How is Consciousness Defined?

The concept of consciousness, while often complex and elusive, is a fundamental aspect of our human experience. Consciousness can be defined in various ways, but fundamentally, it is the awareness of oneself and one's surroundings.

Defining Consciousness

Consciousness can be described as the feeling of existence as something. It is an awareness or perception of one's surroundings, encompassing all that is perceived through the senses and the logical reasoning that arises from these perceptions. However, defining this elusive state precisely remains challenging, especially without resorting to words like conscious or awareness.

Animal vs. Human Consciousness

Animal consciousness, while present, generally differs from human consciousness. Human consciousness involves a higher degree of rationality, which allows for a significant level of self-reflection and the creation of complex meanings from experiences. This capability can be seen in human myths, symbolic representations, and the capacity to make abstract logical connections.

The Role of Sensory Perception

Normal mental awareness often includes response to stimuli and the action of the central autonomic nervous system. These responses are generally triggered by sensory input and can include reflex actions, motor memory, and sensory activation. The recognition of these responses using language is a key indicator of consciousness in the waking state.

Logical Capability and Imagination

Beyond the physical realm, consciousness involves the logical capability of thoughts to imagine and reason. For example, contemplating the invisible causes like gravity or electricity extends our understanding beyond the realm of direct perception. We imagine these forces, despite not being able to see or directly sense them, through the inherent logical mechanisms of our minds.

The Subjective Aspect of Consciousness

The subjective aspect of consciousness is the personal experience of the individual. It is the sense or feeling of aliveness, an awareness that goes beyond material reality. This is a state where thoughts imagine consciousness as a non-material, luminous light that includes and connects the entire visible material creation.

Another way to define consciousness is as the subjective aspect of the one energetic source of the entire creation. The apparent subject and object emerge simultaneously and become one in the absence of all observations or perceptions. This indicates that the distinction between subject and object may be more a cognitive error than a fundamental truth.

The Nature of Consciousness

Consciousness is not just a state of being aware; it is a non-material, self-evident light that projects the entire creation. This light, which is self-aware and self-luminous, includes the entire field of perception as a seamless hologram. The division of this field into subject and object is often an erroneous assumption made by the mind.

Thus, a deep and thorough understanding of consciousness involves acknowledging that it is an inherent quality of existence, beyond the reach of our physical senses, and only fully comprehendible through the logical and imaginative capacity of our minds.

Keywords: consciousness, definition, experience