Instagram
  • Glossary
  • Terms of Use
Infinite Quantum Zen
  • BOOK
    • Book Info
    •    – Preface
    •    – Introduction
    • Prologue
    •    – Opening Words
    •       – About This Book
    •       – About Writing Style
    •       – Mysterious Author
    •    – On Knowledge and Wisdom
    •    – On Consciousness and Awareness
    •    – On God, Spirit and Soul
    •    – On Reality and Actuality
    •    – On Change and Transformation
    •    – On Interconnectedness
    •    – On Intelligence
  • INFINITΞ
    • Infinite World of Quantum and Zen
    •    – The Essence of Zen
    •    – The Birth of Infinite Quantum Zen
    • Infinite Living System – The Miracle of Life
    •    – Infinite Fractal of Creation
  • TRΛNSFORMΛTION
    • Towards An Era of Transformation
    •    – Outdated View of Life
    •    – The Emergence of a New Vision
    •       – Ancient Wisdom Resurfaces
    •       – The Living Earth (Gaia)
    •       – Metaphysical Paradigm Shift
  • LIFΞ
    • The Essence of Life
    •    – What Is Life?
    •    – In Search for the Meaning of Life
    •    – The Mystery of Human Life
    •    – A Species With Collective Amnesia
    •    – Humanity – The Pinnacle of Evolution?
    •    – Humans – Masters of Storytelling
    •    – The Game of Survival
    •    – The False Sense of Self
    • The Preciousness of Human Life
    •    – When Does a Human Life Begin?
    • The Existential Paradox
    •    – The Fear of Annihilation (Non-Existence)
    •    – Change is the Only Constant
  • CONSCIOUSNΞSS
    • The Mystery of Consciousness
    •    – Panpsychism – Dilemma of Consciousness
    • Living Consciousness – Vibrant Interconnected Reality
  • ΛWΛRΞNΞSS
    • Awakening From the Dream of Life
    • What Is Self-Awareness?
    • Living Awareness – The Heart of Living Life
    •    – What Is Living Awareness?
    •    – 7 Levels of Living Awareness
    • The Art of Lucid Living
    • The Art of Mindful Living
  • QUΛNTUM
    • Living Quantum World – A New Synthesis of Knowledge
    •    – Problems of Understanding the Quantum World
    •    – Crisis at the Edge of Physics, Science & Cosmology
    •    – Quantum Mechanics & Quantum Entanglement
    •    – The Role of Consciousness in the Quantum World
    •    – Quantum Nonlocality & Multiverse
    •        – Interconnected Nested Multiverse
    •        – Shifting into a Parallel Universe
    •    – Quantum Nonlocality & The Nature of Time
    •        – The New View of Time – Time Equals Life
  • FUTURΞ
    • Non-linear Teachings of Sambodhi Padmasamadhi

The Mystery of Consciousness 1/2 | Awaken the Living Awareness Within ∞ CONSCIOUSNΞSS ∞

by Sambodhi Padmasamadhi Sunday, January 01, 2023
~ ∞ ~ The Mystery of Consciousness 1/2 - Awaken the Living Awareness Within ~ ∞ ~



In this section, we dive deeper into the topic of consciousness and its relation to awareness (which has its own dedicated section following this one). A good way to start would be to say that as we begin to shed the layers of the human condition that blinds our perception of our Infinite Being, we come across the idea of consciousness. It is something that underlies everything we know and everything we do, it is present in our daily life, and yet we know so little about it. And so it can be said that consciousness is one of the biggest mysteries there is. Indeed, if one takes a moment to investigate, one arrives at the conclusion that consciousness has been one of the most profound mysteries of our existence from the very beginning. We talk about it all the time, and we know about it through our experiences – and yet, nobody agrees on what consciousness is – be it science, philosophy, mysticism, or religion; there are as many answers as there are people, you see?

In the previous sections, through many chapters, we have already discussed a fair amount about this topic. As such, the purpose of this section is to crystallize some of the main aspects of it, and pose questions more than give answers. Among some of the deep questions we ask in this section are: What is consciousness? Is it dependent on, independent of, or interdependent with physical reality? Why do non-Western wisdom traditions and Western scientific perspectives disagree so completely in their ideas about it? Do animals have consciousness? Do plants? What do experiences such as dreams, intuition, creativity, spiritual and near-death events tell us about the malleability and the range of consciousness, its elusiveness and transcendental nature? How does one study consciousness? How does one better understand consciousness?

When we ask the question: What is consciousness, we arrive at the conclusion that there is no definitive, all-encompassing definition or description about consciousness, although the emerging field of consciousness studies seeks to arrive at one. One such definition, favored by Western science, relies on materialist theories which argue that consciousness is constituted by the physiological structure of the brain, and hence it can be reduced to its neural activity, or that it is an emergent product of complex neural networks. Mainstream scientists like to say, argue – and even insist, that the brain creates consciousness and that consciousness cannot survive without the brain. But if one looks deeper, utilizing the very tools provided by the science itself, namely Quantum Mechanics, it is just as plausible to argue that consciousness exists before the formation of the brain, and therefore consciousness can exist after the death of the brain. What an astonishing dichotomy, isn’t it? By contrast, non-Western traditions see consciousness as ontologically primary to physical matter, an idea that underlies most of the world’s wisdom traditions, including Zen, Taoism, Buddhism, Vedanta, and Yoga.

From the previous, we can see that the idea of consciousness has been used in many ways throughout the history of humanity. The Western approach with its materialist ideas, definitions and descriptions being the youngest, and hence the most partial and incomplete. Considering how far we have come as a species, with all the discoveries in science, engineering and technology – including astronomy, biology, chemistry, medicine, psychology, sociology, and philosophy, among many other fields, it is simply astonishing how little we have discovered about consciousness. Although we don’t understand what consciousness is, we have some thoughts on what it might be, and hence there are a plethora of theories and hypothesis around it. Interestingly, none of these theories really answers to the primary question of what consciousness is, but rather, most, if not all, focus explaining what consciousness does.

Consciousness is generally described to be a state or quality of awareness; besides being an aspect or quality of awareness, sometimes it has been defined also as qualia, sentience, subjectivity, or the ability to experience or to feel. Other descriptions of consciousness include wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind; some go even so far as to say that consciousness is the same as life; ancient wisdom traditions all over the world has called it simply Spirit. All the above-mentioned descriptions mean that consciousness in human form is something that conceives, governs, constructs, and eventually becomes the activity of the body. When we investigate consciousness more deeply by utilizing our innate ability of being aware of our own consciousness, we can find that consciousness is also something bigger than us – something much more than just the quality of our awareness, and the ability of being aware of our individuated self.

Isn’t it intriguing that everyone seems to have their opinions about consciousness, but so little true understanding about it; isn’t it intriguing that we sure do like to speculate, but we put very little, if any, effort in understanding consciousness better. It goes without saying that understanding both consciousness and awareness – defining characteristics of sentience, should be our primary goal above all else, or at the very least, considered as being of great importance as they are playing a key role in determining the course of human happiness and suffering. These varying opinions about consciousness comes from the individual perspective of one’s own subjective experience of life, and yet we have no agreement on what consciousness truly and really is. As such, it can be said that understanding consciousness appears to be more difficult than anything we have ever encountered to this day.

Amazon Associate #ad links to book recommendations:

The biggest problems in answering the many questions about consciousness, its nature and its extent arises out of the fact that humans have always started their explorations from the external world, rather than within the inner world, you see? One of these problems is deeply rooted in the way in which we acquire information – the importance is often placed on the mind and the linear, rational, and logical thinking; this type of information gathering and processing is valued over the heart-based wisdom (science vs. intuition). For some reason, it is difficult for us to appreciate anything that goes against the norm, that is, logic and reason as we know and practice them today.

This brings us face to face with the difficulty on studying consciousness – our modern contemporary methods of studying consciousness are linear, whereas consciousness is very much a non-linear phenomenon. Also the modern science has its very own core problems (assumptions of and about the world) in their scientific methods – the biggest being the way of seeing the world: as if everything would be separate from ourselves. As such, understanding the nature of consciousness is one of the grand outstanding scientific challenges. The fundamental methodological problem is how phenomenal first person experience can be accounted for in a third person verifiable form, while the conceptual challenge is to both define its function and physical realization. Consciousness is something that cannot be observed in the way that material objects can – it cannot be weighed, measured, or otherwise pinned down. From this, it becomes clear that science can only go so far – or at least the science we know today, which means that the only viable way to study consciousness is through direct experience, exploring and sharing these experiences by discussing about them, and in so doing learning about them – see?

Many ancient wisdom traditions explore consciousness through direct experience, which is achieved through contemplative practices such as Qi-gong, Zen meditation, and Yoga; these practices teach the practitioner to achieve a state of mental quiescence or stillness in order to comprehend reality in its non-physical manifestations, and in so doing, achieve a state of unity with the ultimate ground of being. There are three classical paths that lead towards being more aware, towards higher consciousness, towards better understanding of consciousness: meditation, concentration, and contemplation. Even though each path is different, each of them can help one to better understand consciousness; when followed and practiced consistently, they all lead to the same final goal or destination – absorption of Self into the Ultimate Reality.
___
~ ॐ ~ Sambodhi Padmasamadhi ~ ∞ ~

Get the Book: Awaken the Living Awareness Within – Discover the Keys to Happiness, Inner Peace & Harmony


[ Click » here « to read the next part: The Mystery of Consciousness 2/2 ]

Advaita Article Awareness Consciousness Fractal Holographic Innerverse Life Love Mindfulness Multiverse Non-Duality Presence Quantum Mechanics Reality Self-Mastery Self-Realization Zen

About Author: Sambodhi Padmasamadhi

The author and the creator (Sambodhi Padmasamadhi) of Infinite Quantum Zen Website is an Eternal Spiritual Being (Living Awareness) Experiencing Itself through the Fractal-like Consciousness of the same․ Tools (Meditation‚ Mindfulness‚ Virtual Reality‚ Gaming‚ Coding‚ Writing‚ Digital Art)․ In other words: Flowing River of Consciousness that is Aware of its existence․ Our Core Essence as Spirit or Spark of God flows through Life‚ Reality‚ Existence much in the same way as water flows in a river․ i․e․‚ I AM both named and nameless, singular and plural, everyone and no one at the same time; no one special, yet special in every sense of the word – an enigma wrapped in mystery. As is the author, so is their work – a riddle to be solved.

« Newer Post Older Post » Home - Infinite Quantum Zen
Infinite Quantum Zen Learning Center - Start Here, Interconnected Life, Infinite Wisdom, Abundance, Quantum Creation, Synchronicity, Holographic Fractal Self-Organization, Quantum Universe
Get the Book Awaken the Living Awareness Within | Quantum Creation, Synchronicity, Holographic Fractal Self-Organization, Quantum Universe
Get the Book Non-linear Wisdom Teachings of Sambodhi Padmasamadhi | Interconnected Life, Infinite Wisdom

Find us on Social Media

Tumblr Youtube Pinterest

Subscribe RSS Feed

Infinite Quantum Zen Learning Center - Start Here, Interconnected Life, Infinite Wisdom, Abundance, Quantum Creation, Synchronicity, Holographic Fractal Self-Organization, Quantum Universe

Translate ∞ Zen

Trending Content

    Humanity – The Pinnacle of Evolution? 4/4 – The Essence of Life: Part III | Awaken the Living Awareness Within ∞ LIFΞ ∞ Humanity – The Pinnacle of Evolution? 4/4 – The Essence of Life: Part III | Awaken the Living Awareness Within ∞ LIFΞ ∞
    Quantum Nonlocality & Multiverse | Awaken the Living Awareness Within ∞ QUΛNTUM ∞ Quantum Nonlocality & Multiverse | Awaken the Living Awareness Within ∞ QUΛNTUM ∞
    Infinite Living System (The Miracle of Life) 2/2 | Awaken the Living Awareness Within ∞ INFINITΞ ∞ Infinite Living System (The Miracle of Life) 2/2 | Awaken the Living Awareness Within ∞ INFINITΞ ∞
    Interconnected Nested Multiverse (Bubble Universe) – Quantum Nonlocality & Multiverse | Awaken the Living Awareness Within ∞ QUΛNTUM ∞ Interconnected Nested Multiverse (Bubble Universe) – Quantum Nonlocality & Multiverse | Awaken the Living Awareness Within ∞ QUΛNTUM ∞
    On Interconnectedness 1/2 | Awaken the Living Awareness Within ∞ PROLOGUΞ ∞ On Interconnectedness 1/2 | Awaken the Living Awareness Within ∞ PROLOGUΞ ∞
    About This Book 1/3  | Awaken the Living Awareness Within ∞ PROLOGUΞ ∞ About This Book 1/3 | Awaken the Living Awareness Within ∞ PROLOGUΞ ∞
    The Preciousness of Human Life: Part I (1/2) | Awaken the Living Awareness Within ∞ LIFΞ ∞ The Preciousness of Human Life: Part I (1/2) | Awaken the Living Awareness Within ∞ LIFΞ ∞
    On Reality and Actuality 1/2 | Awaken the Living Awareness Within ∞ PROLOGUΞ ∞ On Reality and Actuality 1/2 | Awaken the Living Awareness Within ∞ PROLOGUΞ ∞

Tags

  • Alan Watts
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Awareness
  • Consciousness
  • Dharma
  • Experience
  • Fractal
  • Future
  • Holographic
  • Interconnectedness
  • Life
  • Meditation
  • Mindfulness
  • Multiverse
  • Perception
  • Presence
  • Quantum Computing
  • Quantum Mechanics
  • Quantum Nonlocality
  • Reality
  • Samadhi
  • Self-Actualization
  • Self-Mastery
  • Self-Realization
  • Time Travel
  • Wave
  • Zen
Creative Commons LicenseINFINITΞ QUΛNTUM ZΞN by Sambodhi Padmasamadhi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
  • Home
  • About
  • Terms of Use
  • Glossary